Adam Blair

Retailers are all about putting customers first nowadays, and with the holiday gift-giving season upon us, Walmart is doing just that. In an effort to make gift unwrapping as joyful as possible, the retailer is joining Amazon to promote "rage-free" packaging for a number of its non-food products, according to Business Week. Both companies are putting pressure on suppliers to eliminate excessive and cumbersome packaging materials, such as hard plastic casings enclosing electronics and wire ties used to secure toys to cardboard backings. In addition to being more environmentally friendly, the push can improve supply chain efficiency and customer

Chico's FAS signed an agreement to license the Test & Learn Management System from Applied Predictive Technologies (APT). After a pilot that examined a range of Chico's promotional strategies, the retailer chose the system to help it make more strategic marketing decisions. "In the highly competitive and fast-moving world of apparel retail, there is need for in depth testing and analysis in a controlled environment," says Todd Vogensen, vice president of financial planning and strategy at Chico's. "We have seen how APT's solution is able to rapidly design and test high-impact ideas before rolling them out to the entire

Luxury retailer Coach launched its first U.S. mobile commerce site, a comprehensive guide to everything customers want and more. Built to give consumers an enhanced brand experience wherever they may be, the site offers users the same upscale shopping experience and efficiency as the traditional website in the palm of their hands.

Build-A-Bear Workshop is using ChannelAdvisor's solutions to transform its original print catalogs into interactive online sales tools, boosting the make-your-own stuffed animal retailer's online presence.