Sales & Marketing

New York -- Traditional preprint circulars continue to dominate many retailers’ promotional offerings but digital coupon momentum is accelerating, according to strong 2014 results by Coupons.com.

Total revenue in the company’s fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2014 increased 14% to $60 million and full year revenue increased 32% to $221.8 million. Total digital coupon transactions in 2014 increased 23% to 1.6 billion.

Scottsdale, Ariz. -  P.F. Chang's China Bistro is getting conversational with its customers. The casual dining chain has selected Neuron ESB application and Web services integration software to unify backend systems that will power real-time customer communications for its P.F. Chang's and Pei Wei brands.

Discontinuing tobacco sales a year ago may have been the right thing to do for CVS Health, but the company’s fourth quarter results offer other retailers contemplating a similar move a glimpse of the short term impact on sales.

Non-pharmacy front of store same store sales at CVS Health locations declined 7.2% during the fourth quarter but would have registered a slight increase were it not for an 800 basis point negative impact associated with lost sale of tobacco and related products.

Philadelphia – Urban Outfitters Inc. beat Wall Street expectations with its sales for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2014. Total net sales grew 12% to $1.01 billion from $905.86 million.

Same-store sales, including direct-to-consumer sales, rose 6%. For the full year, total net sales increased 8% to $3.32 billion, from $3.09 billion. Same-store sales grew 2%. For both the fourth quarter and full fiscal year, strong growth in the wholesale segment helped push up total net sales.

Neiman Marcus is entering the social shopping fray by launching its first ever user-generated content contest on Instagram.

The retailer has said previously it understands the influence user-generated content can have on purchase decisions. That’s why they integrate it into key points in the user journey. Neiman Marcus says it is aiming to create powerful, socialized shopping experiences, online and in-store. 

One of the interesting retail real estate trends I’ve been seeing pick up steam in the last couple of years is the willingness of many retailers to look beyond the traditional mall locations. Many are choosing locations on “hot streets,” bustling avenues within major communities that happen to be the retail hub, or in the downtown/village center area of the market.

The fact that Home Depot is hiring 80,000 associates for its busy spring season may not seem like a big deal, but the retailer is arming these employees with unprecedented retailing technology.

Livermore, Calif. -- Simon announced today that Livermore Premium Outlets, the Bay Area's premier outlet shopping center, will be rebranded and named San Francisco Premium Outlets in conjunction with its major expansion.

The 512,000-sq.-ft. center opened in 2012 and is currently undergoing a significant expansion to add 185,000 sq. ft. to be populated by leading designer brands, opening on August 13, 2015.