Digital Marketing

Target remains aggressive in its marketing efforts to educate shoppers about the 5% REDcard, and this week ran a spread ad in its weekly circular. The ad is compelling with  distinctive red dots in offset type calling out “5% off” and educating consumers about the program’s design in a way that can’t be matched by extensive in store signage dedicated to the program.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Building on its valued customer program, Harris Teeter is offering shoppers a way to link coupons to the program's card.

Harris Teeter's e-VIC program now gives customers the opportunity to link valuable manufacturer coupons directly to their VIC card. When e-VIC members receive their e-VIC e-mail, they can browse the list of e-VIC coupons any time, and link the coupons by clicking the “Save it” icon on any of the displayed coupons.

The final holiday numbers are in from online measurement firm comScore and it was a record year. November and December online sales increased 12% to $32.6 billion and, considering the surge in traffic that takes place at Walmart.com during those months and the increasing level of cross-channel integration, the retailer likely captured at least a fair share of the growth.

New York City -- After coming off a strong November, retailers found their momentum waned in December, with many turning in mixed sales for the month. Industry experts said sales were impacted by a still-cautious consumer and the blizzard the crippled the Northeast in the days immediately following Christmas.

Thomson Reuters, which tracks same-store sales for a group of 28 national chains, said total sales for the group were expected to post a 3.4% increase in same-store sales for December, following a 5.6% bump in November.

Transaction marketing gained widespread acceptance among retailers in 2010, as they began to recognize marketing in the electronic banking channel as a far more cost effective way to encourage repeat business, increase the average transaction sizes and drive same-store sales. It enabled retailers to overcome the marketing waste associated with other channels -- like Groupon -- and consistently provided compelling and measurable return on their marketing investment.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Ebay has announced that it will engage fashion publishing innovator and style luminary Andrea Linett as creative director for Ebay fashion. Working with Ebay’s fashion business, marketing and communications units for North America, and the company’s technology team, Linett will drive the creative vision for the company’s multibillion-dollar fashion business and will be responsible for advancing the image, voice and editorial style for the marketplace’s clothing, shoes and accessories category, the company reported.

Alexandria, Va. -- Shoppers who shop with others are different from those who shop alone and retail marketers need to take note, according to a new report by the Point of Purchase Advertising International (POPAI). The study finds that solo shoppers are likely to spend an average of 11% more per trip than those accompanied by friends or family members, while consumers who shop with family members are likely to spend an average of 13% more than those shopping with friends.

NAPERVILLE, Ill. - OfficeMax announced it has launched a new enhanced 2.0 version of its free for the iPhone App on the App Store and is making the App available on Google's Android platform. The 2.0 version gives users the ability to view OfficeMax's weekly ad and special offers -- all right from their mobile device.  OfficeMax also added local store hours and phone numbers to the App's GPS-enabled store locator function.