The early returns are in and it looks like holiday sales were slightly better than expected. After spending the entire holding out for bargains, shoppers finally caved. In the end, neither snow nor sleet — nor massive snowstorms, for that matter — could keep consumers from their appointed rounds at the mall. Continue reading Holiday Sales Could Mark a Turnaround in Retail’s Fortunes Holiday Sales Could Mark a Turnaround in Retail’s Fortunes originally appeared on DailyFinance on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:00:00. Filed Under: Economy Permalink | Tweet this! | Comments

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Holiday Sales Could Mark a Turnaround in Retail’s Fortunes

(TrendHunter.com) I’m definitely not ready to hang up my Piloti driving shoes just yet, but when I finally own a Ferrari, I might have to drop ‘em like hot potatoes to get my feet inside these Ferrari and Tod’s driving…

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Supercar Driving Loafers – Ferrari and Tod’s Team Up for Luscious Driving Shoes (GALLERY)

Filed under: Economy How was Black Friday for retailers? It depends on who’s counting. ShopperTrack, which tracks store sales , reports that spending on the day after Thanksgiving was up 0.5% to $10.66 billion. The distribution of the improvement around the country was mixed, and some regions did poorly. In the West, sales rose 4.7%, but in the Northeast they were down 4.9%. Continue reading Black Friday: A small step for bricks-and-mortar, a giant leap for online Black Friday: A small step for bricks-and-mortar, a giant leap for online originally appeared on DailyFinance on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Black Friday: A small step for bricks-and-mortar, a giant leap for online

Filed under: Company News , Columns , Economy , People , Investing , Earnings , Macy’s , Wal-Mart Stores Macy’s ( M ) CEO Terry Lundgren said he’s “encouraged” by the level of buying activity at the company’s Herald Square store in New York City Friday. The day after Thanksgiving in the U.S. is nicknamed Black Friday because it’s the day when many retailers become profitable for the year. Macy’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lundgren told DailyFinance that Macy’s sales were strong Friday because of the number of people he saw in the store walking around with purchases. Continue reading Black Friday: Macy’s CEO Lundgren “encouraged” by sales traffic Black Friday: Macy’s CEO Lundgren “encouraged” by sales traffic originally appeared on DailyFinance on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Black Friday: Macy’s CEO Lundgren "encouraged" by sales traffic

(TrendHunter.com) Black Friday is the day for shopping bargains, there’s no doubt about it. But is waiting in hours-long lines, shoving your way to get to the 50%-off shoes, and having things from your shopping cart snatched…

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50 Online Shopping Innovations – From Fitting Room Simulators to Invite-Only Shopping Sites (CLUSTER)

Filed under: Company News Marketers have not warmed to social networks. The advertising that Facebook and MySpace get tends to be at low cost per thousand compared with the advertising on large content sites like CNN , while Twitter gets almost no advertising revenue at all. Marketers find it difficult to use huge, disparate pools of people to effectively reach specific demographic targets. Facebook may have 200 million members by some counts, but its revenue is only about $500 million a year. The FT reports that retailers have been making a marketing surge on the large social networks this holiday. The paper reports “retailers have reinforced their traditional efforts with an array of new social-networking weapons including Twitter, the micro-blogging website.” Best Buy ( BBY ) released its sales discount information early to one million Facebook “friends,” and it’s also using Twitter to send information about its deals. Continue reading Black Friday may be first big marketing test of social networks Black Friday may be first big marketing test of social networks originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Black Friday may be first big marketing test of social networks

Filed under: Economy , Investing U.S. stocks are poised to open sharply lower this Black Friday morning, joining a global selloff that began Thursday when U.S. markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. Late Wednesday, Dubai said it has asked for a stay on two of its largest companies’ debt, sending world markets skidding as investors lost confidence and tried to get a grip on banks’ exposure to the debt. As U.S. markets play catch-up to global stocks, they will do so only until 1:00 p.m. Eastern when markets close. Trading could be thin, which may contribute to the downward move. Investors will also focus on retail today as Black Friday starts the holiday shopping season. More here: Before the bell: Futures sharply lower on Dubai’s debt problems Stocks poised to join global selloff on Dubai’s debt problems originally appeared on DailyFinance on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Stocks poised to join global selloff on Dubai’s debt problems

Filed under: Economy , McAfee You can be very careful when shopping but you will still be at risk. Each time you hand your credit card to someone or transmit your credit card number over the Internet, you’re putting yourself at risk. The Privacy Rights Clearing House tracks data breaches , reporting publicly on incidents of merchants and vendors exposing your private data to identity thieves. Millions of consumers are put at risk because of data breaches each year. And during the holiday season, you’re at even greater risk. No longer are consumers forced to wait in gargantuan lines to get deals on Black Friday. The Internet has become a safe-haven of those who don’t like crowds, but still want to get in on the deals. Continue reading A flurry of scams accompany Black Friday shopping A flurry of scams accompany Black Friday shopping originally appeared on DailyFinance on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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A flurry of scams accompany Black Friday shopping

(TrendHunter.com) In 2009, Black Friday retailers will attempt to woo budget-crunched holiday shoppers into brick-and-mortar stores like never before. We’ve seen a number of innovative approaches in advance of Black Friday…

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70 Credit Crunch Retail Promotions – Clever Store Promotions for Black Friday 2009 (CLUSTER)