Retail

Bloomberg When it comes to online orders this Christmas, US consumers are spending more than ever before. Shoppers shelled out a record $110.6 billion online between November 1 and December 19, about $17 billion more than in the same period last year, data from Adobe Analytics show. Half of website traffic this year came from shoppers on the go using …

Bloomberg It wasn’t that long ago that retailers looking for space at shopping centres would get paperwork only for a multiyear lease. These days mall land-lord Macerich Co. is offering 180 days. Last month, Macerich launched BrandBox, a leasing programme that allows online sellers to dip their toes into the bricks-and-mortar universe with a temporary pop-up store. The first one, …

Bloomberg Black Friday gave UK retailers an unexpected boost in the run-up to the key Christmas trading period. The volume of goods sold in stores and online jumped 1.4 percent in November, the most in six months, following two months of declines. An increase of just 0.3 percent was forecast in a Bloomberg survey. Office for National Statistics says increase …

Bloomberg Puma’s latest contribution to the world of retro footwear — or is it the wearable tech movement? — is a revamped 32-year-old sneaker with computers in its heels. The German company is selling a refurbished version of its 1986 RS-Computer shoe, which presaged an era in which athletes use gadgets to keep track of steps taken, distances covered and …

Bloomberg Ceconomy AG, Europe’s biggest consumer-electronics retailer, eliminated its dividend and warned that earnings will decline another year in the retail industry’s latest disaster. The stock fell as much as 16 percent to a record low as the departure of Chief Financial Officer Mark Frese leaves the company facing a leadership void. The 54-year-old executive, who has been helping to …

Bloomberg Williams-Sonoma Inc. sued Amazon.com Inc. in a case that challenges the online retailer’s private label push that started with batteries, baby wipes and phone chargers and has expanded to include clothing, toys and high-end furniture. Amazon’s “Rivet” line includes products that are “strikingly similar” to Williams-Sonoma’s West Elm brand, including a $300 orb chair the household goods maker introduced …

Bloomberg Bonds of UK retailers extended declines as the industry’s crisis deepens in the run-up to the Christmas holiday. New Look Retail Group Ltd.’s 700 million pounds ($886 million) of notes due in July 2022 fell for a 16th day to about 46 pence, the lowest in six months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The British fashion chain is …

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc.’s shadow looms large over most US retailers this holiday season, but the online giant could prove to be bright spot for Best Buy Co. Two of the top five best-selling televisions on Amazon are models sold on Best Buy’s new storefront on Amazon, which the companies unveiled over the summer. The TVs come equipped with Amazon’s Fire …

Bloomberg Lego A/S wants to make sure any plastic toy figurine unwrapped in an American home during the holidays isn’t what the toymaker calls a copycat of its own products. The Danish toymaker is asking a federal judge in Connecticut to prevent Zuru Toys Inc. from selling some of its Max Build More and Mayka lines of construction toys at …

Bloomberg Burberry Group Plc Chief Executive Officer Marco Gobbetti and star designer Riccardo Tisci may be the saviors who finally deliver on the UK trench-coat maker’s long-promised turnaround. Analysts aren’t buying it yet. Burberry is running neck and neck with Hermes International for the dubious distinction of being the lowest ranked by analysts among Europe’s 10 biggest luxury and apparel …