‘The Daily Wrap’: Amazon/Google, Late Holiday Shoppers, American Greetings
“The Daily Wrap” offers a roundup of the day’s biggest retail industry headlines. Following are some news items you may be interested in checking out.
Amazon and Google Partner to Give Bloggers Referral Bonus
Amazon Services LLC, part of the Amazon.com, Inc. group of companies, and Google Inc. have launched Amazon Associates for Blogger, a direct integration between Amazon Associates, Amazon’s self-service advertising program, and Blogger, blog platform from Google. This new collaboration enables bloggers to monetize their content by adding relevant Amazon products to their blog posts without interrupting the blog editing process. Source: Amazon.com
Four in 10 Adults Haven’t Begun Holiday Shopping
According to a new survey from Consumer Reports, 40% of U.S. adults had not begun holiday shopping as of December 6, 2009. A full 30% do not intend to begin holiday shopping until December 23 or later, and the average U.S. adult will spend $699 on gifts this holiday season. Source: Consumer Reports
American Greetings Offers Mobile Coupons
Greeting card provider American Greetings Corporation is entering the mobile coupon arena. American Greetings is offering a mobile $1 discount for three greeting cards to users of its iPhone application. Source: American Greetings Corporation
McDonald’s Canada Steps Up Olympic Promotion
McDonald’s Canada, the official restaurant sponsor of the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, is launching the next phase of its Olympic promotional platform. Participating restaurants will feature in-store promotional design elements, as well as special menu items and themed employee uniforms. Source: McDonald’s Canada
Energy Powers CPI-U Growth
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.4% in November 2009. This kept pace with the last three monthly CPI-U increases of 0.3%, 0.2% and 0.4%. Source: Retailer Daily
Leading Economic Index Suggests Worst is Over
The Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) rose for the eighth straight month [pdf] in November 2009. Combined with a slight increase in the Conference Board Coincident Economic Index (CEI), this continues to signal a likely bottoming out of the current U.S. economic recession. Source: Retailer Daily
Blockbuster Gives Store Customers Full Inventory Access
Through a new service called Blockbuster Direct Access, media entertainment retailer Blockbuster, Inc. is giving in-store customers full access to its entire online inventory of more than 95,000 film and TV titles. Source: Retailer Daily
Price Chopper Bid Complicates Penn Traffic Bankruptcy
Regional supermarket retailer Penn Traffic, which voluntarily filed petitions for Chapter 11 protection on November 18, 2009, had the bidding deadline for its stores and assets pushed back due to a surprise December 15, 2009 bid for 22 of its stores by regional supermarket chain Price Chopper. Source: Retailer Daily
7-Eleven Purchases Boston Area C-Store Chain
Convenience store retailer 7-Eleven, Inc. is continuing an aggressive expansion strategy begun earlier this year by purchasing New England Pantry, a company that operates 58 convenience stores in Greater Boston under the White Hen Pantry brand. Source: Retailer Daily
