Marketing Tactics

Domino's Pizza may be adding a new item to its take-out menu — driverless deliveries.   The pizza giant is teaming up with Ford Motor Co. to test how well self-driving vehicles can make pizza deliveries. The partners will evaluate how customers react to interacting with a self-driving vehicle within their delivery experience — data that is paramount to understanding how customers perceive the future of food delivery with self-driving vehicles.  

J. Jill, which went public in March, reported earnings and sales that topped analysts estimates, but provided an outlook that slightly missed forecasts.    Net income totaled $11.9 million, or 28 cents a share, in the quarter ended July 29, up from $8.1 million, or 19 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 29 cents, in line with estimates.  

Target Corp. is giving Trader Joe's some competition — albeit at a slightly higher price — when it comes to bargain-priced wine.    On September 3, Target will launch its own line of wines at more than 1,100 stores nationwide. The line, called California Roots, consists of five different blends, with two whites and three reds. And each will sell for $5 a bottle.  

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and Shoptalk, organizer of the annual conference for retail/ecommerce innovation, announced a partnership focused on creating a global community and conversation for retail and e-commerce innovation.    The partnership will include Shoptalk Europe, which will be held on October 9-11, 2017 at the Bella Center in Copenhagen. It will also include Shoptalk 2018, which will take place on March 18-21, 2018 at the Venetian in Las Vegas.  

Best Buy reported better-than-expected profit and sales for its second quarter amid growth for smartphones, connected home and wearable devices. But the retailer added a slight caveat going forward.   Best Buy's same-store sales rose 5.2% in the quarter ended July 29, easily topping analysts’ estimates for a 2.1% gain. But on the chain's quarterly call with analysts, CEO Hubert Joly said that he did not think that the mid-single-digit rise in comparable sales would continue, and that it did not represent a "new normal."

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is entering a new market in the Middle East.    The teen retailer announced that, in partnership with Dubai-based Majid Al Futtaim, it will open the first Abercrombie & Fitch store in Saudi Arabia, at the Red Sea Mall in Jeddah. The store is part of the previously announced franchise agreement between Majid Al Futtaim Fashion and Abercrombie.  

Personalization is front and center in a new format from Roots.   The brand's new 5,000-sq.-ft. location, at Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, has a modern cabin-styled design and outdoorsy feel, with a different outdoor theme in every fitting room, reported the Financial Post.  

With traditional anchors closing shop, malls nationwide are struggling to make themselves part of the entertainment business. None, however, are likely to do it as literally as Westfield’s Century City.