News

Minneapolis – Target Corp. is reportedly aiming squarely at improved customer personalization with several data analytics efforts. According to Minnesota Public Radio, Target executives recently told Wall Street analysts the company will build an internal data analysis center.

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%).

Salt Lake City – Break out the hairspray and acid-washed jeans, Overstock.com is launching a new omnichannel promotion with none other than Bret Michaels, frontman of legendary hair-metal headbangers Poison. The Overstock.com Mother's Day Spa Getaway with Bret Michaels sweepstakes provides an all-expenses-paid hotel and spa trip to Phoenix, where the winner and a guest will have dinner with Michaels.

San Jose, Calif. – Nothing is more personal than the inside of your body, and that is where PayPal reportedly envisions the next frontier of biometric user authentication. According to the Wall Street Journal, PayPal is investigating the feasibility of embeddable, injectable, and ingestible devices to identify users for mobile and online transactions.

Minneapolis - Caribou Coffee is making the leap to mobile payment with its first mobile app. Caribou's custom app provides customers with mobile payment and access to the Caribou Perks loyalty program.

The mobile pay feature allows Caribou Perks members to add funds and manage their account. Caribou Coffee partnered with brand and technology company Modern Climate to create a custom mobile app that delivers a personalized experience. The retailer plans to release updates to the app later in the year.

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.
 

New York -- The launch of Target Corp.'s hotly awaited Lily Pulitzer collection on Sunday caused a shopping frenzy, both in stores and online. It also provoked a firestorm of criticism on social media from shoppers and Lily fans, who found themselves shut out of being able to buy product, in some cases, minutes after the line became available.

A. Alfred Taubman, the father of the modern indoor shopping mall, has died. He was 91.

The announcement was made over the weekend by his son, Robert Taubman, the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Taubman Centers Inc. Taubman said his father suffered a heart attack.

Sports retailer Adidas is trying to strengthen its “green” credentials with a promise to use plastic waste from the oceans in some of its products.

The company said it is partnering Parley for the Oceans to develop fabric made from recycled ocean waste for use in its clothing, and potentially shoe uppers, from next year.