Marketing Tactics

New York City -- After coming off a strong November, retailers found their momentum waned in December, with many turning in mixed sales for the month. Industry experts said sales were impacted by a still-cautious consumer and the blizzard the crippled the Northeast in the days immediately following Christmas.

Thomson Reuters, which tracks same-store sales for a group of 28 national chains, said total sales for the group were expected to post a 3.4% increase in same-store sales for December, following a 5.6% bump in November.

The final holiday numbers are in from online measurement firm comScore and it was a record year. November and December online sales increased 12% to $32.6 billion and, considering the surge in traffic that takes place at Walmart.com during those months and the increasing level of cross-channel integration, the retailer likely captured at least a fair share of the growth.

Transaction marketing gained widespread acceptance among retailers in 2010, as they began to recognize marketing in the electronic banking channel as a far more cost effective way to encourage repeat business, increase the average transaction sizes and drive same-store sales. It enabled retailers to overcome the marketing waste associated with other channels -- like Groupon -- and consistently provided compelling and measurable return on their marketing investment.

Expectations outpaced the willingness of consumers to spend during December, as large numbers of retailers reported results that were less than expected. Weather certainly affected the ability of shoppers to get to stores, as heavy rains pelted California and blizzards hit the Northeast, but that type of stuff happens in December. A bigger factor was that retailers were victims of their own success. Recall November was something of a promotionpalooza and shoppers found offers that arrived early and often to be irresistible.

Columbus, Ohio -- Retail same-store sales eased to 3.2% growth in December in the wake of November’s exceptionally strong promotional activity and an ongoing shift toward online shopping, according to Kantar Retail. The sales-weighted composite for the 31 retailers reporting -- most of them apparel retailers -- was weaker than the 5.6% same-store sales gain last month, but slightly better than the 3.0% gain in December of 2009. (The calculations no longer include Walmart, which stopped reporting monthly results in 2009. )

TJX reported same-store sales of 2% December, beating Wall Street estimates for a 2.5% decline. Total sales rose 6% to $3 billion.

"I am extremely pleased with December's sales results, as we significantly exceeded our plans during this important period," TJX CEO Carol Meyrowitz, CEO, TJX.

The fourth installment of family movie night, a collaboration between Walmart and Procter & Gamble, is set to air Jan. 8 at 8 p.m. EST on Fox. The movie is called Change of Plans, and the plot line revolves around how lives can be turned upside down with a phone call. Also of interest is an upcoming CNBC special on Target, but more on that later.

Alexandria, Va. -- Shoppers who shop with others are different from those who shop alone and retail marketers need to take note, according to a new report by the Point of Purchase Advertising International (POPAI). The study finds that solo shoppers are likely to spend an average of 11% more per trip than those accompanied by friends or family members, while consumers who shop with family members are likely to spend an average of 13% more than those shopping with friends.