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Wesfarmers Limited (ASX: WES) has entered into an agreement to acquire Homebase from Home Retail Group (LSE: HOME) for £340 million (A$705 million)¹. This follows the announcement on 14 January 2016 confirming that a conditional offer had been made to acquire Homebase. Homebase is the second largest home improvement and garden retailer in the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland. Homebase reported revenue of £1,461.2 million for the 12 months ended 29 August 2015 and currently has 265 stores.

Wesfarmers Managing Director Richard Goyder said the acquisition of Homebase provides a long-term value creation opportunity for Bunnings which will complement the strong growth trajectory of the Australian and New Zealand business.

“Bunnings is well placed to unlock value from the Homebase business and has a proven track record in delivering growth both organically and through acquisition,” Mr Goyder said. “Our offer provides significant execution certainty and an attractive cash consideration to Home Retail Group shareholders.

“The £38 billion UK home improvement and garden market is a large and growing market with strong fundamentals. The opportunity to enter this attractive market through the acquisition of Homebase has been comprehensively researched and carefully considered by Wesfarmers and Bunnings. The Bunnings team has done a lot of work to make sure it understands the market and the opportunity, including having visited hundreds of stores, spending significant time researching the market and closely studying international retail expansions into the UK and other markets. Detailed due diligence has been completed and implementation and improvement planning is well advanced.”

Due to early transformation activity, the acquisition is expected initially to have an immaterial effect on Wesfarmers’ earnings per share and return on equity. From the third year post acquisition, the acquisition is projected to be progressively accretive reflecting long-term growth prospects.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. & BOCA RATON, Fla. -Staples, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLS) and Office Depot, Inc. (Nasdaq: ODP) today announced that they intend to contest the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s decision to challenge the merger of the two companies. The companies were informed of the FTC’s decision earlier today.

The proposed acquisition would benefit customers, employees and shareholders, and the companies look forward to a full, impartial judicial review of the competitive effects of the transaction.

Staples and Office Depot will demonstrate that the FTC’s decision is based on a flawed analysis and misunderstanding of the intense competitive landscape in which Staples and Office Depot compete. In fact, the FTC’s decision to contest the merger contradicts its own unanimous ruling in the Office Depot – OfficeMax merger in 2013, in which the commission declared the market highly competitive. At the time, the FTC ruled that Staples and Office Depot face “strong competition” from “a host” of competitors. The office products landscape has grown even more competitive since then.

“This merger creates an unparalleled opportunity to better serve customers of Staples and Office Depot,” said Ron Sargent, chairman and chief executive officer, Staples. “The combined company would generate significant savings, and we’re committed to investing savings in lower prices for all customers. We’ll also use the savings to continue to invest in our people, technology and customer service.”

Roland Smith, chairman and chief executive officer, Office Depot said, “The combination of Staples and Office Depot is based on creating an organization able to compete in a vibrant market with strong regional players and powerful new national entrants. We are confident that this transaction is consistent with the 2013 FTC statement in the Office Depot-Office Max merger and intend to pursue legal options in order to complete this transaction.”

The acquisition is expected to generate more than $1 billion of net synergies over the three-year integration period as the combined company aggressively reduces global expenses and optimizes its retail footprint. The savings will dramatically accelerate Staples’ strategic reinvention, which is focused on driving growth in delivery businesses and in categories beyond office supplies.

The companies intend to show that the FTC underestimates the disruptive effect of new competitors in the digital economy and ignores the vigorous competition Staples faces from numerous competitors, including office products dealers, manufacturers selling office supplies direct to business customers, dealers in adjacent categories, cooperatives of regional players, Internet resellers, big-box chains and club stores.

Even though Staples and Office Depot disagree with the FTC’s interpretation of the competitive landscape, the companies proposed divesting more than $500 million in commercial business in an effort to complete the transaction and unlock tremendous value for shareholders and customers. The FTC rejected this solution, even though it would strengthen a national competitor, further enable a host of independent office products dealers, and help minority and woman-owned businesses compete for national commercial customers.

“This combination is good for customers. It’s good for shareholders, and it’s good for both companies,” Sargent said. “We intend to complete this transaction and to provide our customers with the lower prices and better service that they deserve.”

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) today reported a successful start to its Black Friday weekend, with unprecedented results on Target.com and a strong turnout in stores on Thanksgiving Day.

“Target got a head start going into Black Friday with the record-breaking launch of Adele’s new album and our ‘10 Days of Deals’ promotion. The momentum continued with our Black Friday presale, and on Thanksgiving, we saw millions of shoppers take advantage of great offers online and in our stores. Overall, the response from our guests has been very positive, with some of the best days we’ve seen on Target.com,” said Brian Cornell, Chairman of the Board and CEO Target, who greeted holiday shoppers at the Jersey City Target Store in New Jersey on Thanksgiving. “We expect to see the demand continue throughout the weekend and into December as we offer more savings on the year’s most popular gifts, including Star Wars and Apple products.”

“10 Days of Deals” and Black Friday Pre-Sale

Target’s “10 Days of Deals” began Sunday, Nov. 22, giving guests daily offers, including 10 percent off electronics and 20 percent off kitchenware. As part of the promotion, Target brought back the Black Friday pre-sale on Wednesday, Nov. 25. Sales were strong with the most popular items being Apple Watch and Apple iPads, Beats Solo 2 headphones, FitBit Charge HR and the Philips Sonicare 2 electric toothbrush.

Thanksgiving Day Access to Black Friday Sale

Guests were granted early access to nearly all of Target’s doorbusters on Target.com beginning Thanksgiving morning. Demand outpaced 2014’s record Thanksgiving performance, making it Target’s biggest day for online sales yet, driven largely by electronics.

Guests also continued to use the Order Pickup option at Target.com. Before 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving, the number of orders placed for in-store pick up increased by 35 percent as compared to 2014.

Top selling Black Friday items:

Apple iPads were top sellers in stores and online. On average, Target sold an iPad every second throughout the day on Thanksgiving. Apple Watch was especially popular in stores.
Gaming consoles were popular in stores and online, including Nintendo Wii U, which was the top selling item on Target.com.
TVs were one of most sought after items in stores— the 55” Westinghouse at $249.99 was Target’s top selling TV.
Movies were a big hit in stores with guests buying more than 3 million on Thanksgiving.
A three-foot stuffed teddy bear, priced at $10, was a surprise hit, with some stores selling out in minutes.
Top toys included LEGO, Barbie, Disney Princess and Star Wars. Target exclusives generated nearly one-third of Star Wars toy sales for the day.
Beats Solo 2 headphones were one of the top sellers on Target.com and in stores at $96.99 (reg. $199.99).
The Savings Continue—Spend $75, Get 20 Percent Off

Target’s “10 Days of Deals” continues through Tuesday, Dec. 1. Today, guests who spend $75 or more receive a 20 percent discount to use toward a future purchase on any day between Dec. 4 and Dec. 13. Additional offers include:

Saturday, Nov. 28: $50 off holiday shop purchase of $100 more
Sunday, Nov. 29: Buy two, get one free action figures and fashion dolls
Monday, Nov. 30: 15 percent off Target.com
Tuesday, Dec. 1: 25 percent off all beauty
As always, guests can use their REDcard for an additional five percent off on top of other discounts. Online shoppers can continue to take advantage of free shipping on Target.com through Dec. 25. And the 21 million savvy deal seekers who use Cartwheel will continue to find thousands of offers throughout the holiday season.

About Target
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) serves guests at 1,805 stores and at Target.com. Since 1946, Target has given 5 percent of its profit to communities, which today equals more than $4 million a week. For more information, visit Target.com/Pressroom. For a behind-the-scenes look at Target, visit Target.com/abullseyeview or follow @TargetNews on Twitter.

San Diego (November 23, 2015) – Petco Animal Supplies, Inc. (“Petco” or “the Company”), a leading specialty retailer of premium pet food, supplies and services, announced today that funds affiliated with CVC Capital Partners (”CVC”) and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (“CPPIB”) have entered into a definitive agreement to jointly acquire the Company from a group of investors led by TPG and Leonard Green & Partners (“LGP”) for approximately $4.6 billion. The acquisition is expected to close in early 2016.

Based in San Diego, Petco is a leading specialty retailer of premium pet food, supplies and services. The company operates more than 1,400 locations across the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico, along with one of the leading ecommerce platforms in the pet industry.

“We are very excited to partner with CVC and CPPIB to further drive our strategic goal of being the trusted partner of choice for pet parents,” said James M. Myers, Chief Executive Officer. “As the North American pet industry continues to grow, Petco is well positioned with a strong brand, differentiated engagement model, and omnichannel strategy. Both CVC and CPPIB have outstanding track records and deep retail experience and resources that will help support our growth initiatives.”

Myers continued, “I’d like to thank TPG and LGP for their long-standing partnership. We have grown significantly under their ownership, and built one of the industry’s leading pet specialty retailers.”

“Petco is clearly a leader in the industry, with strong further growth potential and a talented leadership team,” said Chris Stadler, CVC Managing Partner. “The pet category is a growing and dynamic space within which we believe Petco is ideally positioned to further enhance its leadership position. We look forward to working with our outstanding partners at CPPIB to support the company’s growth as it continues to execute its strategy and plans to capitalize on promising market opportunities.”

“This investment aligns well with CPPIB’s strategy to invest in leading retail businesses with strong omnichannel capabilities. Petco has a well-known brand and a strong position in the U.S. pet sector. The company has long-term relationships with leading pet food vendors and a significant presence in the fast growing e-commerce channel,” said Shane Feeney, Managing Director, Head of Direct Private Equity, CPPIB. “We look forward to working alongside one of our long-standing partners, CVC, to leverage our collective retail expertise in helping to build further value in the business.”

