Holiday sales could grow up to 3.4%: Deloitte

The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday proposed new restrictions on companies' ability to use behavioral advertising techniques to serve ads to children under 13. The proposal effectively would require operators of websites and apps to obtain opt-in consent from parents at least twice before serving behaviorally targeted ads to children. First, the companies would have to obtain parents' consent to collect children's personal data, including data stored in cookies or other pseudonymous identifiers; then, companies would have to separately obtain parents' consent before sharing that data for behavioral targeting purposes.

Direct mail can be a very powerful marketing tool for your customers. How do you communicate that to them? Obviously, direct mail is not the be all and end all for marketing. However, it is an important channel to utilize in conjunction with other marketing channels. Direct mail can even give a lift in online engagement. Let’s look at how they should use direct mail to shine. 10 Best ways to use direct mail: 1. Counter a competitive offer: 2. Generate Traffic: 3. Customer acquisition or referrals: 4. Generate sales leads: 5. Building brand awareness: 6. Customer loyalty: 7. Announcements: 8. Cross sell or upsell: 9. Combining mailings with other companies: 10. Augmenting other media efforts. 85% of marketers say direct mail delivers the best conversion and response rate of all their marketing channels.

While many consumers are attempting to curb spending amid stressful financial times, retail therapy is the answer for some — with the habit fueled by buy now, pay later options. Nearly half (47%) of consumers engage in retail therapy to improve their mood, with the most common purchases being food (63%), clothing and accessories (54%), and personal care or beauty products (42%), according to a new survey from LendingTree, Overall, 54% of Americans consider retail therapy a form of "self care." More than six-in-10 (63%) Americans admit that their emotions influence their purchases, with the percentage particularly high among six-figure earners (72%), those with children younger than 18 (70%) and Gen Z respondents ages 18 to 28 (69%).