Coupons/ Rebates/ Pricing

Amazon has brought the saying, “Christmas in July” to life with its Prime Day global shopping extravaganza and this year's event promises to be bigger than ever.   

Plenty of consumers will be shopping for deals over Independence Day— and they plan to use social media to find them.   Forty-three percent of consumers plan to shop for deals on Independence Day, according to a survey by ChargeItSpot. When asked what resource they will use to hunt down deals and sales, the majority of respondents (37%) said social media, followed by online deal sites (17%) and mobile coupon apps (17%) – meaning in-store shoppers are finding their deals online.    

eBay is stepping up its game in the online price war competition, and taking aim at low-cost rivals Walmart and Amazon, among others.   Starting Tuesday, eBay launched its Price Match Guarantee on more than 50,000 deals in the United States. As the name suggests, the program promises that an eligible deal will be the best price available online, or eBay will match the lower price found on a competitor’s website.   

Not only is user-generated content (UCG) the go-to source for 90% of shoppers making a purchase — it outranks all other forms of marketing.   This is according to “Hearing the Voice of the Consumer: UCG and the Commerce Experience,” a report from TurnTo and executed by Ipsos. the report represents responses from more than 1,000 U.S. shoppers who made an online purchase in the past 12 months.  

As retail sales shift from offline to e-commerce, marketers must learn to adjust trade strategies and budgets to be successful in a digital world.  

A tough February couldn't keep Tilly's down, which reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.    The teen apparel and footwear retailer narrowed its loss in the first quarter to $161,000, or 1 cent a share, compared with a net loss of $2.7 million, or 10 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Its results were better than expected.    Net sales inched up 0.6% to $120.9 million, better easily beating the Street. Same-store sales rose 0.6%.  

The National Retail Federation continues to lead the charge against the consumption tax and the proposed border adjustment tax.   The NRF on Thursday today urged Congress to focus on updating the existing federal income tax system rather than moving toward a consumption tax. Under either approach, Congress should reject a proposed $1 trillion border adjustment tax that would drive up prices for consumers and cost the economy jobs, NRF said.  

Some good news for retailers: Consumers plan to spend more than ever on graduation gifts this year as they stuff greeting cards with gift cards and cash.   That’s according to the annual survey by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. With more consumers buying for graduates this year – 36% compared with 34% in 2016 – total spending is expected to reach $5.6 billion. That’s the highest number in the survey’s 11-year history, topping last year’s previous record of $5.4 billion.