“We are so proud to have been part of Petco’s journey over a span of 16 years,” said Carrie Wheeler, Partner of TPG. “Petco has delivered incredible growth and results over our ownership period, and has positioned itself as a leading retailer in the pet industry that continues to define the category by finding new and innovative ways to serve its customers. We cannot thank the Petco team enough for their partnership, and wish them great success in this next chapter.”

“We are delighted to have been associated with the Petco team over many years of uninterrupted progress and success and we are tremendously appreciative of CEO Jim Myers and retired CEO & Chairman Emeritus, Brian Devine, and the rest of the Petco team for the outstanding job they’ve done for our investors,” said John G. Danhakl, Managing Partner of LGP. “We wish for and expect continued success for the entire Petco family supported by CVC and CPPIB, two of the best in our business.”

Goldman, Sachs & Co. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are acting as financial advisors to Petco. Ropes & Gray acted as legal counsel to Petco. Barclays, Citigroup and Moelis acted as lead financial advisors to CVC and CPPIB. Barclays, Citigroup, Royal Bank of Canada, Credit Suisse, Nomura and Macquarie provided committed debt financing to CVC and CPPIB. Gibson Dunn acted as legal counsel to CVC and CPPIB. CPPIB was also separately advised by Torys LLP. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions.

About Petco and the Petco Foundation
Celebrating 50 years of service to pet parents, Petco is a leading pet specialty retailer that focuses on nurturing powerful relationships between people and pets. We do this by providing the products, services, advice and experiences that keep pets physically fit, mentally alert, socially engaged and emotionally happy. Everything we do is guided by our vision for Healthier Pets. Happier People. Better World. We operate more than 1,400 Petco locations across the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico, including more than 120 Unleashed by Petco locations, a smaller format neighborhood shop; 10 Pooch Hotel destinations for pet daycare, boarding and spa services; prescription services and pet supplies from the leading veterinary-operated pet product supplier, Drs. Foster & Smith; and petco.com. The Petco Foundation, an independent nonprofit organization, has raised more than $125 million since it was created in 1999 to help promote and improve the welfare of companion animals. In conjunction with the Foundation, we work with and support thousands of local animal welfare groups across the country and, through in-store adoption events, help find homes for more than 400,000 animals every year.

About CVC
CVC Capital Partners is one of the world’s leading private equity and investment advisory firms. Founded in 1981, CVC today has a network of 24 offices and over 300 employees throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia. To date, CVC has secured commitments of over US$79 billion in funds from a diverse and loyal investor base, completing over 300 investments in a wide range of industries and countries across the globe, with an aggregate transaction value of over US$120 billion. For more information please visit www.cvc.com.

About CPPIB
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is a professional investment management organization that invests the funds not needed by the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) to pay current benefits on behalf of 18 million contributors and beneficiaries. In order to build a diversified portfolio of CPP assets, CPPIB invests in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income instruments. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, New York City and São Paulo, CPPIB is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm’s length from governments. At September 30, 2015, the CPP Fund totalled C$272.9 billion. For more information please visit www.cppib.com.

About TPG
TPG is a leading global private investment firm founded in 1992 with approximately $75 billion of assets under management and offices in San Francisco, Fort Worth, Austin, Dallas, Houston, New York, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Melbourne, Moscow, Mumbai, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. TPG’s investment platforms are across a wide range of asset classes including private equity, growth venture, real estate, credit and public equity. TPG aims to build dynamic products and options for its investors while also instituting discipline and operational excellence across the investment strategy and performance of their portfolio. Since the start of 2014, TPG has raised more than $18.6 billion for its investment funds and has launched six new products including Pace Holdings, TPG Real Estate Finance Trust (TRT) and TSL Europe. For more information visit www.tpg.com.

About Leonard Green & Partners
LGP is one of the nation’s preeminent private equity firms with over $15 billion of private equity capital raised since inception. Founded in 1989, the firm has invested in 78 companies in the form of traditional buyouts, going-private transactions, recapitalizations, growth capital investments, corporate carve-outs and selective public equity and debt positions. Based in Los Angeles, CA, LGP invests in established companies that are leaders in their markets. For more information, please visit www.leonardgreen.com.

CINCINNATI & MILAN – Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M), one of the premier retailers in the United States, and Luxottica Group S.p.A. (MTA:LUX; NYSE:LUX), a leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of fashion, luxury and sports eyewear, today announced an agreement to bring the LensCrafters optical retail experience to as many as 500 Macy’s department stores in the U.S. over the next three years.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151111005733/en/

The licensed department agreement builds on a successful relationship between the two companies that has resulted in the opening of approximately 670 of Luxottica’s Sunglass Hut locations within Macy’s stores to date. Together, Macy’s and Sunglass Hut have more than tripled the size of the sunglass business at Macy’s in the past six years. Using a proven model for success, LensCrafters, a leader in quality eye care, will now be the exclusive optical retailer of Macy’s and the first optical retail brand to expand nationally in a major department store. Macy’s will be the exclusive department store host of LensCrafters shops.

LensCrafters will open its first new Macy’s location in April of 2016, with the goal of opening approximately 100 locations by the end of next year. The stores will feature a new design concept created specifically for Macy’s customers, offering top fashion and luxury eyewear from brands including Ray-Ban, Oakley, Prada and Armani. Each department will be staffed by a LensCrafters affiliated optometrist, offer the industry’s most advanced eye care equipment and leverage the brand’s existing lab network to ensure the highest level of service. Macy’s 35 million customers will have access to the broadest assortment of premium frames, along with a unique in-store digital experience that includes lens simulators and virtual try-on technology.

“We look forward to welcoming LensCrafters into Macy’s stores nationwide and to deepening our successful relationship with Luxottica,” said Jeff Gennette, president of Macy’s, Inc. “In particular, LensCrafters reinforces Macy’s commitment to the health and wellness of our customers. Eye health is critical to everyone’s personal well-being, and easy in-store access to LensCrafters optometrists, personalized service and fashionable product assortment dovetail well with Macy’s strengths. As with Sunglass Hut, LensCrafters will enhance the productivity of our stores and strengthen Macy’s as a shopping destination.”

“Macy’s and Luxottica have a successful history together. Our relationship is built around a shared mission of providing customers with the highest quality products, a passion for style and a broad brand portfolio able to meet diverse consumer choices,” said Adil Khan, CEO of Markets, Luxottica Group. “The optical retail industry has incredible growth potential in North America and we see this agreement as a long-term investment in our customers’ eyes. Macy’s has a highly-engaged, influential customer – we will serve them to the highest standard with an optical experience that is uniquely LensCrafters.”

Macy’s Inc.
Macy’s, Inc., with corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, is one of the nation’s premier retailers, with fiscal 2014 sales of $28.105 billion. The company operates about 900 stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico under the names of Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Bloomingdale’s Outlet, Macy’s Backstage and Bluemercury, as well as the macys.com, bloomingdales.com and bluemercury.com websites. Bloomingdale’s in Dubai is operated by Al Tayer Group LLC under a license agreement.

Luxottica Group S.p.A.
Luxottica is a leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of fashion, luxury and sports eyewear. Its portfolio includes proprietary brands such as Ray-Ban, Oakley, Vogue Eyewear, Persol, Oliver Peoples and Alain Mikli, as well as licensed brands including Giorgio Armani, Burberry, Bvlgari, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Michael Kors, Prada, Ralph Lauren, Tiffany and Versace. The Group’s global wholesale distribution covers 130 countries and is complemented by an extensive retail network of over 7,000 stores, with LensCrafters and Pearle Vision in North America, OPSM and LensCrafters in Asia-Pacific, GMO in Latin America and Sunglass Hut worldwide. In 2014 Luxottica posted sales of over 7.6 billion euro and had approximately 78,000 employees. More information available at www.luxottica.com.

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) today revealed its promotional strategy for Black Friday. The retailer will introduce a new “10 Days of Deals” promotion, offering deep daily discounts on electronics, kitchenware, toys and more from Nov. 22 through Dec. 1. As part of the “10 Days of Deals,” guests will have access to a Black Friday presale on Wednesday, Nov. 25.

“Black Friday continues to kick off the holiday shopping season for many guests. This year Target will open our doors at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving for the millions of families who make Black Friday in-store shopping part of their tradition. For those shopping from home, Target is once again making all of our Black Friday deals available on Target.com,” said Tina Tyler, Chief Stores Officer, Target. “In addition, we’re introducing ‘10 Days of Deals’ to offer a wide variety of compelling deals before, during and after Black Friday.”

Black Friday Doorbusters
For guests looking to create their shopping lists now, Black Friday deals are available to view starting today at Target.com/WeeklyAd. Again this year, Target will offer a handful of deals early to guests on Wednesday, Nov. 25. The deals that will be offered early will be available to view at Target.com/WeeklyAd on Sunday, Nov. 22.

