“Office Depot Q2 Sales Down 4%”  “The North American Retail Division reported second quarter 2013 sales of $939 million, a decrease of 5% compared to the prior year.  Comparable store sales in the 1,077 stores that have been open for more than one year decreased 4% for the second quarter of 2013.”  Read more

 

“eBay CEO John Donahoe on the Importance of Design” by Mike Isaac at All Things D.  “This world of social commerce hasn’t really exploded yet. And I think it’s going to develop differently from mobile, across categories and segments. You can bring eBay listings to your Facebook, Pinterest collections, onto Twitter. And focusing on buying that item within one click.  Creating discovery environments within the eBay ecosystem. Again, the feed.”  Read more

 

“How the Publicis-Omnicom deal started as a joke” by Patricia Sellers at Fortune.  “It was January, and the two titans of the ad business were chatting on Publicis’ rooftop terrace, overlooking the Arc de Triomphe, when Wren said: “This is priceless.” “Not so much,” Levy replied. “It can be yours.” “It was just a joke,” Levy recalled in an interview with Fortune. “I had nothing in mind.” “We laughed a little,” Wren says, “but it was not forgotten.” Read more

 

“Paying with Your Phone is Becoming More Popular at Retail, Especially at Starbucks” by Addy Dugdale at Fortune.  “An interesting tidbit was buried in last week’s financial results from Starbucks: Mobile phone payments in the firm’s coffee shops have crossed the 10% threshold. Good news for Starbucks’s chief digital officer Adam Brotman, whose next initiative, the wireless charging mat, hits Silicon Valley shops next month.”  Read more

 

“PayPal’s ‘Future is  Now’ Video Series” by Ben Myers at DX 3 Digest via Retail Prophet.  “One of the more intriguing ideas presented in the video is the Kate Spade Saturday street-side store, which gives window shoppers a large touch screen to interact with and select from a limited number of items, which can be shipped to their home in an hour. This digital-retail interaction gives customers the ability to buy with a low-pressure, browsing experience and the store maintains low cost for its tiny storefront and few employees.”  See the Video 

 

“How Digital Coupons Can Fit Into Your Local Media Campaign” by Linda Thomas at Local Media Methods.  “With the increase in smartphone penetration, people who use digital coupons will increasingly tend to be users of mobile coupons as well. According to the report it is estimated that “nearly half of US adults who use digital coupons will use the mobile variety by the end of this year…According to an iMedia Connection article, there are 5 key components to a successful mobile coupon campaign.”  Read more

 

“Publix Responds to Shoppers in Real-Time” by Julie Galagher at Supermarket News.  “Supermarkets sprung to action after Boston Mayor Thomas Menino’s now-famous missive to Rolling Stone went viral earlier this month.  Julie GallagherOne by one, Stop & Shop, Roche Bros., Big Y, Wegmans, Roundy’s, Hy-Vee and others deemed the iconic magazine’s choice of cover boy Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev egregious enough to bar its sale.  But for Publix Super Markets, the decision wasn’t as cut and dried, as shoppers from both camps took to its heavily trafficked Facebook page to debate the issue.”  Read More

 

“OfficeMax and Office Depot On Track for $400-$600 Million in Merger Synergies”  “Advertising and Marketing: The companies estimate savings in the range of $70-$100 million from advertising and marketing efficiencies. A substantial amount of these savings are expected to result from reducing duplicative efforts in weekly inserts, media and catalogs.  Selling, General & Administrative: An estimated $130-$200 million in savings is expected to result from overall selling, general and administrative cost efficiencies.”  Read more

 

“Coke and Pepsi Now Have the Same Ad Agency” by Edmund Lee and Kristin Schweizer at Bloomberg.   “Publicis Groupe SA merger with Omnicom Group Inc. won’t just create the world’s largest advertising company: it will mean longtime rivals such as Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. are sharing the same firm…The business will have $23 billion in sales and bring together a large stable of global clients, putting it in the position of crafting campaigns that criticize its own customers. While that situation is already increasingly common in the ad world, the deal is putting a spotlight on the potential conflicts of interest that come with a consolidated market.”  Read more

 

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