Home Depot

Home Depot is apologizing for a racist tweet and blaming the agency that sent it from the company account. The home improvement retailer pulled the tweet and apologized on Twitter on Thursday, saying, "We have zero tolerance for anything so stupid and offensive. Deeply sorry. We terminated the agency and individual who posted it." In a statement provided to ABCNews.com, Stephen Holmes, director of corporate communications, said, "We have zero tolerance for anything so stupid and offensive. The outside agency that created the tweet and The Home Depot associate who posted it have been terminated."

MarketLive, an e-commerce platform provider, has released its annual online retailer survey and recommendations for the 2013 holiday retail season. Among the many report findings, MarketLive found that an overwhelming majority of holiday shoppers will respond to retailers’ promotions offering free shipping, and they will ultimately shop with the retailer who can guarantee an on-time delivery date and/or the best shopping experience. The survey sample included 1,000 consumer questionnaires. The report illustrates consumer survey results with tactical examples drawn from promotional campaigns by Nordstrom, Sport Chalet, Sephora, Lowe's, Home Depot, Pottery Barn, REI, Restoration Hardware, Amazon.com, Blue Nile and Francesca's.

Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement retailer, is accelerating the national rollout of its online handyman referral service Redbeacon to tap demand from homeowners who don't want to do fix-it projects themselves. Redbeacon, which connects consumers with painters, plumbers, carpenters and maids, expanded this week through Home Depot to Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Montana and Alaska. That puts the service in 11 states as it pushes nationwide over the next two years, CEO Anthony Rodio said in an interview last week.

Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement retailer, plans to end medical coverage for about 20,000 part-time employees and direct them to government-sponsored exchanges scheduled to open next month as companies revamp benefits to fit the U.S. Affordable Care Act. Employees with fewer than 30 hours a week will no longer be offered limited liability medical coverage, Stephen Holmes, a spokesman, said by telephone. About 5 percent of Atlanta-based Home Depot's 340,000 employees are enrolled in that plan.

Home Depot has intimidated thousands of customers accused of shoplifting into collectively paying millions of dollars to have such accusations dropped, even though the company has no intention of suing, a class-action suit alleges. The suit claims that the big-box retailer is using California's Civil Shopping Law as "a profit center" by arbitrarily seeking "damages" from accused customers. 

Privacy advocates have an entirely new worry to keep them awake at night. National retailers like Nordstrom and Home Depot, working with a company called Euclid Analytics, have devised a method for tracking shoppers in their stores. The service identifies shoppers' smartphones by requests the devices make for Wi-Fi, even if they aren't connecting to the store's network.

Let's face it, video has taken the online world by storm over the last few years and we're really only just beginning to learn how to best harness its power. Furthermore, the technology, data and tools being made available to retailers with respect to video are changing at an even faster pace. So while it may be premature to discuss best practices at such an early stage, here are five imperatives for working with video:

Michael Kors 553,161 956,368 73% CVS 7,273,276 10,877,674 50% American Apparel 380,814 534,573

E-commerce is quickly gaining traction as a quick and affordable entree to China's vast retail market, with U.S. brands Costco and Macy's both reportedly planning big new moves into the space. Their strategy reflects an emerging trend that has big Western chains circumventing the traditional retailing route into China, seeking to avoid the big costs and risks that have led to big losses and retreats for names like Best Buy and Home Depot. But the online strategy also carries its own risks.  

With America ready to start its annual rain-gutter cleaning and shrub-pruning spree, Ace Hardware is going back to its roots with a new marketing campaign, resurrecting a 15-year-old jingle and a tone that is just a tad more neighborly. Ace - a retailer-owned hardware cooperative that has long positioned itself as the more helpful alternative to rivals Lowe's and Home Depot -- is introducing "Meet the Aces," which replaces the two-year-old "Take back your weekend" campaign.