- Mark Levin Signs Multi-year Deal with ABC, Expands Show to 3 Hours
- Consumerist.com Adopted by Old-School Consumers Union, Stops Selling Ads
- For Auto Industry, 2009 Holds Even Tighter Ad Budgets
- User-Generated Magazine Publisher 8020 Media Shuts Doors
- Out-of-Home, Fueled by Digital, to Weather Recession Well
- Clear Channel Swaps Cincy Stations for Five in Green Bay
- Consumers Swarm to Discounters for Grocery Items, Don’t Switch Back
- Wikimedia Raises $6.2M to Keep Wikipedia Afloat
- Conde Nast’s Jan. Ad Pages Slip More than Most
- Aegis Faces Possible Sale or Spin-off of Non-core Businesses
- Top US Cities for Charitable Givers, by Category
- Online Fitness, Video Game Spending Outperforms Brick-And-Mortar
- RIM Must Fix Glitches, Boost Satisfaction To Hold Off iPhone
- LCD TV Revenue to Fall YoY for First Time Ever
- Top 10 Broadcast Media Websites - November 2008
- Top 10 Entertainment Online Advertisers by Image-Based Impressions - November 2008
- Top 10 Sports Websites - November 2008
- Eight in 10 Online Holiday Shoppers Read Web Reviews
- Top 40 Online Retail Satisfaction Index: Merry Outlook for Some, but Not Others
- Firefox Share Tops 20% in November
Best & Worst Practices
‘Wal-Mart’s Worst Nightmare’
British megaretailer Tesco is challenging Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, on its home turf, the US—though Wal-Mart is fighting back using Tesco’s own tactics, writes BusinessWeek.
Wal-Mart countered Tesco’s Nov. 2007 launch of Fresh & Easy—a chain of 10,000 sq. ft. convenience stores in California, Nevada, and Arizona—with its own similar-format Marketside, in Arizona.
Still, “Tesco is...
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Top 40 Online Retail Satisfaction Index: Merry Outlook for Few
Some online retailers will thrive in 2009, while others have an uphill battle ahead, if customer satisfaction with top retail websites during the holiday season is any indication.
Amazon and Netflix continued to delight holiday shoppers online while customer satisfaction with websites for Circuit City, Gap, Home Depot, HSN, Neiman Marcus, and Overstock fell below industry standards, according...
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E-Tailer The Parent Company Files for Bankruptcy Protection
What has been described as one of the worst retail holiday season in decades has claimed its first post-Christmas major retail victim, as online retailer the Parent Company (formerly Baby Universe), filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the company said.
“This action is an unfortunate but necessary and responsible step to preserve the company’s value for our stakeholders in light of the...
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Steve and Barry Sued for Fraud
The cofounders of Steve & Barry’s are being sued by New York landlord Jeff Sutton, who accuses them of fraud—specifically, misappropriating $1 million intended for construction at a Brooklyn mall—writes the New York Post.
Steven Shore and Barry Prevor, along with their CFO and director of real estate, are accused of taking the money from Sutton in May for installing escalators and elevators at...
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Department Stores’ Decline Due to Changes in Consumers’ Shopping Habits
Consumers this year continued a six-year trend of steering away from department stores during the holiday season, but the uncertain economic times were not the only reason.
Department stores are not meeting consumer needs, such as having desired items in stock, fair everyday pricing, easy return policies, and helpful employees, according to (pdf) the Ninth Annual National Shopping Behavior...
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Post-Christmas Sales Proliferate
Major retailers are offering post-Christmas, yearend, and clearance sales to lure shoppers back into stores during what has so far been a dismal retail season that has left retailers with bulging inventories they need to clear to make room for spring inventory, writes US News & World Report.
This year’s shorter holiday-shopping season—27 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, compared with 32...
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FDA Warns of Diet Coke Plus Misbranding
The Food and Drug Administration has warned Coca-Cola that its Diet Coke Plus is “misbranded”—i.e., does not meet FDA’s nutritional standards to be termed “plus,” reports WebMD Health News.
The FDA’s letter to the company, dated Dec. 10, is posted on the FDA’s website.
FDA also said it “does not consider it appropriate to fortify snack foods such as carbonated beverages.”
Diet Coke Plus...
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Wal-Mart to Pay at Least $352 Million to Settle 63 Wage-Related Suits
Wal-Mart Stores will pay at least $352 million, but not more than $640 million, to settle 63 class-action lawsuits over claims of wage violations, the world’s largest retailer and attorneys for the plaintiffs announced Tuesday.
As a result of the settlement, Wal-Mart will record an after-tax charge of approximately $250 million to continuing operations in its fiscal fourth quarter—or...
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NRF Asks Obama for National Sales Tax Holidays, Retail Stimulus Effort
The National Retail Federation today (Tues.) asked President-elect Barack Obama to incorporate a series of national sales tax holidays into upcoming economic stimulus legislation as a step toward rebuilding consumer confidence.
“The situation is critical,” NRF said. “In October, consumer confidence was at its lowest level in the 41 years that records have been kept…. With consumer spending...
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Study: Fast-Food Ad Ban Would Cut Childhood Obesity 18%
A US ban on fast-food advertisements during children’s programming would reduce the number of overweight children (age 3-11) in America by 18%, and would lower the number of overweight adolescents (age 12-18) by 14%, according to a largest-of-its-kind study conducted for the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), writes Marketing Charts.
The study, funded by the National Institutes of...
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