Loyalty Marketing

Tune in this Sunday for the running of the Daytona 500 (coverage begins at noon on Fox) and see whether this is the year Juan Pablo Montoya pilots the number 42 Target Chevrolet to victory.

MINNEAPOLIS  — Target overcame modest fourth-quarter sales growth to report profits that exceeded earnings guidance and also provided a better than expected outlook for 2012.

A shopping center owner and manager is on the cutting edge of mobile marketing. DDR Corp., which owns and manages 538 value-oriented shopping centers in the United States, Puerto Rico and Brazil, is testing a service in select properties that combines physical retail assets with location-based mobile marketing.

Retailers should expect online purchases to become a bigger piece of retail sales, particularly in the key fourth-quarter period, where they could soon represent as much as 20% of holiday sales, according to Sucharita Mulpuru, VP and principal analyst, Forrester Research, and a leading expert on e-commerce and trends in the online shopping space.

“The pie for bricks-and-mortar retail is shrinking,” Mulpuru said during a presentation at the National Retail Federation’s 101st Annual Convention & EXPO in New York City.

Dallas -- Alliance Data Systems announced it has signed a multi-year renewal agreement to continue providing private label credit card services to The Buckle, Kearney, Neb., which operates more than 430 stores in 43 states, as well as a robust e-commerce business.

Buckle cardholders will continue to earn "B-Reward" points with every purchase. Exclusive to cardholders, the B-Rewards points-based loyalty program allows cardholders to accumulate points that can be redeemed for dollars-off certificates for in-store or online purchases.

ST. LOUIS — Six percent more men are doing the primary grocery shopping for their families versus five years ago, according to results of a new survey by Schnucks.

SAN FRANCISCO — Three-of-every-4 consumers using smartphones and tablets respond to a call to action after seeing a location-specific message, according to the Mobile Audience Insights Report issued by JiWire on Wednesday.

At Westfield San Francisco Centre, shoppers have the opportunity to win a $1,000 shopping spree, while Westfield has the chance to gain valuable marketing access.

Westfield mall patrons are invited to text “spree” and their email address in order to be entered into a drawing for a $1,000 shopping spree. The text also opts them in to receive ongoing alerts and up to four messages per month from Westfield.

Opt-out is easy, requiring only a “stop” text to a designated number.