Marketing Tactics

As Black Friday quickly approaches, it is anyone’s game on who will garner the most wallet share — clicks or bricks.    More than three-quarters (76%) of Americans plan to shop over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and they plan to spend $400 between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, a slight uptick from last year's intentions to spend $369.  

PetSmart is working with retail and design consultancy Fitch to develop a new store environment.   The test store will open in Highland Ranch, Colorado, in fall 2007, and will bring a fresh, new and engaging customer experience to the pet retail marketplace, PetSmart said.    

Folks were lined up down the block for the opening of The Lego Group’s largest – and most ambitious – store in the world.  

Lowe’s Companies is partnering with an unusual and very tech-savvy retailer to sell “smart” home devices.    The home improvement retailer has teamed up with San-Francisco-based b8ta to launch an in-store shop concept dedicated to demystifying and simplifying the purchase of smart home devices Called “SmartSpot powered by b8ta,” the new concept is currently in place in three Lowe’s stores in California (Livermore, Burbank and Aliso Viejo).  

Abercrombie & Fitch’s efforts to turnaround its struggling namesake brand aren’t finding much traction with shoppers.   The teen apparel brand on Friday said that its profit declined 81% in the third quarter and warned that it expects a challenging holiday season for its namesake banner.     Abercrombie posted net income of $7.88 million, or 12 cents per share, for the quarter ended Oct. 29, down from $41.9 million, or 60 cents per share, in the year-ago period.  

Google is expanding its brick-and-mortar presence.     Following the opening of its New York City pop-up store last month,  Google has partnered with Best Buy to amp up its retail presence.     

As shoppers use more devices to shop their favorite brands, it is not surprising that digital shopping will drive retail holiday sales.   This message was delivered in Nielsen's 2016 holiday trend report, which tapped 1,159 adults aged 18 years and older. As of Nov. 11, online shopping was outpacing in-store visits, with 58% of shoppers already purchasing their holiday gifts online compared to 40% that went to big-box retail stores, and 25% who visited department stores.