Marketing Tactics

New York -- Consumers continue to hold tight to their purse strings and will rely heavily on online and mobile channels while they shop, according to Deloitte’s annual “Back-to-School” and “Back-to-College” surveys. 

Shoppers are far more optimistic about the economy than this time last year. Nearly four in 10 (37%) are more confident in the economy’s prospects, compared with just one-quarter (26%) a year ago. 

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid, the third-largest drug chain in the nation, is pursuing the lucrative senior market with its latest marketing campaign centered on its new extension to the Wellness+ loyalty card program.

DALLAS — Neiman Marcus is getting set to deck its flagship downtown Dallas location in gold and pink to celebrate beauty brand Mary Kay's 50th anniversary.

Known for its high fashion window displays, Neiman Marcus — which is headquartered in Dallas — has dedicated four of its windows to the brand's milestone and to its founder, Mary Kay Ash.

Last week it was veteran retail analyst Walter Loeb bemoaning what he viewed as Walmart’s deteriorating store standards. This week Ad Age took aim at the company’s brand image.
 
In a piece by Simon Dumenco, he recounts how early shopping experiences at Walmart stores were an eagerly anticipated experienced. However, like Loeb Dumenco took a shot at the store experience and then when a step further.

New York — Nearly 70% (68%) of consumers plan to spend up to $500 this back-to-school shopping season compared with 63% in 2012 and 48% in 2011, according to a new spending forecast from e-commerce platform provider PriceGrabber.  Additionally, 17% of respondents plan to spend between $500 and $1,000, and 15% of shoppers said they have no back-to-school shopping budget this year. Conducted from June 17 to July 8, 2013, the survey includes responses from 2,191 U.S. online shopping consumers.

Back-to-school shoppers get a free three day pass at Sam’s Club beginning August 2, as part of an initiative to increase membership at the warehouse club.

Sam’s is inviting shoppers to visit its more than 600 clubs beginning Friday, August 2, without paying any type of membership fee or non-member surcharge. The retailer has conducted similar open house events in the past as a means to expose shoppers to the Sam’s Club experience and hopefully convert a meaningful number to dues-paying members, at either the $45 base membership level or $100 Plus member level.

No one would dispute that Lakeland, Fla.-based supermarket is a wonderful operator, but a piece in the August 12 issue of Forbes takes things a little too far and characterizes the regional operator of 1,073 stores as, “the Wal-Mart Slayer.”
 

By combining offers with other retailers or entities, retailers can avoid being victimized by the “adverse selection” of consumers who simply look for the largest discount they can find at a given time, Alex Rampell, CEO and co-founder of offer-based payment platform TrialPay, told attendees at the recent Retailer Roundtable event sponsored by digital gifting platform CashStar.

“Offering a massive discount just gets people to go elsewhere for a bigger discount,” said Rampell. “Those consumers do not develop into loyal customers.”