Americans are more amenable to buying meals at convenience stores, but won’t budge when it comes to quality, price or convenience factors like portability and packaging. By Howard Riell, Contributing Editor. Takeout food was invented for on-the-go consumers. But a takeout program has to do more than travel at high speeds. Today’s consumers want quality [...]
Mars Chocolate North America has reformulated the classic light and fluffy taste of its 3 Musketeers bar to deliver a richer chocolate experience. Taste is the leading driver of sales for 3 Musketeers and this new formulation still satisfies as a lighter candy bar with 45% less fat, while increasing the chocolate appeal for consumers. [...]
The drug store chain surpasses one million Facebook fans, integrates its store network through Facebook and Foursquare. Walgreens the 110-year-old drugstore chain once known for its soda fountains and surgical dressings, is now making a name for itself in social media. The company recently surpassed one million fans on Facebook, the world’s largest social platform, [...]
QSR pizza sales have hovered at $33–$36 billion for the last few years and projections for the upcoming year are very strong, Pizza Marketplace reported. The grim economy of the past couple of years has not crushed the spirit of folks who like to eat out. Although pizza sales slowed in recent months due to [...]
Pop Rocks consumers have been busy voting for their top pop songs as well as the greatest hits of the 70´s. The new “U-ROCK” sweepstakes is available on the Pop Rocks Web site, offering consumers the chance to win $100 iTunes gift certificates. This is the first activity of the Pop Rocks’ new marketing plan [...]
One-fourth of U.S. consumers admit they’re more likely to tell others about a bad experience than a good one. Consumers have sounded a clear warning to brands in COLLOQUY’s latest research into the word-of-mouth (WOM) sharing practices of U.S. households: Bad news travels fast. Of 3,295 U.S. consumers surveyed by COLLOQUY, a provider of loyalty [...]
Digital marketing promotion aims to boost online community for the Midwestern c-store chain. Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey’s General Store has launched “Casey’s Madness,” a social marketing campaign focused on growing the brand’s online presence by engaging customers through social media channels. The campaign is a competitive contest built around creative user generated content submitted through social networks [...]
In 2011, look for cause marketing to be a bigger trend. An expert panel at the U.S. Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) annual meeting revealed that the trend toward cause marketing is the next step in engaging customers and increasing loyalty. But it’s not enough just to pick a cause and throw together a promotion. Customers [...]
Convenience store owners should expect to embrace new technology and a fresh set of rules for communicating with today’s consumers as 2011 approaches. A year that witnessed a whirlwind of technological advancements proved that retail is all about change. The best retailers are embracing that change and diversifying their technology investments in order to stay [...]
While the convenience store industry is in a much better position to withstand the strains of the current economic recession, one thing is painfully clear. Customers are changing the way they buy goods and services and retailers must keep up with those changes to avoid becoming obsolete. A new generation of Millennials, those born between [...]
Dunkin’ Donuts is using social media platform Foursquare to secure loyal customers in the Florida market, Nation’s Restaurant News reported. It recently launched its first Foursquare regional promotion in two markets in Florida. The promotion offers users of the location-based game the chance to win a free donut after they “check in” at the same [...]
Casey’s General Stores Inc. has hired Catchfire Media, a social media firm, to manage social marketing strategies and technology solutions for its 1,637 c-stores. “We have loyal and passionate customers who want to communicate with us on the social Web, and our partnership with Catchfire Media will help us achieve that goal,” said Cory Hart, [...]
Chevron has introduced the new Techron2Go iPhone app which helps commuters locate the closest Chevron station while on the go. In addition, the app lets them plan a route showing all Chevron stations along the way, find the latest meal and drink deals at ExtraMile convenience stores and get more information on how the cleaning [...]
ExxonMobil has introduced the “Exxon Mobil Fuel Finder” iPhone and iPod touch application, which provides drivers with real-time maps, driving directions and station information for more than 10,000 Exxon and Mobil retail locations across the continental U.S. “We are very excited to bring our customers the first mobile app from ExxonMobil, using technology to allow [...]
Murphy USA, a national gas station and convenience store chain co-located at Walmart, has partnered with Warner Bros. and is driving business with a social networking campaign through Whrrl, Mobile Commerce Daily reported. When customers check in on Whrrl- a Web site where people can find friends that share their real world patterns-at one of [...]