Digital Marketing

Hickory Farms has launched a new website featuring faster page load times, easier navigation and improved search and checkout functions. Customers can shop on-the-go with the site's mobile- and tablet-friendly design.

In addition, running through Christmas Eve, customers can participate in Hickory Farms' Holiday Hunt Sweepstakes for a chance to win one of six daily instant prizes and be entered to win a $2,500 Visa gift card. Consumers can visit the Hickory Farms Facebook page daily to find the clue for that day's instant prize, which they will find on HickoryFarms.com.

L'Orèal USA has introduced a new app for owners of a device that allows them to use tablet-like apps on television through an Internet connection.

The cosmetics maker announced the launch of OnBeauty, which it created under a partnership with Roku and Brightline. Roku created the app for users of connected TV, or CTV, and L'Orèal said OnBeauty would be the go-to beauty hub for CTV users. The app will feature a majority of L'Orèal USA's brands.

More than half (54%) of shoppers believe the best holiday discounts will be in December and 83% will continue to comparison shop for gifts throughout the month, according to PriceGrabber’s December Winter Holiday Shopping Survey.

The survey of 3,299 U.S. online shopping consumers shows 87% of consumers will conduct most of their holiday shopping in December this year (compared to 78% in 2012).

U.S. retail e-commerce spending from desktop computers for the first 45 days of the November-December 2013 holiday season totaled $37.8 billion, according to comScore. For the first time ever, the most recent workweek saw five individual days eclipse $1 billion in spending, led by Green Monday with $1.4 billion.

Deerfield Park, Ill. – Most Walgreens stores will be open until midnight through Christmas Eve, and most stores will be open Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, including 1,600 24-hour locations. On Christmas Day, most non-24-hour stores will be open from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m.

Toledo, Ohio -- Hickory Farms has launched a new website featuring faster page load times, easier navigation, and improved search and checkout functions. Customers can shop on-the-go with the site's mobile and tablet-friendly design.

By Len Shneyder, Senior Marketing Manager, OtherLevels

The numbers are out and they don’t lie: Almost 40% of all online traffic during Black Friday was driven by mobile devices. That figure is up 34% from the previous year, according to IBM’s Holiday Benchmark. But what’s more impressive than that is that nearly one-fifth of all online sales during the holiday shopping bonanza came from mobile devices.

New York -- The majority of American shoppers think that holiday discounts advertised by retailers are faked, according to a survey conducted by British marketing consultant David Rawlings.

Rawlings’ Google survey, "Before-Christmas sales — Do you believe the discounts are genuine?," queried 1,500 American Internet users, and found that more than 70% of those polled answered "no" to that question.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Prepaid payment network Blackhawk Network unveiled a partnership arrangement with Coinstar, offering customers of Coinstar’s 20,300 coin exchange kiosks a selection of Blackhawk eGifts for no fee when they cash in coins via the kiosks.

The eGift codes are redeemable at issuing retailers – either in-store, online or via mobile devices. Merchants include Gap, iTunes, Lowe's, Southwest Airlines, Toys "R" Us, Babies "R" Us and others.

The majority of American shoppers think that holiday discounts advertised by retailers are faked, according to a survey conducted by British marketing consultant David Rawlings.

Rawlings’ Google survey, "Before-Christmas sales — Do you believe the discounts are genuine?" queried 1,500 American Internet users, and found that more than 70% of those polled answered "no" to that question.