Spring is now a hot season for gift cards. Why? It’s when consumers are compelled to buy gifts for Mother’s Day, as well as graduations, weddings, First Communions, Father’s Day, and more. That’s a lot of gifts to buy, and chances are you won’t know exactly what each recipient really wants.
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Last-Minute Mother’s Day Gifts: 8 Tips for Making Mom Happy
What does mom really want for Mother’s Day? The results of recent surveys offer some indication. (Hint: A nice dinner might be better than a taser—even a pink taser.)
A Deal Just For You: Niche Sites With Deals for Moms, Dudes, Jews, Dog Lovers, the Military & More
All along, skeptics said that the enormous success of daily deals couldn’t be sustained in the long run. And indeed, in recent months, the industry appears to have suffered some setbacks. Roughly one-third of all deal sites …
How Much You Spend Each Year on Coffee, Gas, Christmas, Pets, Beer, and More
A new report estimates that the average American worker drops nearly $1,100 annually on coffee. That’s not much less than what the average worker spends to commute to the job.
Billions Wasted: Do Gift Cards Make Sense When So Many Go Unused?
Retailers and restaurants love gift cards—so much so that they load them with bonus cash in order to sell more cards. This makes total sense once you realize how often gift cards aren’t used at all, and how all those cards add …
Why Monday Is E-Retailers’ Favorite Day of the Week
For most employees, Monday means time to get back to the workaday grind. And it looks like retail therapy is often the prescription consumers use to cope with a “case of the Mondays.” The first day of the workweek is also almost …
5 Weirdest Hot-Selling Purchases of the 2011 Holiday Season
During the holidays, it’s expected that clothing, electronics, gift cards and, of course, toys will be hot sellers. But guns? I suppose many of them would fit nicely into a stocking. But still.
We’re in the Middle of a Record-Setting Week for Returning Online Purchases
Especially around the holidays, retailers love to coin names for gimmicky sales events—Green Monday and Cyber Week, to name a couple examples. Funny: So far, no one has come up with an official name for this week, which is …
Top 10 Shopping Trends for the 2011 Holiday Season
Here’s a look back at the frantic holiday shopping season that’s just passed—and that, among other things, reached a high point for self-gifting, shoplifting, free shipping, and procrastination. Without further adieu, this …
Retro Sneakers Literally All the Rage: Air Jordan XI Concords Cause Fights, Sell for Nearly $1,000
Each holiday season, an especially hot, must-have gift emerges, often triggering behavior by desperate consumers that seems wacky and ugly at the time — and even more so in retrospect. (Example: Some guy made $6,000 selling Zhu Zhu pets on eBay last year.) This year, the behavior surrounding one hot item seems especially extreme — …
Let the After-Christmas Sales Begin! December 26 Expected to Be Huge Day for Retailers
What with exchanges and shoppers eager to redeem gift cards, the day after Christmas is always a busy one for retailers. For a variety of reasons, including that December 26 falls on a Monday this year, retailers anticipate a …
More Shoppers Hit Dollar Stores for Holiday Gifts
The past few years of economic struggle have been a boom time for dollar stores. One study has it that business has been so strong in recent times at dollar stores, they now outnumber drugstores in the U.S. Consumers now rank …
