Marketing Tactics

As the online delivery wars heat up, Walmart is expanding its grocery pickup service to the hometown of one of its biggest rivals.  

Dunkin' Donuts has tapped an agency marketing/advertising veteran to head up its U.S. marketing efforts.   The company appointed Tony Weisman, 57, to the position of U.S. chief marketing officer, effective in late September. He most recently served as the North American CEO of DigitasLBi, a global digital agency network, which has worked on the Dunkin' Donuts account for some six years.   

Online mattress start-up Casper is getting more upfront with shoppers.   The fast-growing company plans to open some 15 pop-up shops in cities across North America, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The pop-ups are scheduled to launch in October 2017, and will remain open through spring of 2018.  

There's more disruption in the mattress category at retail.    West Elm has entered into a partnership with hot online mattress company Leesa Sleep, which will replace another hot online startup — Casper — as the home furnishings retailer's official mattress partner. The news come on the heels of Casper's announcement that it will open up more than a dozen pop-up stores in cities nationwide.

Pottery Barn is bringing its new store concept to the city where it all began.    The retailer, a division of Williams-Sonoma, will unveil a 17,000-sq.-ft. flagship on September 8, 2017, in Manhattan's Flatiron District. (The first Pottery Barn store opened in 1949 in the West Chelsea section of lower Manhattan.)   

Brick-and-mortar stores are crucial to supporting a retailer's e-commerce growth.  

The spinner craze continues to benefit Five Below which has produced a stunning set of second quarter numbers, beating even its own high expectations. Total sales rose by almost 29% over the prior year, supported by a 9.3% uplift in comparables. Meanwhile, a substantial expansion of margins fueled bottom line growth where net income was up by 71.4%.  

The spinner craze helped propel Five Below in its second quarter, as the teen and tween value-retailer turned in an exceptionally strong performance that topped expectations.   Revenue rose 28.7% to $283.3 million in the quarter ended July 29, topping analysts' estimates of $276.6 million. Same-store sales jumped 9.3%, the highest since the chain's IPO in June 2012.  

Walmart is significantly expanding its Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.    Walmart and the Walmart Foundation announced they have committed up to $20 million in support of relief efforts in response to the severe weather impacting the Gulf region. This is an increase from the retailer's previously announced $1 million of in-kind donations for immediate relief.  

Westfield’s billion-dollar renovation of its Century City Mall in Los Angeles will include a swanky Uber Lounge where customers can wait in style for their rides.    The shopping center owner has formed a partnership with Uber to facilitate use of shared rides at its centers nationwide. The mall owner will create drop-off and pick-up stations at every one of its U.S. properties, whose locations will be digitally mapped into the Uber app. The idea: make pick-ups and drop-offs easier and build mall traffic.