Sales & Marketing

By Mark Kirstein, Zebra Technologies

Moms who liked rocking out to Poison in the 1980s will love Overstock.com’s new promotion.

The retailer will be hosting a new Mother’s Day sweepstakes in which one lucky winner and one guest will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Phoenix, Ariz. to enjoy three days and two nights at a luxurious hotel and spa. There, they will be treated to a spa pampering package before a car whisks them off to join Poison singer Bret Michaels at his home for dinner. Overstock.com and Michaels created the sweepstakes to say thanks to all mothers and honor them on their special day.

Jacksonville, Fla. – A majority of consumers are spending savings from lower fuel prices to buy groceries. According to the new “Why? Behind the Buy” report from Acosta Sales & Marketing, 72% of shoppers age 18-34 will spend fuel savings on groceries.

Almost all (95%) U.S. shoppers report buying household groceries at regular supermarkets in the past six months; followed by shopping at mass merchants (79%); warehouse/club stores (42%); dollar and drug stores (39%); convenience stores (25%); natural/organic grocers (21%).

Another high-end designer is making a limited edition pit stop at a mass market retailer. This time it's Kohl's, which plans to offer a line from Thakoon Panichgul this fall.

The designer will work on the seventh installment of the retailer’s DesigNation limited-edition collection. Thakoon is a fashion industry favorite and he visited London to inspire the capsule of misses apparel that will be available exclusively at Kohl’s and Kohls.com beginning fall 2015.

New York – Retailers Amazon.com, HSN, Newegg, QVC and Zappos.com were among the 15 companies receiving the highest ratings in the 2015 Forrester Research Customer Experience Index. Forrester data indicates that improving the customer experience is a strategic priority for 73% of businesses, yet only 1% of companies deliver an excellent customer experience.

Overwhelming demand for Target's Lily Pulitzer collection caused a shopping frenzy over the weekend both in stores and online. 

Louisville, Ky. – Papa John’s wants to be sure customers know exactly what ingredients go into its pizzas. The quick-service chain is enhancing its social content with a series of Instagram and Vine videos about the ingredients it uses, accompanied by Twitter and Facebook content focusing on each ingredient category.

Distributed across Papa John’s social channels during the next seven weeks, the new content will highlight its core ingredients one-by-one — beginning with dough and ending with cheese.
 

The North Face is celebrating Earth Day by expanding its Clothes the Loop omnichannel initiative, with the goal of recycling more than 100,000 pounds of apparel and footwear this year.

The retailer plans to expand its Clothes The Loop recycling program to all of its retail and outlet stores in the U.S. in tandem with an in-store and social media campaign to encourage consumers to recycle unwanted apparel and footwear from any brand in any condition.