Mass Merchant

Move over pumpkin pie: Black Friday fervor seemed to stir up more conversations on social media than the Thanksgiving holiday itself.

According to Salesforce.com, social media posts about Black Friday shopping numbered 2.7 million. Roughly 278,000 posts were stamped with the hashtag "#blackfriday" and another 8,000 were labeled "#deals," vs. just 85,000 with "#Thanksgiving."

There were also about 1.84 million holiday shopping posts on Thanksgiving Day, and about 719,000 posts the day before Thanksgiving.

By Scot Wingo, CEO, ChannelAdvisor Happy Cyber Monday! Each year we at ChannelAdvisor track the five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday and call that the “Cyber Five.” This year, our Cyber Five Same Store Sales (SSS) data to date shows that Holiday ’14 is off to a very strong start.

Grand Rapids, Mich. — Meijer is offering a 20% coupon on Monday, Dec. 1, which it is calling “Digital Monday,” through its mPerks digital loyalty program. The mPerks Monday promotion includes a 20% coupon through mPerks that can be used on one electronics, apparel or general merchandise item.

Meijer credit card customers who have a 15% reward coupon can use it in addition to the mPerks Monday. The coupon will be available for mPerks subscribers to clip Nov. 30 through Dec. 1 and will only be available for use on Dec. 1.

New York — More than half of consumers are either unsure or not confident at all in the security of their personal information when shopping both in-store (58%) and online (63%), which could impact holiday shopping, according to a new survey by KPMG.  Twenty-seven percent of of respondents indicate they will only shop at a store that previously experienced a cyberattack if they cannot find the product elsewhere, with 8% refusing to shop at these stores all together. 
 

New York - Nordstrom was the most engaged retail brand on Pinterest, followed by Amazon, according to Curalate, which collected more than 180,000 Pins and analyzed nearly five million interactions associated with the Top 100 brands from November 1st to November 21. Rounding out the top five:Urban Outfitters, American Eagle Outfitters and Zulily.

High expectations are the key to everything. Take mobile for example. Apps from Starbucks, Uber, Netflix, and Apple have all made outstanding digital experiences expected and commonplace. Finally, customers have a taste of products and services that work the way they should, effectively reprogramming consumer expectations for all digital experiences.  

Destination Maternity has appointed the managing partner of investment firm Voce Capital to the company's board of directors.

"As a long-term investor in Destination Maternity, we look forward to bringing additional shareholder perspective to the board and continuing to work constructively with the company to help enhance its value," J. Daniel Plants of Voce Capital said.

Columbus, Ohio – DSW Inc. exceeded Wall Street expectations for net income and sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2014. Net income fell a less than expected 10% to $49.55 million from $54.96 million the same quarter a year earlier, with higher operating expenses and lower pretax income contributing to the decline. Sales totaled $670 million compared to $633 million and same-store sales rose 2.6%.