Marketing Tactics

By Jessica Lee, senior manager of mobile, HelloWorld

The consumer electronics industry has reached a new milestone: It recycled 660 million pounds of used electronics products last year.

The number is the CE industry’s highest ever annual total, and the U.S. is now recycling CE products in record numbers, according to the Fourth Annual Report of the eCycling Leadership Initiative, led by the Consumer Electronics Association.

Staples and Office Depot are celebrating National Teacher Appreciation Week with big savings for educators.

Specialty retailer Christopher & Banks has come up with an innovative celebration of women to drive traffic this Mother’s Day.

The retailer will solicit nominations for, and select, Amazing Women to be recognized for their selfless giving and positive impact on the lives of those around them. The first search this year will be launched in celebration of Mother's Day with nominations open through May 10.

Canada represents a dynamic market for U.S. retailers looking for store expansion opportunities.

New York -- Outdoor apparel, equipment and footwear retailer The North Face has collaborated with Jaunt, which provides virtual reality (VF) hardware and software, on an immersive VR in-store experience designed to boost customers’ connection to the outdoors.

The attraction arrived in select North Face locations beginning in March in Chicago, and is now being rolled out to the company’s store in Manhattan. It transports viewers to Yosemite National Park and Moab, Utah, alongside North Face global athletes Cedar Wright and Sam Elias.

By Mihir Kittur, co-founder and chief innovation officer, Ugam

2015 is seeing enormous growth in the number of product SKUs listed online, and e-commerce and content managers will be tasked with the rapid onboarding of those SKUs. However, adding SKUs alone won’t be enough; they also need to have the right assortment and the right price and deliver a better shopper experience.

Pittsburgh – GNC Holdings Inc. demonstrated some weakness during the first quarter of fiscal 2015 with shrinking profit and revenue. Net income dropped 9% to $63.27 million from $69.9 million a year earlier, driven by rising selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses.

Net revenue fell slightly to $670.25 million from $674.46 million. Same-store sales decreased 4.1% in domestic company-owned stores (including GNC.com sales). In domestic franchise locations, same-store sales decreased 1.5%.