"Stores offer same-day delivery to compete with Amazon" by Shan Li at LA Times.  "The EBay Now pilot project was launched in August, partnering with the likes of Macy's, Target and Best Buy. Basically, a customer orders an item on a smartphone and an EBay "valet" personally delivers by the end of the day for a $5 fee. (The first three deliveries are free.) The service was expanded to New York last month.  "It was awesome," said Kling, 30. "I'm normally addicted to online shopping, but it literally took just 30 minutes from when I ordered the Nexus to [...]

    "Wal-Mart, Kroger among Hostess bidders: report" at Reuters.  "Hostess Brands Inc, the bankrupt Twinkie and Wonder Bread maker, has received bids for assets being sold by about two dozen parties including Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Kroger Co, according to a media report on Thursday.  Some of the bidders are interested in acquiring all of the Hostess assets, while others are just focused on its cake or breads businesses, said the report by Bloomberg, which cited a person familiar with the matter."  https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/13/us-hostess-walmart-idUSBRE8BC1F120121213   "US giant Lowe's seeks to reassure Woolworths (Australia)" at Business Spectator.  "United States hardware giant [...]

  "Walmart CEO Mike Duke Shares His Biggest Regret" by Ashley Lutz at Business Insider.  "When Dan Doctoroff, the president of Bloomberg LP, asked Duke his biggest regret, he said:  "When I look back, I wish we had moved faster. We've proven ourselves to be successful in many areas, and I simply wonder why we didn't move more quickly. This is especially true for e-commerce. Right now we're making tremendous progress, and the business is moving, but we should have moved faster to expand this area."  https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-ceo-shares-his-biggest-regret-2012-12#ixzz2Et0a4mUz   "Costco profit jumps despite light membership fee growth" at Reuters.  "Sales at [...]

  Walmart Economic and Customer Trends Report - Q3 2012.  Highlights: Tradeoff between diaper and baby cream sales signals we're still in difficult economic times according to Walmart's unconventional "Diaper Rash Indicator... "Diaper Rash Indicator:  In at attempt to save money in down economic times, parents with children in diapers try to save costs by cutting back on diaper changings.  At the same time sales of baby cream, related to Junior's increase in diaper rashes, builds.  Parents, in effect, are trading more expensive diapers for less expensive baby cream" "Walmart's internal analyses confirms that household discretionary spending has yet to [...]

  "Sea Bass With Barbie Dolls Challenge Wal-Mart in China" at Bloomberg News (Video and Text).  "Shelves stacked to the ceiling with low-price hot sauce, Barbie dolls, and noodles stand near tanks where shoppers can fish out live sea bass for dinner. Welcome to RT-Mart, China’s version of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.   From Shanghai to Chengdu, the outlets run by China’s largest big-box retailer, Sun Art Retail Group Ltd. are recreating American-style Wal-Marts, with one big difference: They’re giving them the feel of local street markets with hairy crabs laid on table tops and discounted hot-pot ingredients. That formula has helped [...]

  "Target CMO: Content and Mobile Matters More Than Campaigns" by Mark Miller in Brand Channel (Video and Text).  "“In the past, marketers would make campaigns, they would put them in the world, and they would wait to see what happened,” Jones said in a video released on the brand's A Bullseye View website and YouTube channel. “In today’s world, it happens hourly. It happens daily. And this is a brand that has such enriched deep content that our guests want to hear from us on. So if we can create content and share content and allow our guests to [...]

  "Target Pushing Into Media Business; Retailer selling inventory on Target.com via PubMatic-powered private ad marketplace" By Tim Peterson in AdWeek.  "Target’s private marketplace operates similarly to others that retailers like Best Buy and Amazon have erected recently. For example, a user may visit Target.com and check out its high-def TVs. As that user navigates to other parts of Target’s site, a brand like Sony or Samsung could run ads aimed at that user promoting their TVs—provided they are sold by Target.  But the ads don't have to pertain so closely to a specific product category. Adweek encountered a Subaru [...]

  "Lowe’s still yearns for larger market share in Canada" by Ken Elkins in Charlotte Business Journal.  "On Wednesday, Robert Niblock, Lowe’s chief executive, told analyst and investors he would like to have at least 100 Lowe’s stores in Canada.  “There are other ways to attain scale in Canada,” he says. The company dropped its $1.8 billion offer for Rona when Rona's board of directors rebuffed the proposal."  https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/outside_the_loop/2012/12/lowes-still-yearns-for-larger-market.html   "Rogers and Wal-Mart to launch magazine (in Canada)" by Susan Krashinksy in The Globe and Mail.  "In April, Rogers will launch Walmart Live Better, a new 100-page glossy magazine that [...]