Marketing Tactics

It’s not going to be so easy for the 11 million-plus active members of Starbuck Corp.’s loyalty program to earn freebies.

Starting in mid-April, the coffee giant is making a change in its “My Starbucks Rewards” loyalty program whereby members will earn points, or “stars,” based on the dollars spent on the purchase. Currently, customers earn a star for each transaction, regardless of how much they spent, and are entitled to a free item after earning 12 stars.

Enabling consumer product discovery in the omnichannel age is not a simple or easy matter. Having merchandise available and visible on store shelves is no longer sufficient. Meanwhile, products consumers see on e-commerce sites are mostly determined by prior behavior or their search choices. Furthermore, it is hard to serve effective digital promotions on the mobile screens consumers are increasingly using to shop.

CVS Health's decision to stop selling cigarettes is having its intended impact - 52% of those consumers who used to buy their cigarettes from CVS say it is now harder to buy cigarettes altogether, according to a survey commissioned by V2, a manufacturer of electronic cigarette and vaporizer products. Out of that group, 73% called the impact manageable, stating that “buying cigarettes is now harder but I have other options” and 27% said it made buying them “much harder.”

Digital exploration and the customer experience are at the heart of two new concept stores from wireless carrier O2.

The stores were designed to revolutionize the look and feel of a traditional mobile phone shop and provide a destination for people to not just buy a phone, but to learn about the latest technology.

Gift cards are exceedingly popular with Millennials, as new research from the Wharton School’s Baker Retailing Center and The NPD Group found. Here is fresh insight as to why:

Members of Target Corp.’s senior leadership team including CEO Brian J. Cornell, chief marketing officer Jeff Jones, and chief creative officer Todd Waterbury attended the recent TED Conference in Vancouver. In a post on the Target Bullseye Blog, the executives describe learnings such as the importance of empowering dreamers, the power of trust and reputation in social business, and why originals choose different Web browsers than everybody else.

Retailers used to be able to count on Americans spending every penny of their tax refund, but that’s not the case anymore according to new research from the National Retail Federation.

Two of the nation’s leading retail companies, Target and Under Armour, are on board to offer dynamic presentations at the upcoming SPECS conference in Dallas.

Go behind-the-scenes with Target as the retailer reviews its new Open House concept, and details how a decidedly non-conventional retail space has upped the innovation ante while also providing a testing ground for future in-store innovations on a broader scale.

Macy’s and Shaun White have joined forces to create a new and exclusive menswear line that reflects White’s adrenaline-pumping, eclectic style.

The Gold Medal snowboarder and skateboarder has ended his eight-year partnership with Target and will launch a new collection, called WHT SPACE, at Macy's. The collection will consist of fashion-forward staples that are highly wearable and capture the faster sides of White’s style. The limited-time collection will be available in approximately 175 Macy’s stores and on macys.com in mid-June.