News

Former Pep Boys and Bass Pro Shops marketing executive Ron Stoupa has joined the Sports Authority as executive vice president and chief marketing officer.

Stoupa will be responsible for leading the strategic development and oversight of the company’s marketing plans. The Englewood, Co.-based company operates 466 locations throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Cost Plus World Market is giving movie lovers until Feb. 21 to participate in an online contest that should help the Bed Bath & Beyond division build its email database.

The “Movie Lovers Sweepstakes” offers film buffs a chance to win one of four grand prize packages of free movies for a year (two tickets per week for 52 weeks) and a $1,000 World Market gift card by registering with their e-mail addresses and other personal information at worldmarketsweepstakes.com.

To succeed in today's dynamic industry, retailers need to offer a seamless shopping experience that never loses sight of customer needs, both in-store and online. In fact, retail is in the midst of a revolution in which customers are more fragmented and have more power than ever before. Here's what we at Batteries Plus Blubs are doing to prepare for these challenges.

At a time when omnichannel retailing is more important than ever for retailers, Gap Inc. is shutting down one of its digital brands.

Gap Inc. said it is dropping its Piperlime channel so the apparel maker and retailer can focus on fixing the problems plaguing the Gap and Banana Republic brands.

Ron Boire was named president and CEO of Sears Canada after serving in that capacity on an interim basis since last October.

Boire was named acting president and CEO last October to replace Doug Campbell, the former head of the 381 unit Sears Canada operation who resigned for personal reasons. Boire was identified as the top candidate for the job at the time the appointment was made as he had spent nearly two years as executive vice president, chief merchandising officer and president of Sears and Kmart formats.

Things didn’t work for Target in Canada, but that hasn’t deterred Japan’s Fast Retailing Co., from announcing plans to enter the market with its UNIQLO format.

The company’s first stores aren’t expected to open until the fall of 2016 when two flagship locations offering budget priced apparel measuring 24,000 and 28,000 square feet are introduced in Toronto.

Now that gasoline is cheaper, the fuel-savings component of retailer loyalty programs isn’t such a powerful draw. So retailers such as Kroger are employing new tactics to keep customers interested.

A desire to accelerate the execution of online marketing campaigns and provide “experiential commerce” prompted Office Depot to use a solution developed by Web content management company CoreMedia.

Late last year and within a short period of time, CoreMedia’s LiveContext was integrated with the Office Depot product catalog, pricing information and front-end modules, providing business users with a single interface to access this real-time information and blend it with marketing content, according to a press release from the companies.

Buy online, pick up in store capabilities are being rolled out to all of Kohl’s nearly 1,200 stores this spring after a successful 100 store pilot program during the holidays.

And that just the beginning of the digital initiative the company has planned.

The addition of pick up in store to Kohl’s omnichannel offering puts the retailer on equal footing with others in the industry who have recognized in store pick up has quickly become a basic expectation shoppers have of retailers who operate physical stores.

Making sense of promotional activity can be challenging given the abundance of new variables to consider which is why a recent change from Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing (ECRM) is much needed.

ECRM, a leader in business innovation and technology, enhanced its data and analytics website at www.ECRMdata.com with new functionality, increased retail coverage and ease of use.