holiday shopping

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'Bleak Friday' May Keep TV Prices Down All Season

Deals on flat screens could extend all month

(Newser) - If your holiday wish list includes a flat-panel TV, you may not have to battle crowds on Black Friday to land a deal, reports the Wall Street Journal. Struggling electronics retailers anticipating a bleak holiday season are likely to extend traditionally low day-after-Thanksgiving prices—which could top 50% savings on...

Learn to Live With Less
 Learn to Live With Less 
OPINION
Nov 23, 2008 12:44 PM CST

Learn to Live With Less

Couple pledged to buy only necessities for 12 months

(Newser) - Light wallets may seem particularly woeful around the holidays, when cheer often comes with a retail pricetag. But shopping binges, while they may be satisfying, ultimately just add to overconsumption problems worldwide, Judith Levine writes in the Washington Post. So she and her partner tried something new: They went a...

Oprah's Newest Favorite Thing: Thrift

Talk-show host's holiday goodie bag will be unusually downscale this year

(Newser) - Oprah’s favorite things this year are cheap, cheap, cheap, Us Magazine reports. The TV host, who usually gives away pricey items on an annual holiday show, will bow to the economy and push affordable stocking-stuffers instead. The Nov. 26 airing also includes DIY tips, with viewers meeting “a...

Slashing Prices Online May Kill Etailers

Price wars sure to kill off some struggling e-tailers

(Newser) - Online retailers’ response to their first dreary holiday season is a price war so fierce many won’t see the new year. Web shoppers are trained to search for deals, and 75% say they would leave a site that doesn't offer free shipping, the New York Times reports. Fine for...

Champagne Loses Fizz With Economy

Industry is worried a tough holiday season will leave sales flat

(Newser) - Champagne companies are anything but bubbly this year as they head into what’s predicted to be a “horrible” holiday season, hurt by a sagging US economy and weak dollar, reports Advertising Age. November and December are crucial for the industry, with as much as 25% of sales during...

Cash-Strapped Shoppers Remember Layaway

No-interest credit appeals to consumers

(Newser) - With consumers strapped and credit short, retailers are reviving an older kind of financing: layaway. Although the arrangement was considered obsolete when Wal-Mart closed its layaway department in 2006, retailers such as TJ Maxx, Goody’s, Marshalls and the Burlington Coat Factory have moved to offer the service, especially as...

Economic Squeeze Means Merry Christmas for Wal-Mart

Retailer expects blockbuster season as cash-strapped shoppers seek bargains

(Newser) - Wal-Mart is readying for bumper sales while most US retailers brace themselves for a miserable holiday season, the New York Times reports. Squeezed consumers are flocking to the discount chain as the economic downturn begins to bite. The firm is expected to report a modest increase in sales for October,...

Computer Shopping? No Need to Go for Broke
Computer Shopping? No Need to Go for Broke
product review
Oct 30, 2008 10:36 AM CDT

Computer Shopping? No Need to Go for Broke

Typical users don't have to break the bank: Mossberg

(Newser) - Economic conditions being what they are, you might not have a ton of dough to spend on a new computer. So in his annual PC buyer’s guide, Wall Street Journal tech expert Walter Mossberg adopts a budget-focused mindset. His advice:
  • The current Mac OS, Leopard, is much better than
...

Top Games for Holiday Play
 Top Games for Holiday Play 
GLOSSIES
Oct 25, 2008 6:39 PM CDT

Top Games for Holiday Play

The titles you want stuffed in your stocking this year

(Newser) - Are you ready to wear out your thumbs this holiday season? Looking at games slated for holiday release, Forbes thinks gamers "crave a lot of morally questionable mayhem."  Here are their top choices:
  • Gears of War 2 (Microsoft): This game promises hordes of aliens to shoot
...

No More Bling? Even the Jet Set Feels the Pinch

Luxury execs are sitting tight for the most part, while jet set wonders what's appropriate

(Newser) - Not even the super-rich are immune to the present crisis, prompting Christina Binkley to wonder in the Wall Street Journal: "Is this the end of bling?" In a word, maybe. The world, of course, will always have rich people, but they may not want to flaunt it as much...

