Marketing Tactics

Austin, Texas – Parents spend, on average, $659 on school-related costs throughout the year per family. According to a survey from digital coupon provider RetailMeNot, 67% of parents start their back-to-school shopping by the end of July, which is down slightly from 2013 (71%).

GameStop customers can now exchange gift cards online for a GameStop e-gift card. The new offering is part of a partnership with Cardpool, a leading gift card exchange platform.

Consumers can trade in plastic and e-gift cards online by filling out the individual gift card information at https://gamestop.cardpool.com./ Once the information is verified and the transaction is complete, consumers receive a GameStop e-gift card via email that they can use at one of the more than 4,400 store store locations nationwide or online.

Target is leaving no digital stone unturned this year as its looks engage with shoppers in the lucrative back-to-college market.

Many teachers spend some of their own money on back-to-school supplies and to capitalize on the trend Walmart has introduced a 10% rebate program.

With back-to-school season in full swing, Lands' End Kids has enlisted seven PopSugar Select mom bloggers to curate a collection of "First-day Faves," each to be featured in a new digital popup shop every week at landsend.com/firstdayfaves.

Featured items will be offered at a 25% discount.

Virginia Beach, Va. -- Home furnishings retailer West Elm will open a new store at Town Center of Virginia Beach, the retailer’s first in the Hampton Roads market.

The new store will be located on Main Street on the first floor of the newly constructed 4505 Main Street Tower, next to the recently announced Anthropologie store. A grand opening is slated for 2015.

Green Bay, Wis. — Shopko launched on Thursday its new fashion blog, TREND.spire, which takes current looks for women, all available at Shopko and Shopko.com, and illustrates how to pull everything together.

The fashion blog at trendspire.shopko.com is updated weekly and a video, with a sneak peek of just some of the outfits, can be found here. Even more inspiration and information will be on Shopko's Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram pages.  

Genius Brands International, a global brand management company that develops “content with a purpose” for toddlers to tweens, continues to build its global licensing structure with the appointment of industry veteran Stone Newman to the newly created post of president, global consumer products.  

Shopko is looking to drive traffic to its stores and e-commerce site with the launch of a new fashion blog called TREND.spire. The blog offers shoppers tips on how to put outfits together with pieces from either bricks-and-mortar locations or online.