E-Commerce

Trump Claims USPS Losing a ‘Fortune’ on Amazon
April 2, 2018 at 1:01 pm

President Donald Trump again called out Amazon.com this weekend, claiming the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) loses "a fortune" delivering packages for the online retailer. "Only fools, or worse, are saying that our money losing Post Office makes money with Amazon. THEY LOSE A FORTUNE, and this will be changed. Also, our fully tax paying retailers are closing…

Amazon Apparel: 2 Consumer Segments Can Drive Up Amazon’s Fashion Sales
March 29, 2018 at 12:50 pm

Amazon.com's ongoing venture into the fashion category is one of the hottest topics in retail right now. The company’s expanding fashion offering is fascinating commentators, terrifying rivals and, as our latest research shows, attracting a very large number of shoppers. We recently conducted an in-depth survey of internet-using U.S. consumers on this subject, and the results…

Google Launches Shopping Actions to Help Retailers Compete With Amazon
March 20, 2018 at 3:22 pm

Google announced yesterday a new service designed to help retailers take on Amazon — and give Google a cut of their sales in the process. The service, Shopping Actions (formerly known as Google Express), gives consumers an easy way to shop for retailers’ products on the Google Assistant app and search via Google Search with…

FedEx to Open Small-Format Shops in 500 Walmart Stores
March 20, 2018 at 3:02 pm

FedEx Office, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp., and Walmart said yesterday that FedEx Office will bring its small-format stores for printing, packing and shipping into 500 of Walmart's stores nationwide in the next 24 months. The announcement comes after completion of a successful pilot program spanning 47 locations within Walmart stores across six states. Besides…

Former Walmart Exec Claims Retailer Has Been Inflating E-Commerce Numbers
March 16, 2018 at 12:05 pm

A new lawsuit from Tri Huynh, a former Walmart business development executive, claims that the retailer is inflating its e-commerce sales numbers in the race to close the gap between itself and its chief rival, Amazon.com. The suit, filed this week in Northern California federal court, alleges that Walmart has been lowering its standards to boost…

A Lesson in Personalization From Beauty By Design
March 15, 2018 at 1:09 pm

As has been written about ad nauseam in this e-newsletter and countless others retail trade publications, personalization is the Holy Grail for retailers. After all, done right, personalization elevates consumers’ lives and promotes engagement by providing products and/or content that tune into and even anticipate the needs of customers. The benefits of personalization to the customer…

How The RTA Store Uses POS Lending to Lift Sales and AOV
March 14, 2018 at 5:22 pm

As a leader in the “ready to assemble” cabinetry industry, The RTA Store has withstood the test of time by creating strong customer loyalty. The products that The RTA Store sells typically aren’t impulse purchases. Rather, buying cabinetry is often viewed as an expensive and time-consuming part of creating and maintaining a household. Customers, who…

February Retail Sales Increase 4.4% YoY
March 14, 2018 at 12:14 pm

February retail sales increased 0.3 percent seasonally adjusted over January and 4.4 percent year-over-year as the economy continued to grow, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said today. The numbers exclude automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants. The three-month moving average was also up 4.4 percent over the same period a year ago, and the results come as…

DSW Shutters Ebuys Division
March 13, 2018 at 1:29 pm

DSW Inc. announced today a plan to shutter its Ebuys division. DSW acquired the e-commerce off-price footwear and accessories company in February 2016 for $62.5 million upfront, plus additional payments. After a strategic review of the Ebuys business, DSW has chosen to liquidate all inventory and assets. It expects that process to be completed in early 2018. Total…

Alibaba to Invest $20M in Rent the Runway
March 12, 2018 at 11:57 am

Blue Pool Capital, a financial firm that principally invests the wealth of Alibaba founders Jack Ma and Joe Tsai, has invested $20 million into the women’s clothing rental business Rent the Runway, according to a report in Recode last week. Reportedly, the funding…