Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) showed there is still life in the mall, or at least its outparcels, by delivering a solid beat on revenue and earnings for its third quarter. Wall Street responded with jubilee, sending KSS shares up more than 10% on Thursday.

The retailer reported revenue of $146 million, or 83 cents per share, on revenues of $4.327 billion. This handily beat estimates for 70 cents, and was just shy of expectations for $4.33 billion — a decline of 2.2%.

Kohl’s stock shot up in response, with investors both cheering results and finally seeing the then-4.4% yield as a sudden bargain, rather than a siren call. While that dividend isn’t going any higher this quarter, KSS did say it would add $2 billion to its stock buyback plan. Given that the market cap is just $9.5 billion, that is a lot.

Thing is, Kohl’s normally beats earnings estimates. But it usually only tacks on about 2.5% to KSS stock in the next day of trading.

Back-to-School Big

Kohl’s credited controls over inventory and other expenses with the results, although lost in the love was the fact that same-store sales fell.

CEO Kevin Mansell said August was strong with back-to-school sales, but sales softened considerably in September and were only starting to come back in October, as the Christmas season approached. Analysts think that comparable-store sales should be up for Christmas because last year was a poor one.

The trends are disappointing, however.

This was the third straight quarter where same-store sales fell, although the drops (1.2%) were modest and within analyst estimates. Merchandise costs fell 2.3%, meeting the revenue drop. General costs — mostly administration and marketing — fell 1.7%, which allowed for the earnings beat. KSS shares had lost 4% of their value from January, but misplaced optimism over last year’s Christmas quarter boosted the stock at the end of that year.

The key to success this year, Mansell said, was tailoring merchandise to different parts of the country, adding more national brands and better promotion.

Stores that used to rely on newspaper ads are now finding they need big online budgets, and high-quality websites. Kohl’s meets the standard with a homepage that features sale merchandise like the sites of JC Penney Company Inc (NYSE:JCP), Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) or Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT).

Kohl’s is also adding new kinds of stores. Over the last year it has opened 12 Fila Outlet stores and three Off/Aisle Clearance outlets while closing 11 regular Kohl’s stores.

Kohl’s Focuses on Technology

Kohl’s is offering more specialized stores that look like bargain outlets, while also trying to increase loyalty to its regular stores with a new Kohl’s Pay program.

Kohl’s Pay offers contactless payments, like Apple Pay from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), but retains control of the resulting data, which lets the store offer a customized rewards program and targeted sales. This will improve over time with personalized product recommendations, and special prices that shoppers can get while inside the store.

The app lets Kohl’s turn “showrooming” — the process of young shoppers bringing their phones to stores, checking prices, and then buying online — into “webrooming,” where shoppers check out what’s available online, go into the store, and then the store has a chance to beat the online price.

KSS Stock Remains a Dividend Play

While new apps and a close hand on costs are great to talk about, investors need to focus on the dividend and the buyback program, which justify a price-to-earnings multiple of 15 — in line with that of Walmart, which has a lower yield.

So long as earnings beat the dividend level — and Kohl’s believes they can double it — then you have a stock that yield hunters can depend upon for years.

Dana Blankenhorn is a financial and technology journalist. His latest novel is Bridget O’Flynn vs. Something Big & Ugly. Write him at danablankenhorn@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @danablankenhorn. As of this writing, he was long AAPL.