Social Media

McDonald’s is leveraging a hot app to encourage teens to join its workforce.   The fast food giant is embarking on an aggressive summer hiring spree that aims to employ 250,000 restaurant employees across more than 14,000 restaurants operating in the United States. Eager to get the attention of millennials — its sweet spot — McDonald’s is taking a new approach.  

More U.S. online shoppers are buying items from international retailers. To compete against these lower prices, U.S brands to step up personalization efforts.  

Attracting — and sustaining — loyal online customers is no easy task.    However, retailers that offer innovative customer service tools, a variety of fulfillment options, and engagement solutions will successfully turn frequent browsers into loyal shoppers. These details were revealed in a new retail report from Radial and CFI Group.  

New attitudes, behaviors and shopping preferences among Generation Z and Millennials are keeping retailers on their toes.    Emerging in-store technologies and positive social media feedback are top priorities among both Generation Z and Millennial consumers. This is according to retail advisory firm HRC Retail Advisory (HRC), which surveyed 1,350 participants in North America about their shopping experiences.  

A social media giant is getting in on the chatbot wave.    Twitter launched a new, customizable Direct Message Card that brands can use to promote and share bots and other customer experiences built in its Direct Messages tool. Direct Messages helps companies create personalized ads and interactions — ranging from customer acquisition programs to engaging bots.  

Forever 21 has entered into a partnership with mall owner GGP Inc. to debut a new, freestanding brick-and-mortar retail format.    The Los Angeles-based fast-fashion giant will launch Riley Rose, a beauty boutique, at 13 GGP regional shopping centers, with 10 locations opening in 2017. According to a report by newbeauty.com, the new concept will be experiential, millennial-focused and Instagram-friendly.    

E-commerce or brick-and-mortar retail environments continue to merge, and retailers are in the hot seat to optimize the customer experience.   As a result, the need to adopt innovative technologies to engage shoppers has never been stronger. This was according to the “2017 Customer Experience/Unified Commerce Benchmark Survey” from Boston Retail Partners.   

Snapchat’s newest filters are moving beyond the selfie.   The company is rolling out a new augmented reality ad division that lets users overlay marketers’ life-like filters on any photo they snap with their smartphone, according to ReCode.   Warner Brothers is the unit’s first advertiser, tying the lenses to promote its new movie, “Everything, Everything.” Dunkin Donuts and Netflix are next in line to launch the service, the report said.