Marketing Tactics

Ulta Beauty came out of the first quarter starting gate strong, with earnings that easily topped Wall Street estimates and big increases in store and online sales.       While online sales are growing at a fast pace, the beauty products and services retailer isn't slowing down its store growth. It said it will open 100 new stores in its current fiscal year.    

A tough February couldn't keep Tilly's down, which reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.    The teen apparel and footwear retailer narrowed its loss in the first quarter to $161,000, or 1 cent a share, compared with a net loss of $2.7 million, or 10 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Its results were better than expected.    Net sales inched up 0.6% to $120.9 million, better easily beating the Street. Same-store sales rose 0.6%.  

Amazon is making its debut in the bridal category —a move that will take another hit against its crafting competitor Etsy.   

Great personal experiences are what separate brick-and-mortar retail from its virtual cousin on the Web, and high-end experiences will soon be coming to luxury stores.   That’s one of 10 key elements to increase foot traffic introduced at RECon this week by Vicki Eickelberger, managing director of Big Red Rooster, a store design unit of JLL.  

A social media giant is getting in on the chatbot wave.    Twitter launched a new, customizable Direct Message Card that brands can use to promote and share bots and other customer experiences built in its Direct Messages tool. Direct Messages helps companies create personalized ads and interactions — ranging from customer acquisition programs to engaging bots.  

Walmart  is stepping up its commitment to its workers who serve in the military by covering the difference when an employee's military salary is less than what the person makes working at the store.  

Despite increasing loyalty program membership enrollments, retailers continue to miss opportunities to satisfy shoppers.   Brands continue to invest more in loyalty programs, and enrollment has grown by 31% over the last four years. However, retailers are overlooking opportunities that will drive business results, according to “The Loyalty Report 2017.”  

Despite social media’s growing presence in many consumers’ lives, it is not the ideal platform for brand interaction.   That's according to the “2017 Generational Marketing Insights Survey,” from Campaigner, the email marketing brand of j2 Global. According to findings, less than a quarter (24%) of online shoppers use social media as one of their preferred channels for brand interaction. And it seems that not all social media channels are created equal.  

Lolli & Pops has entered into a partnership to grow its store portfolio.

The retailer, which specializes in high-end sweets and confectionary treats, is teaming up with retail real estate company GGP Inc. to open 30 new locations.  

Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett won’t have occasion to announce a championship for the OKC Thunder this year, but he did stop by the RECon show in Las Vegas to crown the OKC Outlets.   The former Outlet Shoppes at Oklahoma City was sold by CBL to The Outlet Resource Group and Singerman Real Estate earlier this month. The new owners wasted no time putting its own brand on the center. “OKC” is the abbreviation commonly used by NBA fans to identify the Thunder.