Coupons/ Rebates/ Pricing

Seeking to boost back-to-school sales, 24 GGP malls will host Teen Vogue’s Back-to-School Saturday™ on Aug. 10.

For the second year in a row, Teen Vogue magazine has declared a national shopping holiday for Back-To-School.

This year, 100 malls and numerous national retailers — H&M, Topshop and American Eagle, for instance —have decided to see what the marketing concept can do for them.

Retailers will offer back-to-school deals and discounts, and the malls will host events.

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — Kohl’s is planning to hold a nationwide Win Great Things sweepstakes from Sunday, August 4 through Monday, September 2 — the final weeks before the school year starts for many students. 

New York -- Consumers continue to hold tight to their purse strings and will rely heavily on online and mobile channels while they shop, according to Deloitte’s annual “Back-to-School” and “Back-to-College” surveys. 

Shoppers are far more optimistic about the economy than this time last year. Nearly four in 10 (37%) are more confident in the economy’s prospects, compared with just one-quarter (26%) a year ago. 

Camp Hill, Pa. -- Rite Aid is launching a loyalty program for consumers 65 and up. The new program is the latest extension of the chain’s customer loyalty program wellness+.

New York — Nearly 70% (68%) of consumers plan to spend up to $500 this back-to-school shopping season compared with 63% in 2012 and 48% in 2011, according to a new spending forecast from e-commerce platform provider PriceGrabber.  Additionally, 17% of respondents plan to spend between $500 and $1,000, and 15% of shoppers said they have no back-to-school shopping budget this year. Conducted from June 17 to July 8, 2013, the survey includes responses from 2,191 U.S. online shopping consumers.

Back-to-school shoppers get a free three day pass at Sam’s Club beginning August 2, as part of an initiative to increase membership at the warehouse club.

Sam’s is inviting shoppers to visit its more than 600 clubs beginning Friday, August 2, without paying any type of membership fee or non-member surcharge. The retailer has conducted similar open house events in the past as a means to expose shoppers to the Sam’s Club experience and hopefully convert a meaningful number to dues-paying members, at either the $45 base membership level or $100 Plus member level.

By combining offers with other retailers or entities, retailers can avoid being victimized by the “adverse selection” of consumers who simply look for the largest discount they can find at a given time, Alex Rampell, CEO and co-founder of offer-based payment platform TrialPay, told attendees at the recent Retailer Roundtable event sponsored by digital gifting platform CashStar.

“Offering a massive discount just gets people to go elsewhere for a bigger discount,” said Rampell. “Those consumers do not develop into loyal customers.”

LOS ANGELES — With the back-to-school season well underway, a new spending forecast from e-commerce platform provider PriceGrabber conflicts with other recent studies and highlights the danger of placing much credence in what shoppers say about their spending intentions.