Marketing Tactics

Wayne, N.J. – Toys ‘R Us Inc. on Friday announced an array of holiday marketing initiatives along with the news that its stores  will open at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day Thursday, Nov. 27, the same time as 2013, and will remain open through 11 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 28, offering doorbusters and deals.  

New website BeautyKind.us will enable consumers to give back just by making purchases.  Whether it’s shopping for makeup, skincare, fragrances, hair or nail products, 5% of the purchase price of every product will be donated to the charity of the consumer's choice. The unique shopping platform “We-Commerce” was created to integrate cause within commerce and bring the beauty community together for the greater good.

Ken O’Brien has been elevated to the role of SVP of merchandising at QVC reporting to Doug Howe, QVC’s, EVP of merchandising and planning.

In his new role, Obrien will be responsible for setting and executing QVC’s merchandising strategy for product brands across categories, as well as leading the engagement and management of QVC’s vendor community.
 

New Albany, Ohio –- Abercrombie & Fitch reported net sales of $911.4 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2014, less than Wall Street forecast, down 12% from $1.03 billion in the year-ago period. The chain cited slowing mall traffic and weaker results in the latter part of the quarter.   

New York -- RadioShack has brought on rock parody singer Weird Al Yankovich to star in a holiday ad.   Yankovic is appearing in the chain's holiday campaign called "Gift Smart.” In the spot, he sings his own unique take on the holiday song  “Toyland.”   

Cute cat videos and funny dog tricks are everywhere on the Internet so it only stands to reason that Petco would unleash customers’ creativity with an Instagram contest as part of a larger holiday initiative.

Petco is encouraging shoppers to enter its holiday photo contest from Nov. 23 to Dec. 18 by submitting photos of their pets showing holiday spirit by following @petco and posting photos with #JoyLovePetsContest on Instagram. A winner will be selected every Friday and will receive a $1,000 Petco gift card.

Barnes & Noble is giving thanks to veterans this holiday season with a one-day, in-store-only Veterans Day offer of 15% off Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK and NOOK GlowLight devices. 

This offer is available to veterans, active duty military members and their families on Veterans Day, Tuesday, November 11, at all Barnes & Noble stores nationwide.