Tuesday’s Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet: Dollar Gen. to Buy Fam. Dollar? | Wmart’s 3rd Campus Store | Sell-in Tips

 

“Will Dollar General Buy Family Dollar?” at Charlotte Observer.  “A deal for Dollar General buying Family Dollar would make “compelling strategic sense,” said a Credit Suisse analyst last week. Tennessee-based Dollar General could pay between $90 and $100 a share for Family Dollar, a significant premium to its $71.XX closing price on Friday. And a Citigroup analyst said last month that the chances of a Family Dollar buyout are 50-50.”  Read more

 

“Walmart to Open Third Campus Store Tomorrow in Atlanta” at The Shelby Report.  “Walmart will open its third “Walmart on Campus” store on Aug. 14 at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.  The Campus concept is the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer’s smallest format and resembles a convenience store.  The approximately 2,500-s.f. Georgia Tech Campus store will be at 86 5th St. in Midtown’s Technology Square.”  Read more

 

“How to Get Your Product on Shelf with Major Retailers” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “With recent layoffs at Lowe’s and a push from other retailers for more local sourcing, Long said buyers are being saddled with more product items and work than before, so getting a meeting can be a quite a challenge.  These efforts like “buying days,” supplier fairs or crowd-sourcing with Wal-Mart are interesting ways potential suppliers can get exposure for their products, he added.”  Read more

 

“Use the Target Cartwheel app for extra in-store savings” by Nicole Kozma at CNET.  “When Target first launched its Cartwheel program with Facebook, I thought it was interesting, but clumsy. The service wasn’t integrated into the existing Target app, and it also wasn’t easy to find through Facebook. There was no standalone app, which meant that you had to type in a Web address every time you wanted to select deals or redeem savings in the store.  Now there’s a standalone app that lets you select up to 12 offers, and then easily get your discounts at the store.”  Read more

 

“Lowe’s: Will The Good Times Continue?” at Seeking Alpha.  “Lowe’s has been very proactive and has made great strides in trying to reach “creators” – the company’s term for customers who are seeking ideas for new home improvement projects. Lowe’s has spent a great deal of time in identifying the purchasing process, from idea creation to project completion. Initiatives such as online tools and monthly project-idea focused pamphlets seem to have had an impact on “creators.” Lowe’s aggressive marketing to this demographic has helped take the lead over Home Depot.”  Read more

 

“Pay per click marketing could be at an end for retailers if they co-operate with each other” by Paul Skeldon at Internet Retailing.  “According to Lukies, businesses are spending an increasing amount of money on advertising, whereas they could do better by looking at how, by working together, they could move from a pay-per-click marketing model towards a pay-per-purchase model. To do this, he says, retailers, banks and operators need to leverage their individual strengths around how they interact with consumers to offer a better model for retailers.  Read more

 

“Activist investor Bill Ackman resigns from JC Penney board” at CNBC.  “Ackman’s resignation appears to be part of a deal in which Ronald Tysoe has been elected to the board and another “highly qualified” new director will be added later.  Tysoe spent 16 years as Vice Chairman of Federated Department Stores. The company is now named Macy’s.”  Read more

 

“Ad Groups Warn Of Potential Ad-Tax Deduction Threat” by Ana Radelat at Ad Age.  “Dan Jaffe, top lobbyist for the Association of National Advertisers, said that there are proposals under consideration in both the House and Senate that would affect the ability of businesses to expense advertising fees for tax purposes. Mr. Jaffe said a prevalent idea is to allow a business to expense advertising costs — but not fully in the year the expense is incurred, but instead, over a number of years.”  Read more

 

“More than half of mobile shoppers abandon their carts at checkout as they don’t feel comfortable” at Internet Retailing.  “Despite mobile commerce delivering some 15% of online retailing globally, two thirds of mobile shoppers abandon their carts at checkout, a worrying study by Jumio has revealed.  According to the research, 51% abandon their cart because they don’t feel confident in actually making the purchase, while 47% give up because the checkout process is perceived as too long. 23% more give up because the purchase doesn’t go through, says the study.”  Read more

 

“Business Q&A: Dollar General executive Bob Ravener pays it forward” by Chambers Williams III at The Tennessean.  “How did you wind up at Dollar General?    I knew something about Dollar General, but not a lot. But the story line intrigued me a lot, including that KKR had brought in a new CEO, Rick Dreiling.  I said I would go talk with them, and all it took was one meeting with Rick and I knew this was the place I wanted to be. Rick just had that exuberance, that style, that leadership trait that I said to myself, “This is going to be successful.” Read more

 

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