News

NRF: Facebook ranks No. 1 for retail sales
While paid search and email marketing still top retailers’ lists of effective customer acquisition channels, social media has moved up the ranks to become an important tool for engaging with and attracting new customers.
Belk gets the vote out for that certain look
Charlotte, N.C. – Belk Inc. is getting the vote out when it comes to selecting that certain look. Working with digital marketing provider HelloWorld, Belk is allowing customers to both submit and vote on “looks” such as dorm room, game room and night out, created with Belk merchandise.

Report: Sam's Club, Costco shutter photo sites after breach

Sam’s Club, Costco, Rite Aid, and other retailers have shut down their photo services to deal with a potential data breach.

According to Reuters, CVS, which also uses the same photo hosting service as the retailers named above, temporarily shut down its photo sites last week after noticing possible credit card data irregularities.

According to Reuters, some of the companies temporarily shut down the services after photo hosting service PNI told them about the breach, while others proactively shut down after reading reports.
Marbles smartens store and site operations with Salsify

Chicago – When a retailer includes the word “brain” right in its name, a certain level of operational intelligence is expected. For 30-plus-unit specialty educational toy and game retailer Marbles: The Brain Store, smartening up operations has included organizing product data on the Salsify product information management platform to provide merchandise intelligence across the organization.
Belk still expanding despite sale rumors

At a time when the future of the company is unclear, Belk Inc. is reportedly building another flagship store.

Rouse Properties Inc. announced it has signed a lease with Belk Inc. to open a new 237,000 square foot flagship store at The Shoppes at Bel Air in Mobile, Ala. Belk will be taking the place of an existing Sears, and expanding on its already integral presence at The Shoppes at Bel Air.
PayPal up in first trading day, has big plans

San Jose, Calif. – PayPal Inc.’s first day of trading as an independent public company on the Nasdaq stock exchange was a good one. The digital payment platform closed at a price of $40.47 on Monday, July 20, up 5% from the opening price of $38.39.

In 2014, when it operated as a division of eBay Inc., PayPal processed $235 billion in total payment volume and generated more than $8 billion in revenues. The company serves more than 169 million active customer accounts in 203 markets around the world.
Publix offers biometric screenings

Publix Pharmacy has announced that it is offering biometric screenings at the company’s more than 970 pharmacy locations.
BucketFeet seeks better store understanding with RetailNext

Chicago – Specialty footwear retailer BucketFeet, which launched online in 2011 and entered the world of brick-and-mortar retailing with its first stores (called “studios” in 2013), is seeking to better understand studio shoppers. BucketFeet is partnering with store analytics provider RetailNext to help extend its brick-and-mortar service and shopper experience capabilities.
Dunkin’ Donuts creates summer soundtrack

Canton, Mass. - Dunkin' Donuts is partnering with Spotify to celebrate summer musically. The campaign kicks off July 21 with a summer concert series that will span five cities, featuring five different emerging artists at pop-up concerts in high-traffic public areas.

The first show, today in Philadelphia, features Marian Hill. Additional artists to be determined will perform in Miami, Chicago, New York and Boston throughout the coming weeks.
Jet rolling on $20 billion runway

Boasting a proprietary dynamic pricing algorithm, the new online shopping club Jet.com officially launched on July 21 with plans to reach a lofty sales milestone faster than other retailer.