Marketing Tactics

Walmart has added to its financial service offerings with a new savings program.   The program, called “Prize Savers,” is a prize-linked savings incentive program available to holders of Walmart MoneyCard, the chain’s branded reloadable pre-paid debit cards, the Associated Press reported.  

Walmart is leveraging its mighty store network to gain a competitive advantage over Amazon for last-minute holiday shoppers.    The discount retailer announced Tuesday it will offer shoppers a Christmas Eve store pickup commitment for eligible orders placed online by 6 p.m. local time on Dec. 23.   

More of the nation’s underserved teens will have access to free technology tools and training thanks to Best Buy.   The chain plans to add nine new Best Buy Teen Tech Centers to its year-round support network in 2017. The announcement was made Tuesday, at the opening of Best Buy’s newest Teen Tech Center, in Denver, Colorado.  

Sears is taking the saying, “it is better to give than to receive” to heart.   Coinciding with its “Season of Wishes” holiday campaign, the department store chain is rewarding shoppers at Sears Hometown and outlet stores who donate $5 to Make-A-Wish with a “Very Merry Santa Sale” pass for an extra discount between Dec. 15 and Dec. 24.   

A mixed bag of activity for the second week of December indicates that weekends — and perfectly timed promotions — will make or break the remainder of holiday e-commerce sales.  

Barnes & Noble is set to open its third location featuring the bookseller’s new concept, which combines a bookstore with  a full-service restaurant and table service.   The new store,  at the Palladio of Broadstone in Folsom, California, features a 2,600-sq.-ft. Barnes & Noble Kitchen that has seating for 140, reported the Sacramento Bee.  

A mall owner in Springfield, Missouri, has asked the town council to declare the area surrounding his site blighted and charge a tax to go towards improvements to his property.   Curtis Jared told town administrators that sprucing up his Brentwood Shopping Center would create more jobs and tax revenue, according to local radio station KTTS. He wants them to form a community improvement district allowing a one-cent increase in the local sales tax.  

Move over Sephora, fast-growing Ulta Beauty is about to give you some competition.   Ulta will open its first-ever outpost in Manhattan, on the city’s tony Upper East Side.     The retailer leased a 12,000-sq.ft. space on the ground floor of 184 E. 86th St., Commercial Observer reported, with Cushman & Wakefield brokering the deal with Ulta. A Sephora is located on the same block.