Coupons/ Rebates/ Pricing

Nashville, Tenn. -- Kirkland's said Friday that its first-quarter net income fell 51% stung by higher expenses, increasing freight costs and competition over price. Its results, however, exceeded Wall Street's expectations.

The company earned $3.2 million for the period ended April 30, down from $6.5 million, a year earlier.

Total operating expenses rose to $29.7 million from $26.7 million.

Eden, Minn. -- Young America, an engagement marketing, loyalty and incentive firm, and 3Seventy, a mobile engagement solutions company, have formed a strategic alliance to jointly develop new mobile marketing capabilities and enhance delivery of mobile-based engagement marketing and loyalty services to their client base.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation Wednesday launched a major nationwide 60-day lobbying, grassroots and media campaign aimed at ensuring that a new federal law saving retailers and their customers more than $1 billion a month by lowering “swipe” fees banks charge to process debit-card transactions takes effect in late July as scheduled.

Lewisville, Texas -- Fifty percent of retailers and almost as many manufacturers (48%) use rebate programs as part of their customer loyalty and promotions mix, according to report by the Aberdeen Group.

"Our findings revealed a very persuasive business case for rebates," said Chris Cunnane, senior research associate with the Aberdeen Group. "We have a deep expertise in retail and manufacturing research, and this report demonstrates the value of rebate programs for both of these groups."

Target’s Redcard may become an increasingly more important factor in the retailer maintaining low price leadership.

Customer Growth Partners’ price comparison survey for Target and Walmart revealed that on a comparable 55-item basket of items found at Walmart Supercenters and Target P-Fresh stotes or Target Superstores, Walmart had reasserted price leadership over Target by almost 3%--prior to Target’s Redcard 5% discount. For the first three months of the year Target had 0.6% advantage (prior to the Redcard discount) over Walmart. 

BrandZ has released its list of the most valuable retail brands, and Target came in at number 5 out of 20 companies listed. According to the report, Target earned its spot by expanding its food selection and repositioning itself as a low-price leader and thereby countering the perception of it being a trendier, albeit pricier store than its competitors.

Out of the 100 global brands (including both retail and non-retail companies), Target came in at number 65.

Chicago -- In its most recent consumer sentiment and behavior survey, Technomic, the Chicago-based food industry research firm, found that 84% of consumers believe that grocery prices have risen in the past three months and 62% believe restaurant prices have risen.

Bob Goldin, executive VP of Technomic, believes that the rapid rise in gas prices, now at record highs, has raised consumer sensitivity to price increases in grocery stores and restaurants.

Shoppers looking to buy an e-reader for mom this week had an interesting choice to make. They could pay $149 for a Nook at Walmart or go to Target or Best Buy and pick up a Kindle for $114. Target and Best Buy offered the Wi-Fi-enabled Kindle version capable of holding up to 3,500 books, and Target even featured the device on the cover of its weekly ad with a large photo. Walmart opted for a similar strategy and featured the Wi-Fi-enabled Nook capable of holding 1,500 books for $149 on the cover of its circular.

The most recent pricing survey from the equity research team at Credit Suisse shows that Walmart is either 3.1% cheaper than Target or 1.9% more expensive. The firm compared prices at stores in the Dallas and Chicago markets, as it does every month, and during March discovered the gap between the two competitors narrowed considerably.

“Target’s price gap with Walmart tightened from 4.2% in February to 3.1%,” according to the firm. “Target’s basket price decreased sequentially by 0.8% compared with Walmart’s 0.3% increase.”

Sam's Club this week is promoting itself as a small business leader and has announced several initiatives in honor of National Small Business Week May 16 to 20. The company said it would donate up to $200,000 to organizations supporting entrepreneurs. In addition the company is offering a limited-time, lower-cost membership deal for small business owners.