Cross-Merchandising

In a case of art imitating life, Walmart stores are featuring a pallet display of paperback books featuring a fictional cowboy who competes in the real world Professional Bull Riders organization led by a former Walmart executive.

H-E-B and men's grooming brand Axe have partnered with the X Games to launch an innovative shopper marketing promotion that will reward consumers with an exclusive performance by X Games athletes at local H-E-B stores.

Skechers USA has signed hall-of-fame quarterback legend Joe Namath to represent the high-performing men’s Relaxed Fit from Skechers footwear line. A new advertising campaign featuring Namath will begin in the fall.

“Broadway” Joe’s campaign launches with a new television commercial utilizing the same humorous tone set by spots for Relaxed Fit footwear featuring Joe Montana and Mark Cuban. The campaign will extend across all media with Namath appearing in print, outdoor, online and point-of-sale materials through 2015.

San Diego - While showrooming, the process of researching in-store before buying online, remains popular among 76% of consumers, the emerging trend of webrooming, or researching online before buying in-store, is even more common, representing 88% of shoppers. According to “The Rise of Webrooming: A Changing Consumer Landscape,” a report from Interactions, 75% of webroomers believe they can find the lowest in-store price, while 72% prefer online product comparisons and 71% prefer online product research.

Staples this week debuted eight new product categories in its Dallas retail stores to help business customers “Make More One-stop Shopping Happen.” The product expansion is rolling out to more than 1,000 stores across the U.S. and hundreds more in Canada.

Dodgeville, Wis. – Lands’ End is running an omnichannel swimsuit promotion called the “Lands’ End Getaway Tour.” From May 17 through June 7, the Lands' End Getaway Tour will make stops in Atlanta, New York, Boston, Toronto, Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin, with personalized fittings and consultations.

In addition, Lands’ End is offering a website with videos on how to create a professional swimsuit fit experience and swim style tips from Glamour.

Everyone loves pop-ups right? They’re exciting, they’re new, they’re fun and you have to hurry and get there while the getting’s good. Especially during the holidays. It’s the cool new merchandising trend.

But pop-ups are becoming, and will continue to become, more than just a trend. They are increasingly an important element of the marketing mix. I define the next phase of pop-up shops as focused physical presentations that integrate e-commerce. Here’s what’s coming next.

Customer acquisition

Rue La La, a leading online lifestyle shopping destination, has launched DressingRoom, a series of boutiques that offer members a one-stop shopping experience the features everything from necklaces and vases to linens and dresses.

DressingRoom offers cross-channel inspiration via themed boards and how-to content. The series kicks off this month with "Bright & Bohemian," followed by "Minimalist Whites" and then "Weekend Casual" throughout the month of June.