Loyalty Marketing

New York - Fifty-one percent of consumers say saving money is their top priority this holiday season, and  40% are driven by finding the right product. Those are among the findings of a recent survey conducted by RSR.  

In the final installment of CSA Online’s PizzaRev series, we’ll explore the importance of choosing franchisees with a particularly discerning eye, and the process by which franchisors evaluate potential expansion markets.    FRANCHISEE FACTORS   

Purchase, N.Y. – A decline in the price of gasoline may be leading to a larger haul for many many people on Christmas morning. According to the latest MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, total retail sales without the automotive and gasoline sectors were up 3.6% in November 2014, reinforcing the dramatic decline in gasoline prices.  

Houston –  Francesca’s Holding Corp. reported that its net income dropped 19% to $7.3 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 from $8.7 million the same period the prior year. Increases in cost of goods sold and selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses drove the decline in profit.  The specialty retailer also lowered its earnings outlook for the year.   Francesca’s plans to open one new store in the fourth quarter, bringing total new stores opened in the fiscal year to 88.

New York - The cost of healthcare, the ability to maintain margins
 and the ability to continue to grow revenue are the top business challenges in the retail sector. That’s according to GE Capital’s new national survey of c-suite executives at middle-market companies (ranging from $10 million - <$1 billion in sales).  

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in November 2013 vs. November 2014 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains. Home Depot added an additional Black Friday 2014 circular promoting appliances. Home Depot offered deep Black Friday 2014 discounts on microwaves. Staples increased circular pages by +38%, and featured an attractive “Free Kindle eReader with laptop purchase” and a $99 Asus laptop on the Black Friday 2014 circular front. Walgreens had little change in November circular metrics but CVS cut 9 pages; a 10% decline.

New York - Customer engagement is becoming an ever trickier proposition. Thanks to increasing connectivity and functionality of mobile and wearable devices, today’s consumers can enter an intensely personalized, stimulating and informationally rich virtual environment at a moment’s notice. Enticing them with omnichannel promotions is no easy task.  

By Alex Romanov, iSign Media   The holiday season is a time of family, food, and frenzied shopping. Consumers are bombarded by messages, promotions, discounts, and offers, and retailers have to be smart about how they reach out to their customers. Email blasts or paper coupons just won’t cut it. In this mobile-obsessed era, proximity marketing is a powerful way to break through the noise and bring shoppers into your store.