Retail Stores

comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its second quarter 2012 U.S. retail e-commerce sales estimates, showing that online retail spending reached $43.2 billion for the quarter, up 15 percent vs. a year ago. This represents the 11th consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and seventh consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.

In a recent survey, roughly 15 percent of U.S. retailers said they offer digital gift cards that are truly mobile — i.e., they can be used immediately for a purchase via smartphone. A major growth spurt for mobile gift cards seems to be in the works. In the same survey, 61 percent of retailers said they plan on offering such cards in the next three years. In the near future, it may be time to revisit the term "gift card." Why? Because increasingly, there won't be an actual physical card involved.

US shoppers proved resilient in July, driving a key sales figure up at retailers across the country, despite persistent worry about jobs and the global economy. Results came in better than expected for many retailers, helped by hot weather and summer clearance sales, an encouraging sign as the back-to-school season, the second-biggest shopping season behind the holidays, kicks off. A preliminary tally by the International Council of Shopping Centers of 20 retailers found revenue in stores open at least a year rose 4.6 percent in July, higher than the 3 to 3.5 percent the retail group expected.

Although students aren't yet thinking about back to school, marketers are.  Performance marketing budgets are being set for the peak back-to-school months of July, August and September. To give retailers an idea of this year's opportunity, we looked back at 2011 back-to-school paid search data for our aggregate group of retailer clients. We also considered some key differences between the 2011 and 2012 back-to-school shopper to devise some fresh 2012 engagement strategies.

Shares of J.C. Penney were moving higher Tuesday after the retailer gave CNBC a tour of its new prototype store. Investors have expressed concern about the retailer since February when it said it would overhaul its pricing under new CEO Ron Johnson. The idea was to move customers away from the coupons and promotions that they've come to expect and simplify J.C. Penney's pricing structure. But Wall Street hasn't backed the idea yet, and investors have sent shares of J.C. Penney down almost 50 percent since February.

MyBuys and the e-tailing group announced results of a joint online survey of 1,000 consumers that examines the evolving relationship between consumers, retailers and social media. The survey found that consumers are more comfortable sharing data with retailers than they are with social networks, especially if it enhances the shopping experience. While many consumer advocates stress the need for tighter regulation in regard to consumer privacy and the use of consumer data, the majority of survey respondents (55 percent) said they're "mostly willing" to provide shopping preferences to trusted retailers in exchange for an enhanced shopping experience.

Canadian home improvement company Rona Inc. said Tuesday that it rejected a C $14.50 (U.S. $14.21) per share offer made by Lowe's to acquire the company. Rona said after careful consideration the offer, which values the company at about C$1.89 billion (U.S. $1.85 billion), wasn't in its own or shareholders’ best interest. "Rona's strategic focus remains to execute on its business plan with a view to capturing the significant opportunities that it sees for the business," Rona said in a statement.

eBay is gearing up for the back-to-school shopping season with several marketing and affiliate initiatives, including Pinterest contests, a Facebook backpack drive and a promotion for its affiliates. The marketing is designed to increase user engagement with eBay on social media websites, encourage sellers to list back-to-school items and to reward affiliates for driving traffic to back-to-school listings. eBay is holding a Pinterest sweepstakes where one grand prize winner will receive a $5,000 eBay shopping spree toward a dorm room makeover. Students must follow eBay on Pinterest and create a new Pinterest pin board called "My eBay Dorm Room."

What do you think about J.C. Penney's decision to move away from its six-month-old everyday low pricing model? And how do you handle pricing? Do you think sales are the way to go or are you a fan of the everyday low pricing model? We're trying to get to the bottom of this issue via our new "Question of the Week" discussion over on on Retail Online Integration's Facebook page. We would love to hear from you and get a dialog going on this important retail subject.

Last December, at the height of the Christmas shopping season, Amazon.com aggressively promoted its price-checking mobile phone application by giving shoppers 5 percent off items on Amazon that they scanned while in brick-and-mortar stores. The application, which compares store prices with Amazon's, brought the practice of showrooming — already very familiar to retail store clerks — out of store aisles and into public prominence.