Beginning early Thanksgiving morning, guests can shop all of Target’s Black Friday deals at Target.com or when doors open at 6 p.m. New this year, guests who spend $75 or more on Friday, Nov. 27, will receive a 20 percent discount to use toward a future purchase on any day between Dec. 4 and Dec. 13. Guests will find the lowest prices Target has ever offered on TVs and select gaming consoles. Additional Black Friday deals include:
•55” Westinghouse LED TV, $249.99, Reg. $599.99
•43” Element LED TV, Special Purchase $169.99
•Free $150 Target Gift Card when you buy an iPad Air 2
•Parrot Bebop Drone, $394.99, Reg. $499.99
•Xbox One Bundle, $299.99 with Gears of War digital game download ($39.99 Value) and a free $60 Target Gift Card, Reg. $349.99
•Free $100 Target Gift Card with purchase of any Apple Watch
•Beats Solo 2 Headphones, $96.99, Reg. $199.99
•Nikon CoolPix L340 digital camera, $99.99, Reg. $229.99
•GoPro Hero+LCD, $299.99 and a free $60 Target Gift Card and a free 64GB Lexar MicroSD card ($42.99 value)
•Fitbit Charge HR, $119.00, Reg. $149.99
•Dyson V6 Motorhead Cordless Vacuum, $249.99, Reg. $399.99
•40 percent off all apparel and accessories for women, men, kids and baby
•Buy one, get one 50 percent off select toys, including Star Wars, Hot Wheels, Thomas & Friends and more
•50 percent off top holiday home décor, including all frames and jar candles

One-Day Early Black Friday Access, Nov. 9
For eager shoppers who want to beat the rush, Target will offer a selection of Black Friday deals, today only, at Target.com/BlackFriday. The following deals, and more, will be available for purchase on Nov. 9:
•Beats Pill, $119.99 (Reg. $199.99)
•25 percent off all Beats Wireless Headphones
•Polaroid 9” Tablet, $49.99 (Reg. $79.99)
•RCA 8”Android Tablet, $39.99 (Reg. $99.99)
•25 percent off Apple TV
•RCA 10” Portable DVD Player, $54.99 (Reg. $99.99)
•Buy one, get one 50 percent off Melissa & Doug toys
•40 percent off STEM toys

Extended Holiday Hours
Target stores will open at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day to mark the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Stores will remain open until 11 p.m. or midnight on Friday evening. The retailer will offer extended store hours to meet guests’ holiday shopping needs:
•Thanksgiving Day, Nov 26: 6 p.m. – Friday, Nov. 27: 11 p.m. or midnight
•Dec. 19-23: All stores open 7 a.m. to midnight
•Dec. 24: All stores open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. or 11 p.m.
•Dec. 25: Closed
•Dec. 26: All stores open at 7 a.m. and close at 10 p.m., 11 p.m., or midnight

Target works closely with its team members to understand scheduling preferences for the holidays and compensates all hourly team members who work on a national holiday, including Thanksgiving, with pay equal to time-and-a-half their hourly rate. Also, all hourly team members who work certain shifts on Thanksgiving and Black Friday will receive additional compensation on top of holiday premium pay.

About Target
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) serves guests at 1,805 stores and at Target.com. Since 1946, Target has given 5 percent of its profit to communities, which today equals more than $4 million a week. For more information, visit Target.com/Pressroom. For a behind-the-scenes look at Target, visit Target.com/abullseyeview or follow @TargetNews on Twitter.

BENTONVILLE, Ark., In front of an audience of associates, suppliers and nonprofit organizations at its Global Sustainability Milestone Meeting, Walmart today announced the completion of commitments to reduce 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its global supply chain, double fleet efficiency, and expanded an existing commitment to preserve wildlife habitat. The company also highlighted major progress around a pledge to develop a sustainable food system: the completion of several food and nutrition commitments and receipt of an award from Partnership for a Healthier America for its work to open stores in food deserts.

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“Today we celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the launch of our sustainability agenda,” said Doug McMillon, president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. “We’re proud to recognize the progress we continue to make every day, and we’re excited about what we hope to accomplish in the next ten years and beyond. Our company has made major strides since we embarked on this journey, and our focus for the next decade will remain the same: doing the right thing for our customers, our communities, people working in the supply chain and the planet. Our approach to global responsibility not only makes sense for the environment, but it’s also good for our customers, and our business.”

A decade ago, Walmart’s then-CEO Lee Scott set forth three aspirational goals outlining the company’s support for environment and people worldwide:
1. To be supplied by 100% renewable energy;
2. Create zero waste;
3. Sell products that sustain people and the environment.

To ensure progress toward these goals, Walmart continually establishes ambitious commitments with definitive timelines, while collaborating with suppliers, nonprofits, industry experts and governments. Walmart today shared progress against several of these commitments:

•Eliminated 20 million metric tons of GHG emissions from its global supply chain. In 2010, Walmart announced its goal to eliminate 20 million metric tons of GHG emissions from its global supply chain by the end of 2015. Today, the company announced that it has exceeded this commitment early by eliminating 28.2 million metric tons to date, which is the equivalent of taking more than 5.9 million cars off the road for an entire year. Collaborating with EDF, Walmart has achieved this goal by implementing various innovative measures across both its global operations and those of suppliers, including enhanced energy efficiency, the execution of numerous renewable energy projects and collaborating with suppliers on the Sustainability Index to track progress towards reducing overall carbon footprint.

•Doubled fleet efficiency. In 2005, Walmart committed to doubling the efficiency of its fleet by the end of 2015. Today, the company shared that it has achieved this momentous goal by working with its associates to establish innovative solutions for loading, routing and driving techniques, as well as collaborating with tractor and trailer manufacturers on new technologies. With these new efficiencies, in this fiscal year alone, the company expects to save nearly $1 billion compared to a 2005 baseline, and avoid emissions of almost 650,000 metric tons of CO2. This contributes to a cleaner environment and lower prices for customers.

•Permanently preserved acres of wildlife habitat. Today Walmart announced it is renewing its conservation efforts by committing $35 million over the next ten years to Acres for America. Since 2005, Walmart, in collaboration with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, has helped preserve and restore more than 1 million acres of wildlife habitat through 61 projects in 33 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico through the Acres for America program. This commitment aims to permanently conserve at least one acre of priority wildlife habitat for every developed acre of the company’s current and future footprint, and has already dramatically exceeded the original commitment of 100,000 acres.

•Advanced the sustainability the company’s biggest product category. In keeping with the goal of selling products that sustain people and the environment, Walmart has committed to create a more sustainable food system. This commitment focused on four key pillars: improving food affordability; increasing access to food; making healthier eating easier; and improving safety and transparency in the supply chain. Today, Walmart announced the completion of several key food commitments under these pillars:
•
Affordability: Beginning in 2011, Walmart committed to helping customers save on healthy food, including $1 billion in annual savings on fresh produce. The company has exceeded this commitment year over year, totaling over $4.69 billion in customer savings to date.

•
Accessibility: In July, 2011, Walmart committed to opening up to 300 stores serving USDA-designated food deserts. By the end of January 2015, Walmart had exceeded this goal, a year earlier than planned, by opening 375 stores. Today Walmart is being recognized for those efforts as a recipient of the Partnership for a Healthier America Award.

•
Health and Transparency: As part of its focus on making healthy eating easier, Walmart committed in 2011 to reduce sodium by 25 percent, added sugars by 10 percent and to eliminate industrially produced transfats in private label and national brand packaged foods sold in the company’s stores. So far, Walmart has reduced sodium in these products by more than 16 percent, reduced added sugars by over 10 percent and ensured that fewer than 6 percent of contain partially hydrogenated oils. Walmart also created a Great For You front-of-pack seal, which is now on more than 30 percent of the company’s private label products, to help customers easily identify more nutritious choices.

“While our journey is far from over, it’s clear that we are on the right path. Even as Walmart grows, we are continuing to leverage our scale and enhancing our supply chain for the good of people and the planet,” said Kathleen McLaughlin, chief sustainability officer for Walmart. “The progress we have achieved would not be possible without the passion and the hard work of associates across the company, as well as the partnership of our suppliers and the NGOs who have helped us drive our work forward.”

About Walmart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world save money and live better – anytime and anywhere – in retail stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, nearly 260 million customers and members visit our 11,554 stores under 72 banners in 28 countries and e-commerce websites in 11 countries. With fiscal year 2015 revenue of $485.7 billion, Walmart employs approximately 2.2 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://corporate.walmart.com on Facebook athttp://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/walmart.

SEATTLE-Nov. 18, 2015– (NASDAQ:AMZN)—Amazon.com today announced holiday deals start on Friday, November 20, with new deals added as often as every five minutes for eight straight days at www.amazon.com/blackfriday. Customers will have access to 10 coveted Deals of the Day starting at midnight on Thanksgiving, and up to 10 more on Black Friday. Customers can also shop limited-time Lightning Deals on thousands of sought-after products per day throughout the eight days of deals. Plus, Prime members will get 30-minutes early access to the majority of these Lightning Deals.

This year, Amazon will introduce more than 150 hand-picked Lightning Deals on everything from electronics to kitchen gadgets only through the Amazon Mobile Shopping App available on Android, iOS, and Fire OS. These deals can be found on the “App Only Deals” tab and will be released daily from 3 PM PT to 11 PM PT starting Thanksgiving through Wednesday, December 9. In addition, Prime members in 20 metro areas can use the dedicated Prime Now mobile app to enjoy free two-hour delivery on select Deals of the Day throughout the holiday season.

Last year, total holiday sales from the Amazon Mobile Shopping App doubled in the U.S. and Black Friday had the most rapid growth in mobile shopping. This year, it will be even easier to spend time with loved ones thanks to “Watch A Deal” which allows holiday shoppers to pick the deals they’re most excited about and receive a notification to their mobile device when the deal is live. With this new feature, Amazon customers can effortlessly take advantage of deals throughout the day and while on-the-go.

“Customers can truly sit back and relax with their family and friends this holiday season knowing that they will be notified as soon as the products they’ve had their eye on are about to go on sale,” said Steve Shure, Vice President, Amazon Consumer Marketing. “Year after year, more and more customers shop for deals on Amazon from the comfort of their own home, and we continue to make that process even more convenient for them. And with App Only Deals, customers will have plenty of options when it comes to scoring great deals from Amazon.”

