Target unveils online 'Awesome Shop'

December 12, 2013

Target today unveiled its "Awesome Shop" subsite, a curated collection of products that all have a few things in common: They've all been pinned on Pinterest…

Shortened calendar, promotions spur November retail sales

December 12, 2013

The shortened holiday shopping season spurred consumer spending in November, as Americans took advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals to make holiday…

Spindle will buy Yowza!! to capitalize on mobile coupons

December 11, 2013

The mobile commerce company Spindle is acquiring Yowza!! for its mobile marketing and couponing platform and merchant relationships.

ShopperTrak reports retail sales, traffic decreased last week

December 11, 2013

Consumers spent a majority of last week recovering from "Black Weekend" holiday shopping. ShopperTrak reported that for the week of Dec. 2 to Dec. 8…

Consumer spending growth slowed despite strong retail sales during Thanksgiving and Black Friday

December 11, 2013

First Data Corp. has released its First Data SpendTrend analysis for Oct.31, 2013 through Dec.2, 2013 compared with Nov. 1 through Dec. 3, 2012. SpendTrend…

IDC Retail Insights releases top 10 predictions for 2014

December 10, 2013

IDC Retail Insights today hosted a webinar, "IDC Retail Insights 2014 Predictions: Worldwide Retail" highlighting the top 10 predictions for the year ahead. It…

Post-Black-Friday research: Consumers more focused on their budget, getting good deals

December 10, 2013

After a successful extended Black Friday and another week in the stores, a healthy proportion of holiday shoppers are well on their way to being finished with…

Lululemon chairman Chip Wilson resigns

December 10, 2013

Chip Wilson, the controversial co-founder and chairman of Lululemon, has resigned from his position. Laurent Potdevin, recently the president of TOMS Shoes…

Nearly 70 percent of consumers under age 30 consider social issues before buying

Study also finds increasing demand for conflict-free gifts.

Pricing tips from the Oracle of Omaha

by Dale Furtwengler — President, Furtwengler & Associates, P.C.

The following quote appeared in an Andrew Frye and Dakin Campbell, February 17, 2011 Bloomberg article "Buffett Says Pricing Power More Important Than Good…

Early store openings jumpstart retail holiday spending

December 6, 2013

First Data Corporation, a provider of payments-processing and electronic-commerce solutions, has released its First Data SpendTrend analysis for…

New report reveals frustrations of older shoppers

December 5, 2013

The latest report from Shoppercentric, an independent agency specializing in shopper research, has been launched today. The research entitled: "WindowOn…The…

Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday both died on Nov 28, 2013

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

Black Friday was notoriously the biggest shopping day of the year in the United States. It was a cultural phenomenon that coerced otherwise sane Americans to…

MasterCard says electronics retailers were smart to open on Thanksgiving

December 4, 2013

In a blog post today, MasterCard announced that electronics retailers enjoyed a triple-digit increase in sale on Thanksgiving Day over last year. The post…

US holiday e-commerce projected to rise 15% this year

December 4, 2013

Retail consultancy eMarketer has released its forecasts for this holiday season for both the U.S. and the U.K.

Survey: 77% of shoppers likely to purchase at least 1 digital gift card this holiday season

December 4, 2013

InComm, a prepaid product and transaction services company, has released research highlighting consumer shopping trends for purchasing digital and physical…

Visa releases holiday online spend data, infographic

December 3, 2013

Visa has today released its e-commerce sales data from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. According to the company, e-commerce sales from all U.S. devices…

Former Sears CEO gives holiday predictions

December 3, 2013

Former Sears Canada chairman and CEO Mark Cohen, currently a professor at Columbia Business School, has released a set of predictions for the retail industry…

Motorola offers apology, do-over on Cyber Monday promotion

December 3, 2013

Motorola's plan to offer a $150 discount on its Moto X smartphone turned out to be more popular than the company expected. Less than an hour after the sale…

Cyber Monday online sales up 20.6 percent over 2012

December 3, 2013

U.S. shoppers made Cyber Monday the biggest online shopping day in history with a 20.6 percent increase in online sales, according to the latest cloud-based…