Consumers plan to spend $890.49 per person on average this year on holiday gifts, food, decorations and other seasonal items. That’s according to the National Retail Federation’s annual consumer survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. The amount is the second-highest in the survey’s 23-year history and is 1.3% less than last year’s record of $901.99. The increase comes as 85% of consumers are expecting higher prices because of tariffs.

We spend a good deal of our marketing efforts incenting customers to be loyal to us; to be our brand advocates. But doesn’t loyalty go both ways? Don’t we, in turn, need to demonstrate our commitment to our customers? It’s a two-way street, after all—a dialogue. One way to display your commitment—or loyalty—to your customers is to show them you know them: who they are, where they are, what they buy, and what they want. We all experience this kind of dialogue daily online: ads served up to us reflect our searches from 5 minutes ago; recommender engines tell us what else we’d like based on what is in our baskets. These days, it’s expected. Ubiquitous, almost. But what about in print? I’d posit that sending a targeted, relevant print mail piece audience conveys a more authentic investment to your customer. The real impact comes from using data and understanding your customers’ behavior. Variable data printing allows us to create powerful, relevant direct mail that speaks to individuals on a truly 1:1 basis. Personalization allows us to move beyond mass mailings and “spray-and-pray” direct mail. Instead, we can create messages and offers based on customers’ demographics, preferences, and histories… and show them we know them. Let’s revisit a few ways to consider showing your customers you know them in print. I’ve written about them before: they are the Three Ps. read more at: https://www.jschmid.com/blog/show-them-you-know-them/

Lawmakers on a House subcommittee on Thursday advanced a draft privacy bill that would impose sweeping nationwide restrictions on companies' ability to collect and use data. The American Privacy Rights Act -- introduced in both chambers last month by Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) and Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington), and revised earlier this week -- now moves to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which could make additional changes. The current version of the bill 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 original version had language that would have either required companies to obtain opt-in consent for behavioral advertising, or banned online behavioral advertising altogether.