Loyalty Marketing

Framingham, Mass. – In addition to opening stores at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving, Staples is extending Black Friday sales the entire week of Nov. 24 through Cyber Monday on Dec. 2.  

The retailer’s Black Friday promotions include online daily deals changed on a daily basis, trade-in/trade-up technology recycling programs that give holiday shoppers cash toward to the purchase of a new product, and free shipping for members of the Staples Rewards loyalty program and on all purchases of more than $45.

A tepid economic climate and government shutdown weren’t enough to prevent Macy’s from producing a 3.5% third quarter same store sale increase and better than expected profits which prompted the department store operator to reiterate it full year financial forecast.

Nearly 60% of global respondents said that loyalty programs were available where they shopped, and of those, 84% said they were more likely to visit those retailers, according to a new study by Nielsen.

Jacksonville, Fla. -- Hispanic shoppers in the United States make more grocery trips and spend more across grocery trip types than total U.S. shoppers, according to AMG Strategic Advisors, the growth strategy consultancy of Acosta Sales & Marketing, a full-service sales and marketing agency in the consumer packaged goods industry. On average, U.S. Hispanic shoppers make 4.1 routine grocery trips per month and spend $110 on each trip, compared to total U.S. shoppers who make 3.8 routine grocery trips per month and spend $95 on each trip.

Eight-in-10 (80.6%) shoppers will purchase gift cards this holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation’s Gift Card Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics.

Holiday shoppers will spend an average of $163.16 on gift cards, up 4.0% over the $156.86 they spent last year and the highest amount in the survey’s 11-year history. Total spending on gift cards will reach $29.8 billion.

Washington, D.C. – Eight-in-10 (80.6%) shoppers will purchase gift cards this holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation’s Gift Card Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. Holiday shoppers will spend an average of $163.16 on gift cards, up 4.0% over the $156.86 they spent last year and the highest amount in the survey’s 11-year history. Total spending on gift cards will reach $29.8 billion.

Facing an increasingly competitive retail landscape, Canadian retailer Loblaw Cos. posted a slight lift in retail sales but, due to incremental margin investment in the back half of the year, lowered its earnings growth expectations for 2013.

However, company executives are optimistic as the company remains focused on investing in what it refers to as the “customer proposition” and looks forward to its acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart.

Salisbury, N.C. -- Food Lion announced that it has made significant investments in 169 stores in North Carolina and South Carolina and created 500 new jobs. Key markets include Greenville, N.C., Wilmington, N.C., Columbia, S.C., Charleston, S.C., and Myrtle Beach, S.C.

To celebrate the launch, Food Lion is holding grand re-opening festivities at the 169 stores, including providing the first 50 customers at each location with a bag of free groceries Nov. 13 through Nov. 16.