Digital Marketing

Regional department store retailer Belk Inc. is using social media to make the holidays a little more fun and rewarding for its shoppers.

North Carolina-based Belk, which operates about 300 stores, has teamed up with digital marketing solutions provider HelloWorld for the return of the Santa Baby sweepstakes, now in its second year. In an effort to increase mobile opt-ins and ultimately boost brand awareness and consumer engagement, Belk and HelloWorld are allowing customers to create personalized e-cards, gifs, and TV spots.

It won’t impact retailers’ bottom line as much as the new Buy Now button, but Twitter is continuing its evolution into more of a sales-oriented digital platform.

Twitter is testing a new feature called “Promoted Moments,” which builds on its Moments offering that was launched at the beginning of October. Twitter Moments allows users to click on a special tab and view a curated list of stories considered to be the “best” on Twitter.

REI has shocked the retail industry — and shoppers — with its decision to lock its doors on one of the biggest and most profitable shopping days of the year.

The retailer says it will be closed not only on Thanksgiving Day but also on Black Friday. REI.com will operate as normal on Thanksgiving. On Black Friday, REI.com will have a black takeover screen encouraging people to get outside. Customers will still be able to view product and make a purchase on Black Friday, but the order will not be processed until Saturday.

Kohl’s is in growth mode when it comes to the retailer’s store base.

Next year, Kohl’s plans to open five to 10 new stores in a smaller 35,000-sq.-ft. prototype, aimed at underserved areas. Kohl’s also plans to open 10 to 15 stores dedicated to its proprietary Fila brand in outlet malls across the country. Additionally, the retailer will open two more Off-Aisle by Kohl’s off-price locations in 2016.

Instacart will be opening a temporary online Halloween pop-up shop.

Customers in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco will be able to receive same-day delivery of costumes until supplies last. Instacart successfully piloted the Halloween shop in Seattle in 2014.

Instacart will charge its normal delivery prices for the special program: $3.99 for a two-hour delivery, and $5.99 for a one hour delivery when customers spend $35 or more. First-time Instacart users can have their costume delivered for free, as can Instacart express members.

Kroger customers who don’t have time to do their own shopping have another option.

At its investor meeting, Kroger officially announced the name of its click & collect program – “ClickList.” Click & collect lets customers select (and in many cases pay) for groceries online. Store employees then gather the items off store shelves for convenient customer pickup.

Purchases made via Facebook advertisements are more frequently occurring via mobile device.

According to new data released by the Facebook IQ marketing insights division, three in 10 purchase conversions from Facebook ads between January and May 2015 took place on a mobile device (24% on a phone, 6% on a tablet). During that same period, the frequency of mobile purchases increased 35%, according to Facebook IQ’s latest internal analysis.

Retail marketers looking to obtain personal consumer information need to prepare for a little horse trading.

According to new research from online deals platform RetailMeNot and Kelton Global, 89% of shoppers are willing to provide retail marketers with personal information in exchange for more targeted content.