Coupons/ Rebates/ Pricing

Sales at Coupons.com surged 32% in the second quarter, but the digital coupon provider reported an increased loss as stock-based compensation expenses ate into profits.

Total revenue increased 32% to $51.7 compared to $39.1 million while the company reported a loss of $6.9 million, $6.7 million of which was related to stock-based compensation, compared to a prior year loss of $2.9 million. On an adjusted basis, the company said profits increased to $3.7 million from a $100,000 profit the prior year.

Atlanta — Participating JLL-managed centers across the country will be hosting back-to-school events in August, as part of a partnership with Teen Vogue.
Teen Vogue Back-To-School Saturdays (BTSS) feature teen-oriented retailer sales promotions, entertainment, fashion shows, music, food and giveaways. The multi-platform initiative involves all of Teen Vogue’s assets in print, digital, social, mobile and event marketing.

As an article that appeared recently right here in Chain Store Age noted, there is something interesting going on with back-to-school shopping this year.

Sandra Gudat, President & CEO, Customer Communications Group

Retailers often have trouble balancing their overall promotions plan with offers and discounts for their loyalty program. In fact, it may be enough of an issue that they keep loyalty as an independent P&L entity, or even steer clear of loyalty altogether to avoid the problem. After all, every retail business is about profit, and adding another layer of promotional discounts into the mix could be seen as a threat to the bottom line.

Grand Rapids, Mich. - Meijer is running an omnichannel back-to-school promotion offering Back-to-School Bucks, which are available through print and the Meijer digital coupon program, mPerks. Furthermore, customers can customize their own sale and save more than $35 on general merchandise and health and beauty care products the weekend of Aug. 15-16.

As part of its efforts to generate traffic this back-to-school season, Office Depot is offering teachers in Florida a 20% discount off qualifying purchases during its Office Depot Rewards and MaxPerks Teacher Appreciation Events.

The events will be held at Office Depot and OfficeMax stores across Florida during select weeks this summer. In Florida, they’ll be taking place from August 2 through August 5.

Foothill Ranch, Calif. – The Wet Seal Inc. has named Iris Mobile as its mobile messaging agency. Iris Mobile will support the brand's mobile marketing programs with Rich Media Messaging (RMM) to help the retailer strengthen its presence and connect more personally with its mobile customers.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. - Dollar General, in partnership with Coupons.com, completed the successful rollout of its new DG Digital Coupons program to its more than 11,300 stores across the 40 states the retailer serves. To use the DG Digital Coupon Program, customers may sign up either online or in stores using a numeric identification number, which is typically their telephone number.

Meijer is generating traffic to its stores with weekly promotions and price drops on more than 300 of back-to-school items, which it plans to continue offering into September. In the past few weeks alone, customer traffic has consistently doubled, according to the retailer.

New York - A majority of parents plan to spend more on their children's back-to-school shopping this year, driven by rising costs or necessity rather than greater spending power. According the Accenture Back-to-School Shopping Survey, which polled 500 U.S. parents of children entering kindergarten through college, nearly all (89%) plan to do most of their back-to-school shopping in a physical store, though many will still use online to browse and search, or "webrooming."