Seasonal

Retailers are mostly meeting the needs of today’s omnichannel customer, but there’s still room for improvement, according to a new study.

The 2015 Omnichannel Fulfillment Special Report by Kurt Salmon analyzed retailers’ peak-season fulfillment plans and realities to uncover successes, challenges and opportunities for this year.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. - Dollar General is helping customers spring into savings with the launch of its spring Fast Way to Save digital coupon program. Fast Way to Save offers customers approximately $200 each week in total online coupon savings through April 19.

Customers will see additional weekly specials on dozens of discounts on Easter merchandise and a buy-one, get-one free sale on select apparel and accessories.

Seattle – Amazon.com is addressing the need for more science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education with the launch of a new online store focused on toys and games that help kids learn STEM subjects and ideas.

In addition to focusing on the core subjects, STEM also focuses on how they relate to each other and the real world.

According to Amazon, it selected the initial assortment of STEM toys because they “have clear goals and encourage kids to learn STEM skills while having fun.”

Books-A-Million continued to benefit from a spike in book sales and the popularity of Minecraft and Disney’s “Frozen” in the fourth quarter, as same store sales and profit increased.

The chain posted a profit of $3.5 million in the year ended Jan. 31 compared to a net loss of $7.6 million in 2013. Same store sales increased 0.4% in the year and rose 1.7% in the fourth quarter when total sales rose 1.8% and net income increased 0.8% at Books-A-Million over the previous year with sales hitting $474 million.

Dollar General is thinking digital this spring with a new way to appeal to coupon-clipping customers.

The retailer is launching a new digital coupon program called Fast Way to Save that offers customers approximately $200 each week in online coupon savings now through April 19.

Customers will see additional weekly specials on dozens of discounts on Easter merchandise and a buy-one, get-one free sale on select apparel and accessories, as well as its everyday low prices on thousands of items throughout the store.

REI is looking to increase sales to its stores by joining the National Park Service on a campaign to lure more visitors to America's national parks.

In its role as "Official Outdoor Retailer" of the National Park Centennial celebration, the co-op aims to inspire, guide and outfit people with a passion to explore these national treasures more deeply.

Cambridge, Mass. – Mobile traffic during the 2014 holiday season peaked on Thanksgiving (50% of online traffic) and hit a low point on Cyber Monday (30% of online traffic). According to the 2014 Online Holiday Shopping Trends and Traffic report from e-commerce solutions provider Akamai Technologies, Cyber Monday still proved to be the most popular shopping day of the season, with overall retail traffic peaking at almost 13 million page views per minute (V/PM).

Charlotte, N.C. – Belk Inc. credited strong holiday sales for helping to boost net income in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 8% to $104.4 million from $96.3 million the same period a year earlier.

 Net sales rose 5% to $1.39 billion from $1.32 billion, driven by a 2.4% increase in same-store sales and 42% surge in online sales.

The sports retail market has been strong for Foot Locker and similar retailers, but not for Finish Line, which reported a drop in holiday quarter profit.

It’s the busiest time of year for the Home Depot and this cool time lapse video from store 116 in Woodstock, Ga., shows the considerable effort that goes into resetting the retailer’s indoor seasonal department. For more on the retailer's spring time efforts check out the following, http://builtfromscratch.homedepot.com/merchandising-spring%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E