Following are examples of some of the top deals that will be available at various times between November 20 and Black Friday at www.amazon.com/blackfriday:

Electronics:

Kindle Paperwhite, $99.99
$30 off Kindle and Kindle for Kids Bundle
Fire, $34.99
Fire Kids Edition, $84.99
$25 off Amazon Fire TV
$15 off Amazon Fire TV Stick and Amazon Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote
Up to 45% off select Samsung and LG TVs, including Samsung 32” 1080p LED TV for $177.99, LG 49” 1080p LED TV for less than $370, and Samsung 75” 1080p Smart LED TV for less than $2,000
Top-selling 60” 4K LED TV, $799.99
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Amazon Prime members enjoy unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on more than 20 million items and unlimited Free Same-Day Delivery on more than a million items in 16 metro areas. In addition, Prime members in 20 metro areas receive one- and two-hour delivery on tens of thousands of everyday essentials with the dedicated Prime Now mobile app. To become a member, visit www.amazon.com/prime. Amazon also offers free shipping on millions of items every day, year-round, on eligible orders of $35 or more.

About Amazon

Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.- Staples, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLS) announced today that the company’s Board of Directors has adopted a policy that limits severance benefits for senior executives. Based on the terms of the new policy, the company will not pay any severance benefits under any existing or future employment agreement or severance agreement with an executive officer that exceeds 2.99 times the sum of the executive’s base salary plus target annual cash incentive award, without seeking shareholder approval. In addition, Ron Sargent, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, has elected to amend his severance agreement to align with the terms of the new policy.

“Our Board is committed to responding to shareholder feedback and ensuring that the company’s executive compensation program aligns with best practices,” said Paul Walsh, Chair of the Compensation Committee. “This new policy is in the best interests of Staples’ shareholders.”

At the company’s Meeting of Shareholders in June 2015, a shareholder proposal regarding future senior executive severance agreements received support from a majority of votes cast. The Board carefully considered the results of the vote, as well as various perspectives conveyed directly by shareholders as part of ongoing engagement. As a result, the Board adopted a policy that is applicable to existing and future agreements.

About Staples
Staples makes it easy to make more happen with more products and more ways to shop. Through its world-class retail, online and delivery capabilities, Staples lets customers shop however and whenever they want, whether it’s in-store, online or on mobile devices. Staples offers more products than ever, such as technology, facilities and breakroom supplies, furniture, safety supplies, medical supplies, and Copy and Print services. Headquartered outside of Boston, Staples operates throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. More information about Staples (SPLS) is available at www.staples.com.

HANGZHOU, China – Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) (“Alibaba”) and Suning Commerce Group Limited (SSE:002024) (“Suning”) today announced that Alibaba will invest approximately RMB28.3 billion (US$4.63 billion) for a 19.99% stake in Suning, one of the largest consumer electronics retail chains in China. After the closing of the investment in Suning, Alibaba will be the second-largest shareholder in the company.

Concurrent with Alibaba’s investment in Suning, Suning will invest up to RMB14 billion (US$2.28 billion) to subscribe for up to 27.8 million newly issued ordinary shares of Alibaba. After the investment, Suning will hold approximately a 1.1% interest in Alibaba’s enlarged issued and outstanding share capital.

The strategic collaboration between Alibaba and Suning marks a milestone that signals the further integration of digital and offline retail. This strategic collaboration will bring benefits to hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers who use Alibaba’s online platforms and Suning’s offline channels. By cooperating, Alibaba and Suning will be able to provide holistic and more convenient shopping experiences, as well as superior customer service to users looking to purchase online and through mobile devices.

As part of the transaction, Alibaba and Suning have entered into a strategic collaboration agreement to build on synergies in e-commerce, logistics and incremental business through joint omni-channel initiatives. Under the collaboration, Suning will open a flagship store on Alibaba’s Tmall.com platform, focusing on consumer electronics, home appliances and baby products. The store will offer high-quality product offerings at attractive prices and an unparalleled superior shopping experience. Suning’s flagship store will be a major win for Tmall.com, and reflects Tmall’s status as the premiere platform for brands and retailers who wish to establish their online presence and direct engagement with customers.

In the area of logistics, Suning will become a partner of Cainiao, Alibaba’s logistics affiliate and Suning’s logistics services cover almost all of the 2,800 counties and districts in China. Suning boasts a nationwide logistics network covering over 90% of China’s counties including eight national distribution centers, 57 regional distribution centers, 353 city forwarding centers and over 1,700 last-mile delivery stations. With Cainiao’s intelligent delivery solutions and Suning’s well-developed distribution network, customers can expect to receive their orders in as fast as two hours in the near future.

This collaboration highlights how Alibaba Group’s unrivaled leadership in mobile commerce and payments makes it possible for offline retailers to have an aggressive and successful omni-channel strategy. This collaboration brings together a strong bricks-and-mortar operation with an extensive online customer base and resources. Capitalizing on Suning’s extensive network of offline stores and leveraging Alibaba’s edge in data technology, both parties can explore online-to-offline and offline-to-online commerce opportunities that better serve customer needs and preferences. The collaboration will provide many tangible benefits to consumers. For example, consumers will be able to have a physical experience with the product in store, while at the same time being able to operate other areas – such as ordering and payment – through their own mobile device. Not only will customers be able to enjoy the tremendous amount of offerings and pay directly via the Alipay Wallet on their mobile device, they will also be able to experience the products and after-sale services in person in Suning’s over 1,600 physical retail stores in 289 cities across China. In addition, Suning’s retail stores, as well as its over 3,000 after-sales service locations and over 5,000 affiliate servicing partners in 320 cities across China will also be able to perform important after-sale maintenance or repair services to Tmall consumers.

Jack Ma, Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, said, “Over the past two decades, e-commerce has become an inextricable part of the lives of Chinese consumers, and this new alliance brings forth a new commerce model that fully integrates online and offline.” Ma added, “This alliance will benefit consumers and merchants by cultivating an open and transparent integrated ecosystem that will be the backbone of the future economy.”

Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group, said, “We are seeing the integration of e-commerce with traditional commerce where consumers are able to enjoy a more engaged, omni-channel and seamless shopping experience. Customers will be able to enjoy the vast online offerings while having convenient access to physical stores. By maximizing Suning’s bricks-and-mortar assets with Alibaba’s vibrant ecosystem, we are in the best position to provide the ultimate shopping experience for all our customers.”

Zhang Jindong, Suning’s Chairman, said: “The collaboration between Alibaba and Suning is a milestone in China’s retail industry and its influence on e-commerce and offline retailing will be enormous. This collaboration signals a new trend in the Internet age: Strengthening China’s traditional industries by leveraging the power of Internet. It will also help transform China’s manufacturing industry and broaden the global horizons of Chinese brands.”

Sun Weimin, Suning’s Vice Chairman, said, “We believe the strengths of Alibaba and Suning complement each other. By exploring standards and models in the O2O sector, we hope to bring real benefits to Chinese consumers.”

Consummation of Alibaba’s investment in Suning and the investment by Suning in Alibaba are subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and, in the case of the investment by Alibaba in Suning, the approval of the shareholders of Suning.

About Alibaba Group
Alibaba Group’s mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere. The company is the largest online and mobile commerce company in the world in terms of gross merchandise volume. Founded in 1999, the company provides the fundamental technology infrastructure and marketing reach to help businesses leverage the power of the Internet to establish an online presence and conduct commerce with hundreds of millions of consumers and other businesses.

Alibaba Group’s major businesses include:
Taobao Marketplace (www.taobao.com), China’s largest online shopping destination
Tmall.com (www.tmall.com), China’s largest third-party platform for brands and retailers
Juhuasuan (www.juhuasuan.com), China’s most popular online group buying marketplace
Alitrip (www.alitrip.com), a leading online travel booking platform
AliExpress (www.aliexpress.com), a global online marketplace for consumers to buy directly from China
Alibaba.com (www.alibaba.com), China’s largest global online wholesale platform for small businesses
1688.com (www.1688.com), a leading online wholesale marketplace in China
Aliyun (www.aliyun.com), a provider of cloud computing services to businesses and entrepreneurs
About Suning Commerce Group

Suning Commerce Group (“Suning”, Shenzhen Stock Exchange stock code: 002024), headquartered in Nanjing of China, is one of the largest consumer electronic retail chains in China. Established in 1990, Suning is primarily in the retail business of home appliances, consumer electronics, supermarket categories, baby products, books and virtual products. Suning was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in July 2004.

Hangzhou, China, – Alibaba Group and Unilever China announced today a comprehensive strategic partnership that will enable Unilever to reach customers across China with unprecedented precision and effectiveness through Alibaba Group’s data-driven ecosystem. Key areas of collaboration include rural China penetration, cross-border e-commerce, consumer protection and Big Data.

“We are very pleased to amplify our partnership with an industry leader such as Unilever,” said Daniel Zhang, Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba Group. “We look forward to building on our success in sales over the years and taking the collaboration to the next level. Moving forward, Alibaba Group and Unilever will jointly innovate in Big Data analytics application, cross-border e-commerce, and supply chain management. In this rapidly changing business landscape, we are committed to continually provide greater value to merchants and better experiences to shoppers.”

“Alibaba has changed the shopping habit of Chinese consumers. Its mission is to make it easy to do business everywhere, and its vision is to build the future infrastructure of commerce. This meets the Unilever’s development needs in China,” said Marijn Van Tiggelen, Unilever North Asia President. “Alibaba is the leading internet company in China, with the most innovative thinking. It’s not only an online store, but also a solution platform for online payment, e-finance, and e-commerce logistics. In cooperation with Alibaba, Unilever can provide more convenient services to consumers in China.”

This agreement is a major milestone for a partnership that started five years ago with a single Tmall.com store, which has since grown steadily on a solid foundation of mutual trust and success over the years. Through this strategic partnership, Alibaba Group and Unilever China will work together to:

Strengthen cooperation to expand distribution channels, especially for consumers in rural areas to enjoy more convenient access to Unilever products
Further develop cross-border ecommerce cooperation and make the Tmall Global Unilever store home to the richest selection of Unilever products from around the world
Expand application of Big Data to optimize Unilever’s digital advertising strategy through Alimama, Alibaba’s online marketing business, and reach more consumers through online-offline retail integration
Deepen collaboration in Alibaba’s Blue Star program where each product is tagged with a unique QR code that allows the consumer to verify its authenticity and origin. This will help protect Unilever’s brand and combat counterfeit goods to protect the customer user experience.
Develop innovations in supply chain management and offline distribution models
The upcoming Unilever Week on Tmall.com, scheduled for July 22 to 24, will celebrate the start of this partnership agreement.

