2012 100 - Networld Media Group

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IN-STORE AUDIO
While advertising is most often employed to lure customers into a store, advocates of in-store audio argue that it can be even
more effective once they are there. One current strategy gaining favor among retailers is to build on traditional marketing and
advertising efforts by promoting heavily inside the store. The theory is that shoppers come in with one or a few items in mind;
the goal is to entice them to buy more with well-planned advertising and marketing within the store. An in-store audio branding
channel contributes to a great customer experience, encourages impulse buys, motivates sales associates, and makes their
jobs easier.
64 ANTHROPOLOGIE 65 DOLLAR TREE
Female apparel store Anthropologie, known for
its $300 bohemian dresses, quirky accessories, and
unique home goods is expanding its sumptuous
print catalog to digital platforms with an iPad application
designed to increase brand awareness.
The app lets consumers browse the current collection
and features recent news and social media.
Anthropologie is also looking to increase its social
media efforts by embedding the brand’s Facebook
and Tumblr pages into the app. The mid-upscale
retailer also rolled out a commerce-enabled mobile
website that lets shoppers browse and purchase
clothing items. The app has been criticized, however,
for its lack of a store locator feature, which is
crucial to any shopping app. As part of an effort
to revitalize flagging sales following a three-quarter
long revenue drop, Urban Outfitters named
former Under Armour president David W. Mc-
Creight as CEO of its Anthropologie chain and
eliminated the positions of the co-presidents who
previously ran the brand.
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Changes in spending patterns, especially among low-end consumers,
necessitated by a weak economy, has led to Dollar Tree’s induction into
Standard & Poor’s S&P 500 Index. The discount retailer’s inclusion came
after Dollar Tree added equity of more than 48 percent over a 52-week
period. More signifcantly Dollar Tree reported same-store sales growth
of 7.1 percent, 4.7 percent, and 4.8 percent during the first three quarters
of 2011, respectively. The last quarter increase of 4.8 percent was aided by
a 1.4 percent higher ticket price and a 3.4 percent increase in customers.
AHOLD USA (STOP & SHOP, GIANT, MARINI’S PEAPOD)
Ahold USA, the U.S. division of Amsterdam-based
Ahold, encompasses
376 units of Stop & Shop, 180 Giant
Foods of Landover, Md., and 148 Giant
Foods of Carlisle, Penn. Ahold USA
accounts for approximately 57 per-
cent of the parent company’s total sales.
Additionally, Peapod.com, based in
Skokie, Ill., provides Internet-based
home shopping and grocery delivery as
an integrated element of Stop & Shop
and Giant Foods, serving markets in
11 states and the District of Columbia.
Founded in 1989 by brothers Andrew and
Thomas Parkinson as a wholly owned
subsidiary of international food provider
Royal Ahold, Peapod has grown to be one
of America’s leading Internet grocers.
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