Digital Marketing

Walmart is among a group of pharmacy retailers working on an educational initiative with the U.S. department of Health and Human Services.

As part of a partnership with HHS, Walmart and Sam’s Club are providing information online to help educate Medicare recipients about the range of tax-payer funded “free” services available to them under the Affordable Care Act.

The Annual State of the Industry Report is the centerpiece of this issue of Chain Store Age, and it’s a great read. It’s also very timely.

Retailers looking to add sparkle to this year’s Christmas season may want to take a new look at their gift card programs. Last year, more than half of consumers bought at least one gift card for the holidays, according to a report from First Data Corp., an Atlanta-based e-commerce processor.

Indeed, consumers seem to be taking more of a shine than ever to these types of spending vehicles.

LOS ANGELES — Nearly half of consumers polled in the latest PriceGrabber survey respondents said that retailers are serving up better back-to-school promotions this year, compared with 2011.

With more and more consumers accessing social network sites to gather input and post reviews, Chain Store Age spoke with Dick Reed, CEO of Just Media, on a subject that is a top priority for retailers across the board: how to reach out to consumers in today’s social media world.

Your company has done some detailed research on how consumers make buying decisions in today’s social media world. Tell us about it.

Los Angeles -- A PriceGrabber back-to-school survey released on Wednesday found that 48% of consumers believe retailers are offering better back-to-school shopping promotions this year.

According to the survey, 88% of consumers chose 'sales' as the top retailer promotion that will entice them to make a back-to-school purchase this year. Forty-nine percent of shoppers cited coupons; 44% noted that "free items with purchase" would persuade them to buy; and 34% selected sales available online only.

A lot has changed in the past year on the social media block. Facebook and Twitter are no longer the only two major players helping retailers connect and engage with their shoppers in real time. Consumers are flocking to platforms such as social-photo sharing sites Pinterest and Instagram, and some brands are even creating their own social blog accounts on Tumblr.

Foot Locker is kicking up its heels in the United Kingdom. The footwear giant has opened a new format — The Locker Room — with an eye to rolling it out throughout England and continental Europe. The concept expands Foot Locker’s core strength in athletic footwear to include apparel and accessories for a wide range of performance sports.