Content about Religion

Manners mistress Emily Post wouldn’t recognize today’s social skills.

Communication styles have changed, with the once-mandatory handwritten thank-you note supplanted by a tweet or a family email blast. These days, good table manners are far less important than proper posting protocol.

The way in which retailers market to consumers has undergone considerable change in recent years, particularly in light of the popularity of social media platforms. Indeed, social media has become essential to retailers’ marketing efforts, according to a recent BDO USA survey, which found that 86% of retail CMOs included social media in their holiday 2012 marketing plans.

A lot has changed in the past year on the social media block. Facebook and Twitter are no longer the only two major players helping retailers connect and engage with their shoppers in real time. Consumers are flocking to platforms such as social-photo sharing sites Pinterest and Instagram, and some brands are even creating their own social blog accounts on Tumblr.

New York -- The Deloitte Consumer Spending Index (Index) posted its fourth consecutive increase in June, rising to 3.22 from a reading of 3.09 the previous month. The Index, which tracks consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending, is comprised of four components: tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages and real home prices.

In recent years, specialty retailer GameStop Corp. has been among the fastest-growing global chains, opening 388 new stores in 2009, more than 350 in 2010 and 285 new locations last year. For its current fiscal year, GameStop is ramping down organic growth, anticipating the opening of some 150 stores, in deference to building on its dominant presence in the multichannel PC digital download market.

By Elizabeth Cogswell Baskin

Editor’s note: Launched in March 2010, Pinterest now ranks as the third most-visited social-networking site in the United States, according to a recent report by Experian Marketing Services. Pinterest, which lets its users “pin” photos and information onto virtual boards, ranks behind only Facebook and Twitter in terms of total visitors, according to the report. It also skews heavily female — about 60% of users are women.

By Elizabeth Cogswell Baskin, Elizabeth@tribeinc.com

Retailers are flocking to the visually enticing Pinterest site to engage with consumers. But the site can also be a powerful driver to engage employees.

Why is Pinterest suddenly such a big deal? For one thing, it’s exploding with growth. In September of last year, they had less than 2 million users. Now, it has 20 million users or more.

By Chris Watland, chris@signalhq.com

By this point, most chain stores have embraced digital marketing to reach customers through regular email communications and with a social media presence on Facebook and Twitter. And retail already outpaces many other industries in its sophisticated collection of customer purchase and loyalty program data.

By Jacqueline Zenn, jacqueline@socialogicmarketing.com

By Jay Samit, jay@socialvibe.com

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens said Friday it has surpassed 1 million fans on Facebook, and has also integrated its network of more than 7,700 drug stores through mobile platforms on Facebook Places and Foursquare.

Walgreens said it has become the chain drugstore retailer with the largest following on Foursquare, while developing a growing presence on other social communities, including Twitter and YouTube.

Cleveland -- Forest City Enterprises said Wednesday it has promoted Duane F. Bishop Jr., to the position of executive VP and COO of the company’s Commercial Group.

Bishop was previously executive VP – Asset Management. 

Forest City’s Commercial Group, the largest of three major strategic business units, includes the company’s retail, office and hotel properties.