The 2013 retail stock leaders’ and laggards’ lists reflects a mixed bag of business stories with one common theme – the overall stock market has been on a steady incline for the past year, especially the first quarter of 2013. However, the rising tide has not lifted all ships. Find out year-over-year stock price rankings for JCPenney, Aeropostale, RadioShack, Overstock.com, Dollar Tree and other leading retailers.

Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook is on the list of top CEOs. So is Larry Page of Google and Larry Ellison of Oracle. And joining them are six highly regarded retail CEOs. But some big names are absent. Find out where Amazon, Home Depot, Nordrstrom, Macy’s, Zappo’s and others rank on the top-50 CEO list. Hint: some of the star executives from these companies made the list and some didn’t.

Which retailer is the clear omnichannel leader, staking an advanced position in the vanguard of the retail industry and posting impressive financial figures while doing it? Of the several contenders that come to mind, including Nordstrom, Urban Outfitters and Cabela’s, Macy’s has the inside track on this very elite pack. Here’s why.

Mobility is the high-tech tail that wags the dog for retailers. So many projects cluster around mobility in the tech stack that it has become the dominant driver of IT investment today. According to a just released report by TBR, mobility is pushing a 5% increase in IT budgets in 2013 for large North American retailers and, not surprisingly, mobile POS is where the big money is going.

Piecing together details of the $3-million loss of sales at Finishline.com during the busy 2012 holiday selling season makes it clear that not only did the website crash on Cyber Monday but major problems emerged a week earlier. Two points from this epic fail are relevant to retailers: 1. It is a textbook case of how not to launch a big upgrade, and 2. Loyal customers take to social media to air dirty laundry.