Movers & shakers
General merchant J.C. Penney Co. has hired Ruby Anik as senior vice president and director of brand marketing. Anik joins J.C. Penney from Best Buy, where
Marketing
Great expectations
Attention online merchants: Your customers’ patience for technical foul-ups getting in the way of their purchases is wearing dangerously thin.
The reason: As e-commerce site experiences continue to improve, customer expectations improve right along with them.
Critical Issues and Trends
Increasing competition from manufacturers and retailers entering the catalog and Web selling channels was ranked the second most pressing marketing concern
GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT
Boy meets girl. Boy proposes to girl. Boy and girl head down to the local department store and register for home items, such as place settings, stemware,
Children’s market growing up
From birth through their early teens, kids need a lot of stuff. The children’s catalog market includes clothing, home decor, toys, art supplies, educational
Deal making dwindles
If industry watchers were expecting a flurry of post-postal rate hike mergers and acquisitions, that hasn’t happened
Reform a reality for next rate hike
It’s official: Future postal rate increases will follow the provisions of the postal reform bill passed a year ago. That means rate hikes will be tied
IAC splitting into five companies
IAC/InterActiveCorp, whose properties include HSN and the Cornerstone Brands catalogs, will spin itself off into five separate publicly traded companies.
All Aboard Toys Launches Print Catalog
Online retailer All Aboard Toys is getting on the catalog train with the launch of its first print book.
Financial reports: Delia’s, Tiffany
Third-quarter sales for Delia’s and Tiffany