Coupons/ Rebates/ Pricing

By Rob Schmults, [email protected]

Austin, Texas -- Online coupon site RetailMeNot.com reported Thursday that men outspend women by more than $120 on Valentine’s Day gift giving.

According to the just-released results of the Valentine edition of RetailMeNot.com’s Shoppers Trend Report, the average person in a relationship plans to spend $226 for Valentine’s Day this year; the break-out is dominated by men, however, as they plan to spend $287 versus women at $164.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Limited Brands reported that comparable-store sales for the fourth quarter were up 5% and that net sales for the same period were $3.86 billion compared with $3.5 billion for the same period last year.

For the month of February, the company posted sales of $986.4 million compared with $774.5 million for the same period last year. Same-store sales for the month rose 9%. 

Los Angeles -- Survey results released Thursday by PriceGrabber found that 62% of consumers plan to spend as much as $100 on gifts for Valentine’s Day, down from 68% in 2012. However, 36% plan to spend more than $100 compared with 28% last year.  

NEW YORK — Department store retailers reported strong sales in January as shoppers responded positively to post-holiday clearance events.  

Overall, the 20 retailers reporting January comps saw an average rise of 5.1%, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, which beat the mall trade group’s 3% forecasted rise.

INDIANAPOLIS — Hhgregg announced that it has launched a “Price Match Guarantee” to ensure that its customers receive the lowest advertised prices on merchandise both in stores and online, for up to 30 days after the date of purchase.

San Francisco -- Social marketing platform Kenshoo Social said Wednesday that it has completed an integrated Facebook marketing campaign for Zappos and cloud-based social marketing platform, Shoutlet.

During a two-month test on a single-brand page, Zappos’ Facebook posts generated approximately 85,000 visits to its website. The traffic produced an average order value on par with its paid search and social marketing programs and achieved an average conversion rate of 1.75%.

GLENDALE, Calif. — Nestle today announced new additions to its line of Valentine’s Day offerings.

This season's collection includes the new Wonka Lik-M-Aid Fun Dip Mystery Flavor Valentine Exchange Kit. Returning this year are Lik-M-Aid Fun Dip Valentine Exchange Kit, Nestlé Crunch and Butterfinger Hearts, Wonka's best-selling Nerds , Pixy Stix, or Laffy Taffy Candy and Card Kits, Wonka Sweetarts Lollipops and Wonka Sweetarts Hearts.