Target

Target's customers are looking for answers and connected solutions. Best Buy is looking for new customers, specifically how to reach women and families. So, is the Geek Squad and Target a match made in heaven? Most retail partnering experiments and mergers fail, but the Best Buy Geek Squad in Target might just work. The consumer needs for services in a mobile and highly connected digital world require more than the traditional product-centric merchandising of mass merchants.

Last week came news that a bevy of big-name retailers, including Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target, are teaming up to create a company that will give consumers another way to make purchases: with their cellphones. The businesses said that the new company, Merchant Customer Exchange, is developing a mobile application for any smartphone that will integrate a variety of coupons, rebates and loyalty programs.

A bevy of big-name retailers including Wal-Mart, Best-Buy and Target are teaming up to create a company that will give consumers another way to make purchases: with their cellphones. The businesses said Wednesday that the new company, Merchant Customer Exchange, is developing a mobile application that will be available for nearly any smartphone. The app is expected to integrate a variety of coupons, rebates and loyalty programs.

Best Buy sells consumer electronics and so does Target. That would make the two companies competitors, right? Maybe yes and maybe no, depending on whom you ask and when. It was just over two years ago that Target, among others, was upping its game with the intention of grabbing share of the consumer electronics market. So how is it that we now come across a report by The Denver Post that Target is bringing Geek Squad "agents" into its 28 stores in the Denver market?

Digital marketing intelligence provider AdGooroo released a new report showing how major retailers such as Target, Toys"R"Us and Victoria's Secret outperformed Amazon.com in paid search engine marketing in specific categories, including children's products, fashion and apparel, and auto parts. Additionally, the report unveils the secrets of success employed by these brands.

Thus far, the dramatic makeover of J.C. Penney has hardly been smooth sailing. The overhaul, in which coupons and nonstop sales have been replaced with lower everyday prices, has resulted in confusion among consumers and months of subpar sales, as well as the recent ouster of a top executive. Nonetheless, J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson is sticking with the plan to revolutionize a tired old brand — and perhaps retail as a whole. Speaking at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference, Johnson, a retail superstar who spent years building up Target and the Apple Store, made one eye-opening comment after another.

Following in the footsteps of Target's and American Eagle's nationwide rollouts, Macy’s announced Wednesday it would begin offering shopkick rewards at its more than 800 stores. Using shopkick's app for iPhone or Android devices, shoppers can collect points, or "kicks," by visiting and performing certain tasks in Macy's stores. They can then exchange their kicks for Macy's-specific rewards like gift cards, as well as for more general rewards, including song downloads, restaurant certificates, movie tickets, Facebook Credits, charity donations, etc.

Frank Ocean's album may currently be the most buzzed about disc in music, but Target isn't interested. Billboard reports the discount retail giant announced it will not sell Channel Orange, claiming the decision was a reaction to iTunes' one-week exclusive.

In the wake of Gay Pride Month, a recent Wall Street Journal article took a look at how big department store chains like J.C. Penney, Target and Macy's are courting gay customers. According to the article, the brands — most of which have traditionally ignored gay culture in their advertising and marketing materials — are making efforts to cozy up to the demographic, as gay couples are increasingly settling down in suburbia.

One of the biggest threats to brick-and-mortar retailers is "showrooming," a practice whereby consumers walk into a store with a smartphone to look at merchandise and then — after making use of the expertise of the store's associates — ultimately make their purchases online from a competitor at a lower price. Retailers are increasingly battling back against showrooming by mimicking the practice — reverse showrooming, if you will. They're encouraging shoppers to whip out their smartphones right in store aisles, but to buy online from them.