Sales & Marketing

Every year, one of my personal highlights is the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) RECon convention in Las Vegas. It’s a chance both to connect with the fascinating leaders in our field, as well as to see a few steps into the future. RECon bills itself at the “global convention for the shopping center industry,” and that label is an accurate one: Over 1,000 exhibitors and more than 32,000 attendees make RECon the largest convention in the industry.

New York -- Intuit has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Check, a mobile bill pay company with some 10 million registered users. The acquisition will help accelerate Intuit’s ability to offer bill pay across small business and personal finance products and create opportunities to retain, attract and serve additional customers.

The technology-driven innovation spree occurring in the retail industry offers merchants, marketers and operators unprecedented shopper insights capabilities — and a host of new opportunities.

Foothills Ranch, Calif. -- Fashion retailer Wet Seal Inc. swung to a loss in its  first quarter amid declining sales. The company reported a loss of $21.8 million, compared with a year-earlier profit of $3.1 million.

Sales fell 17% to $116.7 million. Total same-store sales, including e-commerce, fell 16.9%.
 
Wet Seal said it was challenged by  weak mall traffic, higher promotional activity and disruptive weather as challenges for the quarter.

The smart shopping brand and magazine All You from Time Inc., doubled its Facebook community during the past year and recently surpassed one million fans.

While the reach of mobile devices has grown dramatically in recent years, we’ve failed to realize the promise of using this ubiquitous device as a mobile wallet.

There are many reason for this lack of adoption, and the following reviews the shortcomings of past and current attempts at mobile wallet implementations — and more importantly, highlights new technologies needed to unlock the promise of mobile payments.

Target will test same-day delivery in three markets as the online shipping war among retailers continues to gain momentum. Target will launch a $10 rush delivery pilot in June in the Minneapolis, Boston and Miami markets, offering guests the ability to order as late as 1:30 p.m. in the afternoon and receive a delivery of qualifying items between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. the same day, the company stated in its recent quarterly call with analysts.

Thorofare, N.J. - Checkpoint Systems, Inc. is launching its next generation of intelligent electronic article surveillance (EAS) solutions. The Evolve iRange comprises six different EAS antennas, a broad range of EAS labels designed for visible and source-tagging application to various types of merchandise, and the Counterpoint iD deactivation unit for faster and consistent deactivation at point-of-sale (POS).