Walmart created its global e-commerce group two years ago, and the company's online revenues now total $9bn. But the retailer clearly sees room for growth.

A victim mentality seems to be sweeping through the retail industry. Every day, good retail organizations make horrible decisions (or, in some cases, do not make a decision) that even they know will have a long-term negative impact on their business.

Is updating your digital signage with a mobile device really such a good idea? That's the question raised by the recent announcement that Swedish retail giant ICA will begin using mobile apps next month for making changes to its in-store signs.

LogicSource, a procurement services and technology firm specializing in printed materials and related commodities, has made a number of enhancements to its OneMarket Technology Suite of software applications.

Robert Gifford, executive vice president of global logistics with Ingram Micro, walks us through the past, present and future of global supply chains. He also discusses how his own company is positioning itself to cope with change.

Facebook is becoming prime real estate for small retailers rather than the mega-mall that the big chains had hoped it would be. Second-quarter profits from Facebook stores were up 38 percent from the first quarter for the 180,000 small to mid-sized retailers, and have been going strong ever since, says e-commerce company Ecwid, which makes store-building software to work across social-media platforms and Web sites.

Deloitte is forecasting holiday sales will increase between 3.5 percent and 4 percent as the economy's health and the presidential election take center stage among consumers this fall.

Staples announced a strategic growth plan that will accelerate the growth of its online businesses, restructure its internal organization and reduce its retail square footage in North America by 15 percent by the end of fiscal 2015. The retailer projects these changes will produce approximately $250m in pre-tax cost savings during this period.

Your customer service representative answers a call from an irate customer. "This darn thing I bought just doesn't work!" he exclaims. "I've tried and tried to get help from your service folks, but they're always late and they can't fix it either. I've had it with you guys. I want my money back!" Big Data can help you retain that customer.

The retail industry may be transitioning to a "post-modern" consumer-centric era triggered by the speed of technological advancements, globalization and hyper-competition, both online and offline, according to a new report from PwC US and Kantar Retail, titled Retailing 2020.