Unilever China opened its first Tmall.com flagship store in June 2011 and, most recently, a Tmall Global flagship in September 2014, leveraging the free trade zone and bonded warehouse model.

About Alibaba Group
Alibaba Group’s mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere. The company is the largest online and mobile commerce company in the world in terms of gross merchandise volume. Founded in 1999, the company provides the fundamental technology infrastructure and marketing reach to help businesses leverage the power of the Internet to establish an online presence and conduct commerce with hundreds of millions of consumers and other businesses.

Alibaba Group’s major businesses include:

Taobao Marketplace (www.taobao.com), China’s largest online shopping destination
Tmall.com (www.tmall.com), China’s largest third-party platform for brands and retailers
Juhuasuan (www.juhuasuan.com), China’s most popular online group buying marketplace
Alitrip (www.alitrip.com), a leading online travel booking platform
AliExpress (www.aliexpress.com), a global online marketplace for consumers to buy directly from China
Alibaba.com (www.alibaba.com), China’s largest global online wholesale platform for small businesses
1688.com (www.1688.com), a leading online wholesale marketplace in China
Aliyun (www.aliyun.com), a provider of cloud computing services to businesses and entrepreneurs

About Unilever
Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching 2 billion consumers on any given day. It has 174,000 employees and generated annual sales of €48.4 billion in 2014. Over half of the company’s footprint is in the faster growing developing and emerging markets (57% in 2014). Their portfolio includes Persil, Dove, Knorr, Domestos, Hellmann’s, Lipton, Wall’s ice cream, Marmite, Magnum and Lynx.

Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) aims to double the size of the business whilst reducing environmental footprint and increasing positive social impact. It says the USLP is their strategic response to the challenges businesses face operating in an uncertain and volatile world. Its three goals are:

Helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being
Decoupling their growth from their environmental impact
And enhancing the livelihoods of millions of people by 2020
Supporting these goals, the company has defined nine commitments, underpinned by targets encompassing social, environmental and economic areas. For more information about the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan at www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/.

Unilever was ranked number one in their sector in the 2014 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In the FTSE4Good Index Series, they attained a top environmental score of 5, leading to inclusion in the FTSE4Good Environmental Leaders Europe 40 Index. In 2014 they led the list of Global Corporate Sustainability Leaders in the GlobeScan/SustainAbility annual survey – for the fourth year running. In 2014 Unilever was named in LinkedIn’s Top 3 most sought-after employers across all sectors and is also LinkedIn’s No. 1 most sought-after FMCG employer worldwide. For more information about Unilever and its brands, please visit www.unilever.com.

SEATTLE–Jul. 6, 2015– (NASDAQ:AMZN) – More than 90 years ago, holiday shopping found its official start the Friday after Thanksgiving, eventually becoming Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. Over the years, Amazon has helped make Black Friday even more of a global online shopping phenomenon. Next week, Amazon turns 20 and on the eve of its birthday, the company introduces Prime Day, a global shopping event, offering more deals than Black Friday, exclusively for Prime members in the U.S., U.K., Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada and Austria. On Wednesday, July 15, new and existing members in the U.S. will find deals starting at midnight, with new deals starting as often as every ten minutes. They can shop thousands of Lightning Deals, seven popular Deals of the Day and receive unlimited fast, free shipping. Not a Prime member? To participate in Prime Day, Amazon customers can sign up for a 30-day free trial of Prime at amazon.com/primeday.

“Prime Day is a one-day only event filled with more deals than Black Friday, exclusively for Prime members around the globe. Members tell us every day how much they love Prime and we will keep making it better,” said Greg Greeley, Vice President Amazon Prime. “If you’re not already a Prime member, you’ll want to join so you don’t miss out on one of the biggest deals extravaganzas in the world.”

Shop Prime Day Deals from Anywhere

Prime members can shop across dozens of categories including electronics, toys, movies, clothing, patio, lawn and garden, sports and outdoor items and more. Members will enjoy deals on items perfect for summer adventures, their to-do list, family road trips, back to school supplies, and everyday essentials. Prime members can shop on any device, including smartphones and tablets and find deals anytime, anywhere.

#PrimeLiving Photo Contest
Prime offers fast, free shipping on millions of items, unlimited streaming of movies, TV shows, music and books as well as unlimited secure photo storage with Prime Photos. Today, Amazon also invites members to experience Prime Photos, one of the latest benefits and enter for a chance to win a $10,000 Amazon Gift Card in each Prime-eligible country, by participating in the #PrimeLiving Photo Contest. What is #PrimeLiving? Members frequently reveal how much they love Prime. Now, Amazon is providing members a forum to share how Prime helps enable some of their happy moments. Did you save enough time today to take the dog for a long walk? Did you finish your shopping while lounging at the beach? Did you create a family film festival at home? Did you find the perfect playlist to create a summer dance party? After a long week of work, did you still arrive in the perfect outfit with just the right gift? Take a snap, capture the moment. Members simply sign into Prime Photos between July 6 and July 15 to submit a photo on the contest page amazon.com/primeliving. Photos will be selected and featured daily on Amazon’s social channels leading up to Prime Day. One winner will be selected in each country based on the image that most creatively captures a happy moment of #PrimeLiving. Winners will also be invited to have their photos become screen savers on Amazon Fire TV.

Celebrating Prime Day
To launch the photo contest and celebrate Prime Day, local artists were commissioned in Prime-eligible countries, with locations ranging from Toronto to Milan to Seattle to Berlin, to create their interpretations of #PrimeLiving. These artists fully immersed themselves in Prime and then created public art that could be enjoyed locally as well as used by customers as inspiration for the #PrimeLiving Photo Contest. Find their work in an embeddable link here.

More to Prime
Amazon Prime is an annual membership program for $99 a year that offers customers unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on more than 20 million items across all categories, unlimited Free Same-Day Delivery on more than a million items in 14 metro areas, unlimited streaming of tens of thousands of movies and TV episodes, more than one million songs, more than one thousand playlists and hundreds of stations with Prime Music, early access to select Lightning Deals all year long, free secure, unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive with Prime Photos and access to more than 800,000 books to borrow with the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. In addition, Prime members in Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Brooklyn, Dallas, Manhattan, Miami, and London receive one and two hour delivery on a selection of tens of thousands of everyday essentials with the dedicated Prime Now mobile app. Not a member? Start a free trial of Amazon Prime at amazon.com/primeday.

About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire tablets, Fire TV, and Amazon Echo are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.

DEERFIELD, Ill., June 23, 2015– Mondelez International today announced that it has renewed its global strategic partnership with Facebook, the world’s largest discovery platform, with a focus on creating and delivering creative video content and driving impulse snack purchasing online. Through this partnership, the companies will work together to leverage and innovate around two of the fastest growing consumer behaviors on social media platforms: video consumption and mobile commerce.

“The partnership with Facebook is a core element of our fearless marketing vision which aims at accelerating growth through transformational marketing,” said Dana Anderson, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Mondelez International. “Investing in large-scale media partnerships enables us to connect our brands with consumers in new creative ways.”

On the video front, a dedicated, full-time Facebook creative strategist will work alongside Mondelez International marketers and its agencies to develop scalable video content natively for the platform to optimize social engagement. In addition, Facebook will be responsible for developing playbooks, webinars and eLearning modules that create a unified approach to developing content for the platform across Mondelez International brands. The partnership also includes opportunities to opt into beta-testing programs on Facebook and Instagram. Brokered in conjunction with Dentsu Aegis Media, the agreement covers 52 countries, including Brazil, France, India, Indonesia, the U.K., the U.S. and the Gulf States.

“Our recent campaigns with brands like Philadelphia in Europe have demonstrated that we can deliver engaging, tailor-made video on Facebook and seamlessly convert that content into purchases,” said Gerry D’Angelo, Media Director Europe at Mondelez International. “Partnering with Facebook allows us to leverage their video platform, which is currently the fastest-growing. Combined with their unparalleled reach and social sharing capabilities, we have the opportunity to make Facebook our single largest-selling channel.”

On the e-commerce front, Mondelez International and Facebook will work together to test scalable solutions to drive impulse purchases with some of the company’s Power Brands across key markets such as Australia, India, the U.K. and the U.S.

“Facebook is the number one player in mobile, and its ability to reach millennial consumers, our primary target audience, is what makes our partnership so invaluable,” said Cindy Chen, Global Head of E-Commerce at Mondelez International. “Used by consumers and distributors alike, Facebook is the ideal channel for cracking the code on how to ‘sell a cookie online,’ creating a true social digital commerce model with the potential to become our largest digital storefront.”

“Working with partners like Mondelez International inspires us to build innovative programs and impactful campaigns that drive business results,” said Carolyn Everson, VP Global Marketing Solutions, Facebook. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to co-create the future of mobile commerce together.”

About Mondelez International
Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLZ) is a global snacking powerhouse, with 2014 revenue of $34 billion. Creating delicious moments of joy in 165 countries, Mondelez International is a world leader in biscuits, chocolate, gum, candy, coffee and powdered beverages, with billion-dollar brands such as Oreo, LU, Cadbury, Cadbury Dairy Milk and Milka chocolate; Trident gum; Jacobs coffee and Tang powdered beverages. Mondelez International is a proud member of the Standard and Poor’s 500, NASDAQ 100 and Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Visit www.mondelezinternational.com or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mdlz.

