Yum! Brands

Social media is slowly but surely moving from a promotional channel to a channel for direct transactions, as evidenced by the recent news that Facebook is testing a “buy” button of its own. Twitter has become a favored means of running time- and location-sensitive retail promotions, such as Twitter-based food truck promotions run by Ben & Jerry’s and Taco Bell, but so far has not presented itself as an effective means of exchanging goods for currency.

Plano, Texas – Pizza Hut Inc. is deploying energy management systems from Entouch Controls at 500 corporate stores. The company plans to recommend the Entouch technology to its 5,800 franchised stores, as well.

Dallas - On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, has appointed Ward Whitworth as president of On The Border. The move follows the resignation of On The Border CEO Steve Clark, who has committed to stay on for a period of time in order to ensure a smooth transition to new leadership.

Boca Raton, Fla. – Office Depot Inc. has named retail veteran Mark Cosby as president, North America. Cosby, 55, most recently served as president of pharmacy at CVS Caremark. He will be a member of Office Depot’s executive committee and leadership team and report to Roland Smith, chairman and CEO of Office Depot.

Cosby joins Office Depot following a 30-year career at a number of leading retail chains. Prior to CVS, Cosby spent five years at Macy’s Inc., where he served in a number of executive roles, including president, stores.

By Jonathan Marek, senior VP, Applied Predictive Technologies

Paying online got easier for Visa cardholders this week thanks to its launch of Visa Checkout. The service will allow users to register their card and then complete their purchases by entering their Checkout username and password.

San Francisco -- Visa is launching a new service, Visa Checkout that enables consumers throughout the United States, Canada and Australia to pay for goods online, on any device, with just a few clicks.

Plano, Texas – Pizza Hut is launching an omnichannel summer promotion tying in to the upcoming release of the Aug. 8 “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” live action film. In addition to a custom national television spot and special menu items, the promotion features a number of digital components.

New York — Cohen Real Estate, a Manhattan-based full-service brokerage firm specializing in retail properties throughout the United States, has been retained to market Shoppes of Silverwood, a full-service strip shopping center located in Ricon, Georgia.

Ann Arbor, Mich. – Pizza chains Pizza Hut and Papa John’s are tied for the highest customer satisfaction score among quick-service restaurants. According to the 2014 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), Papa John’s (unchanged from 2013) and Pizza Hut (+3%) share the lead at 82, with Little Caesar (-2%) and Domino’s Pizza (-1%) not far behind at 80.