Marketing Tactics

Instagram has become a mainstream social media tool for retailers. However, while most retailers limit their Instagram usage to maintaining an official page or encouraging customers to post photos with Instagram hashtags as part of promotional campaigns, some retailers are more forward-thinking in their Instagram approach.

Here are three retailers showing real insight in how they are leveraging Instagram to its fullest potential:

Phoenix – Sprouts Farmers Market has teamed up with Nashville, Tenn.-based integrated ad agency Redpepper to use omnichannel marketing to produce market awareness and traffic for four new stores in the suburban Atlanta area. In addition to traditional outdoor, print, radio and newspaper ads, Sprouts used Facebook- and email-based marketing techniques.

Living Proof has promoted Grace Ray to CEO. Ray has served as chief marketing officer since 2011, and succeeds Jill Beraud, who is heading to Tiffany & Co. as EVP of global retail operations.

The company credits Ray with being instrumental in its growth in the past several years. The company said that Ray worked with the Living Proof team to deliver a portfolio of award-winning and game-changing products, increase the brand's awareness and leverage co-owner Jennifer Aniston in powerful marketing campaigns to drive double-digit sales growth.

By Sanford Stein, founder, Stein LLC

With the point-of-sale tucked away in one’s backpack, pocket or purse, how does the store-based retailer expect to survive in an e-everything world? And what is to become of the malls, the meccas of economic indulgence that were driven by the shop-till-you-drop dynamic we thought would last forever? We are currently in a period of just such a change wave, driven by a dramatic demographic shift, corporate downsizing, economic stagnation, and rising costs.

Beginning Sunday, Sept. 28 through Saturday, Oct. 4, A.C. Moore Arts and Crafts will partner with Lion Brand Yarn Company and Vanna White, a Lion Brand spokesperson for more than 20 years, to donate 10% of sales from all Vanna White yarn lines to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Across its 139 locations, A.C. Moore will offer special pricing on Vanna’s Choice, Vanna’s Choice Baby, Vanna’s Tapestry and Vanna’s Palettes yarns. Through this initiative, the partners guarantee a minimum $10,000 donation.
 

Ottawa, Canada - Trying to stay competitive with Amazon.com on price may not be the best path to success for department store and discount retailers. According to pricing analysis of 1,000-plus household goods based on Amazon’s own assortment relative to Kohl’s, Walmart, Target and Macy’s conducted by 360pi and Retail Systems Research from March-June 2014, Kohl’s was consistently 30%-60% above Amazon’s pricing for this sample, but also reported the healthiest financials of the group.

Amazon has rolled out KDP Kids, a program designed to help children’s book authors prepare, publish and promote both illustrated and chapter books in Kindle Stores worldwide.

Children’s book authors can use Amazon’s new Kindle Kids’ Book Creator tool to create illustrated children’s books that take advantage of Kindle features like text popups. Once the book is ready, authors can upload it to KDP, and use KDP’s category, age and grade range filters to help Amazon customers choose the right books for their kids.

By Joe Tichar, senior VP of corporate operations, DDR, Beachwood, Ohio

Forward-thinking retailers are increasingly leveraging their brick-and-mortar locations to establish omnichannel models that meet the growing consumer demand for a more convenient, more cost-effective and more personalized shopping experience.