Atlanta, Today, UPS (NYSE: UPS), a global leader in logistics and transportation services, and comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, released the fourth UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper™ U.S. study revealing changes in consumer shopping preferences and buying behavior.
Earlier this year 5,000 U.S. consumers were surveyed. The results indicate consumers plan to research and purchase more frequently using their mobile devices, they are influenced by social media, and free shipping continues to drive purchasing decisions.

Shopping Small and Local
New in this year’s study, most consumers (93%) shop at small retailers:
61% shopped at these locations because they offer unique products
49% couldn’t find what they needed from traditional stores
40% wanted to support the small business community

Shopping Global
In addition, 40% of consumers have purchased from retailers based outside the U.S., with nearly half (49%) reporting they did so to find better prices, and 35% said they wanted items that couldn’t be found in U.S. stores.

Changing Channels
Online shoppers frequently change retail channels during their shopping experience. Better prices (57%) and selection (49%) are the top reasons for purchasing online after researching an item in-store. Nearly half (48%) of online shoppers have used ship to store in the past year, and 45% of those consumers made an additional purchase when picking up their online purchase.
When a purchase is made online from a retailer that has an online and physical store, 39% of consumers who make returns prefer to ship the product back while 61% prefer to return the item to the store. When making an in-store return, 70% purchase an additional item compared to only 42% who make a new purchase while processing an online return.

Respondents said they continue to use personal computers to shop and compare prices, and complement their use as they become more comfortable using mobile technology: 41% use their smartphone for research, while 30% make purchases. Online shoppers appreciate the convenience of smartphones on-the-go and in-store. Smartphone users project making more purchases on their device in the next year.

Retailers need to continue to advance their mobile platforms, as 38% who have a mobile device but do not use it to make purchases said product images are not large or clear enough, and 30% said it’s hard to compare products.
Social’s Power
Many consumers connect to shopping activities through social media with 43% reporting they discover new products on social media sites. Facebook is the most influential channel but shoppers also embrace visually-oriented sites such as Pinterest.

Digital Commerce
Retail continues to evolve as some online shoppers consider using mobile technologies in store: 33% find electronic shelf labels appealing, 29% said they will consider mobile checkout, and 27% said they are open to using touch screens to receive information, make purchases or arrange deliveries.

Free Shipping
Free shipping remains the most important option during checkout according to 77% of online shoppers. More than half (60%) have added items to their cart to qualify for free shipping.
The study provides insight to help retailers increase sales – 48% of online shoppers said they ship items to the store, with 45% of those saying they made additional purchases when picking up their orders.

Hassle-Free Returns
According to the report, only 62% of consumers are satisfied with the online returns process: 67% review a retailer’s return policy before making a purchase, 66% want free return shipping, 58% want a hassle-free “no questions asked” return policy, and 47% want an easy-to-print return label.

Alternate Deliveries
Compared to last year’s study, more consumers are open to alternate delivery options. In 2014, 26% said they prefer to have packages delivered to locations other than their home, this year it rose to 33%.

When not at home to sign for a package, 32% want it shipped to another convenient retail location.
“The future of retail is driven by ever increasingly sophisticated and savvy shoppers who research at home and in a store, but more are turning to mobile as capabilities improve for online product display and promotion,” said Alan Gershenhorn, UPS executive vice president and chief commercial officer. “They also want more flexibility and alternate delivery options. The UPS Access Point™ Network and UPS My Choice meet these needs by giving consumers more control and flexibility with their home deliveries.”
The UPS Access Point network is now available in New York City, Boston, Chicago, the San Francisco Bay, and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The network also includes all 4,400 The UPS Store locations.

Nearly 15 million members in 16 countries use UPS My Choice to reroute or reschedule deliveries. UPS My Choice members can send their home deliveries directly to a UPS Access Point location or a The UPS Store location as their preferred delivery address.

About UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper™
The report evaluates consumer shopping habits from pre-purchase to post-delivery. The study is based on a comScore survey of 5,118 U.S. online shoppers.

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a global leader in digital media analytics, makes audiences and advertising more valuable by providing trusted, independent metrics that help businesses understand how people interact with content and advertising across TV and digital devices, giving a total view of the consumer. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

Go to the UPS Pressroom
About UPS UPS (NYSE: UPS) is a global leader in logistics, offering a broad range of solutions including transporting packages and freight; facilitating international trade, and deploying advanced technology to more efficiently manage the world of business. Headquartered in Atlanta, UPS serves more than 220 countries and territories worldwide. The company can be found on the web at ups.com® and its corporate blog can be found at longitudes.ups.com. To get UPS news direct, visit pressroom.ups.com/RSS.

SEATTLE– Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced it is hiring for more than 6,000 full-time jobs across its U.S. fulfillment network to meet growing customer demand. Employees will pick, pack and ship customer orders.

“We’re proud to be creating more than 6,000 full-time positions where employees will interact with state-of-the-art technology as part of their day-to-day roles,” said Mike Roth, Amazon’s vice president of North America operations. “Amazon not only offers great pay and benefits, we also encourage our employees to continue to grow in their careers.”

Amazon offers hourly employees innovative programs like Career Choice, where the company will pre-pay up to 95 percent of tuition for courses related to in-demand fields, regardless of whether the skills are relevant to a career at Amazon. As part of its Career Choice program, the company offers classes from local community and technical colleges to associates onsite at select U.S. fulfillment centers.

Amazon has more than 50 fulfillment centers in the U.S. The company is hiring in the following communities:

Baltimore, MD
Breinigsville, PA
Carlisle, PA
Chattanooga, TN
Chester, VA
Haslet, TX
Hazleton, PA
Hebron, KY
Jeffersonville, IN
Kenosha, WI
Lexington, KY
Middletown, DE
Murfreesboro, TN
Petersburg, VA
Plainfield, IN
Robbinsville, NJ
West Columbia, SC
Whitestown, IN
Windsor, CT

To learn more about working at an Amazon fulfillment center or apply for a job, visit www.workatamazonfulfillment.com.

About Amazon

Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire tablets, and Fire TV are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.– Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) today announced that “Staples Business Loans” has surpassed a million dollars of funding for small businesses. The quick and easy access to capital has helped more than 43 small businesses nationwide, ranging from a lunch wagon in Virginia to a medical writing company in Georgia to a construction service business in Ohio. The $1.5 million in loans is helping businesses expand, hire new employees and build for the future.

Financing and cash flow are major pain points for small businesses. Staples teamed up with Lendio, an innovative financial technology firm and the leading small business-lending marketplace, to deliver a suite of funding options that help solve these challenges.

Staples Business Loans is quick and simple with each business receiving individual attention. It offers more than 20 different funding options and the flexibility for businesses to use the money for whatever their business needs.

“At Staples, we’re excited that Staples Business Loans has already helped 43 small businesses get the right funding,” said Alison Corcoran, senior vice president, North American stores and online marketing, Staples. “We know that small businesses are the backbone of their communities. We’re proud that Staples Business Loans is helping business grow and helping owners make their dreams come true. We are committed to helping small businesses by providing everything they need to make more happen in their business through products and services they need including capital.”

A few of the recent Staples Business Loans success stories include:

Hit Medical Writing in Alpharetta, Ga. – Staples Business Loans helped the owner hire three more employees to grow the business.
Digital & Project Services LLC in Columbus Ohio – Received funding for future projects in low voltage installation and expansion into plumbing.
Bubba Nubb’s Lunch Wagon in North Dinwiddie, Va. – Helped owner purchase equipment and trailer to run a food truck business.
HiMacc Remodeling in Dunellen, N.J. – Received funding for future remodeling projects and cash flow.
Visit Staples.com/BusinessLoans to learn more.

Why Staples Business Loans?

The current funding process for a small business is time consuming, complex and often does not result in the small business actually getting a loan. Small businesses contact at least 3 different financial institutions for help and spend an average of 33 hours applying for credit, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Small Business Credit Survey, spring 2014. Staples Business Loans allows small business owners to apply once and receive multiple funding options.

The new Staples Business Loans service uses Lendio’s great technology and eliminates complexity and frustration for small businesses seeking financing. It includes:

Broad set of funding products such as lines of credit, SBA loans, term loans, merchant cash advances, ACH advances, equipment loans, commercial real estate loans, factoring and more;
More than twenty different funding options for loans ranging from $2,500 to $1 million;
The ability to see all funding options available with just one application;
Personal attention from a loan advisor to guide small businesses through the entire process;
Impartial advice to help understand the pros and cons of each option so small businesses choose what is right for their needs;
Fast funding within days, not weeks.
Staples evaluated more than 30 financial services firms before teaming up with Lendio.

About Staples:
Staples makes it easy to make more happen with more products and more ways to shop. Through its world-class retail, online and delivery capabilities, Staples lets customers shop however and whenever they want, whether it’s in-store, online, on mobile devices, or through the company’s innovative buy online, pick-up in store option. Staples offers more products than ever, such as technology, facilities and breakroom supplies, furniture, safety supplies, medical supplies, and Copy and Print services. Headquartered outside of Boston, Staples operates throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. More information about Staples (SPLS) is available at www.staples.com.

About Lendio:
Lendio is a free online service that helps business owners find the right small business loans within minutes. The center of small business lending, our passion is fueling the American Dream by uniting the small business loan industry, and bringing all options together in one place—from short-term specialty financing to long-term low-interest traditional loans. Our technology makes small business lending simple, decreasing the amount of time and effort it takes to secure funding. More information about Lendio is available at www.lendio.com.

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) today announced that it has entered into a Settlement Agreement with MasterCard International Incorporated relative to the data breach that Target experienced during the fourth quarter of 2013.

Under the agreement, alternative recovery offers will be made by MasterCard to eligible MasterCard issuers worldwide that issued MasterCard-branded payment cards claimed to have been affected by the data breach, and MasterCard will recommend that such eligible issuers accept their offers.

