Social Media

Barneys New York is charting a different course this holiday season.   The luxury retailer is known for its satirical, often outrageous holiday window displays. But this year Barneys’ windows, in response to what it called “the world's current climate of chaos and divisiveness,” will be built around the themes of love, peace and joy.  

The 24-hour Chinese shopping mega-event known as Singles Day brought in record numbers for the country’s e-commerce giant, Alibaba. But it appears that the growth rate is decelerating.    Alibaba Group Holding Limited reported that the total amount of goods and services sold by vendors (known as gross merchandise volume) over its e-commerce sites rose 24% to a record $17.8 billion this year. Last year, by contrast, sales on Alibaba platforms increased 60%.  

Holiday retail sales should increase 2% to 4% over last year but retailers should not be expecting a similar profit boost.   That’s the view of Purdue University retail management expert Richard Feinberg who expects retailers will lose pricing power due to online competition.  

Starbucks Corp. stirred up a controversy last year when people complained that its all-red holiday cups were too plain. It’s unlikely there will be any complaints this go around.        This year, for the first time ever, Starbucks has 13 different holiday cups, all of them red but each with its own distinct design. And in another twist, the designs were created by customers.  

Pinterest is launching a new program designed to help brand partners present more relevant advertising messages to Pinners.   Through a partnership with Neustar, Pinterest’s marketing partners now have a solution that leverages the social media platform’s customer-specific information as well as Neustar’s proprietary audiences. The combination of data gives advertisers a standardized view of customer across every marketing channel, and an unprecedented reach among customers.   

Steadily climbing consumer confidence and retail sales growth have U.S. retail chief marketing officers feeling optimistic ahead of this holiday season.

Macerich’s tech-driven, HGTV-sponsored Santa Claus experience will be expanded to five properties in California, Chicago, and metro New York this Christmas season.   Kids can download an Elf-Ray Vision app to their smartphones—or used a provided tablet — to explore “Santa HQ” in 3D, take an Elfie Selfie to insert themselves in a customized holiday video, or test their gift-worthiness on the Naughty or Nice O’Meter. A 10,000-bulb synchronized light show at the attraction plays the Carol of the Bells.

In addition to posting, liking and commenting on photos, Instagram users now can also purchase from their favorite brands.   Starting Tuesday, Nov. 1, the mobile-driven social site added shoppable tags on photos from 20 retail brands, including Kate Spade, Warby Parker and JackThreads, among others — a move that will enable consumers to learn more about the items they view within an Instagram post, and even make a purchase.