Walmart

Dorothy Allan, SVP-retail strategy for Dallas-based TracyLocke, has worked on direct, online and retail marketing and is now focusing on helping packaged goods companies get the most ROI for their shopper marketing efforts. So, she’s seen the rise of shopper marketing first-hand, but has also witnessed a big change in the market over the last year or so because of the economy.

The way consumers shop for everyday products continues its transformation toward the Web. In 2008, online retail accounted for approximately 7 percent of total retail sales in the United States, with 1.5 percent of consumer packaged goods (CPG) spending done on the Web.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.; MasterCard Worldwide; and First Data yesterday launched a green payroll program designed to reduce the number of paper paychecks and pay stubs distributed each year to Walmart and Sam’s Club associates in the United States.

Walmart Stores and Sam’s Club, in partnership with The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the Minority Supplier Development Council, will give local businesses an opportunity to sit with Walmart buyers and debut their products as a way to help provide an economic boost to local communities.

In head-to-head blind taste tests held by Consumer Reports, 23 store-brand foods were rated as tasting as good as -- or better than -- their national-brand counterparts, out of 29 food products.

Celebrity cook Paula Deen is launching a new line of baked goods this week exclusively at Walmart.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. said this week that its Web site, Walmart.com, has added nearly 1 million new items to its online product assortment with the launch of the new “Walmart Marketplace,” which enables a select group of retailers to offer additional products at Walmart.com.

In the wake of a recent round of price cuts implemented by a rival regional supermarket chain earlier this year, Dominick’s 81 stores in the Chicago area are implementing price cuts on everyday items that will be flagged with yellow tags alongside special discounts for loyalty card holders.