Target has agreed to fund up to $19 million pre-tax in alternative recovery payments, depending on the extent of eligible issuer acceptances. The settlement is conditioned on issuers of at least 90% of the eligible MasterCard accounts accepting their alternative recovery offers, either directly or through their sponsoring issuers, by May 20, 2015. The estimated costs of this settlement are already reflected in the data breach liabilities that Target established during fiscal 2013 and 2014.

Scott Kennedy, President, Financial & Retail Services at Target, stated “We are hopeful that Target’s agreement to pay up to $19 million to settle the claims of MasterCard and its issuers will result in a high level of issuer acceptance. Target intends to continue to defend itself vigorously against any assessments made by MasterCard on behalf of MasterCard issuers that do not accept their offers.”

Assuming that all conditions to consummation of the settlement have been satisfied, accepting issuers will be paid by the end of the second quarter of 2015. Each accepting eligible issuer will, on behalf of itself and any affiliated or sponsored issuer of such eligible issuer on whose behalf the eligible issuer accepts an offer, release and indemnify Target and its acquiring banks with respect to any claims that such eligible issuer and affiliated and sponsored issuers may have with respect to the data breach, including but not limited to any claims in the putative class actions relating to the data breach that are pending in federal court.

All eligible issuers will soon receive notification from MasterCard will full details of the Settlement Agreement and how to accept their alternative recovery offers before the offers expire.

About Target
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) serves guests at 1,795 stores and at Target.com. Since 1946, Target has given 5 percent of its profit to communities, that giving equals more than $4 million a week. For more information, visit Target.com/Pressroom. For a behind-the-scenes look at Target, visit Target.com/abullseyeview or follow @TargetNews on Twitter.

BENTONVILLE, Ark., — Today, Walmart released its eighth annual Global Responsibility Report (GRR). The report outlines Walmart’s extensive social and environmental work over the past year, aimed at creating economic opportunity for associates and others in the retail industry more broadly; enhancing the sustainability of Walmart’s operations and product supply chain; and strengthening communities in the places Walmart operates.

“Every day, Walmart brings affordable products and services to 260 million customers in 27 countries around the world. As the world’s largest retailer, we have committed to use our strengths to help others, by addressing social and environmental issues in collaboration with customers, suppliers, governments, non-profits, and other stakeholders,” said Kathleen McLaughlin, president of the Walmart Foundation and senior vice president of corporate affairs at Walmart. “We believe business exists to serve society. Our commitment to global responsibility goes beyond philanthropy – it is a whole company undertaking that is woven into our day-to-day business activities, creating value for business and society.”

Major accomplishments reported in the 2015 Global Responsibility Report include:

Opportunity
Accelerating job mobility
Enhancing associate opportunity, diversity and inclusion. Walmart provides hundreds of thousands of people around the world with jobs, competitive compensation and benefits, and upward job mobility. In February 2015, Walmart announced a $1 billion investment in higher wages, job training and scheduling enhancements. Walmart also fosters a diverse and inclusive workplace around the world. For example, women comprise 57 percent of Walmart’s 2.2 million associates; 32 percent of corporate officers (compared with a Fortune 500 average of 15 percent, and retail industry average of 19 percent); and 25 percent of the Walmart board. From 2003 to 2014, representation of women among corporate officers grew from 16 percent to 32 percent, and representation of people of color among corporate officers from 11 percent to 22 percent

Accelerating frontline retail job mobility. Walmart and the Walmart Foundation will help accelerate the mobility of retail and related sector workers from entry-to-middle skills jobs through a $100 million commitment over the next five years. The company will collaborate with and provide grants to organizations working on clarifying retail career paths, improving pre-employment training and increasing the relevance and effectiveness of on-the-job and supplemental training. Initially, these initiatives will support training for more than 50,000 retail and related sector workers, helping 30,000 of them move from entry-to-middle skills jobs. Ultimately, through this commitment, the company aims to accelerate upskilling and job mobility for the sector as a whole, making a difference for the 15 million people working in retail today.

Empowering women worldwide
Sourcing from and training women: Since the launch of the Women’s Economic Empowerment initiative in 2011, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have made $110 million in grants to support women’s economic empowerment, exceeding the goal of $100 million two years ahead of schedule. In addition, Walmart has sourced $11.24 billion from women-owned businesses since 2011, with a goal of $20 billion through the end of 2016. Also, to date Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have enabled the training of 540,102 women in retail supply chains, well on the way to the company’s goal of 1 million women trained. Specifically, these programs have helped 180,423 women in the U.S. to gain the skills needed for employment; enabled 13,295 women in eight countries to receive retail training; contributed to the training of 297,655 women in agriculture around the world; and provided 48,729 women in factories with training to develop the skills they need to become more active decision-makers in their jobs and in their families. The factory training has been implemented in 82 factories in Bangladesh, China, El Salvador, Honduras and India.

Accelerating reintegration of veterans into civilian life
Hiring and supporting veterans. Walmart works to accelerate the reintegration of veterans into civilian life. Since Memorial Day 2013, Walmart has hired more than 77,000 veterans, nearly 16,000 as part of its Veterans Welcome Home Commitment. In addition, through a $20 million philanthropic investment, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are collaborating with private and public sector organizations to support veteran reintegration through job placement and assistance with housing, medical issues, and/or other needs.

Developing suppliers and small business
Continuing progress on supplier and small business development. Walmart fosters the development and diversity of its supplier base. The company has also undertaken efforts in different markets to enhance the development of local manufacturing and suppliers. For example, Walmart has continued to make progress on the company’s U.S. commitment to bring in an additional $250 billion commitment of products that support U.S. jobs. In addition, Sam’s Giving program made a number of grants in the past year to strengthen the microlending sector in the U.S., aiming to expand access to capital for small businesses.

Sustainability
Lowering the environmental footprint of Walmart’s operations
Advancing toward goal of 100 percent renewable energy. Walmart continues to expand the development of on-site and off-site solar, wind, fuel cells and other technologies, to accelerate progress toward our goal of procuring seven billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of renewable energy by 2020 – and ultimately being powered 100% by renewable energy. Today, 26 percent of the company’s electricity is supplied by renewable sources and in 2014 the company procured more than 3,000 gigawatt hours (gWh) of Walmart-driven renewable energy globally. Heading into 2015, Walmart had more than 380 renewable energy projects in operation or under development in five countries and 17 U.S. states. When President Barack Obama announced his strategy for the U.S. to generate more clean energy from Walmart’s Mountain View, Calif. store in May 2014, Walmart supported the plan by committing to doubling the number of on-site solar energy projects at U.S. stores, Sam’s Clubs and distribution centers by 2020, compared to the 2013 baseline – which is more than 480 sites by 2020. In the U.K., the company added sales floor LED lighting and Voltage Optimization, in addition to migrating to a new energy monitoring system that provides daily energy alarms, analytical capabilities and reporting.

Reducing waste across global operations. Each day, Walmart moves closer to realizing its goal of creating zero waste by providing innovative solutions to improve waste data management and reduce and divert food and materials from turning into waste. Walmart U.S. operations operational waste diversion improved to 82.4 percent in 2014. Walmart International achieved an estimated 68 percent diversion across stores, clubs, distribution centers and other facilities. In emerging markets (Argentina, Brazil, Central America, Chile, Mexico), Walmart reduced food throwaway by 11 percent – with Central America and Mexico leading the way.

Increasing sustainability of products and product supply chains
Sourcing responsibly. Walmart is committed to selling products that comply with safety laws and regulations, giving customers trust in the items the company sells. In 2014, Walmart expanded the ability to identify and monitor supplier and product compliance and to hold suppliers accountable for adhering to our standards. Walmart also expects suppliers and factory management to provide the men and women who work to produce the products customers love with a safe and healthy work environment For example, the company worked to strengthen requirements for suppliers subject to audits to designate employees who are responsible for factory compliance with applicable laws and standards. Walmart also developed an auditing approach that allocates more resources to higher-risk facilities based on their geography.

On track to eliminate 20 million metric tons of GHG emissions from Walmart’s global supply chain by the end of 2015. By collaborating with the Environmental Defense Fund, Walmart has worked on projects that have reduced more than 17.4 metric tons (MMT) of GHG emissions from the company’s supply chain by the end of 2014.

Committing to help develop a more sustainable food system. Walmart is committed to improve its largest product category and help feed a growing planet by enhancing the sustainability of the food system. Working collaboratively with its suppliers, the company announced four key pillars tied to this commitment in October 2014: improving the affordability of food for both customers and the environment, increasing food access, making healthier eating easier, and improving the safety and transparency of the food chain. Walmart launched its Climate Smart Agriculture Platform, which aims to drive improvements in agricultural productivity through efficient use of fertilizer and water. As of the end of 2014, Walmart established joint agricultural partnerships with 17 suppliers, cooperatives and service providers on 23 million acres of land, with the potential to reduce 11 million metric tons to GHG by 2020.

Fighting hunger across the U.S. A sustainable food system is accessible. In 2014, Walmart delivered a year early on a 2010 commitment to contribute $2 billion to fight hunger. As part of that commitment, Walmart donated 1.1 billion meals to those in need, and helped Feeding America grow its capacity to rescue and distribute more perishable food across the U.S. in a sustainable, cost-effective way. In addition, between 2012 and the end of 2014, Walmart opened 375 stores serving food deserts across the U.S., exceeding another goal one year ahead of schedule. Walmart has committed to a new goal to provide four billion meals between 2015 and 2020.

