The long-awaited move from traditional magnetic stripe credit cards to cards equipped with computer chips has been touted as a safer, more secure method of payment for consumers. But a top executives at the country’s largest retailers says all the hype surrounding the new cards will likely be a security letdown without the use of PIN requirements. [More]
Retail Services
Police: Kmart Shopper Left Bathroom Deposit In Box Of Store Security Tags
By 4.2.15
If there are aliens out there scanning our world’s media reports, at this point I’m terribly afraid they think humans don’t now how to dispose of their waste properly — from public bike paths to parked cars, we’re just a mess. In yet another instance of presumably otherwise functioning adults, police say a woman did her bathroom business in a box of security tags at a Kmart store in Wisconsin. Sigh. [More]
Walmart, Pathmark, A&P, Waldbaum’s Bring Up Rear In Latest Supermarket Survey
By 4.2.15
Walmart may still be the nation’s most shopped-at supermarket chain, but it’s far from the most beloved. In fact, in the latest ratings of 68 supermarket chains published by our colleagues at Consumer Reports, Walmart had the worst satisfaction score from readers. [More]
NFL Linebacker Files $20M Lawsuit Against Bank Of America For Alleged Fraud
By 4.1.15
When looking to manage one’s money, it wouldn’t be unusual to seek advice from the financial professionals at one of the country’s largest banks. But an NFL linebacker says his decision to rely on Bank of America to manage his finances cost him millions of dollars and led to the closing of his budding restaurant business. [More]
High-End Online Retailers Net-A-Porter, Yoox Officially Tie The Knot
By 3.31.15
It seems like just yesterday we were dreaming of a mega-luxury online retail platform where we could buy all the designer brands our wallets will never be able to afford. That’s probably because it was one day ago that reports began to swirl that online merchants Yoox and Net-A-Porter were thinking of merging to create one big high-end shopping destination on the interwebs. [More]
Best Buy Closes Future Shop Stores, Will Turn Half Into Best Buys
By 3.30.15
Future Shop is the best name ever given to an electronics retailer, and also a chain in Canada that for the last 14 years has been owned by Best Buy. Best Buy also operates stores in Canada, which means that Future Shop has really been competing with itself. Until now. All of Future Shop’s current stores closed abruptly this weekend, and half will soon re-open as Best Buy stores. [More]
Net-A-Porter In Deal Talks With Online Retailer Yoox
By 3.30.15
Amazon’s foray into the luxury apparel business may be over before it even began. Just a week after reports surfaced that the company was in talks to buy high-end retailer Net-a-Porter for $2 billion, the smaller company confirmed it’s seeking a possible deal with someone else. [More]
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Amazon Officially Launches Program Connecting Customers To Local Service Providers
By 3.30.15
Amazon’s quest to touch every aspect of consumers’ lives continued today as the company rebranded and officially launched a program connecting customers with local service providers for repairs, installations or other jobs around the house. [More]
Chemotherapy Patient Says Walmart Employees Mocked Her In Restroom
By 3.30.15
A Louisiana woman who had recently completed chemotherapy treatment and who underwent a double mastectomy last summer claims that Walmart employees laughed at her in the store bathroom after confusing her with a man. [More]
Lululemon’s New Anti-Ball-Crushing Pants Are A Huge Hit
By 3.30.15
If any athletic wear company knows about the importance of paying attention to their customers’ genitals, it’s Lululemon. The company lost much of its leadership and annoyed a lot of people over a 2013 fiasco involving pants that were inexplicably translucent in the crotch area. Now the company has found success by explicitly marketing a new line of pants for men for their non-testicle-crushing properties. [More]
Amazon Reportedly In Talks To Purchase Luxury Online Retailer Net-A-Porter
By 3.27.15
Amazon appears to be on the cusp of its largest purchase ever with the potential purchase of luxury online retailer Net-a-Porter. [More]
Americans Losing Taste For Artificial Sweeteners, Pepsi Retakes #2 Sales Spot
By 3.26.15
Recently released data about the beverage industry tells us some interesting things. Plain old high fructose corn syrup-laden Coke is the top-selling soda in the United States, but its calorie-free cousin has to give up its silver medal: Regular Pepsi is now the #2 seller out of all fizzy non-alcoholic drinks, following an overall trend against diet sodas. [More]
Walmart Would Really Rather Not Pay That $151M That Court Says It Owes Employees
By 3.26.15
For more than a decade, Walmart has been fighting to avoid paying $151 million in damages to more than 187,000 current and former employees in Pennsylvania for regularly compelling them to work without proper compensation. And even though the state’s highest court recently affirmed that penalty, the retailer isn’t ready to hand over that money just yet. [More]
5 Costco Kirkland Signature Products May Be Just As Good As Name Brands
By 3.26.15
Costco members know they can often get a decent price on name-brand kitchen staples by shopping in bulk at the warehouse store. But if you’ve been ignoring the company’s store-brand Kirkland Signature line of products, you might be passing up on a chance to save even more without sacrificing quality. [More]
Amazon Expands One-Hour Prime Now Deliveries To Dallas
By 3.26.15
The list of cities in which consumers can get one-hour delivery service on a plethora of products like paper towels, shampoo, books, toys and other essential everyday times from Amazon now includes Dallas. The company’s Prime Now, which already services Miami, Baltimore and New York City, is available to customers enrolled in Amazon Prime, which costs $99 a year and comes with free two-day shipping on thousands of items. [Amazon] [More]
Walmart Entices Shoppers To Try Online Grocery Pickup With Discounts
By 3.25.15
Does the idea of placing an online grocery order at Walmart and then simply visiting the store to pick it up appeal to you? Walmart is now experimenting with a few pilot stores where you can do just that, and now they’re experimenting with special discounts to get customers to try it out. [More]
Toys ‘R’ Us Can’t Beat Discounters On Price, Invites Everyone Over For Play Dates
By 3.24.15
Toys ‘R’ Us has a problem: they’re a specialty store that people love, but they must compete with mega-discounters like Walmart and online vendors like Amazon on price. When they can’t do that and still make money, how are they to survive? The company’s new idea: get kids in the door by creating an experience, not just a place to buy toys. [More]
Amazon’s Streaming Gaming Service Twitch Says It Might Be The Latest Victim Of A Data Breach
By 3.24.15
The long list of data breaches got a bit longer on Monday after Amazon-owned game streaming company Twitch determined hackers may have gained unauthorized access to some users’ account information. [More]
