Just 11% of Sears sales come from e-commerce. No surprise there. Smart retailers know that TV advertising drives interest and newspaper circulars drive traffic. <\/p>\n
According to The Wall Street Journal<\/a>, Sears Holdings Chief Executive Edward Lampert is on another page. He champions the use of digital marketing over traditional TV and print advertising, arguing that digital marketing is more cost-effective and quantifiable.<\/p>\n It’s an argument few CEOs are prepared to win, today. What is clearly quantifiable is how poorly online advertising works and<\/em> how full of illegal activity the field currently is. Ad fraud<\/a> is projected to cost brands $16.4 billion globally this year. <\/p>\n Nevertheless, the Kmart brand has been absent from national TV networks since Nov. 24, while Sears hasn\u2019t run a paid national TV spot since Nov. 25\u2014the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. That compares with about $8.4 million the Sears brand spent on national TV ads in December last year, while the Kmart brand shelled out roughly $6.5 million during the same period. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, Macy\u2019s shelled out some $32 million on national TV ads during the first 29 days of December while Penney spent roughly some $27 million during the period.<\/p>\n