When a store opens at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning to kick off a 41-hour shopping marathon, it sniffs of desperation. That’s just one indication retailers are now engrossed in a desperately competitive holiday period.
E-commerce
Amazon Dismisses Book That Claims to be ‘Definitive Biography’ of Company
And the owner’s wife, MacKenzie Bezos, gives the book a one-star review
The Pen Is Mightier: E-Book Growth Stagnating
30 percent of the market
Simple Secret to America’s Most Loved Companies
There’s nothing complicated about the results of a new study: Consumers prefer brands featuring products, services, pricing, and other policies that they can actually understand.
The Shutdown Is Over But Could Still Ruin Holiday Shopping
The lingering effects of the federal shutdown, combined with a general lack of confidence in both the economy and the ability of our nation’s political leaders to avoid gridlock, means that retailers are looking at a …
Better Add Extra Box of Printer Paper to Your Cart, Because Amazon Just Made It Harder to Get Free Shipping
On Monday, Amazon very quietly made a policy change, pushing the minimum requirement for free standard shipping from $25 to $35. The tweak is likely to cause some shoppers to think twice about placing orders at Amazon. But …
Shoppers Snatch Up $250 Boxes Without Knowing What’s Inside
Would you cough up $250 to a luxury retailer without knowing exactly what you were getting? Plenty of Neiman Marcus shoppers found just such a deal — which supposedly has a value of $600 — too tempting to pass up.
Hey, Thanksgiving Shoppers: Macy’s Isn’t the Only One to Blame for Ruining the Holiday
Macy’s has been getting a lot of grief for announcing that the store will open its doors to shoppers on Thanksgiving for the first time ever. But because its retail competitors are doing the same — and because our …
Can ShopRunner Rescue Retailers From Amazon?
The steady assent of Amazon has proceeded with few hiccups over the years. As retail consultant Jim Tompkins points out, if you count sales Amazon facilitates through its third-party marketplace, it actually moves more goods per …
Milk, Smokes and Beer Are Shutdown Casualties
The federal shutdown has undeniably damaged the local economy in Washington, D.C., as well as regions where national parks are the lifeblood for local businesses. But—even as the ordeal appears to be winding down—it may have …
Look Out, Amazon: More Shoppers Browse Online, Then Purchase in Stores
In the retail world, there’s tons of talk about so-called showrooming, when shoppers use real-world stores for browsing and websites for purchasing the goods inspected in person. According to a new survey, however, more shoppers …
Killer Holiday Shopping Tips From the King of Bargains
Before blowing money unnecessarily in the shopping-crazed days ahead, consider the deal-finding wisdom of Mark Ellwood, author of the new book Bargain Fever: How to Shop in a Discounted World.