Marketing Tactics

Sears Canada Inc. is going all out with its plans for an in-store off-price shop.   The chain will unveil the dedicated shop, called The Cut, this spring, and plans to roll it out to all its 94 stores. The off-price concept launched its own e-commerce website last week.      The Cut will take up from 30,000 sq. ft. to 40,000 sq. ft. inside the stores and will be evenly split between apparel and home offerings, according to Women’s Wear Daily.       

Lighting rebates hit a record of sorts in 2016.   Commercial lighting rebates covered 79% of the United States, according to BriteSwitch, which is a record high since the rebate processing company began measuring rebate coverage nine years ago.   The company cited several reasons for the historic high, including that many programs replenished their rebate funds in January. Also, some large programs that ran out of money years ago have come back such as FirstEnergy in Ohio and Duquesne Light in Pennsylvania.

A move to a more fast-fashion model helped Francesca’s to outperform many of its peers in the fourth quarter, with sales and income that topped expectations.       The retailer reported better-than-expected profit of $14.6 million, or 39 cents a share, for the quarter ended January 28, compared to $14.7 million profit, or 35 cents a share, in the year ago period.  

Online reviews have boomed in recent years. Once just another step in the customer decision-making process, they are now a pervasive part of daily life.  

Hollister & Co. is connecting with its shoppers through two of their favorite pastimes: mobility and video games.   Through a partnership with Rovio Entertainment and TreSensa, the re-tailer debuted a mobile video game whose activation functionality func-tions as an ad that connects the brand with loyal and potential shoppers, according to AdAge.   

Håkon Helgesen, analyst at GlobalData Retail, comments on Francesca’s fourth quarter and full year results:  

Detroit is one of the most encouraging and intriguing stories to develop in the wake of the Great Recession. With investment, development, and redevelopment booming downtown, office and multi-family momentum has spurred a retail revival. The Motor City is revving its retail engine and is well on the way to arriving as a true retail destination for the first time in decades.   

Shoppers are no longer willing to pay full price as deep discounts influence consumer behavior.   That is one of the key findings of a new consumer report by First Insight, which found that widespread discounting by department stores and mass merchants is significantly influencing the expectations of discounts when consumers shop in other product categories.