Marketing Tactics

New York – Macy’s Inc. beat Wall Street expectations with profits of $224 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2014, up 3.2% from $217 million in the same quarter the prior year.

Earnings rose even as sales fell 1.7% to $6.38 billion, from $6.39 billion. Same-store sales declined 0.8%. Increased operating income and decreased cost of sales helped boost net income, while severe winter weather took a toll on sales.

Chicago -- General economic conditions, federal, state and/or local regulations, and retail competition/consolidation ranked as the top three risk factors cited by retailers, according to a survey by BDO USA. Rounding out the top five: U.S. and foreign supplier/vendor concerns and labor (health coverage, union concerns, staffing) concerns.            
 

3M brand Post-it is sponsoring Startup Weekend, a program through the nonprofit UP Global that helps entrepreneurs launch their businesses in one weekend.

As part of this sponsorship, Post-it Brand will provide products to approximately 300 Startup Weekend events throughout the United States. Through this partnership, the Post-it brand will play a vital role in the idea-building and sharing processes among the event participants.

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Dodgeville, Wis. – Lands’ End is running an omnichannel swimsuit promotion called the “Lands’ End Getaway Tour.” From May 17 through June 7, the Lands' End Getaway Tour will make stops in Atlanta, New York, Boston, Toronto, Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin, with personalized fittings and consultations.

In addition, Lands’ End is offering a website with videos on how to create a professional swimsuit fit experience and swim style tips from Glamour.

San Diego - While showrooming, the process of researching in-store before buying online, remains popular among 76% of consumers, the emerging trend of webrooming, or researching online before buying in-store, is even more common, representing 88% of shoppers. According to “The Rise of Webrooming: A Changing Consumer Landscape,” a report from Interactions, 75% of webroomers believe they can find the lowest in-store price, while 72% prefer online product comparisons and 71% prefer online product research.

Westlake Village, Calif. - Senior retail marketers report that 38% of their total marketing spend is now devoted to digital. According to a research study released by Conversant, nearly 20% of retail marketers reported that digital accounts for 50% to 75% of their total marketing budget.

The new study found strong retailer interest in personalized marketing and advertising. Eighty-six percent of senior retail marketers said that individualized messages can be more effective than mass messages.

Staples this week debuted eight new product categories in its Dallas retail stores to help business customers “Make More One-stop Shopping Happen.” The product expansion is rolling out to more than 1,000 stores across the U.S. and hundreds more in Canada.