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 retailers

Retail sales increase, markets fall apart

February 14, 2012

America might just dig itself out of that recession after all. Maybe. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), January retail industry sales increased 4% year-over-year, a bittersweet improvement that has divided economic analysts.
 

Teenage apparel retailers struggle to integrate across marketing channels

February 01, 2012

Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle Outfitters use diverse direct marketing approaches to sell similarly priced apparel to teenagers and young adults.
 

Wal-Mart merges marketing, merchandising

January 30, 2012

Wal-Mart, which last week shook up several of its C-suite positions, is undergoing further reorganization that will integrate the company's merchandising and marketing teams, Wal-Mart president and CEO Bill Simon said in a Jan. 27 statement.
 

JCPenney overhauls marketing, promo strategy

January 25, 2012

JCPenney is getting a new logo and is completely revamping its pricing, branding, promotions, as well as refreshing its stores, the retailer's new CEO Ron Johnson announced Jan. 25.
 

Sam's Club CEO resigns, Wal-Mart promotes four within C-suite

January 20, 2012

Sam's Club president and CEO Brian Cornell will resign his position and be replaced by Rosalind Brewer, president of Wal-Mart U.S. East , effective Feb. 1, Sarah Spencer, Wal-Mart's director of national media relations, confirmed Jan. 20.
 

NRF Big Show closes with advice for CEOs

January 18, 2012

A recent internal survey of CEO turnover conducted by executive recruiter Russell Reynolds Associates found that retail CEOs change jobs 30% more frequently than Fortune 1,000 CEOs in general, said Brenda Malloy, managing director and global retail practice leader of Russell Reynolds Associates, at the closing session of the National Retail Federation's 101st Big Show on Jan. 18.
 

NRF Big Show: Ralph Lauren EVP on marketing luxury goods online

January 17, 2012

Retailer Ralph Lauren "blends merchandising and entertainment" to tell the story that surrounds its products, a tactic essential to keeping an iconic brand relevant in the technologically developing retail world, said David Lauren, Ralph Lauren's EVP of advertising, marketing and corporate communications, at the National Retail Federation's (NRF) 101st Big Show on Jan. 17.
 

Macy's CMO shares loyalty insights at NRF Big Show

January 16, 2012

Macy's discussed loyalty tactics and shared details about MyMacy's, its consumer-centric collaboration with dunnhumby USA, at the National Retail Federation Big Show on Jan. 16 in New York City.
 

Survey: Only 4% of consumers prefer mobile apps when shopping

January 16, 2012

Though consumers clearly use their tablets to shop — a survey released Jan. 16 by rich media marketing company Zmags found that 87% of tablet owners did their holiday shopping using their tablets this year — only 4% of those surveyed said they prefer using mobile branded apps for shopping.
 

Holiday sales increase, fall short of expectations

January 13, 2012

Total U.S. retail sales generated an estimated $400.6 billion in December, an increase of 6.5% compared with the same month last year, according to a Jan. 12 report from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Total sales for the 2011 calendar year increased 7.7% to $4.7 trillion compared with the prior year, the report said.
 

Customer loyalty strategies determine the department store champion

January 01, 2012

In addition to long-standing tenure in the retail space, Wal-Mart Stores and Sears Holdings Corp. apply a similar approach to direct marketing, including direct mail, email, social media outreach, loyalty rewards and extensive e-commerce platforms.
 

Q&A: Daniel Schotland, VP of client services, Experian CheetahMail

January 01, 2012

Daniel Schotland, VP of client services at Experian CheetahMail, discusses best practices for holiday email marketing.
 

Motorcycle retailer delivers e-commerce navigation tool

January 01, 2012

Chaparral Motorsports, a San Bernardino, Calif.-based retailer of motorcycle parts, helmets, gear and tires, wanted to drive transactions from its Facebook fan page. In addition to an e-commerce site and a brick-and-mortar showroom, the company decided it made sense to provide consumers with a Facebook shopping option that was both social and informative.
 

Social is Santa's not-so-little helper

December 28, 2011

Who doesn't love a good infographic? Check out how social influenced holiday sales in a big way this year.
 

You are here

December 07, 2011

I may originally hail from New Jersey, but I still can't find my way around a mall. The new indoor Google Maps aims to help.
 

O come, all ye shoppers!

Scott Donaton, CEO, Ensemble December 01, 2011

Be my Valentine! Now, let's see what I can buy/purchase/consume to 
express how I feel. A greeting card, for starters, pre-printed with someone else's sentiments, a frilly box of chocolates complete with a picture chart so you can avoid biting into the one with that weird green cream, or a dozen red long-stems.
 

