Digital Marketing

Atlanta -- The Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council has published the final installment of its five-part report on social media, which suggested that grocery marketers significantly can leverage any social media participation by simply responding to tweets on Twitter and exploring the potential of professional networking site LinkedIn.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — HSN has named Anne Martin-Vachon chief merchandising officer, effective May 14. Martin-Vachon will oversee HSN's merchandising and planning teams and report directly to Mindy Grossman, CEO of HSNi.

Los Altos, Calif. -- Survey results released Thursday by catalog shopping app Catalog Spree showed that 89.8% of American shoppers would prefer to receive their catalogs digitally and would opt out of the paper versions if they could receive a digital copy instead.

The survey also revealed that more than half (55.1%) of respondents would prefer all of their catalogs in digital form. Today, some 19 billion catalogs are mailed in the United States each year.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Grilling is the theme of Sam's Club's annual "Spring Taste of Sam's Club" event, and the retailer is inviting members and non-members to sample some unexpected grilling options at its free event taking place Friday, April 27 to Sunday, April 29 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Duluth, Ga. -- Airport retailers around the globe are missing out on valuable opportunities to generate more revenue from time-starved and mobile-enabled travelers, according to a recent survey by NCR Corp., a leading provider of airline and airport self-service, retail, wayfinding and mobile solutions.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Tuesday it will hire 100 additional developers in India as part of its @WalmartLabs unit, which is focused on growing the retailer’s social media and mobile presence globally.

In November, WalmartLabs, under the retailer’s global e-commerce group, will build an operation in India to use social media and digital technology to attract shoppers.
 

Of the common areas hosted by a mall, the busiest has become the virtual one. Increasingly, consumers frequent mall websites to check out promotions at their favorite retailers. Website views are nothing new — but the escalation in mobile connectivity presents a revolutionary opportunity for retailers.

By Elizabeth Cogswell Baskin

Editor’s note: Launched in March 2010, Pinterest now ranks as the third most-visited social-networking site in the United States, according to a recent report by Experian Marketing Services. Pinterest, which lets its users “pin” photos and information onto virtual boards, ranks behind only Facebook and Twitter in terms of total visitors, according to the report. It also skews heavily female — about 60% of users are women.