Wal-Mart Launches $10 Toys, Stores Vow 'This 'R' War'

Rivals match Wal-Mart price cuts as retailers target cash-strapped shoppers

(Newser) - Toy retailers have commenced a fierce price war as a particularly tough holiday season bears down upon them, the Wall Street Journal reports. Wal-Mart cut prices to $10 on key toys including Barbie and Hot Wheels last week, a move quickly mirrored by rivals KB Toys and Target. Toys 'R'...

With Eye on Xmas, Microsoft Cuts Xbox Price

Maker of game console puts pressure on rival Sony to go lower

(Newser) - Microsoft appears to have fired the first shot in a new round of game-console price cuts, the Financial Times reports, trimming the cost of its Xbox 360 today in Japan. It plans to do likewise shortly in the US. In Japan, the Xbox now costs $184—less than half the...

Amazon Holiday Traffic Winner
Amazon Holiday Traffic Winner
Jan 15, 2008 11:21 AM CST

Amazon Holiday Traffic Winner

Dethrones eBay in pageviews for first time

(Newser) - Nielsen Online has declared Amazon the pageview winner for the holiday season, reports the New York Times. Amazon had 59,624,000 views to eBay’s 59,374,000, a slim margin, but a big turnaround on previous years. Brad Stone cites consumer concerns over fraud and counterfeit as possible...

Retail Scores Big on Unused Gift Cards

$7.8B in cards unused annually; some states want cut of profit

(Newser) - Retailers are likely rubbing their hands with glee after shoppers snapped up $97 billion in gift cards this year, up from $83 billion in 2006. Why the excitement? The industry makes billions each year from “breakage," or gift card money that is never spent. Lost, discarded, or under-used...

E-Commerce All Grown Up, Sales Growth Finally Slows

Internet sales set new records, but rise more slowly than last year

(Newser) - Online sales continued to out-pace traditional retailers this season, boasting a 19% spike, but fell compared to 25-30% growth rates in past seasons, the New York Times reports. While e-tailers beat the scrawny 3.6% sales growth of traditional stores, experts attribute the slowdown to the maturing of online shopping.

'Black Friday' Not Such a Deal
'Black Friday' Not Such a Deal
Dec 28, 2007 6:03 PM CST

'Black Friday' Not Such a Deal

Globe investigation finds better deals closer to Christmas

(Newser) - With the holiday shop-fest all but over, the Boston Globe reports that the day after Thanksgiving doesn't always yield the best bargains, as consumers have been led to believe. The paper surveyed prices for 52 consumer-electronics products during the holiday shopping season—and found that only five were cheapest on...

Late Shoppers Spread Some Holiday Cheer

But not enough to rescue some slumping retailers

(Newser) - Shoppers swarmed in a last-minute buying binge that will help most, but not all, retailers make the season’s sales projections. For the week ended Saturday sales rose 33% over a year ago and for the final weekend of the season were up 18.7%, reports the Los Angeles Times....

Online Buyers Want Blenders, Not Diamonds

Luxury takes a backseat to the practical this season

(Newser) - With a shaky economy causing consumers angst this holiday season, online e-tailers say shoppers are opting for functional over frivolous. E-sales of furniture and appliances have spiked more than 70%, while sales of jewelry, watches, and flowers have dropped, reports the New York Times. “It’s certainly counter to...

Wild Boars Run Amok in France
Wild Boars Run Amok in France
Dec 24, 2007 11:31 AM CST

Wild Boars Run Amok in France

One scatters shoppers, while another ties up trains

(Newser) - Shoppers weren't the only thing going hog-wild over the weekend, reports the Independent. One wild boar rampaged amid last-minute gift-buyers in a clothing store in France, while another stepped in front of a high-speed train, delaying trains for hours. 

Retailers Await Last-Minute Gift From Shoppers

Procrastinators find big sales, long lines

(Newser) - Last-minute shoppers navigated long lines over the final pre-Christmas weekend, nudging retailers toward the modest growth in sales they’d expected. Deep discounts cut into profits, but retailers like Macy's and Kmart stayed open around the clock to accommodate shoppers, the Wall Street Journal reports. “The procrastinators finally got...

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