Omnichannel

How long have we been talking and asking about multichannel? You know the questions: “Do you have a multichannel marketing program?” “Do you know who your multichannel customers are?” “Do you know how much your multichannel customer spends?” We’ve been asking these questions for about as long as we’ve been using terms like relevance and one-to-one, which is a really long time. None of these terms are unimportant, but what’s next? What should we really be striving for now?

Following a trial run with product videos on its site in 2008 that yielded favorable results, Really Good Stuff knew that the medium was an effective sales driver. The problem was that the teacher supply retailer didn’t have the resources in-house to optimize the technology.

Macy's is looking to get its stores to start using radio frequency identification technology sooner rather than later so that the company can manage its inventories better. The technology, known as RFID, will be used to help count items that are considered "replenishment goods."

Neiman Marcus has launched its first-ever foursquare challenge to take place on Oct. 1. As part of the challenge, Neiman Marcus will hide 15 Nancy Gonzalez clutches in secret locations throughout its stores. Participants will engage in a hunt for the clutches by unlocking a message when they check into Neiman Marcus stores on foursquare.

Cabela's has adopted the SWAGG smartphone application, providing consumers with mobile access the ability to buy and send digital gift cards; receive targeted offers; manage their gift reward and loyalty programs; and speed in-store checkout processes.

Swarovski partnered with SCVNGR to launch a treasure hunt across London on Sept. 24 to celebrate the London launch of 'Discover Your Light,' the company's "exciting move into cinema." This campaign marks the first time that SCVNGR has offered an event-based challenge outside of the U.S.

I ventured to Shop.org’s Annual Summit in Boston with a big question on my mind: With so much sales growth originating in online retail, how were brick-and-mortar retailers viewing their online counterparts? As a vital growth source? As just another store? As something we do but we’d rather not focus on?

Consumers first abandoned credit cards during the Great Recession, choosing instead to rely on cash to fund their purchases. But evidence indicates that since the beginning of 2011, consumers are returning to credit usage, but with an important change — without the return to revolving debt that's traditionally a hallmark of consumer credit card usage.

Kmart is driving traffic to its store locations via a new mobile initiative that rewards consumers when they complete interactive challenges. The company partnered with SCVNGR on the mobile program, which enables consumers to compete in challenges to unlock rewards and discounts.

A cause marketing program involving QR codes on bags of Pedigree dog food is part of the month-long Pets Love Wal-Mart campaign. Throughout September, Pedigree will donate a bowl of food to shelter dogs for every QR code scanned. The codes can be found on over 200,000 40-pound bags distributed exclusively at Wal-Mart.