Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart is closing the Moscow office it opened just a few years ago, saying it no longer wants to build an operation in Russia from scratch, though it remains open to acquisition possibilities.
We’ve all been there — navigating a site, filling up our shopping cart with holiday presents, clicking “checkout” in excitement, and then it hits us — a big shipping fee. Suddenly, Grandpa’s new slippers don’t seem like such a bargain.
One of the greatest benefits of item-level tagging for retailers is perpetual inventory management. With the increased visibility into inventory afforded by tagging, retailers have greater efficiency and accuracy in order processing based on an increased knowledge of what's in stock.
While Black Friday has long been viewed as the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season, getting the frenzy started on Thanksgiving is a rather new development. A development that I find sad.
Wal-Mart reported a 9.3 percent increase in profit for its fiscal third quarter on Tuesday, but said an important measure of U.S. sales fell as customers of the retail giant continue to watch their spending.
Retail stocks rose after the Commerce Department reported the biggest monthly retail sales increase since March, giving an encouraging note as the industry readies for its biggest selling period.
Wal-Mart Purchasing Chief Hernan Muntaner has a dream: teaming the giant retailer with soda and snack maker Pepsi to buy potatoes jointly for a lower price than either company can get on its own. That would allow both to earn more money on the chips and spuds they sell in Wal-Mart's supermarkets. So far, Pepsi isn't playing along.
Starting today, Walmart plans to offer free shipping on its website, with no minimum purchase on almost 60,000 gift items, including many toys and electronics. The offer will run through Dec. 20, when Walmart said it might consider other free-shipping deals.
While Wal-Mart and Target fight over toys, retail consultant Howard Davidowitz says the outcome of their battle will be decided in the electronics section, not the toy aisle.