Breakfast briefing: Retail news on Walmart, Ted Baker, JD Sports and The Co-op

Walmart updates website for mobile users

The world’s largest retailer Walmart has updated its website to be more compatible with tablets and mobile devices, Bloomberg reported. The redesigned Walmart.com site expands and improves personalisation based in part on shoppers’ order and search histories. The new ‘My Local Store’ section of the site allows customers to see promotions at their local stores. The enhanced site is now available to about half of its daily customers.

Ted Baker unveils new e-commerce website in US

British clothing retailer Ted Baker has launched a new e-commerce site targeting US shoppers. The American website, led by Neoworks, is a part of the UK brand’s on-going plan to boost its online presence internationally. The site uses two flexible page templates that guides men and women along two different journeys, tailored to their browsing behaviour and interest in different products and collections. Neoworks has directly linked the site to the back end US warehouse, OMS and CRM systems with third party tools for search and navigation fully integrated to allow for flexible merchandising opportunities.

JD Sports to move content production team to Sharp Project

UK retailer JD Sports Fashion has agreed a deal worth more than £2m to move its multichannel content and production team to The Sharp Project. The company has taken 10,400 sq ft of production space at the digital content complex in east Manchester which will accommodate 58 staff who will move from its Pilsworth location in September.

The retail group has entered into a long-term lease agreement on The Sharp Project’s ‘Stage 02’ which features a new mezzanine floor. The space will be used as a permanent base for the production of their digital and marketing content, along with multichannel content across a dozen of the group’s brands.

Co-operative Group named most ethical firm of the past 25 years

Ethical Consumer magazine readers, in a survey, voted the Co-operative Group the most ethical company over 25 years, The Guardian reported. This praise comes in spite of being hit by a controversy about its former chairman Paul Flowers and sinking to a huge loss of £2.5bn.