TECHNOLOGY

Survey: Sales, coupons still biggest holiday sales drivers
It still comes down to price. Despite more modern approaches, 89% of consumers said that deep discounts (including coupons) are the key determinant of what stores they will visit for holiday shopping this year, according to a survey of millennial and Generation Z consumers conducted by HRC Retail Advisory. In addition to finding that sales and coupons are more influential than any other tactic in motivating consumers to enter stores this holiday season, the survey also revealed:
Express adds Snapchat holiday cheer
To help its shoppers get in the holiday shopping spirit, Express is launching exclusive holiday Snapchat filters. To celebrate the biggest shopping day of the year, Express will roll out a series of five Black Friday and holiday-themed national Snapchat filters throughout the day on Black Friday, Nov. 25. The Express-sponsored filters include "It Runs in the Fam," "But First Coffee," "Black Friday Beast Mode," "Leftovers are Lit," and "The Party Starts Now.”

Nordstrom expands its B2B gift card program

Nordstrom is taking its gift card program industry-wide. Leveraging its partnership with CashStar, Nordstrom is using the CashStar Business platform to streamline the sale of its gift cards — both plastic and digital — to business partners. Called the Nordstrom Gift Cards for Business program, the department store retailer is streamlining orders, and enabling partners to securely place, pay for and manage orders, as well as load cards with $5 to $2,000 per card.
Beauty retailer outperforming all others in social media run up to Black Friday

With the Black Friday weekend nearly here, there are clear winners when it comes to social media engagement. At the head of the class is Sephora, with 2.4 million consumer interactions (reactions, comments, shares, retweets, favorites) across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Sephora’s top status is being driven by its success on Instagram, a site that reveals high consumer enthusiasm for the retailer’s offerings of makeup box sets and key brands, such as Bite Beauty and Urban Decay, as well as its own collection.
This retailer is donating 100% of its Black Friday sales to help the environment

Talk about commitment. Patagonia announced that its plans to donate 100% of its store and online sales on Black Friday, Nov. 25, to grassroots environmental organizations. "These are small groups, often underfunded and under the radar, who work on the front lines," Patagonia CEO and president Rose Marcario wrote in a post announcing the company’s plans. "The support we can give is more important now than ever."
Lowe’s uses Facebook Live to tease Black Friday deals
Survey: Gen Z is a big influencer

Watch out millennials, there’s a new generational cohort upsetting the retail landscape. Generation Z has become an increasingly important influencer of consumer spending, according to a new study by HRC Retail Advisory, with new shopping behaviors that focus on both malls and online shopping. (The HRC survey describes Gen Z as individuals born between 1999 and 2006).
Google getting more serious about brick-and-mortar retail

Google is expanding its brick-and-mortar presence. Following the opening of its New York City pop-up store last month, Google has partnered with Best Buy to amp up its retail presence.
Lowe’s partners with San Francisco start-up to sell tech devices

Lowe’s Companies is partnering with an unusual and very tech-savvy retailer to sell “smart” home devices. The home improvement retailer has teamed up with San-Francisco-based b8ta to launch an in-store shop concept dedicated to demystifying and simplifying the purchase of smart home devices Called “SmartSpot powered by b8ta,” the new concept is currently in place in three Lowe’s stores in California (Livermore, Burbank and Aliso Viejo).
The least busy day of the holiday shopping season will be…

Most experts agree that the busiest day of this year’s holiday shopping season is likely to be Saturday, Dec. 17. But what about shoppers who want to avoid the crowds? According to RetailNext Inc., Tuesday, Nov. 29 will afford the widest berths in malls and stores.