Steadily improving economic fundamentals should moderately boost holiday sales in the stores and online this year, according to Deloitte's annual holiday sales forecast.

Global e-commerce platform Alibaba recently made headlines with its record-setting New York initial public offering, the largest ever in the United States. The company's aggressive growth aspirations are rooted in the success it has seen in its home country of China, where it is one of the biggest retail players. Alibaba is the Amazon of the Chinese marketplace without equal competition. But how will the company fare in its expansion in the U.S.?

After the massive data breaches that have plagued retailers from Target to Home Depot in recent years, a new study shows that retail is the most compromised industry in terms of data security.

European retailers are increasingly adopting multi-carrier delivery strategies in response to the growing importance of delivery as the final and most critical mile in the consumer journey, according to a Forrester Research survey conducted for MetaPack Group, which provides ecommerce and multichannel delivery technology to retailers.

Newgistics, which provides end-to-end e-commerce solutions for retailers and brands, announced the international expansion of its parcel delivery and return services. This new offering helps to reduce the costs of cross-border delivery and make it easier for U.S. retailers to access and begin selling into the largest markets overseas, including the U.K., Europe, Asia, Australia, Russia, China and South America.

While numerous retailers have collected years of customer data, only 9 percent are leveraging the information in a structured, usable way, according to HRC Advisory (HRC), a strategic retail advisory firm and unit of Hilco Global.