Social Media

Oak Brook, Ill. – McDonald’s is offering free McCafe coffee is available during breakfast hours starting March 31 through April 13 in participating restaurants. To kick off the two-week campaign, McDonald's will host "Make Friends with McCafe" sampling events at high traffic locations and transportation hubs in multiple cities across the country.

New York -- Social media sites are playing an increasingly important role in driving traffic to other websites, including retail websites and even other social networking sites, at the expense of search engines and portal websites, according to new research from Experian Research Services. As of March 2014, social media sites now account for 7.72% of all traffic to retail web sites, up from 6.59% in March 2013. Further, Pinterest, more than Facebook or YouTube, is supplying the greatest percentage of downstream traffic to retail sites.

New York – Beauty shoppers take word-of-mouth recommendations more than any other medium. According to a new survey from Tremor Video, about half of beauty shoppers buy to replenish their supply, while many shoppers are in-market because they’re looking to try a new product.

Columbus, Ohio – DSW Inc. opens three new stores April 3. The stores will be located in Reading, Pa., Olympia, Wash., and White Plains, N.Y.

DSW Rewards is a free loyalty program in which customers earn certificates toward future DSW purchases and receive special member-only offers. Customers can also participate in a Shoe Lover community on Facebook.

New York -- Social media delivers more than wish-list window shopping — it is, essentially, a social-purchasing path for young women that leverages each platform's strength and point of engagement to enhance the shopping process, according to a survey by Teen Vogue. And according to respondents, the future belongs to Instagram. It is the platform most cited as the one that "everyone will be talking about next year," and the clear must-have app this year.

American Eagle has had a rough winter. Robert Hanson resigned as the company’s CEO following disappointing holiday sales, and severe winter weather contributed to weak fourth-quarter results.

Interim CEO Jay Schottenstein looked on the bright side as shares dropped nearly 7%, saying that the company was taking steps to bring greater focus and excitement to its product offering and better engage its core customers.

In recognition of shoppers’ desire for clean foods with minimal ingredients, Bumble Bee has introduced a new “Heritage Pack” with labeling reminiscent of the 1950s. Retailers may be inclined to say, “so what,” but there are several interesting aspects to the initiative.

Packaging changes among CPG companies are common in an industry where genuine innovation is hard to come by. So a new label, color scheme or pack size tends to elicit a big yawn from retailers.

Foothill Ranch, Calif. – The Wet Seal Inc. shrank its net loss to $27.5 million during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 from $85.8 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Net sales slipped 23% to $124.8 million from $161.6 million and same-store sales dropped 16%.