Startup and Amazon challenger Jet.com has massively expanded its inventory of home furnishings, acquiring ecommerce seller Hayneedle for an undisclosed sum. The move adds millions of new items like patio furniture and pet supplies to a Jet.com inventory that is heavily skewed toward everyday consumer goods.
J.C. Penney posted strong Q4 and 2015 numbers, citing omnichannel tactics as a big part of its continuing turnaround, in a period when competitors stumbled. The return of popular private-label brands and the recent addition of appliances by customer demand are evidence that the company has been responsive to what shoppers want. Learn more about the retailer’s recent performance.
Wayfair Inc.announced the release of its first full spectrum catalog featuring furniture and décor for every room of the house. See what plans Wayfair has in place for its catalog.
Target hit on a winning combination of free shipping and omnichannel operations to grow its digital sales a healthy 34% in Q4, while same-store sales grew just 1.9%. In addition, 30% of its digital sales were either from buy online, pickup in store or ship-from-store transactions. See how Target got it done in 2015, especially during the critical holiday season.
In a move aimed at better understanding the inner workings of the same-day delivery model, UPS has purchased a stake in crowdsourced delivery startup Deliv. Just how UPS will leverage this relationship and what it learns remains to be seen, but it surely has its eye on the burgeoning same-day delivery space, including competitor FedEx’s service for Neiman Marcus and others.
In a move surely designed to boost the already burgeoning rolls of Prime membership, Amazon has announced a change to its free shipping policy, raising the order threshold for the service to $49 for those without a $99 per year Prime subscription. The threshold had been orders of $35 or more.
Former Borderfree executives Michael DeSimone and Kris Green have taken on leadership roles at iguama, a Latin American online cross-border mall featuring popular U.S. brands and products. Read why DeSimone and Green are high on the start-up marketplace, and the Latin America market.
Three years after having its acquisition of TNT snagged on EU regulatory concerns, UPS has filed an appeal of the FedEx-TNT deal. Will this latest move hang up the $4.8 billion deal for its main rival, announced last April? Stay tuned for the next installment.
Nordstrom told analysts its ecommerce sales and omnichannel operations are performing well, but acknowledged the gains are coming at a significant cost. See where the costs are hitting, and some of the steps the company is taking to address them and recover losses in profitability.
Singles Day in China – November 11 – was an eye-opener for the naysayers. Alibaba announced that USD $14.3 billion of gross merchandise volume, and JD.com saw its number of orders increase by 130%, and an increase in GMV of more than 140%. Here’s a look at 6 U.S.-based merchants who took advantage of Singles Day 2015 in China, and totally nailed it.