Digital Marketing

To help its shoppers get in the holiday shopping spirit, Express is launching exclusive holiday Snapchat filters.   To celebrate the biggest shopping day of the year, Express will roll out a series of five Black Friday and holiday-themed national Snapchat filters throughout the day on Black Friday, Nov. 25. The Express-sponsored filters include "It Runs in the Fam," "But First Coffee," "Black Friday Beast Mode," "Leftovers are Lit," and "The Party Starts Now.”  

With the Black Friday weekend nearly here, there are clear winners when it comes to social media engagement.   At the head of the class is Sephora, with 2.4 million consumer interactions (reactions, comments, shares, retweets, favorites) across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Sephora’s top status is being driven by its success on Instagram, a site that reveals high consumer enthusiasm for the retailer’s offerings of makeup box sets and key brands, such as Bite Beauty and Urban Decay, as well as its own collection.

Cost cuts help improve Barnes & Noble’s profitability in the third quarter even as its sales continued to decline.    “While we are pleased to have improved our performance due to expense reductions, we did experience sluggish sales, which we believe are directly related to the election cycle,” said Len Riggio, chairman and CEO of Barnes & Noble. "With the election behind us, we hope and expect sales will improve over the holidays."  

In October of this year, Periscope By McKinsey conducted online research of more than 1,000 consumers in the U.S. to understand their attitudes towards Black Friday and expected shopping patterns.   

Shoppers at select Calvin Klein stores may soon be able to charge their phones while also watching some promotional content.    The specialty apparel retailer is installing complementary in-store phone charging kiosks in approximately nine stores across the United States and Canada, including New York City and Las Vegas. The kiosks, from Veloxity, will be in place just in time for Black Friday.   

Watch out millennials, there’s a new generational cohort upsetting the retail landscape.   Generation Z has become an increasingly important influencer of consumer spending, according to a new study by HRC Retail Advisory, with new shopping behaviors that focus on both malls and online shopping. (The HRC survey describes Gen Z as individuals born between 1999 and 2006).  

Walmart has fired the first shot in the Cyber Monday wars.   The discounter said it will launch its “Cyber Week” sales several days early this year, with the first round to be offered on Friday, Nov. 25, at 12:01 a.m. (EST).   In announcing the deals, Walmart noted it has nearly tripled its online assortment to more than 23 million products from 8 million last year, with the growth partially driven by the increase in the chain’s third-party sellers.     

Talk about commitment.   Patagonia announced that its plans to donate 100% of its store and online sales on Black Friday, Nov. 25, to grassroots environmental organizations.   "These are small groups, often underfunded and under the radar, who work on the front lines," Patagonia CEO and president Rose Marcario wrote in a post announcing the company’s plans. "The support we can give is more important now than ever."