Marketing Tactics

CVS unveiled during a New York City press event on Wednesday the spring 2014 collection of its exclusive Nuance Salma Hayek line.

The new collection, which will begin shipping in January, features products for hair and skin.

City of Commerce, Calif. — 99¢ Only Stores will celebrate the grand opening of its new store in Menifee, Calif., by selling Westinghouse 40-inch flat-screen TVs for just 99 cents to the first nine customers in line.

The 18,000-sq.-ft. store will feature a perishable food department with produce, dairy and frozen foods. 99¢ Only Stores currently operates 335 stores in California, Texas, Arizona and Nevada.

Hispanic Heritage Month is a national observance that runs annually from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15. President Ronald Reagan extended the observance from a week to a month in 1998.

The Macerich Company embraced Hispanic Heritage Month this year as a way of recognizing its large Hispanic customer base. Thirty-one Macerich properties hosted special events celebrating the richness of Latin culture throughout Hispanic Heritage Month.

Chicago -- Almost half of Americans (46%) report they will spend less on the holidays than last year, with those living in the South more likely than any other region to say they plan to spend less this year at 55%.

An online survey conducted in October 2013 among 2,014 Americans ages 18 and older by Harris Interactive on behalf of online lender CashNetUSA also shows that only 8% of Americans indicate they plan to spend more on the holidays this year than last year and 37% indicated they would spend the same as last year.  

Nashville – Almost six-in-10 (58%) adults say their smartphone is very important for Black Friday shopping. A survey of nearly 1,000 adults by technology protection services vendor Asurion, also reveals 49% of shoppers will make Black Friday purchases from their smartphone.

By Sven Hammar, co-founder and CEO, Apica

Recent public and embarrassing website crashes of Amazon, Groupon and even Google accentuates the need to take web and mobile performance more seriously. Unresponsive websites and mobile applications is comparable to a physical shop throwing out its customers and locking its doors. Luckily, there are ways to minimize the risk of slow response times and site crashes.

Los Angeles -- Women are more responsive to mobile alerts detailing discounts and more likely than men to shop in-store to save on shipping costs, according to recent data from fashion shopping app Snapette, a business unit of PriceGrabber. The survey revealed that mobile ad spend grew by 81% this year, with women aged 25-34 driving the highest click through and conversation rates.

Home improvement retailers are reaping the rewards of a healthier housing market and so is Williams-Sonoma. The company reported strong third quarter results and raised its fourth quarter outlook as a result.

Comparable brand revenue growth in the quarter increased 8.2% on top of 8.5% in the year-ago quarter. The company saw revenue growth across all its brands, but results were primarily driven by West Elm, which saw revenue jump 22.2% compared to 13% last year, and PBteen, which saw revenue jump 16.7%, compared to 2% last year.