Sales & Marketing

Retailers and brands are increasingly going on YouTube and posting “unboxing” videos of happy customers opening products and then examining and celebrating their features and functions for the camera, says the New York Times.

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The combination of acquisitions, new unit expansion and same-store sales growth enabled Mattress Firm to achieve record third quarter results and the company’s biggest deal ever is expected to close in 2016.

Sears Holding Corp. is trying to turn surging mobile traffic into a driver for store visits and purchases.

Sears has refreshed its mobile app with a number of features that help provide a seamless, store-centric customer experience. For example, members of its Shop Your Way loyalty program who enable location-based services can place mobile orders for out-of-stock items while in the store and get free home shipping.

Walmart is the only chain retailer to fully meet a goal it made related to an initiative of opening stores in “food deserts,” the Associated Press reported. [Associated Press]

It’s like it is 1997 all over again with the Federal Trade Commission stepping in to block a merger between Staples and Office Depot on grounds that the deal would diminish competition.

PBteen is hoping a new omnichannel collaboration with a popular teen app may appeal to a wide swath of its target market.

The retailer is teaming up with a Disney star on a new furnishings collection inspired by a trendy new app called Make Me Nails. The app was created by the star of Disney's "A Dog with a Blog," G. Hannelius. Make Me Nails is a fully-customizable nail wrap iPhone app and e-commerce platform that allows consumers to create individual nail wrap art for each finger, for the ultimate custom manicure.

Looking back on the 2015 edition of Cyber Week, we can reminisce on big traffic, big sales … and big fails?

Several high-profile site outages hit major retailers during a period of historically heavy online shopping. While nobody would call these positive events, they do offer retailers a few valuable lessons about the need to stay one step ahead of digital customer demand.

Not Too Big to Fail

Your inventory is your biggest investment, and getting it right takes a lot of work. Customers don’t like seeing outdated inventory or empty racks. They don’t like having to ask, “Is there more in the back? and having the employee answer, “I’m not sure.” But keeping track of what’s coming in and going out isn’t always easy.