Sales & Marketing

Books-A-Million is teaming up with the nation’s largest children’s literacy organizations on a campaign that is sure to appeal to its core customers.

Through Sept. 19, customers at Books-A-Million can make a donation to Reading Is Fundamental. No purchase is necessary to donate, and contributions can be made at all Books-A-Million locations. Customers will receive an exclusive bookmark stating that they donated to Reading Is Fundamental.

The newly launched Android Pay mobile payment service from Google is gaining a supporter in the crucial area of processing.

As Google continues its roll out of Android Pay, Atlanta-based e-commerce technology provider First Data Corp. is supporting the new service for in-store transactions.

Target Corp. is going high-tech with efforts to improve employee fitness. All 335,000 U.S. employees of Target will be offered free or subsidized wearable digital activity trackers from Fitbit Inc.

As part of the program, management will have a dashboard that can track individual employees by activities such as how many steps they take in a day. The basic FitBit Zip device will be provided free, or Target will help employees pay for a costlier FitBit wristband device.

The latest posting from the McMillanDoolittle blog:

Target announced a partnership with Instacart in Target’s hometown of Minneapolis. This is Target’s first experiment with same-day delivery of products, and it coincides with the expansion of their grocery and fresh business.

Target Corp. is launching a major and wide-ranging initiative to improve its in-store shopper experience.  

The initiative, called LA25, will be rolled out in 25 Target stores in Los Angeles. It involves everything from more helpful store signage and more modern fixtures to the exploration of RFID technology to help store associates track down missing products. The first wave of stores will be updated in the coming weeks, with a second batch getting a makeover in spring 2016.

Taubman Centers named Simon J. Leopold, treasurer and executive VP, capital markets, as CFO, effective Jan. 1.

Leopold will succeed current CFO Lisa A. Payne, who will continue as vice chairman until she leaves the company in March. Payne has been with the shopping center development and management company since 1997. Earlier, she was a vice president of Goldman, Sachs & Co.’s investment banking division.

The Container Store is teaming up with the Rhode Island School of Design on a creative contest that invites design students to re-think the organized home.

The goal is to give design students a platform to present their product ideas to The Container Store and the chance to see their ideas produced. The product submissions need to appeal to The Container Store’s consumer.

Lower gas prices are not significantly altering consumer behavior, according to the latest Consumer Fuels Survey results released by the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS).

Although drivers report that the national median gas price fell 25 cents per gallon in the past month and 60 cents per gallon since July, only 22% of consumers say that they will drive more over the coming month and only 15% say that they will spend more on other non-fuels items in the coming month.