Seasonal

By Craig Johnson, Customer Growth Partners

CHICAGO - In time for the holiday rush, General Growth Properties has introduced several new customer initiatives, including an arrangment with Uber to provide free trips (up to $60) to participating malls for all riders and free return trips for new Uber riders or those who spend more than $150 during their visit.   The shopping center developer is providing omni-channel initiatives like same day delivery; enhanced guest experience services; and one-of-a-kind holiday attractions.  

RadioShack CEO Joe Magnacca contends the company’s core strategies are working even though evidence of the success was hard to see between a steep third quarter loss and double digit same store sales decline.

Same store sales were down 13.4% in the third quarter ending Nov. 1, driven by traffic declines and soft performance in the mobility business, the company said. Total sales and operating revenue were $650.2 million, compared with $775.4 million last year.

Despite the rollout of its new “Go Taller” initiative, 99 Cents Only Stores reported a decline in same store sales and profits in the third quarter.

Same store sales decreased 0.7% compared with the prior year quarter. The company reported a loss of $3.8 million in the third quarter, compared to posting an income of $1 million in the prior year quarter. Net loss as a percentage of total sales was -0.8% for the third quarter compared with net income as a percentage of sales of 0.2% for the third quarter of fiscal 2014.

Expense control and a more rational promotional environment helped Toys “R” Us reduce the size of its third quarter operating loss but the company had little to say about its outlook for Christmas sales and profits.

San Francisco – To serve the needs of tech-oriented holiday shoppers, “Wired” is opening a pop-up store in New York City and an e-shop at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The annual holiday pop-up in New York showcases items hand-selected by “Wired” editors and curators, and will be open Dec. 11-21.    

New York – Omnichannel specialty bath and beauty product brand Sabon boosted its online sales 35% during Black Friday and Cyber Monday by implementing Dynamic Yield’s personalization engine. Sabon saw lifts across key metrics including user engagement, total page views, time spent on site and sales.  

Petaluma, Calif. – During the second week of the holiday shopping season (Dec. 1-7), smartphone and tablet shoppers were especially generous spenders. According to data compiled by e-commerce software provider MarketLive, year-over-year online revenue generated by consumers using smartphones grew 107%, or slightly more than double.  

If you’re like me, and you were curious about how Black Friday hype translated into retail sales, your head is spinning right about now. Because the flurry of post-Black Friday news reports is packed with conflicting information, data that doesn’t seem to add up, and—perhaps unsurprisingly given those disparities—wildly variant conclusions about whether the Black Friday weekend was a “success” or a “disappointment” and about what is in store for the rest of the holiday season.

By Alex Romanov, iSign Media   The holiday season is a time of family, food, and frenzied shopping. Consumers are bombarded by messages, promotions, discounts, and offers, and retailers have to be smart about how they reach out to their customers. Email blasts or paper coupons just won’t cut it. In this mobile-obsessed era, proximity marketing is a powerful way to break through the noise and bring shoppers into your store.