Wal-Mart

Despite various short-lived efforts over the years, most retail shopping carts are impressively low tech. However, a new patent issued to Wal-Mart paints a futuristic vision, with carts driving themselves from the parking lot right to the customer who called for it. If the patent is granted and Wal-Mart chooses to manufacture and deploy the carts, shoppers…

Wal-Mart has joined the list of tone-deaf companies using the upcoming anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks to sell products. At a store in Panama City Beach, Florida, a display was built out of soda to resemble the towers and above it, a message read: “We Will Never Forget.” Upset consumers took to Twitter to…

The growth of online marketplaces is one of the hottest trends in the retail industry. Listen in as Neel Grover, chairman of the board at Bluefly, shares why he thinks marketplaces are the next big thing for retailers. To listen to the full session, "More Than Just Amazon: Why Marketplaces Are an Increasingly Popular Option for Retailers…

Wal-Mart's court fight to sell liquor at its stores in Texas looks to be back on track, but the courtroom is getting crowded. A federal appeals court is allowing a trade group representing liquor store operators to join a stalled federal lawsuit that the nation's largest retailer filed against the Texas agency that hands out permits to…

A trio of experts, including Joe Megibow, president of Joyus; Matt Kennedy, senior director of digital marketing, Wal-Mart; and Bob Bentz, author of “Relevance Raises Response: How to Engage and Acquire with Mobile Marketing,” answered a series of questions via email on how retailers are using mobile to better serve today’s always-connected consumers. (For some…

Jet.com pitches itself as a lower-priced alternative to Amazon.com, partly by not tacking on sales taxes in most states. But tax experts say Jet’s sale to retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. could jeopardize that price advantage by forcing it to collect taxes nationwide. A 1992 Supreme Court ruling allows retailers to avoid collecting sales taxes in states…

Wal-Mart will acquire e-commerce startup Jet.com in a $3 billion cash deal. The move is expected to help Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer become a powerhouse online shopping destination. The $3.3 billion price tag represents the most ever paid for an e-commerce company. Wal-Mart said it expects to receive regulatory approval for the deal, which…

As August approaches, the back-to-school (BTS) shopping season is on the minds of retailers everywhere. Recently, we covered Target’s college supply registry, which rolled out this year to capture some of the early BTS shopping dollars. However, according to our Shopper Insight Survey, 63 percent of BTS shoppers plan to do the majority of their…

Wal-Mart is getting a jump on Amazon Prime Day. From July 11 through July 15, Wal-Mart is offering a five-day period of free shipping with a selection of discounts. Amazon's much-hyped Prime Day begins July 12. Wal-Mart emphasized that its offer of free shipping with no minimum purchase is open to everyone, and it's for five…

Summer is well underway. In recent weeks, everyone has pulled out their lawn furniture, heated up their grills and dusted off those pool floats that haven’t been used since last year. As with any seasonal change, many likely find some items they no longer need and do a bit of cleaning. However, seasonal cleaning doesn’t…