Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine two key dimensions of instore marketing, namely instore promotions and price markdowns. These seem to be the two most important aspects of instore marketing, though other dimensions such as retail personal service are also worthy of study. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 287 New Zealand clothing and shoe retailers was studied. Survey questions included the perceived importance of instore promotions and price markdowns. The aim was to explain these perceptions in terms of marketing strategies, threat of competition and environmental uncertainty. Findings – The results indicate that a discount marketing strategy, environmental uncertainty and emphasis on pricepromotions are key to explaining retailers' perceptions and use of specific instore marketing activities. In addition, seven key marketing activities were found to distinguish high and lowperformance retailers with respect to instore promotions. Practical implications – The study has highlighted strategic aspects of instore marketing, by focusing on two key components of instore marketing, namely instore promotion and price markdowns. The findings should provide much needed advice to retailers on the use of sales promotion tools in different environmental settings. Originality/value – This paper should prove valuable to academic researchers and retailing managers (particularly to those in smaller countries), owneroperated retail outlets, and chain stores. © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

This study has sought to explain the determinants of what leads certain retailers and not others to adopt an integrated marketing communications (IMC) approach. A sample of 512 retailers in Australian capital cities were used to explore this question. Logit regression analysis has been used to identify the key determinants. The conclusion is that the size of the retail promotion budget and whether or not the retailer is part of a chain organisation are the two critical factors in explaining the adoption of an IMC approach. Both of these factors were positive and highly significant. Other factors had a very minor role to play in explaining the adoption of IMC. The paper concludes by suggesting two key managerial implications for both the large and small retailers in relation to optimising their promotion budget. © 2007 IEEE.