Social Media

Consumers have made it clear what type of marketing influences their purchase decisions, and it’s not always high-tech. According to a new study from branding network Experticity, 82% of marketers believe social media is extremely or somewhat effective in influencing buyer decisions, yet only 49% of consumers reported that they trust brand social media campaigns.

In addition, 83% of marketers believe traditional advertising is the most effective means of influencing buying decisions, but only 47% of consumers say they trust it.

Lane Bryant is teaming up with the American Cancer Society on an omnichannel campaign to raise money for breast cancer research.

Since 2012, Lane Bryant customers and associates have contributed $1.4 million dollars to the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign. The brand says it aims to increase the 2015 contribution by 21% for a total contribution of $2 million dollars in 4 years.

Proponents of the motto “image is everything” will be pleased with a new partnership eBay Inc. is launching.

The online retail platform is teaming up with visual commerce platform Curalate to give publishers the ability to drive traffic and revenue from images sourced from Instagram. 

The partnership offers Curalate Like2Buy, which allows users to directly click to purchases from Instagram images, to more than 100,000 publishers in the eBay Enterprise Affiliate Network. 

Woody Allen famously said 80% of success is showing up, and that saying may well apply to mobile retailing. According to a new study from Google, “Micro-moments: Your Guide to Winning the Shift to Mobile,” 51% of smartphone users have discovered a new company or product when conducting research.

In addition, showing up in mobile search ad results can increase unaided brand awareness 46%. And one in three smartphone users have purchased from a company or brand other than the one they intended because of information provided in the moment they needed it.

Foot Locker’s newest promotion with NBA superstar James Harden serves as reminder to retail marketers that imagination is their only constraint when it comes to leveraging social media to connect with consumers.

Another digital-native retailer is going the mall route. And this one is aimed at shoppers who love to play with makeup.

NYX Professional Makeup on Oct. 2 will open its first-ever physical store, at the Westfield Santa Anita Mall, Arcadia, California. The Los Angeles-based brand, which was acquired by L'Oreal in June 2014, says it plans to roll out additional stores nationwide and globally in select urban centers throughout 2016.

Social media plays an important role in the grocery shopping process. According to a new study from market research firm Packaged Facts, “Retail Food Marketing Trends in the U.S.: Technology, Mobile, and Social Media,” a majority of grocery store shoppers use social media to get recipes (59%).