Competitive Strategies

U.S. retail sales for March decreased 8.7% from February, according to figures released by the Census Bureau. One bright spot was a 28% increase in sales at food and beverage stores from March 2019. Clothing and clothing accessories store sales were down 50.7%.Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) said it is supporting …

JPMorgan Chase & Co., parent company of the nation’s biggest bank-owned merchant acquirer, managed to pull off a 5% increase in processing volume in the first quarter despite the restrictions on economic activity that took force in many states in the second half of March to control the Covid-19 pandemic. …

With restaurants in most major markets across the country forced to shut down on-premise dining because of the Covid-19 outbreak, online ordering, takeout, and delivery services are suddenly in the spotlight as local restaurants and other small, independent establishments grasp at technology to stay alive. That’s an immediate opportunity for …

EBay Inc. named former Walmart Inc. executive Jamie Iannone chief executive officer, effective April 27. Iannone, who will succeed interim CEO Scott Schenkel, most recently served as chief operating officer of Walmart eCommerce and was at one time chief executive of SamsClub.com. EBay indicated earlier this year it has plans to …

Visa Inc. is urging e-commerce merchants still using Adobe Inc.’s Magento 1 platform to upgrade to the newer Magento Commerce 2.3 because Magento will stop supporting Magento 1 at the end of June. Merchants continuing to use the older platform will fall out of compliance with the Payment Card Industry …

More consumers appear to be keeping their credit cards in their wallets when they shop. Credit union service organization PSCU says its data show that overall credit card spend among consumers who use credit and debit cards issued by credit unions working with PSCU is down 29.3% for the week …

The Internal Revenue Service has begun sending $1,200 stimulus payments to individuals as provided for under the CARES Act. Payments are first going to about 60 million persons for whom the IRS has bank-account information, making direct deposit possible. Others will receive checks. The process is expected to take until April 20, …

The screeching slowdown in consumer spending caused by efforts to stem the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has hit U.S. small businesses particularly hard, but there are some bright spots, according to the Electronic Transactions Association and merchant-acquiring research and consulting firm The Strawhecker Group. The survey of more than …

Fraud prevention firm Kount Inc. released a weekly tracker of e-commerce purchase trends. In mid-March it showed that U.S. online sales of home office furniture and electronics increased 54%.Installment payments provider Klarna Bank AB said data from consumer use of its shopping app shows that e-commerce purchases are shifting to health and beauty and …

The Covid-19 crisis is making cobranded travel credit cards less valuable.  Demand for travel has taken a nosedive amid flight restrictions to international destinations, mandatory stay-at-home orders, and rising alarm over the coronavirus pandemic. Airlines have had to cancel flights and ground thousands of aircraft. Airline lounges and hotels have …