Online marketplace GOAT was founded with the goal of making the sneaker resale market safe and hassle-free. Looking for ways to improve its mobile user experience, the company began boosting performance of its app through faster and more reliable content delivery.

After 14 years in Vancouver, name recognition wasn’t a problem for Body Energy Club in its home market. Opening its first U.S. store, a high-visibility Los Angeles location, brought challenges, though; founder Dominick Tousignant turned to a cloud-based customer loyalty program to help the health retailer stand out in a competitive field.

With stores concentrated in the southwestern United States, as well as Florida and Puerto Rico, utility bills constitute a significant portion of National Stores’ operating expenses. A new system eliminates the human factor, giving the company enterprise-level control of lighting and HVAC systems.

As one of a handful of approved vendors to the federal government, ibSupply.com has several distinct needs — requirements for listing vendors, for example, or the ability to search by part number. An updated system implemented last summer has been successful; the company has seen a 35 percent increase in revenue per search session.

While the road to consumer transparency is becoming easier, labels such as “organic” or “sustainable” can be confusing. A new product labeling system, created and developed by HowGood, rates products based on factors such as sustainability, ethical animal treatment and environmental impact.

Latte-lovers rejoice — La Colombe Coffee Roasters has released a draft latte. The drink is delivered in a can that froths the ingredients when it’s opened, making it the only cold latte that provides that characteristic texture and silky foam.

Planet Fitness wins the most market share of gym memberships with national brands, finds a new study by Market Force Information, though consumers prefer their local YMCA or YWCA over all over national gym chains.

The digital edition of STORES’ February/March 2017 issue is now available! The magazine is packed with must-read pieces including the articles featured here.

Americans will spend more than ever as they celebrate Easter nearly three weeks later this year than last. According to NRF’s annual survey, spending for the holiday is expected to reach $18.4 billion, a new all-time high in the survey’s 14-year history.

While most retailers agree that a seamless and consistent shopping experience across all channels is ideal, the approach to omnichannel retail varies. The latest NRF-FitForCommerce Omnichannel Retail Index benchmarks best practices like “buy online, pick up in store,” emailing receipts for in-store purchases and offering cross-channel gift cards.

It takes a cross-functional team to protect a company from cyber attacks. At NRF PROTECT, to be held in Washington, D.C., this June, hear how loss prevention and corporate security executive David Johnston has partnered with his IT security team to build Dunkin’ Brands’ cybersecurity program without slowing the growth of the company’s digital initiatives.

Macy’s Inc. and G-III Apparel Group Ltd. announced an agreement under which Macy’s will serve as the exclusive U.S. department store for sales of DKNY women’s apparel and accessories, beginning next February.

Jos. A. Bank has selected the Edgecase Product Intelligence Platform to create and optimize the retailer’s product data to deliver a more inspiring shopping experience for customers.

ParTech, a global provider of point-of-sale and workforce efficiency solutions to the restaurant and retail industries, announced that Salsarita’s Fresh Mexican Grill has deployed PAR’s cloud-based Brink POS Software and EverServ Terminals for 68 current locations, with plans to expand in 2017.

Shoppable content company Zmags has introduced ImageIQ, a new platform using Amazon Rekognition, part of Amazon Web Services’ artificial intelligence managed services, to analyze and optimize retailers’ digital experiences.

Food Lion Feeds’ Meal Madness, a social media competition among Food Lion’s 30 regional food bank partners, tips off this week, with the winning food bank receiving a $25,000 meal donation from the grocer’s hunger relief initiative. The multi-round competition will run through April 3, with fans of the participating food banks voting for their favorite food bank on Food Lion’s Facebook or Twitter pages to advance the food bank on in the tournament.