Daily Dose of iQ: Retailers Ramp Up Social Media Marketing for Holiday Season

Retailers are now embracing showrooming. Instead of simply competing with online retailers via the physical store, companies are increaslingly competing for consumers' online eyeball time, wrote Elizabeth A. Harris of the New York Times (Nov. 26). We want to be where the consumer is.Gregg W. Steinhafel, Target CEO One way they're doing this is through social media. “We want to be where the consumer is,” said Gregg W. Steinhafel, chief executive of Target, as quoted by Harris. “We ultimately concluded that if that’s the way the guest is going to live and shop, then we want to be a showroom. And we love showrooming -- provided we can capture that sale.” Harris says Target and Nordstrom are a couple retailers using Pinterest to drive sales. Target has holiday-party-planning boards for Target Red Card holders. Nordstrom, which released its holiday catalog on Pinterest, will install in-store signs identifying its most popularly pinned products. Pinterest is introducing a new 'Holiday Gift' category this year."Pinterest itself is starting a new feature on Wednesday, a 'Holiday Gift' category that will not only offer shoppers gift ideas but will give retailers yet another display window -- this one online -- for their items," Harris adds."Walmart is leveraging Facebook and Google. Toys 'R' Us is pushing hard on YouTube. Sears is on Instagram and hosting holiday parties on Twitter." Interestingly, this article coincided with the publication of a new infographic from NRF, called "This is Modern Retail" (excerpt above), which identifies retailers "that rule Instagram," top 10 product categories purchased through Pinterest, and retailers with over a million Twitter followers.