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Tech Guest Viewpoint: SMS Marketing Tips from Walmart
If you want to improve your SMS marketing, you should take a look at Walmart; they’ve got some dynamite strategies. Walmart’s SMS offerings are broad, yet each either solves a problem or reduces a pain point traditionally associated with in-store shopping.

In-Store Product Info via SMS
Walmart has developed an SMS-based system called Simple Text that allows mobile users to send a text to a phone number posted in-store to receive product location and information.
Meijer toasts craft beer growth
Twenty years after carrying its first craft brew at a single Kalamazoo store, Meijer is selling more than 34 locally-brewed craft beers each minute in Michigan while continuing to add up-and-coming local breweries to an extensive selection that rivals specialty stores across the Midwest.

Meijer says it expects to continue five years of double-digit volume growth in craft beer sales and plans to sell more than $90 million in craft beer in 2016, including $30 million in local and hyper-local craft beers produced by breweries in Michigan.

Groupon hits sales milestone

Online deal provider Groupon has joined an elite group – companies that have sold one billion products.

In Groupon’s case, the product is also known as a “Groupon,” or a limited-time, localized online promotion. It took Groupon, which launched in October 2008, roughly seven-and-a-half years to reach the billion-Groupon mark.
Regional grocer offers the personal touch

Niemann Foods, a 100-plus-store independent supermarket chain headquartered in Quincy, Illinois, is individually engaging customers wherever they are.
Dillard’s stocking on its own shares

Dillard’s has approved a new share repurchase program authorizing the company to repurchase up to $500 million of its Class A Common Stock.

The new open-ended authorization permits the company to repurchase its Class A Common Stock in the open market, pursuant to preset trading plans meeting the requirements of Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or through privately negotiated transactions. The company completed the authorization under its previous $500 million share repurchase program during the fourth quarter of 2015.
Is Gap Inc. really back on track?

Gap Inc. says its fourth quarter results show the company's turnaround plan is working, but the retailer continues to post lackluster sales and earnings.

The parent company of Old Navy and Banana Republic says fourth-quarter profits were $214 million, or 53 cents per share, for the three-month period ended Jan. 30. That compares with $319 million or 75 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue dropped nearly 7% in the quarter to $4.39 billion. Same-store sales declined 7%.
Foot Locker reports healthy Q4 sales, profit

The CEO of Foot Locker credits the company's revised strategic framework with single digit sales gains and double digit earnings gains in the fourth quarter.

For the period ended Jan. 30, Foot Locker reported net Income of $1.14 per share, a 13% increase from the prior year quarter. Earnings per share were $1.16, 16% above last year. Same-store sales increased 7.9%.
Sprouts Farmers Market sales hit record high

Perhaps no other retailer is profiting as well from Americans' changing eating habits than Sprouts Farmers Market, which reported record sales and earnings for the fourth quarter.

The Arizona-based grocer said that same-store sales during the period ended Jan. 3 rose 7.4%. Net income was $28.2 million and diluted earnings per share were 18 cents. Net sales were $3.59 billion, a 21% increase compared to reported net sales in 2014. Adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.86, a 19% increase from 2014.
J.C. Penney reports strong Q4 sales; debuts 'Penney Days'

J.C. Penney continues to be a bright spot in the retail sector with impressive increases in same-store sales and earnings, as well as a new marketing campaign that is generating a lot of buzz.

On Thursday, the retailer announced that same store sales grew 4.1 % for the fourth quarter ended Jan. 30. A combination of strong sales growth, accelerated gross margins and disciplined expense reduction resulted in full year adjusted EBITDA of $715 million, a $435 million increase.
Zappos leaps into new holiday

Most people do not get a paid holiday for “Leap Day,” Feb. 29.

Then again, most people do not work for online footwear and apparel retailer Zappos. Known for doing things a little differently, such as replacing the traditional bureaucratic management structure with decentralized “holacracy,” Zappos is taking a novel approach to Leap Day.
Store intelligence is sweet for specialty candy retailer

Imagine if the type of products consumers normally buy at the last minute represented your product assortment.

For Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Canada, a Vancouver, British Columbia-based specialty vertical candy retailer with about 68 Canadian stores, this is the reality of the store environment.
Webinar: Getting the Most Out of Your Traffic and Conversion Program

A lot of retailers reach the stage of installing traffic counters in their stores, but it’s at this point that problems can start. The traffic data can become unreliable or the store operations team may not know what to do with the data or how to apply it, which leaves retailers looking for the expected insights and additional sales.
The fact is, they’re there — retailers just need to know how to find them.