MARKETING/SOCIAL MEDIA

Amazon may be pulling out the stops to lure customers to participate in Prime Day, but competitors are taking steps to grab their own online sales.    The online giant’s third annual Prime Day global shopping extravaganza officially kicked off on Monday, July 10, at 6 pm PST, and will run until the wee hours of morning on July 12. Eager to take advantage of early bird shoppers, Amazon began rolling out sneak previews — and sales opportunities — as early as last week.   

Office Depot had one goal when updating its loyalty program: to make sure that every shopper is rewarded.   The office supplies giant debuted its new loyalty program. Besides being free, the “Office Depot OfficeMax Rewards Everything” program is designed to save customers money, and deliver expanded benefits. The program evolved following a year-long pilot in several markets, a process that enabled the company to gather customer feedback needed to redesign the program.   

J.C. Penney is enhancing customer benefits in its loyalty program.   The retailer is debuting a revample program that allows Sephora customers to double-dip on rewards and also allows earned points to roll over from month to month, reported the Dallas News.   

The nation's largest supermarket operator is suing the German discount grocer Lidl over trademark infringement.    In a complaint filed last week in U.S. District Court in Virginia, Kroger claims that Lidl’s house brand, “Preferred Selection,” too closely resembles Kroger's own brand, “Private Selection.”  

Amazon wants to get Prime Day deals into shoppers hands even faster.    The online giant has added exclusive deals related to its Prime Now service to its Prime Day shopping extravaganza — a move that will get qualifying purchases to members within two hours. These deals will begin on Saturday, July 8 (two days prior to Prime Day’s launch), and run through July 11.  

Walmart’s e-commerce arm is shaking up its customer engagement efforts.   Jet.com is adopting product sampling to forge stronger relationships with its online shoppers. Though a partnership with BrandShare, the online retailer will deliver 300,000 premium product samples and exclusive offers each month inside e-commerce packages. BrandShare is a long-time partner of Jet’s parent company, Walmart.   

Despite plenty of generational differences, there is one thing that shoppers of all ages put a priority on.  

In the wake of Amazon’s Prime Day hype, J.C. Penney is eager to drive momentum among its own online shoppers.    The department store retailer is getting ready to host its own online-only shopping event, “Penney Palooza.” The second annual two-day sale, which is set to run July 11-12, will feature “48 hours of non-stop savings,” according to the retailer.