The holiday window displays in stores like Lord & Taylor and Macy’s range from traditional (Santa, Christmas trees, gifts) to whimsical (ice-skating puppets) to just plain weird (Lady Gaga as half-woman, half-motorcycle). All of …
Smart Spending
Holiday Spending: Just How Important Is Free Shipping to Online Shoppers?
Increasingly, online shoppers won’t complete their orders unless free shipping is part of the deal. Nearly two-thirds of online purchases last week were shipped for free.
‘Cyber Week’ Holiday Spending Hits an All-Time High
Cyber Monday was the heaviest online spending day ever. Cyber Week brought in $6 billion — a record. And there were three days that week that eclipsed a billion dollars in spending. Bottom line: The online holiday shopping …
Why Some Experts Say the Best Toys Are Free
How’s this for a justification to spend absolutely no money on toys this holiday season?
Flash Fashion 101: How to Make the Most of Gilt, Rue La La and Other Sale Sites
It’s not surprising that fashion deal sites like Gilt Groupe, Rue La La and Ideeli, which often offer designer merchandise discounted up to 80%, have garnered more than 5 million members in just a few short years. As these …
Amazon Flurry Deals: A Week’s Worth of One-Day-Only Holiday Discounts
You have to hand it to Amazon: The e-retail giant knows how to drag out a shopping season. Its Black Friday promotions didn’t start a mere day, or even a week early, but 24 days before the Friday after Thanksgiving. While most …
Watch Out Amazon: Google Looking to Venture into Delivery Services
After watching Amazon corner the online retail market, Google is in talks with merchants to begin a delivery service that would allow users to order items online from local stores and receive them within a day. But does it make …
Gift Registry for Everyone? Why Surprise Presents Are a Bad Idea
Say your mom, or best friend, or spouse has made it perfectly clear what they’d like in a holiday gift. Better think twice before going off the script and buying something else you have a gut feeling they’ll just love. Studies …
How Much Do You Actually Save Shopping at Outlet Malls?
This past weekend’s monumental $52 billion shopping binge notwithstanding, that most American of retail institutions—the mall—hasn’t fared particularly well in recent times. Especially not when compared to their low-budget …
The Big Mac Big Deal: LivingSocial’s Half-Priced McDonald’s Special
Tapping into the bargain-hunting mentality that resulted in an epic spending frenzy over the holiday weekend, fast food outlets are hoping that consumers have built up an appetite—for their food, of course, as well as more …
Prices for New Cars Are Cheaper. So Why Are Drivers Paying More?
Could new car prices mimic those of cell phones and other tech products—which get cheaper and cheaper with each passing day thanks to innovation and more efficient manufacturing techniques? On the surface, this looks to already …
The Hottest Thing at the Supermarket: Generic Store-Brand Foods
Not long ago, supermarket house brand foods were easily detected by their lame packaging, if not the groans they elicited from kids forced to eat the cheap knock-off goods. Times have changed.