Marketing Tactics

Sport Chalet’s digital strategy paid off in the third quarter ended Dec. 29, which saw online sales surge 22% from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

The company reported net income for the quarter of $1.5 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $1.9 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, in the third quarter of last year.

New York -- RadioShack Corp. will close about 500 stores within months as part of its ongoing restructuring, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. The retailer, which is due to report results for the fourth quarter later this month, has about 4,500 locations.

As we look back on the first-ever outdoor cold weather Super Bowl, there are several lessons digital retailers can take away from how the NFL, Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks all prepared for what many said was an impossible or foolish undertaking. Some of the same steps these entities took to ensure a successful experience playing the Super Bowl is subfreezing conditions apply to retailers ensuring a successful digital experience for their customers, regardless of naysayers.

Flexibility Keeps Things Running

Reston, Va. -- comScore has entered into a partnership with the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) to expand its cross-platform measurement service that provides a continuous view and measurement of media usage across TV, radio, desktop, smartphone and mobile.

This next phase will allow media companies, marketers and advertising agencies the opportunity to measure things such as multi-platform advertising, mobile video, time-shifted viewing such as DVR playback and children’s viewing.

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in January 2013 versus January 2014 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains. The home improvement retailers appear to have reversed course somewhat. In previous months, Home Depot focused on smaller, denser circulars while Lowe’s typically featured many pages with few ads on each. While this is still generally true, Home Depot saw a moderate 25% increase in circular page count and Lowe’s doubled its number of ads per page and per circular.

R.G. Barry Corporation’s chairman of the board Gordon B. Zacks died at his Bexley home following a brief illness. He was 80.

Zacks joined his family's business in 1955 after attending Dartmouth College and graduating from the Ohio State University. He joined the board of directors in 1959 and was named company president in 1965. He added the roles of chairman of the board and CEO to his resume in 1979. Following retirement from his day-to-day management roles in 2004, he was named the company's non-executive chairman of the board, a post held until his death.

By Rory Dennis, Amplience

Facebook just reported record levels of user engagement along with fourth quarter sales and profits that blew away forecasts, but a new study offers a more measured view of the social media network’s longer term prospects.

The director of the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future Jeffrey Coles and the research firm Bovitz conducted a survey last fall in which one third of respondents said they will be using Facebook less in five years.