Coupons/ Rebates/ Pricing

QUINCY, Mass. — Stop & Shop has reintroduced its Guaranteed Value product line in an effort to help customers on a budget.

The line, which includes about 200 items, touts prices that are an average of 20% to 25% less than national brands. What's more, 60% of the items cost $2 or less. What's more, packaging for items that are part of Guaranteed Value have undergone a makeover, with the yellow, blue and red packaging being replaced with a bright orange and white design that highlights the value offered with each product.

SAN FRANCISCO — In an effort to help the thousands of troops returning home from serving overseas, Banana Republic has announced “Our Duty to You,” a program created to help military personnel prepare for their next professional opportunities. 

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS/pharmacy's ExtraCare Rewards program now enables ExtraCare cardholders to send their quarterly ExtraBucks Rewards to their ExtraCare cards, eliminating the need for shoppers to carry paper rewards into their local CVS/pharmacy.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Beauty brands rapidly are moving ahead with their social and mobile strategies to allow viral campaigns and create new consumer relations opportunities. But there’s no cookie-cutter approach, and brands are experimenting with what approaches work best for their business, according to a new report by consulting and research firm Kline.

San Francisco -- Williams-Sonoma Inc. said Thursday it has cut its fiscal Q4 earnings outlook below Wall Street expectations due to heavy holiday promotions levels.

The company said it had to offer discounts to entice shoppers this holiday season. Although earnings guidance has been reduced to below expectations, Williams-Sonoma’s revenue outlook remains in line with Wall Street, trimmed to a range of $1.24 billion to $1.26 billion. The company had previously expected revenue as high as $1.27 billion.

Commerce, Calif. -- 99 Cents Only Stores reported Wednesday that total third-quarter revenue rose to $403.9 million, from $365.4 million.

Sales at its namesake stores grew to $393.3 million from $354.1 million a year ago, just missing Wall Street’s expected $393.6 million in revenue.

For the quarter, same-store sales rose 8.5% on higher traffic and per-visit tickets.

INDIANAPOLIS — Electronics retailer Hhgregg announced that it has lowered its third-quarter forecast, reflecting weakness in the video category.

The company said that fiscal third quarter comparable-store sales are estimated to have increased 3.9%, with the video category expected to have decreased 4.8%, the appliance category expected to have increased 6.8%, the home office category expected to have increased 91.4% and the other category expected to have decreased 7.1%. 

Atlanta -- Dollar volume growth on cards overall was a healthy 6.9%  in December, according to First Data Corporation’s First Data SpendTrend analysis for the full month of December 2011 compared to December 2010. SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations.

However, strong auto sales, driven by low interest rates, likely diverted consumer spending to car sales from other retail areas, the report said. Auto sales are not captured in SpendTrend figures.

Target may have floundered a bit in December, but many retailers reported solid sales gains for the month. Overall, retail sales rose 3.4% at the 22 retailers tracked by the Thomson Reuters same-store sales index, compared with the 3.3% analyst forecast, however results were mixed.

That was the case with the nation’s discounters and department store retailers, with many chains citing unseasonably warm weather that sapped demand for cold-weather merchandise.

Following a wild ride during Black Friday, the last month of the year in 2011 saw most retailers maintaining similar levels of promotional activities when compared to 2010. The majority of advertisers either saw slight increases in circular and page counts or stayed flat. When looking at both page counts and circular drops overall there was not much change, with a 2% decrease in number of pages and a 1% drop in number of inserts per market.