News

Report: Recipes to become 'shoppable'
It's going to be a lot easier for consumers to make meals from recipes thanks to a new partnership between food magazines and Popcart.

Bon Appetit and Epicurious have teamed up with Popcart to make recipes "shoppable," according to Ada Age. No longer will consumers have to read a recipe and make a shopping list and head to the store.
Survey: Retail stores still very relevant
Brick-and-mortar stores are still relevant, with 87% of consumers planning to shop physical retail at least as often as they did in 2014, according to a study by TimeTrade Systems.

Retailers gain RetailMeNot mobile powers

Retailers have a new way to drive sales thanks to a mobile-friendly upgrade to RetailMeNot’s popular app.

RetailMeNot, operator of the nation’s largest digital offers marketplace with more than 18 million unique monthly users, introduced the first version of a new “products” section on its app that features popular items.

The new product functionality offers a deep link to retailers’ mobile optimized sites, providing a way to help retailers market specific products in addition to the other promotional capabilities offered by RetailMeNot.
Sears Holdings says transformation on track

The retail industry is accustomed to weak same store sales at Sears and Kmart, but the magnitude of the decline the company experienced in the first quarter was large even by its standards.
Tech Bytes: Three Ways Microsoft is Enhancing Customer Engagement

My latest retail IT-related travels took me to the Retail Experience Center at Microsoft headquarters (in Redmond, Washington), where I toured a simulated shopping mall environment that demonstrated a variety of innovative ways the company is using technology to enhance customer engagement for retailers. Here are the three most interesting solutions from that visit:

A Beacon for Coffee Drinkers
Dunkin’ Donuts integrates Visa Checkout with site, app

Canton, Mass. - Dunkin' Donuts has launched its newest mobile payment option, integrating Visa Checkout with its e-commerce site and mobile app as a way to purchase and reload virtual Dunkin' Donuts cards. As part of a new, co-branded campaign titled "Get Stuff Dunkin'," the two companies are offering a special $10 bonus when they load at least $25 on a new or existing Dunkin' Donuts card using Visa Checkout.
Online jewelry retailer Blue Nile opens its first brick-and-mortar store

New York -- Another online merchant has ventured into the physical space. Diamond and fine jewelry retailer Blue Nile has opened its first freestanding store, at Roosevelt Field Mall, Garden City, New York.
NRF: Father’s Day spending to approach $13B

A new NRF survey reports that Father's Day spending this year is expected to reach $12.7 billion.
PetSmart launches cat selfie campaign

PetSmart is enlisting the help of a cat-loving celebrity to launch a new kind of social media campaign.

The retailer has teamed up with actress Mayim Bialik to celebrate cat ownership and encourage cat adoption. Mayim, a longtime cat lover who is very passionate about adoption, has an adopted cat named Frances, a once feral cat that was deserving of a forever home.
Apple Pay adds select retail credit cards, rewards programs

Cupertino, Calif. – Apple Inc. is enacting a number of significant enhancements to its Apple Pay mobile payment app, including adding support for rewards programs and store-issued credit and debit cards. During a June 8 keynote address at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Jennifer Bailey, VP of Apple Pay, said that retailers, including Dunkin' Donuts, Walgreens, Wegmans, and Kohl's, will support the new reward card functionality.