Marketing Tactics

New York City - According to the Brand Keys Holiday Survey, released Tuesday, Amazon topped the marketing research consultancy’s list of the top 10 retailers based on customer visits.

Walmart and Apple tied for second, followed by Target, Zappos, Best Buy and Dell, Kohls, Overstock and QVC, Lands End and L.L. Bean, J.C. Penney, and Macy’s.

New York - BCBGMAXAZRIAGROUP, the $1 billion global fashion brand, has launched a new, fast-fashion store concept, Lola, targeted at young women (ages 16 to 26).  The 3,000-sq.-ft. store, has a cool, hip vibe and is designed as an urban studio apartment, complete with fireplace, daybed, spiral staircase,  and closet. Salvaged doors give the storefront a Lower East Side feel.

New York City - The Association for Retail Environments (A.R.E.) announced that its Retail Design Collective will be held Dec. 8-10, at 7 W New York, 7 W. 34th St. and at other major showrooms throughout New York City.

Conference sessions focus on visual merchandising and store design trends, and will feature retailers such as Harry Cunningham of Saks Fifth Avenue, Brad Lenz of Liz Claiborne, Diana Bernal of Van Cleef  Arpels Inc., Paul Olszewski of Macy's, Tom Davidson of The Food Emporium, and Lauren Shaw of Louis Vuitton North America.

Philadelphia - Monetate, which tests, targets, and personalizes websites, has renewed its contract with Canton, Mass.-based Casual Male Retail Group.
"Monetate continues to drive incremental revenue for us because of the exceptional testing and targeting features that it provides,” said Ric Della Bernarda, chief marketing officer and senior VP, Casual Male Retail Group. “With Monetate on our websites, we have the ability to deliver relevant and personalized content to all of our visitors, throughout their online shopping experience."

Santa Barbara, Calif. - SuperValu Inc., which owns Albertson’s, said Tuesday that two Albertson’s locations in Santa Barbara, Calif., have achieved zero waste classification in their daily operations.

Atlanta - A report released Monday by payment solution provider First Data Corp. found that on Black Friday, card spending growth returned to pre-recession levels.

According to the First Data SpendTrend analysis for Black Friday 2010, which tracks same-store consumer spending via credit, signature debit, PIN debit and EBT cards at U.S. merchant locations, year-over-year same-store dollar volume grew 12.3%.

Transaction growth was 10.1%.

Chicago - According to accounting firm BDO USA, LLP, 63% of chief marketing officers at leading U.S. retailers said their 2010 holiday advertising and marketing budgets have remained flat, a continued trend from 2009 (55%) and 2008 (43%).

BDO’s survey found that 20% of CMOs cited a decrease in their holiday marketing and advertising budget, signaling some flexibility, compared with 2009 (26%) and 2008 (32%). Seventeen percent of CMOs cite an increase, only slightly less than 2009 (19%).