Mid-summer sales events and early back-to-school deals gave a boost to retail sales in July, which rose for the 10th consecutive month. Core retail sales (excluding restaurants, auto dealers and gas stations) inched up 0.3% month over month in July and were 4.72% year over year, according to the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor released by the National Retail Federation Retail sales gains in July were led by digital products, such as electronic books and games. Sales declined in four categories: electronics and appliance stores; furniture and home furnishings stores; building and garden supply stores; and sporting goods; and hobby, music and book stores.

The tech industry group TechNet, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other organizations are urging lawmakers to revise a proposed federal privacy law by more sweepingly overriding state privacy statutes. The proposed American Privacy Rights Act “falls short of creating a uniform national standard due to its inadequate federal preemption of the ever-growing patchwork of state privacy laws,” the groups say in a letter sent this week to leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. As currently written, the proposed law appears to require businesses to allow consumers to opt out of online behavioral advertising -- meaning ads served based on cross-site and cross-app data. The current iteration also would require data brokers to let consumers opt out of data collection, and request deletion of their data. The measure additionally would allow consumers to sue over violations.

You've invested in great design. The copy is polished. The mailing list is solid. Everything is printed beautifully and dropped at the post office on schedule. Then the responses trickle in. What happened? More often than not, it isn't the list, the design, or even the timing. It's the offer. An irresistible offer gives people a compelling reason to stop, pay attention, and take action. Without one, even the most creative direct mail campaign can fall flat. After all, recipients are asking one simple question every time they open their mailbox: "What's in it for me?" If your offer answers that question clearly and convincingly, you're already ahead of most marketers. Read the full article to get the complete story.