Loyalty Marketing

Cleveland -- Shopping ranks as a favorite activity among nearly half of all teens and young adults aged 13 to 24, according to a new survey by Forest City in partnership with Alexander Babbage. Shopping at malls ranked above a virtual shopping experience among the entire group, with the 13-to-17-year-old age group showing the strongest preference for a bricks-and-mortar shopping experience.

San Jose, Calif. - On average, consumers say 64% of their back-to-school shopping will take place in-store, the rest online via computer or mobile device. A new survey of 1,001 U.S. parents with school-age children from customer experience solutions provider Baynote and The E-tailing Group also shows that 40% of consumers say that paper catalogs influence their in-store purchases, more than any other channel.

Framingham, Mass. - Cumberland Farms, is launching its free SmartPay Check-Link Business payment program, which enables business owners to save 10 cents on every gallon of gas for their fleet of vehicles. SmartPay Business offers two ways to save – the SmartPay Business Card and the SmartPay Business Mobile App.

The retail industry is awash with digital innovations, but traditional paid search programs continue to dominate retailers’ digital marketing tactics, according to the 2014 Shop.org/Forrester Research State of Retailing Online study.

The economic trend for some time now has been a slow and meandering recovery. Despite improving consumer confidence numbers, a surprising first quarter GDP decline of 2.9% speaks to that uncertainty. Retail analysts and observers have a tendency to blame the weather whenever we have a bad economic quarter or when retail sales are unexpectedly sluggish, but I tend to be a little dubious of those explanations. Last winter was definitely rough enough to impact spending, but I don’t think it’s enough to explain the continued issues into the spring.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot Inc. is partnering with pop-rock quintet R5 on the retailer’s back-to-school “Gotta Get INSPIR5D” campaign. Through Sept. 30, at most Office Depot and OfficeMax store locations, customers can engage with an augmented reality experience with the band.

Los Angeles -- Paid search programs are the most popular online customer acquisition tactic. According to the 2014 Shop.org/Forrester Research Inc. State of Retailing Online study, which surveyed 81 retailers in May and June 2014, 85% of retailers cite search engine marketing as one of the most effective customer acquisition tactics.

Walgreens announced the new Balance Rewards for healthy choices initiatives, which is aimed at helping participants modify behavior risk factors associated with the nation's most pressing public health issues. The initiative marks the first community pharmacy program that includes training based on the methodology of psychologist Dr. B.J. Fogg.