Launching Sustainability Leaders shop. In February 2015, Walmart unveiled its Sustainability Leaders Shop on Walmart.com. The shop enables customers to see which brands and suppliers are leading in product categories in efforts to improve sustainability based on their Walmart Sustainability Index scores. The Sustainability Leaders badge does not make any representations about the environmental or social impact of an individual product. It means that a manufacturer is an industry leader in sustainability efforts in a product category.
Community

Strengthening disaster response and community preparedness
Increasing disaster relief and preparedness efforts. Since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, Walmart has collaborated with and increased support to nonprofits, government agencies, and first responders to track potential disasters and provide resources in order to help support the most effective response possible. Over the past 10 years, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have provided more than $40 million in cash in addition to in kind support in response to events such as typhoons in Mexico and the Philippines, tsunamis in Asia, floods in the U.K. and Canada, tornadoes in the U.S., Africa’s Ebola epidemic and may other tragedies. Walmart and the Walmart Foundation also invested $7.2 million over the past 10 years to build community resiliency.

Furthering causes important to local communities
Supporting local causes. Walmart works to strengthen the 10,000 neighborhoods it serves by supporting local causes. For example, in 2014, Walmart U.S. and Puerto Rico facilities awarded $47 million in grants to local community organizations. In addition, the Walmart Foundation awarded $37 million in U.S. states to organizations supporting hunger, workforce development, veterans and many other causes. Also, Walmart’s international business units contributed $34 million in cash and $36 million in kind within their markets last year.
Encouraging associate philanthropy. Walmart also encourages associates to contribute time and money to causes they care about most. In 2014, associates volunteered more than 1.5 million hours in their local communities, and Walmart contributed $14 million to the causes they support through the company’s Volunteerism Always Pays program.

FYE15 giving total
During fiscal year 2015, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation gave more than $1.47 billion in cash and in-kind contributions to further its commitments to opportunity, sustainability and community. For more information, read the annual Global Responsibility Report and visit The Walmart Blog for updates.

Sainsbury’s is creating 480 specialist jobs in London and Coventry, strengthening its in-house digital and technology capabilities as customers seek more convenient and intuitive ways to shop using new technology.

These new digital experts will run and improve Sainsbury’s existing digital platforms for customers, such as the website and mobile shopping apps. They will also develop test and launch new products in a new ‘Digital Lab’ opening in the summer – giving developers, digital designers, product owners, engineers and testers a modern space to work and test new ways of shopping. The recruitment for specialists is now under way – with over 180 roles available in London.

Sainsbury’s is also upgrading its own infrastructure and core business systems to serve customers faster, including building better platforms for online shopping and supply chains. A new ‘Technology Hub’ in Coventry will create another 300 specialist roles, alongside our existing operational team that supports Sainsbury’s stores, depots and offices.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: “Backing business to create more jobs is central to our long-term economic plan. It was great to visit Sainsbury’s to see what they are doing to embrace new technology and provide more people with the security of a regular pay-packet.”

Sainsbury’s Chief Executive Mike Coupe, said: “The shape of our business is changing and digital and technology is a core part of our future growth. Ultimately these changes are good news for customers – the Technology Hub in Coventry will keep our systems running smoothly and experts in our Digital Lab in London will be developing new ways of digital shopping to give customers the best access to our products, services and offers.”

Director of Digital and Technology at Sainsbury’s, Jon Rudoe, said: “We’re now firmly on the map as a career destination for digital and technology specialists. Retail is a vibrant sector for innovation and this team is key to keeping our fast-paced business running. We’re structuring and equipping entrepreneurial teams to improve the digital experience and develop products that will help make our customers’ lives easier.”

In January, Sainsbury’s announced a review of its central costs and structures, which formed part of the strategic review of the business and plan to save £500m over three years. These savings will help Sainsbury’s focus on the areas that really matter to customers and invest in areas such as Digital and Technology in order to evolve for the future.

In this announcement, Sainsbury’s confirmed that some functions in Store Support (office based roles) locations in London, Coventry and Manchester would reduce by around 500 roles, spread across all divisions and grades in store support centres. This number did not impact the overall headcount for people employed at Sainsbury’s, as it did not take into account areas of growth such as Digital and Technology. This is why more roles are required to build specialist teams of coders, digital designers, engineers, testers and operators to equip the business for the future.

At the heart of this lies a vision for Sainsbury’s to be a world-class Digital and Technology function to deliver great services for customers.

Sainsbury’s Digital Facts
Sainsbury’s sees 24 million customer transactions a week – that includes both in store and online
Sainsbury’s employ around 161,000 colleagues across its network of 1,200+ stores, 22 depots and offices in London, Manchester, Coventry and Edinburgh
Sainsbury’s online business is 18 years old and a £1 billion business (5% of sales). It now covers 98 per cent of UK postcodes
Sainsbury’s operations rely on technology. From 22 depots using technology to capture what our 1,200+ stores need, to our checkout software, Brand Match price comparison, and coupon at till technology which instantly rewards customers with targeted promotions
The digital team have already started trialling a new Mobile Shopping App that helps you create a list at home, remembers your favourite items and even gives you a map to help you find the products once you’re in store. The app then lets you scan the product on your phone, pack as you go and pay without queuing
Customers will soon be able to access wifi in large supermarkets, which teams in the Lab will utilise to test, trial and develop new ways of shopping and easier ways to pay
Sainsbury’s first ‘dark store’ to service online orders exclusively will open in Bromley-by-Bow in 2016
The Sainsburys.co.uk is being regularly and rapidly upgraded, making it as easy as possible for customers to use
We are investing in new businesses such as Sainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand, eBooks by Sainsbury’s and are trialling clothing online, with plans for national roll-out due later this year
Sainsbury’s has ‘Digital Ambassadors’ – a network of experts across the business, helping integrate new ways of working with better technology
Nectar data is also crucial in helping hone the offer and services to customers. It also acts as a thread across all Sainsbury’s services to help customers get the best value – from Sainsbury’s Bank, to shopping in store, to shopping online and on other devices such as tablets and mobile

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2 percent in February on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index was unchanged before seasonal adjustment.

The seasonally adjusted increase in the all items index was broad-based, with increases in shelter, energy, and food indexes all contributing. The energy index rose after a long series of declines, increasing 1.0 percent as the gasoline index turned up after falling in recent months. The food index, unchanged last month, also rose in February, though major grocery store food group indexes were mixed.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in February, the same increase as in January. In addition to shelter, the indexes for used cars and trucks, apparel, new vehicles, tobacco, and airline fares were among those that increased. The medical care index was unchanged, while the personal care index declined.

The all items index was unchanged over the past 12 months, after showing a 0.1-percent decline for the 12 months ending January. Over the last 12 months the food index rose 3.0 percent and the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.7 percent. These increases were offset by an 18.8-percent decline in the energy index.

Food
The food index increased 0.2 percent in February. The index for food at home, which declined in January, rose 0.1 percent in February. Major grocery store food group indexes were split, with three increases and three declines. The index for nonalcoholic beverages increased 0.6 percent in February, its largest increase since September 2012. The index for other food at home, which declined in January, rose 0.5 percent in February. Also turning up in February was the index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs, which rose 0.3 percent after declining slightly the prior month. The index for beef and veal rose 0.7 percent, its thirteenth consecutive increase. In contrast to these increases, the index for dairy and related products continued to fall, declining 1.0 percent after a 0.9-percent decrease the previous month. The index for fruits
and vegetables declined 0.3 percent; the fresh fruits index rose 0.6 percent but the index for fresh vegetables declined 2.0 percent. The index for cereals and bakery products, whi ch rose in January, declined 0.2 percent in February. The index for food at home has risen 2.9 percent over the past year, with all six of the major grocery store food group indexes increasing over the span. The index for food away from home increased 0.3 percent in February and has risen 3.1 percent over the last 12 months.

Energy
The energy index rose 1.0 percent in February, ending a series of seven consecutive declines. The gasoline index turned up after a series of sharp declines, rising 2.4 percent. (Before seasonal adjustment, gasoline prices rose 5.3 percent in February.) The fuel oil index also increased after recent declines, rising 1.9 percent. The electricity index rose 0.3 percent in February after a 0.9-percent increase in January. The only major energy component index to fall in February was natural gas, which declined 2.0 percent following a 3.4-percent decrease the prior month. Despite the February increases, the gasoline and fuel oil indexes have declined sharply over the past year, falling 32.8 percent and 31.2 percent, respectively. The index for natural gas has also declined over the past year, falling 6.5 percent, but the electricity index has increased 3.2 percent.

All items less food and energy
The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.2 percent in February. The shelter index increased 0.2 percent and accounted for about two-thirds of the monthly increase in the all items less food and energy index. The index for rent increased 0.3 percent, while the index for owners’ equivalent rent rose 0.2 percent. The index for lodging away from home declined 0.5 percent after rising in January. The index for used cars and trucks turned up in February, rising 1.0 percent after declining in each of the four previous months. The apparel index rose 0.3 percent in February, the same increase as in January. The index for new vehicles advanced 0.2 percent, as did the index for airline fares, while the tobacco index rose 0.5 percent. The index for medical care was unchanged in February. The index for medical care commodities rose 0.7 percent, as the index for prescription drugs increased 0.6 percent. However, the index for medical care services declined 0.2 percent, its first decline since November 1975. The indexes for physicians’ services and hospital services both decreased. The index for personal care, which rose in January, fell 0.4 percent in February.

The index for all items less food and energy has risen 1.7 percent over the past 12 months. The 12-month change has remained in a range of 1.6 percent to 2.3 percent since June 2011. Indexes that have risen over the past 12 months include shelter, medical care, and new vehicles. Among the indexes that have declined are those for airline fares, used cars and trucks, and apparel.

Not seasonally adjusted CPI measures
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was virtually unchanged over the last 12 months; the February 2015 index level was 234.722 (1982-84=100). For the month, the index rose 0.4 percent prior to seasonal adjustment.

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) decreased 0.6 percent over the last 12 months to an index level of 229.421 (1982-84=100). For the month, the index rose 0.5 percent prior to seasonal adjustment.

The Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) decreased 0.5 percent over the last 12 months. For the month, the index rose 0.5 percent on a not seasonally adjusted basis. Please note that the indexes for the past 10 to 12 months are subject to revision.