Office supply chains apply integrated 
strategies to stoke sluggish sales

December 01, 2011

Office supply chains Staples and Office Depot started the year in equally disappointing fashion.
 

Sunglass Warehouse filters holiday list with new ESP

December 01, 2011

Sunglass Warehouse, a division of One Click Internet Ventures, is a Greenwood, Ind.-based retailer of more than 1,000 eyewear products. The online merchant had to devise an email strategy for the 2010 holiday season to more effectively reach and convert shoppers. It previously worked with email marketing and list services company MailChimp, but decided early in 2010 that a new partner was needed.
 

NRF: Holiday retail sales projected to grow 2.8% this year

October 06, 2011

Holiday retail sales are expected to increase 2.8% to $465.6 billion this season, according to an Oct. 6 National Retail Federation (NRF) forecast.
 

July retail sales pick up speed

August 12, 2011

US retail and food services sales increased 0.5% in July to $392.4 billion compared with June, and grew 8.5% compared with last July, according to US Census Bureau estimates. Sales in the retail and food services sector increased 7.9% to $2.7 trillion in the first seven months of 2011, compared with the same period of last year.
 

Office Depot names interim chief its permanent chairman, CEO

May 25, 2011

Office Depot has named Neil Austrian its permanent chairman and CEO, the company said May 25. He had served as the Boca Raton, Fla.-based office supply retailer's interim leader since November 1, 2010. Austrian will replace Steven Odland, who resigned last October after more than five years with the company.
 

'We will never be Middle America,' says Ideeli's director of loyalty

May 17, 2011

I had the opportunity to tour Ideeli's SoHo office today to get a sense of the company's culture and how it plans to compete with competitors like Gilt Groupe, RueLaLa and HauteLook. Like the high-end products Ideeli sells to its 4 million members, the company's center of operations is chic and impressive.
 

EBay revenue, sales and marketing expenses up

April 27, 2011

EBay's first-quarter revenue increased 16% to $2.5 billion, compared with the first quarter of 2010. Net income grew 12% in the period to $475.9 million year-over-year. Sales and marketing expenses in Q1 grew to $533 million, a 19.5% increase year-over-year.
 

My travels with Hemingway and The Godfather: Why you can shove your e-reader

April 12, 2011

The closing of my neighborhood Borders reinforces my love for physical books and reaffirms my disinterest in e-reading.
 

LL Bean launches free shipping for US, Canadian orders

March 25, 2011

LL Bean introduced free standard shipping without a minimum purchase amount to all US and Canadian addresses on March 25. The multichannel retailer will also increase Visa cardmember benefits by doubling rewards on purchases made with LL Bean Visa cards.
 

Weather, disappointing e-commerce results hurt Staples' fiscal 2010 sales

March 02, 2011

Staples said March 2 that sales increased 1% year-over-year to $24.5 billion in fiscal year 2010, while net income grew 19% to $882 million. However, bad weather and weak e-commerce orders hurt the company. Total company sales in fiscal Q4 2010, which ended January 29, increased slightly to $6.4 billion, a 0.14% increase compared with the fiscal fourth quarter of 2009. Net income in the quarter increased 17% year-over-year to $275 million.
 

JCPenney unveils new logo, plans Oscar-night launch for spring campaign

February 22, 2011

JCPenney's spring fashion marketing campaign, which will include direct mail, TV, radio and social media, will unveil the retail brand's new logo. The company said it revamped the logo to bring younger and lapsed consumers into its stores. JCPenney worked with AOR Saatchi & Saatchi on the campaign, which will launch February 27.
 

Dell revenue up 5% in fiscal Q4, 16% for full year

February 16, 2011

Dell reported fiscal fourth-quarter 2011 revenue of $15.7 billion, a 5% increase compared with the previous fiscal Q4. For its full fiscal year, the Round Rock, TX-based company saw revenue of $61.5 billion, a 16% year-over-year increase. The technology company generated $927 million in net income in fiscal Q4, a 177% increase compared with the same period of last fiscal year.
 

Dangers of misguided tags in retargeting program

Paul Cook, CEO, TagMan February 07, 2011

Putting aside the entire consumer privacy debate - if that's possible - there are more 'insider baseball' dangers in display retargeting, chiefly that most brands are almost certainly bidding against themselves for inventory.
 

Gap Inc. appoints Farbman global CMO; names Ogilvy & Mather AOR

February 02, 2011

Gap Inc. named Seth Farbman its first global CMO for its flagship brand on February 2 as part of a major management shakeup. The multichannel retailer also named Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide AOR for the Gap brand and said it will launch a global creative center in New York. Art Peck, the head of the Gap outlet businesses, will replace Marka Hansen as president of Gap North America on February 4, the company also said.