Mexican consumers have been hit harder than their U.S. counterparts by the downturn since 2008, but they are more optimistic about their country's prospects than their neighbors to the north are. Their attitudes are of key importance to consumer packaged goods and retail companies.

In the past, when employees at T-Mobile Austria's stores began each work day, one of the first tasks performed involved updating prices and other product details. Workers printed and cut out paper labels, both before store hours and again during lunch breaks. Thanks to the installation of RFID-based electronic shelf labels from ZBD Solutions, the staff has reduced that labor time by approximately 40 percent.

Johnson and Johnson, owner of personal care brands Aveeno, Neutrogena and Clean and Clear, says it will remove a number of potentially harmful chemicals, including formaldehyde, from its line of adult consumer products by the end of 2015.

China's retailers, already struggling because of an economic slowdown, got another jolt of bad news when Wal-Mart Stores announced recently it had finally received Chinese government approval for a proposal to buy a majority stake in Yihaodian, a Shanghai company that is a leader in the country's booming online retail industry.

Officials at CaseStack, Inc. says its facility in Scranton, Pa., has expanded its Wal-Mart Stores consolidation program to include all 42 of the retailer's regional distribution centers.

Jim Crowell, director of the Supply Chain Management Research Center at the University of Arkansas, demonstrates why on-shelf availability is a critical metric for retailers.

Newgistics Inc., a vendor of small-parcel delivery, returns-management and freight-shipping services, has acquired AtLast Fulfillment, a Colorado-based provider of fulfillment and warehousing services.

On July 25th Lenovo, a Chinese computer firm, announced a deal to sponsor the National Football League. The PC maker has come a long way since 1984, when it was founded by 11 engineers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences who wanted to supplement their meager stipends.

The U.S. Department of Commerce says it will impose tariffs on some imported appliances from South Korea and Mexico after it determined that some products are being dumped on the U.S. market.