News

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in October 2012 versus October 2013 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains. Although Home Depot and Lowe’s continued to see large year-over-year changes, these shifts have been consistent throughout the past few months: the new sizes and densities of circulars within the home improvement channel have solidified. Lowe’s now features lengthy circulars with few ads per page, while Home Depot typically runs shorter, denser circulars.

Los Angeles – A large number of shoppers do not appear to be setting aside any money for holiday spending this year, and four in 10 do not even intend to do any shopping for the upcoming holiday season.

According to recent GoBankingRates.com polls, more than 63% of respondents didn't allocate any savings toward holiday gift buying. In addition, more than 40% of respondents said they would not be buying holiday gifts this year at all.

Other findings include:

CVS, which posted a solid third quarter across its enterprise, is well-positioned to benefit from the rapidly changing healthcare environment. That was a key message that CVS president and CEO Larry Merlo had for analysts during the company’s third-quarter conference call.

St. Louis – Most Americans will spend the same or less on holiday shopping this year as they did last year. According to a recent survey by financial services firm Edward Jones, 37% say they plan to spend less on holiday shopping in 2013 than they spent in 2012.

New York -- Macy’s shoppers will be able to see it, scan it, shop it this holiday season with the chain’s upcoming integration of NantMobile’s iD visual recognition technology. The new Macy’s Star Gifts app, powered by iD, empowers mobile shoppers to leverage visual recognition technology to purchase items from Macy’s Star Gifts assortment while on the go. Whether they scan it from a catalog, magazine ad or even from an outdoor billboard, Macy’s will deliver mobile access to product information, gift-giving assistance and much more.

New York -- The 87th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will step-off at 77th Street and Central Park West on Thursday, Nov. 28 at 9 a.m. Started in 1924 with only about a dozen elements, the 2013 line-up of wonder features 15 giant character balloons; 37 large scale, novelty/ornament balloons, balloonicles, balloonheads and trycaloons; 30 floats; 1,600 cheerleaders and dancers; 900 clowns; 11 marching bands; and a host of celebrity performers.

Hointer converges mobile and in-store shopping

Hointer Inc., a Seattle-based denimwear retailer, may be new (the first store opened in April 2012) and small (two branded stores in Seattle plus a pop-up inside a Levi’s store in New York City), but its goal is impressively large.

Leading sales and marketing services provider Crossmark has enhanced its shopper marketing capabilities with the purchase of PromoWorks.

The transaction will result in Crossmark being the preferred product sampling and demonstration agency for 10 of the top 20 food retailers in North America and the exclusive event marketing planning agency for many of the top consumer brands, according to the company.