News

Target’s holiday plans include free online shipping, new apps and pop-up store
Minneapolis -- Target Corp. on Wednesday fired the first retail salvo of the holiday season, announcing that, for the first time ever, it is offering free shipping on all online purchases—no matter the amount—from Oct. 22 through Dec. 20. The free shipping offer comes early in the holiday shopping timeline, reflecting retailers’ concerns about what is expected to be a highly promotional season.
Build a Better Loyalty Program in the Digital Age
Any retail marketer today understands that the value of a loyalty program lies in the data it collects and the ability to target consumers based on that data. But in today’s omnichannel environment, consumers have expectations on of how retailers are using their information what that data is “buying” them -- expectations that retailers are struggling to meet.

Digital Challenges

L'Oreal USA to buy Carol's Daugher

L'Oréal USA has announced plans to acquire multi-cultural beauty brand Carol's Daughter.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Created by Lisa Price in 1993, Carol's Daughter offers a range of products that are available at specialty beauty stores, mass retailers, on HSN, through e-commerce and at Carol's Daughter branded stores in New York City. For the 12 months ended Sept. 30, Carol's Daughter had net sales of $27 million.
Jonathan Adler selects AgilOne to boost customer engagement, sales

Mountain View, Calif. -- AgilOne, the cloud-based predictive marketing company, announced that home design retailer Jonathan Adler will use AgilOne’s cloud platform to improve customer engagement by creating more personalized, data-driven marketing.
Coke accelerates efforts to re-invigorate growth

The world’s leading beverage company is intensify efforts to generate high single digit earnings per share growth after strategies introduced earlier this year have been slow to take hold and third quarter earnings fell 13%.

Coca-Cola Company CEO Muhtar Kent unveiled a new slate of actions to reinvigorate growth and cut expenses in conjunction with the release of disappointing third quarter results. Revenues were essentially flat with the prior year at $12 billion during the quarter ended Sept. 26 while earnings per share declined 13% to 48 cents from 53 cents.
PwC: Wearable tech users seek enhanced retail experience

New York -- Twenty percent of American adults already own a wearable device and the adoption rate, on par with tablets in 2012, is quickly expected to rise. According to a PwC survey of 1,000 consumers, after dietary, exercise and medical information, an enhanced retail experience was at the top of the list of information Millennials would like wearable tech to provide them.
Macy’s to help clothe the needy

Macy’s is committed to giving back this winter through its “Buy 1 & We’ll Give 1” effort. Through October 26, Macy’s will donate one coat, up to 50,000 coats, to Clothe4Souls for every coat purchased in the men’s, women’s, juniors’ and children’s departments in Macy’s stores and on macys.com.

The joy of giving will also be a joy of saving, as Macy’s will offer 30-50% discount on a large selection of men’s, women’s and children’s coats during the campaign.
Magento launches Fashion Partner Initiative

New York –- Magento, an EBay Enterprise company, has created the exclusive Fashion Partner Initiative. This program includes expert technology partners, system integrators, digital agencies and developers that can step in and act as an extension of a fashion retailer’s in-house team.
CVS pushes for ‘tobacco-free pharmacy network’

CVS Health has confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that it is working to establish a tobacco-free pharmacy network and is looking for tobacco-free pharmacies to participate in the new offering.

As widely reported, CVS Health’s pharmacy locations are now officially tobacco-free as the company forges ahead on its mission to help shape the future of health care.
Survey: Many consumers will anonymously share data

Austin, Texas -- A majority of Americans would be comfortable divulging information about themselves anonymously to their favorite stores (60%) or a product brand (56%), and close to half would anonymously share personal data to an app (46%). According to a new national survey from Wearables.com and The Center for Generational Kinetics, some consumers will also share personal information in exchange for certain benefits.