aggregatedcontent

Fashion label Calvin Klein has initiated a global e-commerce expansion strategy, for which mobile and social will play significant roles in providing a seamless customer experience. The fashion label is seeing increased traffic and sales volumes via mobile, prompting a redesign. Closing in on customization, the new site aims to best accommodate the customer through their journey while exemplifying the brand's image. "This launch is impactful in both its geographic scale and level of customization," said Steve Shiffman, CEO at Calvin Klein. 

U.S. shoppers spent 2.4 percent more during the weekend before the Christmas holiday this year, giving a boost to retailers in the final days of 2014. Purchases during the so-called Super Saturday weekend rose to $42 billion, up from $41 billion during the same weekend a year ago, said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, a research firm. The performance on the Saturday before Christmas, one of the busiest shopping days of the year, indicates that this holiday season may fall short of early estimates that it would be the best in three years. 

Google is gaining ground in the market for same-day package deliveries, stepping up competition with Amazon.com, eBay and a host of startups during the busy holiday shopping season. The service, called Google Express and available in big U.S. cities, handled 50 percent more toys in the two weeks after the Thanksgiving holiday, the peak of the year-end shopping season.

Staples confirmed on Friday a data breach that may have affected more than 1 million cards. An in-house investigation detected malware at some point-of-sale systems at 115 locations, the company said in a press release. Staples has more than 1,400 U.S. retail stores. About 1.16 million cards may have been affected, the release said. The office supply retailer said it's offering free identity protection services, including identity theft insurance and credit monitoring.

A federal judge has ruled that customers suing Target for last year's data breach may move forward with their claims. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson in St. Paul, Minn., dismissed claims by plaintiffs in certain states but largely denied Target's request to toss out the proposed class-action lawsuit. Magnuson rejected Target's argument that the consumers lacked standing to sue because they could not establish any injury. The customers' "allegations plausibly allege that they suffered injuries that are 'fairly traceable' to Target's conduct," Magnuson wrote.

Looking to capitalize on the crafting craze, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores is partnering with the Craft Retail Group to launch TV programming dedicated specifically to crafting. The "TV shopping experience" with daily featured shows is scheduled to launch Dec. 29. "This partnership with Create and Craft provides an incredible opportunity to deliver exclusive product, projects and promotions to crafters and makers across the United States," said Riddi Kline, executive vice president of marketing and merchandising at Jo-Ann. 

Major retailers are illegally selling prohibited toy guns online, the N.Y Attorney General's office alleged Thursday. Eric Schneiderman's office sent cease-and-desist letters to the retailers (Wal-Mart, Amazon.com, Kmart, Sears and ToyArsenal.com) to halt sales of these toy guns to New Yorkers immediately. "Once this matter was brought to our attention, we placed a shipping block on our website to prevent the mentioned items from being sent to the state of New York. We're also confident that measures are in place to prevent these items from being sold at our New York stores," Wal-Mart said in a statement.

Four months since he took over as Target Corp.'s chief executive, Brian Cornell is making some of his first leadership changes to emphasize innovation and digital prowess within the company's corporate structure. Cornell is expected to unveil his long-term strategic plan for the company early next year, but he's already been vocal about his goal to make Target a leader in mobile and e-commerce. On Wednesday, he announced a number of moves to elevate and expand some positions and to create two new "centers of excellence."

Emails leaked in the recent hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment have revealed some new information about Snapchat's vision for the platform. Namely, that Snapchat is looking to serve users more location-specific media, specifically with an eye toward retail, according to advertising execs who have been reading the emails like tea leaves. Snapchat also plans to infiltrate the digital music industry, according to the emails. Sony Pictures's CEO Michael Lynton doubles as a Snapchat board member, and has apparently used his Sony email to keep tabs on the messaging app.

The U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors has apparently avoided the need to raise postage rates sooner than it wanted. A key deadline for the rumored hurry-up rate hikes passed yesterday when the Consumer Price Index numbers for November were announced. As the board drew close to losing its quorum last week (because of Congressional inaction), there was talk the governors were preparing rate hikes that would be announced this week and implemented in the spring. That appeared to be the last chance for the governors to raise rates until Congress got around to approving new governors.