News

City Sports leaps across channels with customer experience
Boston - Shoppers are coming to retailers across a variety of channels and touch-points, and need to have a consistent and personalized experience wherever they are.

Boston-based, 26-store specialty sporting goods chain City Sports is preparing to meet the needs of omnichannel shoppers with help from cloud-based digital marketing platform provider BlueConic,
In battle of the bags, Kate Spade wins -- for now
Luxury handbags seem to be as common these days as smartphones, and therein lies the problem for rival brands Coach, Michael Kors and Kate Spade, who all reported quarterly results this week.

As these three luxury heavyweights battle it out against brand saturation and bored shoppers midway through the year, it seems as though only Kate Spade has all the right moves.

Dropped products affect Conn’s Q2

The Woodlands, Texas – The decision to stop selling video game products, digital cameras, and certain tablets affected same-store sales at Conn’s Inc. during the second quarter and July fiscal 2016. However, Conn’s still reported total preliminary net retail sales of $325 million during the quarter, up 13% from the prior year period.
Mixed results for HSN

St. Petersburg, Fla. – HSN Inc. had a mixed second quarter, meeting Wall Street profit projections but falling short of sales estimates.

HSN’s net income totaled $41.6 million, up 2% from $40.9 million the same period the prior year.

Net sales grew 4% to $885.6 million from $855.2 million, including an 11% increase in digital sales.
Startup helps brands source content for Instagram ads

Instagram is hot, and retailers that are interested in marketing their merchandise on the social network have a new option.

Olapic, a vehicle that helps turn consumer-generated photos and videos into brand assets, will be helping to integrate the recently announced Instagram Ads API for brands and retailers to start rolling out campaigns inside the app.
Build-A-Bear Workshop cuts loss

St. Louis -- Build-A-Bear Workshop retains its come-back momentum.

By limiting growth of costs and expenses and improving sales, Build-A-Bear Workshop reduced its net loss to better-than-expected $628,000 in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 from $4.3 million the same period a year earlier.
What innovative retail marketers are doing now

Some of the most creative minds in marketing, including some top retailers, were recognized recently when Experian Marketing Services held its inaugural #SuiteLife Awards.

Among the recipients of the #SuiteLife Awards, a play on Experian’s suite of marketing solutions, were American Eagle Outfitters, Neiman Marcus, Bass Pro Shops, Finish Line and Foot Locker. The awards were presented at Experian’s recently held marketing summit attended by more than 1,000 people in Las Vegas.
New content engine helps retailers market on Instagram

New York -- A fast-growing start-up wants to help retailers and other brands market their goods on Instagram.

Olapic, a visual marketing content engine that helps turn consumer-generated photos and videos into brand assets, will be helping to integrate the recently announced Instagram Ads API for brands and retailers to start rolling out campaigns inside the app.
Michaels ascends social summit with maker event

A Northern California mountaintop retreat was the perfect venue for the nation’s largest arts and crafts retailer to host the inaugural Michaels Makers Summit.

The recent event was intended to serve as a community-building event for the a group of approximately 50 DIY and lifestyle bloggers who comprise the Michaels Makers community.
Robot army to power new same-day delivery service

New York -- The founder of the now defunct same-day delivery service Webvan is back — this time with a robot-powered would-be competitor to Amazon Prime, reports ReCode.

Louis Borders is developing a $99 shopping club that plans to offer same-day delivery of groceries and other merchandise from participating retailers. But it’s the back-end of the operation that is so interesting.