Today’s Tipsheet: Target Likes Vine | Amazon Dislikes Google’s PLAs | Lowe’s Shaky Partner
“Target & Its 15,000 Vine Followers” For those who haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet, the idea behind Vine is simple: You create and share six-second videos that play on a continuous loop. “It offers a constraint that other platforms don’t have,” says Travis. “It’s only six seconds. You can’t shoot something and upload it later. You can’t copy a TV spot and post it. It all needs to happen within the camera phone. That’s a compelling challenge, and we’re excited by the possibilities.” Read more: https://abullseyeview.com/target-vine-creativity-6-seconds-at-a-time/
“Woolworth’s / Lowe’s Inept Merchandising Strategy in Australia” by Adele Ferguson at Sydney Morning Herald. “The CEO’s comments about the seasonal curve in relation to Masters joint-venture partner US-based Lowe’s also raised eyebrows. “We didn’t know a lot about the seasonal curve,” she said. “We’ve got a great joint-venture partner in America but when it’s Christmas time over there it’s also winter. Our Christmas time lines up with spring and Father’s Day, so it’s quite a different seasonal curve … we didn’t have the right stock in some instances.” Read more: https://www.smh.com.au/business/hardwares-a-hard-game-for-woolies-20130718-2q77j.html#ixzz2ZUQzeRzs
“Supervalu’s new boss, Sam Duncan, is off to a strong start” by Mike Hughlett at Star Tribune. “Supervalu’s new CEO, Sam Duncan, has come out of the gate strong, as a cost-cutting offensive sparked first-quarter profits that far exceeded Wall Street’s expectations and drove the company’s stock up almost 17 percent Thursday. Duncan took over in the wake of a transformational $3.3 billion deal announced in January that essentially halved the size of Eden Prairie-based Supervalu.” Read more: https://www.startribune.com/business/215995161.html
“E-tailers to Pay Consumers for Product Recommendations” by Lara O’Reilly at Marketing Week. “More than 5,600 ecommerce companies, including 47 of the IMRG top 50 biggest online retailers in the UK, are set to introduce the white label “Shopa” scheme to their websites in the coming months. Shopa allows consumers to be paid for making product suggestions via a personalised weblink if people then go on to buy that product – who will also receive a cut of the discount. Retailers can choose the level of incentive, which is typically 8 to 10 per cent of the product price.” Read more: https://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/uks-top-e-tailers-to-offer-cash-for-shares/4007380.article
“Same-Day Delivery: The Future of Shipping, or a Bunch of Hot Air?” by Kathryn Vasel at Fox Business News. “A study from Booz & Company reports same-day delivery might be an attractive option, but it’s still a niche offering with 88% of customers saying they wouldn’t pay more than $10 for same-day shipping. Shopping habits might also run counter to same-day delivery demands. The Booz report found 60% of online shoppers buy after 5 p.m. ET, creating a short delivery window.” Read more: https://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2013/07/18/same-day-delivery-future-shipping-or-bunch-hot-air/#ixzz2ZUP2DSUd
“Google’s Product Listing Ads Are Hitting Amazon Hard” by Jacqueline Sahagian at Wall St. Cheat Sheet. “PLAs are images that pop up at the top of Google’s search bar when a person searches for an item. Options from Amazon do not appear in the PLAs: They are pushed to the side of the search in text-only form, making them much less visible and less likely to get clicked on. Business and e-commerce sites, including Wal-Mart and eBay are willing to pay Google more for their products to be featured in the search engine giant’s PLAs.” Read more: https://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/googles-product-listing-ads-are-hitting-amazon-hard.html/?a=viewall
“Fitch: Online grocery growth faces headwinds” by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “It’s one of the lowest penetrated categories. Broadly assuming online grocery sales grow at 10% to 15% annually (which is faster than recent growth rates) compared with estimated 3% annual growth for the total market, online sales would grow to only 2% to 3% of the grocery market in the next decade,” noted Phillip Zahn, senior director at Fitch Ratings.” Read more: https://www.thecitywire.com/node/28663#.UekVtI3VDpU
“Retailers Brace for Slower Back-to-School Season” by Natalie Zmuda at Ad Age. “Retailers hoping for another record-breaking back-to-school season will be sorely disappointed, with the National Retail Federation predicting spending will decline by 13%. The industry group announced today that families with school-aged children will spend an average of $635, down from $689 last year.” Read more: https://adage.com/article/news/retail-industry-braces-slower-back-school-season/243158/
“The Complete Guide to Twitter Lingo” by Amy Mae Eliot at Mashable. “Sometimes we see a tweet containing an acronym or an abbreviation with which we’re not very familiar. If you find yourself in the same situation, then take a look through our handy list for a complete glossary of terms you may come across in tweets. While some abbreviations and acronyms may be common across all social media sites, others are unique to the microblogging platform.” Read more: https://mashable.com/2013/07/19/twitter-lingo-guide/
Thanks for reading…have a great weekend!
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