Merchant

Retailers should focus on creating a premium experience for a broad range of customers, writes Tom Caporaso, CEO of Clarus Commerce.

Mobile commerce must support larger and more complex shopping categories to take the next step, and some companies are looking to enable this through alternative financing.

Global payments technology provider ScanSource has agreed to purchase POS Portal, a payment device supplier to the small-business market, for $145 million.

After two years of getting its footing in the U.S. and South American markets, Poynt is ready to expand into Europe.

The online small-business lender has also announced the hiring of a new U.S. head of capital markets.

More e-commerce and multi-channel merchants are accepting payments from mobile devices, even though they haven't addressed all of the security gaps inherent to the technology.

Apple's plans to display a bright blue bar on iPhone screens when an application is monitoring the user's location may feel like a threat to location-based marketing. More likely, it is an overdue wake-up call for retailers and banks to improve their communication about the benefits of location data.

Not content to have Amazon and Walmart steal all the thunder, Target has begun a pilot of a grocery delivery service called “Restock,” with terms that are designed specifically to make its rivals look slower and more expensive.

For years, Amazon.com Inc. was the go-to place for online merchants. Increasingly, however, the e-commerce behemoth has competition for the hearts and minds of millions of mom and pops.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. will invest another $1 billion to raise its stake in online mall Lazada Group SA to 83 percent, securing control of a fast-growing startup at the vanguard of its Southeast Asian expansion.