Marketing

Our purpose for this blog is to share our direct marketing experience, particularly around direct mail, catalogs, paid search, and website optimization. Since Stephen Lett founded Lett Direct in 1995, retailers and e-tailers across the country have valued its transparency and educational approach to improve their profitability by planning, executing and analyzing their marketing programs.…

As e-commerce is expected to account for 22 percent of global retail sales by 2023, all brands must find new ways to elevate their digital presence. Smart brands need to evaluate their go-to-market strategy so that they get a complete picture of their customers' shopping journeys by analyzing offline and online customer sentiment. These types…

Amazon Prime Day won't be the only big sales event in October. Walmart and Target have both announced plans to host their own online sales events that just happen to coincide with Amazon's annual shopping fest. On Monday, Walmart said it will be holding a "Big Save" online event that runs Oct. 11 through Oct. 15. Walmart will offer Black…

If you had to overhaul your 2020 marketing plan back in March, you’re not alone. If you’ve been holding on to your holiday marketing plans for Q4 with the hope that things would be back to “normal” by now, it’s time to let that go, too. Nothing in 2020 has happened as we planned. Retail…

In this video, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Dave Schneider, vice president and chief marketing officer at Red Wing Shoe Company, a global leader in the footwear industry for more than 115 years. Watch as Schneider discusses Red Wing's recent #LaborDayOn initiative, which aimed to help the 25 million unemployed Americans find jobs by switching from promoting…

During the August installment of the Women in Retail and Total Retail Virtual Exchange, Kim Lefko, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Ace Hardware, participated in a discussion with Sucharita Kodali, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester. The two discussed everything from the observed shifts in consumer behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic to how Ace Hardware has adapted its marketing strategy during this uncertain time.

It’s only September, but 2020 has already been a memorable year for retail — the effects of which will likely be seen for years to come. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe swings in spending across industries, geographies and buying channels. As businesses cautiously reopen in regional patches and consumers slowly gain confidence, retail marketers…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Melissa Campanelli and Kristina Stidham discuss the 2020 back-to-school season, including an article about this topic recently published by Total Retail titled, “How Retailers Are Navigating the Great Back-to-School Unknown.” The article was authored by Lauren Cooley, senior vice president of retail and brand solutions at…

Typically, the arrival of the back-to-school season is a time for retailers to rejoice and shoppers to revel in the comfort of a familiar ritual. This year, of course, that’s all gone out the window. We’re in uncharted territory, and tentative consumer behavior is driving a high degree of anxiety among retailers. Uncertainty around both…

The realities of the pandemic have made Back to School a tough puzzle for retailers. The nation is divided on how it should approach the upcoming school year, and while no one can define what “school” should look like, brands can play an important role in helping us work out how to prepare. Successful marketers…