News roundup--eBay, JD Sports, Sainsbury's, more

Online marketplace eBay has promoted its director of fashion retail Amanda Metcalfe to UK and Republic of Ireland marketing director. Prior to joining eBay, Metcalfe held similar roles at My-Wardrobe.com and Cocosa.com and led online marketing for Sainsbury’s.

JD Sports expects its recently acquired Blacks outdoor apparel division to record an operating loss of £10 million this year, with a further potential charge of £5 million after restructuring costs. JD bought Blacks in a prepacked administration deal in January.

Whereas Tesco saw first quarter sales slide 2 percent, rival Sainsbury’s recorded a sales increase of 3.6 percent in the 12 weeks to 9th June. Worth noting however, that Tesco’s results did not include the jubilee bank holiday period, which delivered Tesco’s biggest ever week outside of the Christmas period. In the first quarter—and taking into account the diamond jubilee uplift—Sainsbury’s delivered a 1.4 percent like-for-like growth.

Widget UK, a consumer electronics products distributor, has launched an iPhone app supported by the Maginus multichannel solution, enabling retail customers and suppliers to have a real-time view of product availability, details and pricing from any location via their phone. The app is split into two segments, customer and reseller, with each accessible via a unique login.

Dell has launched the Innovators Credit Fund as part of its initiative to help small businesses that have recently secured venture capital or angel investment funds get access to technology resources to help grow their businesses. Entrepreneurs can access up to 10 percent of their funded amount, or up to $150,000, with limited credit terms.

The Financial Times profiles the founders of US-based Wayfair, which has set its sights on being the “Amazon of the housewares business… trying to elevate Wayfair from a site you happen upon for the humdrum chore of buying a bookcase to the online store you seek out for the deeply personal act of decorating your home”.