Social Media

Foothill Ranch, Calif. – The Wet Seal Inc. wants customers to have a social online shopping experience. Wet Seal will utilize 3 Tier Logic's Platform3 consumer-to-consumer content marketing and data mining platform to increase the quantity and duration of website visits and the conversion of those visits to generate more e-commerce transactions.

London – U.K.-based fashion retailer Topshop is teaming up with Twitter for an omnichannel promotion tied to London Fashion Week. Starting Friday, Feb. 20, the first day of London Fashion Week, Topshop will be analyzing Twitter trends to determine the real-time buzz around apparel and accessories being displayed on Fashion Week runways.

The brand rennaissance of apparel e-retailer ShoeBuy is complete: The company has relaunched its e-commerce site after taking cues from customer feedback and consumer research.

The 15-year old retailer founded in Boston aims to deliver a more intuitive website, a refreshed rewards program and a commitment to building an engaging shopping experience. New features added to the ShoeBuy shopping experience include a virtual fitting tool, expert insights and blogs, customer reviews, and online customer service chat.

London – Specialty luxury retailer Michael Kors Holdings has joined the ranks of Snapchat users. According to DigiDay, Michael Kors debuted on Snapchat earlier this week during New York Fashion Week, launching exclusive photos from Fashion Week on Snapchat.

Michael Kors has had a longtime social media presence, and was the first retailer to buy an ad on Instagram. Other New York Fashion Week social media activities for Michael Kors included live Internet streaming of the show and a live Twitter chat with the hashtag #AllAccessKors.

Merrillville, Ind. - Homeowners looking to upgrade their backyard in time for summer can now enter membership-based buying club DirectBuy’s “Backyard Dream-Over” sweepstakes for a chance to win outdoor furniture, appliances, and more. DirectBuy is utilizing gamification techniques by letting consumers play a game on mobile phone, PC or tablet for a chance to win up to 600 sweepstakes entries while learning about DirectBuy.

Whole Foods is putting its motto -- whole foods, whole people, whole planet -- to the test with a new initiative to alleviate poverty through microcredit.

The retailer is partnering with its own Whole Planet Foundation on an effort to raise $5 million in 42 days to fund microlending programs worldwide.

By Haydn Simpson, NetNames

New York -- Twitter plans to acquire Niche, a startup that pairs content creators popular on such social media platforms as Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter's own Vine with brand advertisers.

Niche, founded in 2013, provides social media creators – its stable includes more than 6,000 – with free, cross-platform analytics on desktop and mobile, and serves as a non-exclusive talent rep to facilitate branded content deals with its network of companies and agencies.