The Target200 initiative will enable towns to advertise their wares online, in addition to offer click-and-collect services and loyalty programmes. Rakuten will provide the e-commerce capabilities, in addition to analytics and a team of ecommerce consultants to assist retailers maximise online sales.

At an event in London today (31 October), Rakuten’s chief operating officer, David Rimmer, told Marketing Week that the initiative is aimed toward bringing town centres and their products and retailers together as a brand. It might highlight what’s unique about different shopping areas, in addition to promoting local events and charities.

With customers increasingly multichannel, he believes it is very important rebrand the digital high street to make it more like a shopping center where people can search and explore what’s on offer, in addition to share with friends across social media.

“We want online shopping to be about entertainment. It shouldn’t be vending machine retail, it’s going to be like a bazaar where people can explore what’s on offer,” he added.

Rakuten said it’ll make use of its 4m active customers, in addition to fans on Facebook and Twitter, to support the initiative. It aims to succeed in “critical mass” within a question of weeks at which point it’s going to look include the scheme in its above the road campaigns.

The scheme can be backed by high street website developers MyHigh.St, in addition the British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA). There isn’t any charge for signing up, but Target200 will take a ten per cent cut of sales, although members of BRIA will only be charged 5 per cent.

Rimmer said it’s going to give town centres and independent retailers the identical ability to sell their goods online as big brands, providing a brand new sales channels and boosting growth. He believes independent and smaller retailers have previously been take away digital because of the costs of ranging from scratch and an absence of technological know-how, with this scheme aiming to prove that digital provides a chance instead of being a threat.

“We desire to extend the high street right into a 24/7 experience,” he added.

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The Seattle-based retailer is beefing up its My Starbucks Rewards program by adding new features including its recently revamped food range, which debuted within the UK earlier this month.

It claimed during an earnings call with analysts today (31 October) the Starbucks card global balance was $4bn (£2.5bn) on the end of its fourth quarter following its expansion to 11 new markets including Germany and Hong Kong. The corporate wants the rewards program to determine a “Starbucks currency” that may be used across multiple platforms if you want to foster more loyalty among consumers.

Starbucks can also be planning updates to its mobile apps promising features including mobile ordering and digital tipping are “on the way”.

Howard Schultz, chief executive of Starbucks, added no “single competency and capability” had amplified the logo greater than its investment in all three platforms.

The announcement is available in the identical week the emblem began allowing fans to shop for coffees for a chum via Twitter. That is being trialled within the US with the corporate adding there are not any current plans to increase the initiative to other markets.

Starbucks posted a 7 per cent jump in like-for-like sales for the 3 months to 30 September, including a 2 per cent increase in sales across Europe, the center East and Africa. It said it was “encouraged” by the “solid performance” within the UK – its singled biggest market in Europe – where it us currently pushing for a bigger slice of the quick-grocery store.

Last month supermarket chains Asda and Tesco were forced to tug their respective “Mental Patient” and “Psycho Ward” outfits after coming under fire from the mental health lobby, which claimed the outfits further stigmatised people affected by mental illnesses.

The obligatory public apologies were duly made and Asda even tried to further distance itself from the PR gaffe by promoting its range of Halloween-themed, in-store Augmented Reality treasure hunts. But identical to any horror story, audiences remember the bad, and infrequently the best.

Similarly, online retail giant Amazon removed pages promoting a ‘Zombie-fied’ outfit of disgraced UK DJ Jimmy Saville, following an analogous public outcry.

However, on a more “refreshing” note, Carling marked Halloween with an internet video campaign created by the somewhat fittingly named, creative agency Creature (see below video).

Elsewhere, Marketing Week hands plaudits to online travel firm Booking.com, for its Haunted Destinations finder – a web portal that taps into the seasonal mood by encouraging ‘scare seekers’ to book stays in accommodation synonymous with things that go bump within the night (see bottom video).  

Cadbury is additionally stepping into at the act with an in-store push to advertise its range of Halloween treats. The yearly push is backed by Twitter and Facebook activity promoting the seasonal sweets because the brand looks to entice fans who will little doubt take the to the streets later searching for tricks or treats.

Lyle’s has gone for the “if ain’t broke don’t fix it approach” for its seasonal push with the relaunch of its aptly-named limited edition Trick or Treacle version of its Black Syrup. Where food brands have opted to support their festive products with digital promotions, Lyle’s has opted against the move which can prove costly in its efforts to focus on younger shoppers.

Mobile phone network GiffGaff has launched a video, created in partnership with Fallon, to teach it takes guts to do mobile differently. Lots and plenty of guts.

Retailers also are getting into at the Halloween fun. Tesco has added a festive tab to its navigation bar that directs shoppers to its range of “spooktacular” treats. It’d be lacking the flair of alternative efforts, but for folks short of last minute snacks and costumes for his or her celebrations its a realistic tool which could help lift sales in October.

Online retailer Firebox has adopted an identical approach and grouped all its Halloween themed products under a #halloween hastgag.

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Facebook’s admitted yesterday (30 October) that it was seeing a drop in kids logging in for the primary time. Its chief financial officer, David Ebersman, said that while youth engagement was “stable” overall, it has seen a decrease in daily users, specifically among younger teens.

Facebook also said it would limit the variety of ads that feature within the news feed. Facebook said in July that it was showing around one ad per 20 posts within the news feed and Ebersman said that while this ratio is now “modestly higher” than 5 per cent, this can not increase much sooner or later.

He added that the proportion of promotions is the “least important tool” in boosting revenues. Facebook will instead center around growing its user base and extending demand to reinforce revenues.

His comments, combined with the remarks about declining teen usage, ended in a drop in Facebook’s share price by 3 per cent. This despite a 60 per cent year-on-year jump within the social network’s revenues to $2.02bn within the third quarter and profit coming in at $425m, when compared with a lack of $59m last year.

Facebook says prices for its mobile ads remain “high” and users are clicking on its news feed ads more frequently. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on a decision with analysts that the common daily Facebook user is “engaging” with multiple ad a week.

Advertising revenues hit $1.8bn, with mobile now representing 49 per cent of Facebook’s ad business, generating around $880m within the period. This is often up from $150m a year ago when Facebook was just starting to develop its mobile ad business.

Users also are increasing, with Facebook counting 1.19 billion monthly active users on the end of September and 728 million daily active users. On mobile it has 874 million monthly users, with 507 million logging in daily.

“For nearly ten years, Facebook was on a mission to attach the sector,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. “The strong results we achieved this quarter show that we’re prepared for the following phase of our company, as we work to bring the subsequent five billion people online and into the data economy.”