You’d think that when retailers enhance their online shopping options, the goal would be increased online sales. Not so with Target, Gap and Rite Aid — which are adding new online tools with the hopes of boosting in-store sales.
Target
Bait and Switch: Beware Low-Price Guarantees
Retailers love that price-matching guarantees attract shoppers. At the same time, they hate it when customers actually try to take advantage of these policies.
Social Media Manipulation? When “Indie” Bloggers and Businesses Get Cozy
Brands have sought to partner with influential bloggers for nearly as long as there have been blogs, with ads, sponsored posts, and more. Lately, however, a new relationship between brands and popular social media practioners is …
Does Kmart’s Hilarious New Ad Acknowledge That Kmart Stores Are Hopeless?
In just over a week, Kmart’s 30-second “Ship My Pants” spot — go ahead, say it quickly — has received close to 13 million views online. The viral hit should give the struggling retailer some much-needed buzz. It might also call …
Can the Boutique ‘Store-Within-a-Store’ Concept Save Big Box Retailers from Extinction?
When successful, a store within the store will improve the appeal of both brands involved. That’s especially important for a retailer presumed to be on its deathbed.
Best Buy Swears Shoppers Don’t Have to Bother Showrooming Anymore
With the launch of a new price-matching guarantee, electronics giant Best Buy promises “the end of showrooming”.
5 Top Trends for 2013 Super Bowl Commercials
The cost of advertising in the Super Bowl is rising, running an average of $4 million for a 30-second spot—up from $3.5 million last year and just $42,000 back in 1967. To justify the expense, advertisers aim to present fans with something more than just another entertaining but ultimately forgettable commercial.
Target Introduces Six New Brands … That You Can’t Buy in Stores
Cheap chic retailer Target is renowned for brand collaborations good (the Missoni craze) and bad (the Neiman Marcus collection that no one wanted). Target’s new brand partnerships may be the most intriguing of all. Just don’t go …
Why Is Walgreens Selling Sushi? The Changing Business of Drugstores
Drugstores are generally considered as little more than necessary and convenient. But now that some Walgreens boast nail salons, cafes serving sushi and smoothies, and impressive selections of beer, wine, liquor, and cigars, can …
Amazon’s Low Prices Are Targeted: Target’s Online Price-Matching Policy Becomes Permanent
Target is going on the offensive against showrooming: the cheap-chic retailer will now match the prices of identical items offered by competitors — even online competitors — year round.
Fast Food: Spreading like the Blob
Fast-food chains are seeping into places — and times of the day — that until recently were mostly fast-food-free zones
Epic Retail Fail: Where Did the Target + Neiman Marcus Collection Go Wrong?
Too weird, too pretentious, too expensive, and, in the end, too out of step with what today’s arbiters of style deem cool. Those have been among the many critiques of Target’s multi-designer collaboration with luxury retailer Neiman Marcus — a partnership that was hyped to the hilt, and wound up as a major bust.
