Just because the Wii U launched last week doesn’t mean the Wii is dead. In fact, three of them were sold for every Wii U consoles. Nintendo announced that they sold 1.2 million hardware units last week. Over 400k were the new kid on the block (pictured above) but it’s ancient predecessor held its own with over 300k units sold. Handheld devices accounted for over half a million with almost an even split between the DS (250k) and the 3DS (275k). “Wii U is essentially sold out of retail and we are doing our best to continually replenish stock,” Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told CNET….

With the election over and Thanksgiving around the corner, the shopping season is upon us. The way we buy things has been transformed rapidly over the past few years with online, mobile, and different social offerings giving us both tremendous flexibility and an overwhelming amount of choice at our fingertips. What will shopping look like in the near future? Will it continue to evolve as rapidly or have we seen the trends shift to a point where they’ll stick? This infographic from Milo comes to us via Ct Ford and explores “How Shoppers See the Future of Retail”. Click to enlarge. * * * “Shopper”…

When Facebook started rolling out their plan to put online stores on their platform in November, 2010, many believed that “F-Commerce” was the next big thing. It was heralded as a competitor for Amazon, a socialized shopping experience that allowed consumers to go to Facebook to find all of their favorite brands and buy products directly from the social network. The concept was flawed from the start and the cracks are starting to show as Gamestop joins a growing list of retailers who tried F-Commerce, only to abort quickly. Their Facebook store lasted 6 months, longer than many others like Gap,…

If this is the future of retail, I’ll be shopping online more often. Takashimaya, a department store in Tokyo, is working with Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro from Osaka University to demonstrate their concept of the next generation of retail merchandising. The timing couldn’t be better – the female mannequin is pushing their Valentine’s Day promotion as its first target. Ishiguro is known as the master of lifelike robotics and is best known for his work on the incredibly realistic Geminoid line of androids. This is the first time his work has been applied for commercial purposes. “I see this as the future…

The company that many blame in part for the downfall of many large and small retail stores around the world is going to try its hand at the very thing they helped to weaken: retail store chains. Within the next few months, Amazon plans to launch retail store in their home town of Seattle that will focus on their emerging Amazon Exclusives like of books as well as tablets and other e-readers. This isn’t the first rumor that has circulated about Amazon hitting the brick-and-mortar path and the report is still unconfirmed, but it stays in line with their recent strategies. The eCommerce giant has shown…

In a great economy, it’s hard to start a retail company and get attention in industries where the major players have already hit the field. Things are rebounding around the country to some extent but it’s definitely not what most would consider to be “great.” That isn’t stopping one Southern California shoe company from making a splash by using the most important ally for growing businesses: social media. There are many huge companies in the women’s footwear industry that make it challenging for new companies to break through. A decade ago, success stories in this industry were few and far between….

The concept of “Factory Outlets” was a brilliant one. For better or for worse, they are dying a rapid death thanks to the internet and the rise of “Flash Sales” in particular. Originally, factory outlets were designed to sell 2nd-grade products directly to the public. The first known outlet store was Dexter Shoes. Founder Harold Alfond knew that not every shoe made at his factory was suitable to sell to distributors so he attached a store directly to his factory and opened it to the public in the 1960s. Since then, outlet malls and other retail settings offer companies a venue to sell last year’s lines,…

Google is singing “God Save the Queen” as they launch their first Google store. Sort of. Unlike competitors Apple and Microsoft who have multiple lines of merchandise to entice shoppers to visit brick and mortar retail shops, Google’s hardware lineup is miniscule, as is their first physical retail presence. Nestled in a petite 285-sq ft section of PC World in Tottenham Court, the temporary shop will only stay open until Christmas. Also unlike the competitors, Google isn’t saying much about it. There were no high-ranking executive cutting ribbons, no long lines to get be the first to touch the…

This is just downright cartoonish. In an attempt to stay relevant, Microsoft, as you’re probably already aware, has been at work opening a chain of retail stores to do battle in the IRL with Jobs and Friends. But this is perhaps no bigger a pissing contest than in the Mall of America, where Microsoft is opening a store less than ten meters away from the Apple Store – directly across the hallway. I’d really like to see how this turns out. The new Microsoft store is utterly enormous (as you’ll see in the video below), and it will be interesting to hear tell of how – or if – Redmond’s presence affect’s Apple’s…