Social Media Marketing

It seems retailers are having just as much trouble getting shoppers to spend money on their websites as they are in their stores. Total online sales for the second quarter were down more than 2 percent from last quarter, according to the latest Retail Online Index from IBM. The lackluster web numbers come on the heels of a disappointing retail sales report from the Commerce Department Monday, which showed a third straight month-over-month decline in sales.

Mobile shopping rose while social media sales fell, providing an indication of where U.S. retailers may invest in order to capture the attention and loyalty of the digital consumer, according to a new report from IBM. The IBM Retail Online Index, a cloud-based analysis of the online retail sector, reported that retailers experienced 15 percent growth in sales from mobile devices but saw a 20 percent decline in sales traced to social media based on a much smaller base over a three-month period.

With the back-to-school shopping season right around the corner, we put J.C. Penney against its competitor Kohl's to see which brand is doing a better job of connecting with consumers via digital platforms. 

Diapers.com spent less than one-third of June among the top 10 brands on Media Logic's Retail Social Juice Index (RSJI) - but what an incredible surge it was. The brand's engagement score for the month ranged from 29 to 493. During the first half of the month, it averaged 46, which is comparable to the RSJI's daily average. But during the last half of the month? Its average jumped to 278.

In today's business climate customers expect more from companies. The business value and risks are real. It is no longer how fast a business can respond to a customer but how well. 

Facebook is rumored to be testing a Want button that would be similar in look and function to its now ubiquitous Like button. The feature was spotted by developer Tom Waddington, who published the button's code on his blog. Such buttons already exist -- but they have been developed by third-party brands to serve retailers eager to maximize exposure on Facebook's Timeline. One example is a button developed by a company called "Want." It counts among its users The Sharper Image, Ron Jon, and DNA Footwear.

Specialty retail apparel chain Express has launched Express NEXT, a new points-based loyalty program open to all Express customers throughout the United States. Express NEXT replaces Express' previous loyalty program, which was only available to Express credit card holders. It's designed to meet shoppers' habits in-store and online, as well as reward brand interaction via social media.

Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo recently took over Pinterest to promote its new line of shirts. Teaming up with creative agency FirstBorn, Uniqlo utilized the power of Pinterest’s scrolling to create giant animated blocks that were featured in key Pinterest categories – men’s apparel, women’s apparel, geek, fitness and sports. The agency used hundreds of shell accounts on Pinterest to pin images simultaneously for the Uniqlo Dry Mesh Project campaign. Pinterest users scrolled through to see images of Dry T-shirts on colorful mosaics.

Interactive gaming is shaping up to be fashion’s next frontier in the digital space after companies broadened their websites with editorial content, then mobile commerce and social commerce.

A new survey finds that consumers rate Target, Safeway, Subway, Best Buy, J.C. Penney, Walgreens, Bank of America and Verizon Wireless as being the best retail and restaurant brands when it comes to using social media to communicate with customers.