WALMART

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Virtual reality was the star of Walmart’s Store No. 8 inaugural innovation gala — an event that exhibited how the technology will shape retail shopping.

Store No. 8, Walmart’s technology incubator focused on ideas that will transform the future of commerce, held its first innovation gala on Wednesday. Store No. 8 works with startups that specialize in areas that include robotics, virtual and augmented reality, machine learning and artificial intelligence. This event however, gave put the spotlight on the value of VR.

NEW YORK — The Emerson Group last month hosted its 10th Annual Retail Industry Day in a packed room, with hundreds of merchants eager to discover how to better position their products for tomorrow’s ever-evolving consumer.

They weren’t disappointed.

PLANO, Texas — As Walmart looks to centralize its merchandising activity planning process and establish standard operating procedures for in-store service providers, it has named sales and marketing company Crossmark as one of its preferred service providers. With the selection, Crossmark is one of five companies that can execute merchandising activity on behalf of suppliers in nearly 5,000 U.S. Walmart locations.

Can other retailers find a comfortable — and profitable — niche in the marketplace, while Amazon.com and Walmart go toe-to-toe in their seemingly endless battle for retail supremacy?

The answer will not only define retail for the next generation or two, but also determine who will survive what many call the “new normal” in what is becoming a more complex and risky arena.

Walmart’s Shawn Townzen told a group of sales and marketing executives that his company’s buying teams are focusing on the ‘bigger picture” as the chain seeks to maintain momentum in an increasingly-complex retail arena.

Speaking in Bentonville, Ark. at a Mack Elevation thought leadership conference, Townzen, who is a VP and DMM, personal care, said that industry executives must align with Walmart’s philosophies and be ready to change on the go as the chain’s blueprint evolves.

SOLON, Ohio — ECRM has recognized nine retailers for their work in sourcing, merchandising and supplier collaboration as part of its second annual Merchant Team of the Year awards effort. The winners span 10 categories across the food, drug, mass and value channels.

PHILADELPHIA — The stark reality that reverberated with attendees of the Emerson Group's 10th annual Retail Industry Day was simple — within a short period the entire ecosystem of how consumers seek, source and acquire products will change. And that change will accelerate thanks in large part to the coming of age of a generation of consumers who have never experienced a world without Wi-Fi.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart is counting on the “connected customer” and strong e-commerce growth as its two competitive weapons in the ongoing digital retailing war.

Walmart has augmented its fiscal year 2019 guidance with an expectation that e-commerce sales growth in the United States will increase by a staggering 40% by 2019. Walmart also predicted that consolidated net sales will grow at or above 3%, driven by comp-sales and e-commerce growth.