Social Media

  NEW YORK - Senior middle-market retail executives are cautiously optimistic about the upcoming holiday season.  Fifty-five percent of executives anticipate their total holiday sales will increase by 6% or more in 2014, as compared to only a third last year, according to an annual study conducted by CIT Group.  

Seattle – Amazon.com will start offering Black Friday deals on Friday, Nov. 21, and adding new deals as often as every 10 minutes for eight straight days. Amazon will introduce three Deals of the Day starting on Thanksgiving at midnight, as well as three more on Black Friday, in addition to thousands of limited-time Lightning Deals.   

Duluth, Minn. – Specialty fashion retailer Maurices has partnered with interactive video provider Zentrick to upgrade its "How to Wear It" and "What to Wear: Summer 2014" online video campaigns. By integrating interactive elements into six 'look'-inspired videos, Zentrick and Maurices logged 15.2% engagement and a 7.4% click-through rate (CTR).   

Austin, Texas - Deals2Buy, a U.S. product offers website, is launching a new site design that streamlines navigation. New features include responsive design, expiration countdown for deals, “hottest” and “newest” deal categories, improved navigation, and sharing of deals on social media.

SAN FRANCISCO — Gap Inc. is looking to make shopping as easy and convenient this holiday season– regardless of whether shoppers  prefer to shop online, in stores or on their  mobile device.  Plans include the launch of an online Wish List tool that allows shoppers to create a list of most-wanted items from across all five of the company’s brands: Gap, Banana Republic & Banana Republic Factory Store, Old Navy, Athleta and Piperlime.

Hollywood, Calif. - Online and offline consumer conversations and recommendations account for 13% of consumer sales, on average, which represents $6 trillion in annual consumer spending. In higher price-point categories, word of mouth's impact is almost 20% of sales, according to a new study from the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA).

Wayne, N.J. – Toys ‘R Us is offering exclusive benefits, including early access to Black Friday deals, to members of its Rewards ‘R Us loyalty program. Members will receive a special offer granting them access to Black Friday deals on 100-plus items, both in-store and online, beginning Sunday, Nov. 23.

As companies increasingly turn to user-generated content (UGC) to promote their products, Rivet Works has announced its launch as the first content marketing software designed to boost active engagement between people and their favorite brands.  

New York -- During the 2014 holiday season, marketers will run more campaigns on Facebook than any other social network. According to new data from Experian Marketing Services, 49% of global marketers who run social-media campaigns will do so via organic Facebook posts, and 34% plan to use paid ads or boosted posts.   

Columbus, Ohio -- Big Lots has launched a marketing program around spurring holiday home décor purchases by declaring Nov.16-22, 2014, as the nation's first Decorate Your Home for the Holidays Week.