Marketing Tactics

CHICAGO — Heading into Black Friday weekend, retailers would be wise to make sure their shelves are fully stocked. According to a study by Harris Interactive on behalf of Galleria Retail Technology Solutions, a provider of retail and category optimization solutions, nearly 70% of U.S. adults would avoid shopping at a retail store if they encountered empty shelves.

Shipments of digital signage displays to the retail sector are expected to triple by 2013, according to market research firm iSuppli Corp. That’s encouraging news in an industry that faces an uncertain holiday buying season.

Chicago -- Up to 60% more shoppers will enter stores on Dec. 26 than on the same day last year, according to ShopperTrak, the world's largest provider of retail and mall foot traffic counting services. The reason for the increase is due to the calendar: Shoppers will come out in full force on the day after Christmas because it falls on a Monday for the first time in six years. That day will rank third in foot traffic for the holiday shopping season, surpassed only by Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and Super Saturday, the Saturday one week before Christmas.

You’ve seen her in television commercials, that blonde-haired wacky lady dressed in red whose passion for shopping at Target knows no bounds. Advertising Age’s Natalie Zmuda interviewed the “Christmas Champ” recently to get her thoughts on off-season preparation and Black Friday strategy. Read the article here. 

Dallas -- GTM Development, a limited partnership created by The MGHerring Group and Cencor Realty Services, said it has completed the acquisition of Golden Triangle Mall in Denton, Texas.

MGHerring will be responsible for the redevelopment of the 765,000-sq.-ft. Golden Triangle Mall, which will begin in early 2012 with a grand reopening slated for next fall.

Cencor manages the mall while MGHerring and The Weitzman Group, Cencor’s brokerage affiliate, jointly lease the property.

San Francisco -- Walmart has the most engaged users across its social media platforms as the days count down to the holiday shopping season, according to a study by the social media and digital analytics company Socialbakers.

Walmart has the most number of fans topping the list at over 10 million fans, with over 7,500 fan posts last month, Socialbakers said. The engagement rate represents fan interactions and although Target ties with an average monthly engagement rate, Walmart has nearly double the number of fans who are actively posting.

Gritty and dry are not words normally associated with a delicious chocolate chip cookie, but that is how Consumer Reports described most of the cookies tested in its December issue, including Target’s Market Pantry and Archer Farm’s brands.

Retailers have pulled out the stops this holiday season, especially when it comes to experimenting with cutting-edge digital technologies. But innovation shouldn’t be reserved for the holidays — it is something that should be infused into the shopping experience all year long.