Quentin Fottrell/Morningstar—Amazon’s (AMZN) app for iPhone this week added “Flow,” an image recognition tool designed to allow consumers to add a product to their shopping cart by merely pointing their phone’s camera at it. Flow–as its name suggests–aims to make it as seamless as possible to shop. MarketWatch carried out its own “showrooming” with the […]
Archives for 2014
Holiday Mediocrity a Sign of Things to Come?
The best numbers came from the Department of Commerce, which estimated that U.S. retail growth during the holiday season came in at 4.1% over 2012 sales. Other organizations released estimates that were a bit less robust: the National Retail Federation (NRF) reported 3.8% growth, the International Council of Shopping Centers checked in with 3.0%, and ShopperTrak announced that sales that were up 2.7%.
The Rougher Side of Sears
Sears Holding Corp., which includes both Sears and Kmart, has been experiencing declining sales since they merged in 2005. However, their holiday sales really raised some eyebrows, as the company reported an adjusted loss of somewhere between $811 and $914 million in 2013…
Sales tax holiday a boost for retailers
Justine Griffin/Sarasota Herald-Tribune—Following a relatively flat year for the retail industry and tepid back-to-school sales last August, Gov. Rick Scott’s proposal for an extended sales tax holiday in 2014 came as good news for retailers in Florida. The governor announced plans for a 10-day sales tax holiday as a part of his “It’s Your Money […]
Bargain Hunting in U.S. Spreads Christmas Coal to UPS
Jeff Green and Lindsey Rupp/Bloomberg BusinessWeek—The list of U.S. companies that didn’t get what they wanted for Christmas is growing. United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS:US) became the latest when it said yesterday that a crush of last-minute orders resulted in higher costs and lower-than-expected earnings. Earlier this week, Best Buy Co. said holiday sales fell, […]
J.C. Penney closing 33 stores, including Phillipsburg Mall location
Bill Landauer/The Morning Call—J.C. Penney Co. Inc. said Wednesday it will close 33 underperforming stores, including its Phillipsburg Mall location, and cut 2,000 jobs as part of its turnaround. About 50 people work at the Phillipsburg Mall store, which straddles Lopatcong and Pohatcong townships and is expected to close in early May. J.C. Penney, which […]
