Retail

Phoenix – PetSmart is allowing customers to virtually try Halloween costumes on their pets via Facebook. PetSmart’s “Spooktacular Costume Machine” on Facebook lets customers upload a photo of their pet and virtually try on 10 different costumes, add props and text, and share a photo through email, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

After creating a costume, coupons are available to print, including $2 off any PetSmart costume purchase and buy-one, get-one treat coupons. The promotion begins Sept. 16.

Mississauga, Ontario – Canadian interactive retailer The Shopping Channel is relaunching as TSC. The relaunch includes an upgraded and redesigned website, as well as a new "ShopTSC" app for iPhone, iPad and mobile website.

Shopper activity increased last month, in line with ShopperTrak’s predictions. Total retail store shopper traffic increased 11% this August compared to the previous month, which corresponds with recently reported positive month-over-month retail trends. In addition, shopper traffic for August 2013 increased slightly compared to the same month last year by 0.7%.

Bentonville, Ark. – Three members of a group of about 20 people protesting working conditions at Walmart were reportedly arrested in Manhattan yesterday. According to the AP, the protestors, which included current and former Wal-Mart employees as well as supporters, gathered outside a New York City building where a member of Wal-Mart’s board of directors has an office.

Columbus, Ohio -- Fitch announced that Gina Noda has joined the company as business development director. She previously served as director of business development for Sargenti Architects, and prior to that spent 15 years at Scorpio Construction as director of marketing.

Based in the New York City area, Noda will be responsible for expanding Fitch’s presence on the East Coast, as well as across the country.

A survey of consumers conducted by the National Retail Federation and published in the trade group’s September issue of Stores placed Walmart second on a list of the nation’s favorite e-commerce retailers, an encouraging sign given the company’s efforts to drive digital growth.

As a discount department store retailer, Kohl’s is targeting a middle-class consumer looking for decent quality merchandise at a fair price. Kohl’s array of in-store IT solutions reflects this “Middle America” marketing and merchandising approach by focusing on self-service technology that makes finding products and determining prices as quick and convenient as possible, rather than leading-edge solutions that might appeal to higher-income, connected shoppers.

Digital price display

New York -- Accenture and SAP AG are jointly releasing a new application called the Marketing Performance Solution by Accenture and SAP. Sold by Accenture, the solution enables retail chief marketing officers (CMOs) view and act on centralized key marketing performance data such as sales figures, media spend and social reach in near real-time.