Social Media

Whiting, Ind. -- Survey results released Thursday by CouponCabin.com found that more than one-in-10 Americans say their shopping habits have put them in debt, with 20% saying the most amount of shopping debt they've been in exceeds $5,000.

The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, also revealed that 41% of U.S. adults have created shopping debt of more than $1,000. Eleven percent consider themselves to be shopaholics.

Hicksville, N.Y. -- Footlocker was the most tweeted about brand with over 50,000 posts, according to GenSent Insights’ 2013 report on Sporting Goods and Outdoor Retailers. This was more than twice the number of tweets the next closest competitors, Dicks Sporting Goods and REI (generated with just under 20,000 posts each.  

Footlocker’s digital and social media strategy includes creating such properties as Sneakerpedia (a hub for sneaker enthusiasts) Kickstagram, (a photo sharing blog) and Footlocker Unlocked (blogs, games and more).

Minneapolis -- Female consumers are looking for value and deeper connections, according to results of the fifth annual “What Women Want” survey. The study, conducted by Ginger Consulting, indicates that women are responsible for or influence $7 trillion of annual purchases in the U.S., including 85% of all consumer and business purchases and 60% of automobile purchases,

New York -- J.C. Penney on Tuesday turned to social media to deny that a tea kettle being advertised on a billboard on the 405 Interstate near Culver City, Calif., is intended to represent Adolf Hitler.

NEW ALBANY, Ohio — Abercrombie & Fitch shrunk its net loss during the first quarter of 2013 but still reported thin financial results. Net loss for the quarter was $7.2 million, compared to $21.3 million during the first quarter of 2012. The results missed analysts’ estimates.

Net sales dropped 9% from $921.2 million to $838.8 million. Same-store sales plummeted 17%. Direct-to-consumer sales fell 6%. U.S. same-store sales fell 14%; international comparable sales were down 16%.

New York -- Almost all (97%) social video ad shares of alcohol brands during fourth quarter 2012 and first quarter 2013 were for four brands, Budweiser, Neft Vodka, Carlsberg and Heineken, according to a new report from Unruly Media.

Findings from “Untapped Potential: The State of Sharing in the Alcohol Sector” indicate Budweiser (59%) and Neft (24%) accounted for most of this social sharing activity.

Overall, wine brands have been the slowest to embrace social video ads, accounting for less than 1% of sharing activity.

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — Kohl’s has appointed Starbucks executive Michelle Gass to the newly created position of chief customer officer. She will report directly to Kohl’s chairman, president and CEO Kevin Mansell.

Gass, who joins Kohl’s on June 17, will have leadership responsibility for Kohl’s branding across all channels. She will oversee all marketing efforts, the company’s high growth e-commerce business on Kohls.com and the customer’s total omnichannel experience.

IRVINE, Calif. — Vizio, a supplier of consumer electronics, is launching a Father’s Day contest called "Give Dad Your Best," sponsored in part by Best Buy, M-Go and DreamWorks Animation, in which participants are encouraged to upload to its site a video or photograph celebrating their fathers accompanied by a personal story of appreciation.

San Francisco – Pinterest, the social sharing network that many retailers use to promote products, is allowing users to share more information with their pins. Pins may now include data such as pricing, availability and where to buy products, recipe information and detailed information about movies.

So far, retailers including Home Depot, Anthropologie, eBay, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Wal-Mart are partnering with Pinterest to make more product information available on pins originating from their e-commerce sites.

Maidenhead, United Kingdom -- Sixty-nine percent of shoppers expect a brand’s online store, mobile app and physical store to offer same pricing, discounts and sales, according to a survey by SDL that looked at the mobile and social media habits of consumers in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Singapore.