Today In Retail: EVgo Attains 250,000+ Customers On Charging Network; TrueCar, Roadster Collaborate To Help Car Shoppers Finalize Deals

In today’s top retail news, EVgo announced that it has reached more than a quarter of a million customers on its charging network throughout the country, while TrueCar has rolled out an experimental effort with Roadster. Plus, Office Depot says it is splitting its business-to-business (B2B) arm from its chain of physical retail stores.

EVgo Reaches 250,000+ Customers On Its Charging Network Nationwide

EVgo announced that it has reached over 250,000 clients on its electric vehicle charging network across the nation. The company says that it has 98 percent uptime on its chargers that are stationed at retail locations and “other attractive areas.” EVgo, which was started in 2010, works with retail hosts such as shopping centers in addition to other stakeholders to install charging tech and “make it easier for all U.S. drivers to take advantage of the benefits of driving an EV.”

TrueCar, Roadster Team To Help Car Shoppers Finalize Deals

TrueCar, the digital auto marketplace, has launched an experimental effort with Roadster, the auto online sales platform. Consumers harnessing TrueCar will now have the ability to finalize car purchasing deals on their internet by the way of an application programming interface (API) that connects with Roadster’s back-end technology. “Through our pilot program with Roadster, TrueCar consumers at select dealerships now have the ability to build real car deals digitally, including finance terms,” TrueCar President and CEO Mike Darrow said in a release.

Office Depot Parent ODP To Split B2B From Retail Amid Slump In Sales

Office Depot’s parent company announced on Wednesday (May 5) that is splitting its B2B division from its chain of brick-and-mortar stores to make two independent publicly traded companies. The spin-off announcement by ODP came as the Florida-based company also posted its first-quarter results, which displayed sales decreases in both businesses. The move by ODP comes almost four years after Staples was taken private in 2017.

Floral Delivery Startup UrbanStems Preps For Record Mother’s Day With Fresh Funding

Washington, D.C.-based floral delivery upstart UrbanStems said on Wednesday (May 5) that it is on pace to book its busiest week in its four-year history because of a flood of Mother’s Day orders and that it has also wrapped up a $20 million round of funding. In announcing the Series C fundraise, CEO Seth Goldman previously told PYMNTS that he intends to use the infusion to invest in people, additional products and more technology.