News

North Franklin, Conn. – Home product e-commerce retailer The Yankee Retail Company has implemented Yottaa Engagement Cloud to optimize user engagement and business performance. Yottaa Engagement Cloud is an SaaS platform that monitors and optimizes user engagement to increase conversions and revenue across mobile and websites.

It has been a rough start to the holiday season for the closeout retail sector. Building #19, a New England-based closeout chain that became something of a local institution, recently closed its doors after 50 years in business (though it plans to reopen a few locations as specialty rug stores). A few days later, national closeout powerhouse Big Lots reported disappointing financial results for the third quarter.

Office Depot plans to expand 3D Systems Cube 3-D printing services to 150 Office Depot stores nationwide as a result of positive customer feedback.

Sales of gift cards in 2013 are expected to surpass $118 billion in sales, an 8% increase from 2012. CEB Tower Report research suggests that the widespread adoption of e-gifting, which experienced rapid growth from $300 million in 2012 to a predicted $3 billion in 2013, will provide scale for continued industry gains through 2016.

In addition, open network branded cards grew from $41 billion to $44 billion, retailer card volume grew from $36 billion to $39 billion, and restaurant and miscellaneous segments held flat at $19 billion and $13 billion, respectively.

More Americans now say they are loosening the purse strings in advance of the holiday season, and fewer say they are tightening their belts, according to a recent Citi national survey.

Only 35% said they would be spending less than last year, reflecting the lowest level of holiday budget cutbacks since the financial crisis. As many as 63% of Americans plan to spend more (11%) or the same (52%) on holiday shopping this year.

Rakuten LinkShare announced double-digit year-over-year growth during Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, driven primarily by transactions conducted on mobile devices.

UPS expects to pick up more than 34 million packages Monday, Dec. 16, and expects to deliver 29 million packages globally Tuesday, Dec. 17, driven by e-commerce growth. The surge in volume during peak week — the final full week before Christmas, Dec. 16–20 — is a record for a single day at the package delivery company.

Guthy-Renker, the company behind Proactiv and other wellness products, named Jay Sung to the role of chief marketing officer to lead a broad slate of initiatives at the direct marketing company.

Sung will report to Seth Radwell, Guthy-Renker’s co-president and chief revenue officer, and help the company pursue 2014 growth objectives for brands such as Proactiv+, Meaningful Beauty, WEN Haircare and Sheer Cover Studio.

Merchant Warehouse, a leading provider of payment technologies and merchant account services, has appointed Christopher Wuhrer as SVP, strategic initiatives and product marketing.

With more than 18 years of experience in payments, e-commerce and mobile technology, Wuhrer will be responsible for driving the product vision, direction and go-to market strategies for the company's product and service offerings.

Duane Reade launched a “Show Us Your Party Legs” holiday photo contest on Facebook. The contest is a omnichannel social media marketing campaign that aims to raise awareness of Duane Reade-brand hosiery products that will run through Jan. 4.