Retail

  Bloomberg After years of Amazon.com Inc. drubbing Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in e-commerce, the brick-and-mortar chain is beginning to push back. Wal-Mart posted its third straight quarter of double-digit online growth, which helped its holiday results top estimates. The world’s largest retailer is benefiting from last year’s acquisition of Jet.com, a $3.3 billion deal that reinvigorated a flagging e-commerce business ...

  Bloomberg Macy’s Inc. posted fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates as the company closes stores and cuts costs in a bid to cope with an industrywide slump. Profit was $2.02 a share, excluding some items, the Cincinnati-based company said. Analysts projected $1.96 on average. While same-store sales declined 2.1 percent, that was better than the 2.2 percent drop predicted ...

  Bloomberg McDonald’s Corp., reeling from an industrywide restaurant slump and slowing growth from its all-day breakfast push, is looking to beverages to help perk up the business. The world’s biggest food-service company, which last year focused its advertising on cheeseburgers and chicken sandwiches, plans to offer $1 sodas and $2 McCafe specialty drinks across the U.S. It’s turning to ...

  Bloomberg Telkom SA SOC Ltd. is considering a bid of as much as $1 billion for South African wireless operator Cell C Pty Ltd., which has missed debt payments and is trying to complete a recapitalization, according to three people familiar with matter. Investment banks are also approaching other potential bidders with the firepower to take on the deal, ...

  BENTONVILLE / AP Wal-Mart says fourth-quarter earnings fell nearly 18 percent, hurt by its investments in e-commerce and stores. But the world’s largest retailer saw its U.S. business accelerate during the period that covers the holiday shopping season. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said on Tuesday it earned $3.76 billion, or $1.22 per share in the three months ended Jan. ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business As Deliveroo, the growing on-demand food delivery company, celebrates four years in business, it reveals new figures that demonstrate how the platform is helping restaurants in the UAE win new customers and generate more revenue. With more than 800 restaurant partners in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, restaurant owners have reported a sustained growth in meal ...

  Bloomberg Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is teaming up with Shanghai Bailian Group Co., one of China’s largest supermarket and department store chains, as Jack Ma accelerates an effort to employ technology to shake up old-fashioned retail. Alibaba’s planning to help upgrade some of Bailian’s 4,700 stores across the country, integrating everything from customer relations to payment and logistics in ...

  Bloomberg As politicians and businesses wrestle with potential changes to UK border controls, one of the world’s largest online travel booking companies has decided to double its headcount in London, and it’s not alone in looking to expand. Expedia will expand its UK office by 138,000 square feet, or to roughly twice the size of its existing space, and ...

  Bloomberg Steinhoff International Holdings NV and Shoprite Holdings Ltd. ended talks to create Africa’s biggest retailer after negotiations with shareholders including billionaire Christo Wiese broke down over terms. Wiese, who is the biggest investor in both companies, South Africa’s Public Investment Corp. and Steinhoff were unable to reach agreement on the share-exchange ratio that would have been applied to ...

  AP Production workers at Boeing’s South Carolina plant have rejected an effort to unionize, maintaining Southern reluctance toward unionization and setting up a picture-perfect stop for President Donald Trump, who visits the facilities this week. Vote totals weren’t immediately available, but the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ lead organizer said it’s “the workers who dictate what happens ...