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Marketing Tactics

  • Tapping into the restaurant playbook

    To create meaningful experiences, retailers should take a page from the menu

    At the Converse store on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, “customization maestros” help sneaker fans manufacture their dream shoe.

    Shoppers, browsing the featured iPads, choose among 150 graphics, including those created by local artists. There is a wide selection of grommets, patches and lettering, along with swap-out drawstrings of various designs and color.

  • L Brands tops Street in September as some others disappoint

    L Brands, operator of Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works, posted a better-than-expected 3% increase in same-store sales for September.      The retailer’s results were fueled by a 9% increase in comp sales at its Bath & Body Works brand. L Brands’ net sales rose 6% to $919.9 million in September.   The handful of other retailers who still report same-store sales did not fare so well.  

  • Report: Walmart fielding presentations from 26 technology startups

    Walmart is hosting 26 startups to present their ideas as part of the company's Technology Open Call, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported Thursday.   The event is being held in conjunction with Friday's Northwest Arkansas Tech Summit and features companies like FreshSpire, a service that notifies participating consumers the availability of discounted produce that's about to expire. 

  • Retail Next: The biggest, busiest shopping days of the year will be…

    Move over Black Friday.   The biggest shopping day in terms of holiday sales is expected to be Friday, Dec. 23, while the biggest day in terms of store traffic is expected to be Saturday, Dec. 17, according to RetailNext Inc. (See lists at end of story.) It’s the first time in many years that Black Friday failed to top either of the lists.    

  • New looks, new formats

    With the physical store now widely acknowledged as a critical touchpoint in a customer’s omnichannel shopping journey, many retailers spent the summer opening new prototypes and formats.

    Here are three that are still generating buzz:

    Sephora

    Sephora’s new outpost on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue makes buying makeup and other beauty products an interactive experience.

  • Placemaking, Steve Wynn style

    Founded by Don and Barbara Brinkerhoff nearly a half century ago, Lifescapes International made its bones as an architectural landscaping firm on the Vegas Strip, where it created the fire show at The Mirage and the water show at the Bellagio. What the founding couple learned in Vegas, their daughter, Julie Brinkerhoff-Jacobs, now applies to retail and lifestyle centers like Triple Five’s American Dream and Rockefeller Center’s Channel Gardens.

  • Online apparel retailer making move to brick-and-mortar

    ModCloth, the online apparel retailer known for its indie and vintage-inspired styles, is opening up its first permanent store.   The company will open a 4,000-sq.-ft. location in Austin, Texas, in November, Bloomberg reported. Other locations are likely to follow.  

  • Holiday cheer — mostly

    It’s that time of the year again — specifically, time for the holiday forecasts to start pouring in.

    Let’s start with the good news. Early reports are calling for a solid season, with Deloitte predicting a 3.6% to 4% increase in total retail sales over last year.

    As for the upcoming presidential election, it may be a temporary distraction in the early part of the holiday shopping season, but it’s not expected to have a negative impact on total sales. In fact, if past years are any indication, retailers may even benefit from a pickup in postelection consumer spending.

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