Gmail’s new tabs system separates marketing messages into a “Promotions” box, making it easier than ever to ignore e-mail ads. Yet one theory holds that Gmail’s new design could actually make e-mail marketing more effective.
Retail
Target’s Online Video Campaign to Turn College Kids into Lifelong Paying Customers
Why did Target stream video for four days of hip personalities living in a fake dorm on a set in Los Angeles? Enticing college kids into decorating their dorms with Target merchandise is only part of the answer.
Don’t Go Shopping This Weekend: Sales Tax Holidays Coming
Retailers have been promoting back-to-school deals since, well, since before many kids were even out of school. But the annoyance of endless seasonal promotions is only one reason to hold off a little while longer on back-to-school purchases.
Drugstores, Supermarkets Boycott Rolling Stone Over Boston-Bomber Cover
The drugstore chain CVS and Tedeschi Food Shops, both based in New England, are among the businesses that have announced they won’t sell the new issue of Rolling Stone magazine because it features a dreamy cover photo of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings that killed three and injured hundreds.
Best Buy’s Unlikely Return From the Dead
Last year, electronics giant Best Buy delivered a series of disappointing earnings reports, sending investors to the exits and the company’s stock down to levels not seen in more than a decade. Many observers saw in all this the …
Craziest Factoids About the Still Red-Hot Sneaker Craze
On Saturday, July 13, legions of sneakerheads will descend on Pier 36 in Manhattan for the arrival of Sneaker Con, a kicks convention where admission costs $15 and the average pair of sneakers sells for about $250 — some running as much as 17.5 times their original price.
A Disloyalty Movement? Supermarkets and Customers Drop Loyalty Card Programs
7-Eleven’s Free Slurpee Day: This Year With Bigger Slurpees!
It’s July 11, or 7/11, the day each year that a certain convenience store chain celebrates as 7-Eleven Day. That’s the official name anyway. Most customers know July 11 simply as Free Slurpee Day.
Back to School Sales Already? Kids Get Ugly Reminder School Isn’t Too Far Off
It’s not your imagination. Stores really are pumping up back to school deals earlier than ever, even at the risk of putting shoppers—kids especially—in a foul mood.
Supersizing Strikes Back: Homes and TVs Get Bigger, Sales of Yachts, RVs, Trucks Rise
After years of downsizing and making do, American consumers are going big once again.
July 4 Fireworks Spending Explodes Thanks to Wetter Weather Around U.S.
Want a sign the economy is heading in a better direction this summer? Americans says they’ll spend 60% more than last year on travel, BBQs and fireworks this July 4.
According to Visa’s annual Independence Day spending …
Paula Deen’s Sponsorships Disappear, But Book Sales Soar
Updated, June 28, 5:50 p.m. EST: Despite high presale numbers, publisher Ballantine Books announced Friday afternoon that it has canceled Paula Deen’s multi-book deal, including the upcoming Paula Deen’s New Testament: 250 Recipes, All Lightened Up after “careful consideration”.
Paula Deen’s new book isn’t officially for sale until …