Marketing

Macy's has promoted diversity among its own workforce, and its employees are driving the company in new directions. If you step into a Macy's these days, you may notice that some of the mannequins in the women's department don't look like most of the others. They're a little smaller on the bottom and bigger on the top, and their legs are just a bit shorter. How these figures took their place on the retail floor says a lot about the way in which Macy's has promoted diversity among its own workforce.

More and more online retailers are realizing how to leverage the gold mine hiding in their customer data. On a strategic level, effective analysis of rich customer data allows marketers to better understand the various personas represented by their users' behaviors, preferences and tendencies. On a tactical level, the successful analysis of customer data allows the marketer to personalize offers and incentives to maximize their relevance to each individual. Not only does this help maximize customer engagement and spend (and reduce churn), it generates goodwill, enhanced brand perception and word-of-mouth promotion.

Retailers should stop wasting so much time trying to win over millennials because they're often broke. Instead, they should target older shoppers with more money to spend. That's a key finding from a report by Forrester Research Inc. called "The Future of Shopping," which looked at income and demographic changes over the past 40 years.

As the Hispanic population shoots up and buying power increases, U.S. retailers are increasingly vying for this audience's attention. Some have shifted more of their efforts to digital in light of how Hispanics consume media, while others have adopted creative strategies and added products aimed squarely at the market. U.S. Hispanic buying power is poised to hit $1.5 trillion this year, a 50 percent increase from 2010, according to Nielsen. "Retailers and manufacturers can't afford to ignore multicultural consumers such as Hispanics," said Eva Gonzalez, executive director, diverse consumer intelligence at Nielsen. 

UGC is a low-investment, high-impact way to generate social conversation between a brand and its fans. It also has advantages over traditional marketing avenues. Reports show that millennials, the demographic that holds the most purchasing power, are 50 percent more likely to trust reviews from their peers than they are from any other form of media.

Webinar speakers discuss the best tactics to use your online shopping carts are not abandoned by customers and prospects.

Any small business working with a limited budget or staff knows the challenges that come with gaining traffic, traction and sales. Unlike retail giants that can drop millions on advertising and marketing initiatives, smaller e-tailers need to be crafty and use inexpensive (or even free) tools to connect with consumers. Here are three tips on how to accomplish that:

Hear how some of m-commerce’s leaders are driving revenue through mobile based on survey results and a newly published white paper.

Brand preference is built by listening to consumers and addressing both their immediate and long term needs.  With those insights now available, retail marketers can surpass the old goal of delivering the right message at the right time through preferred channels. Now, they can leverage insights to inform and inspire consumer action.  Retail marketers and consumers are on a new journey together -- the goal is to make it a mutually profitable trip.

Brands tried all sorts of approaches in their ads for Super Bowl XLIX-uplifting, amusing, awe-inspiring, and yes, even horrifying-but only a handful of spots truly hit that sweet spot where brilliant idea meets flawless execution. Notably, it was a night when many advertisers tried to be not just