Free shipping was once a perk that online sellers offered to attract customers, but it’s now a key driver for e-commerce, and this year many sellers have expanded their free shipping deals. “Without a doubt, free shipping has become a critical driver of e-commerce purchasing, ...read more
Online retail sales, excluding travel purchases, totaled about 20 percent more in 2001 than they did a year earlier, reported comScore Networks. That brought the total in the United States to $33 billion -- $53 billion when counting travel, which is the largest single segment ...read more
Starting with Black Friday and continuing through Christmas, the coming holiday shopping season will, as a result of better weather conditions than last year, show improved store traffic and a resulting sales increase over last year's numbers, according to an Oct. 19 Planalytics ...read more
Even as news reports continue to add fuel to the fire burning into consumer confidence, a recent survey by research firm Worthlin Worldwide finds that 6 of 10 American shoppers say they intend to spend the same or more this holiday season versus last year. Thirty-nine percent of ...read more
During the next five years, consumers will flock to wearable wireless devices that track their fitness, sports and wellness activities, according to recent report released by ABI Research. The market for the devices will grow to nearly 80 million by 2016, outpacing the growth of ...read more
Americans plan to drop nearly the same amount of cash this year in holiday spending as they did last year, according to a poll just out. The average projected spending for this year is $794, down just $3 from last year, reported a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted last week. ...read more
What consumers spent online in several categories, including sports and fitness, outperformed what they spent offline during the 2008 holiday season. Two categories of online sales – sports and fitness, and video games and consoles – showed double-digit increases this past ...read more
Shoppers, who are expected this year to spend $791.10 each on holiday merchandise, said they plan to use the Internet for more than a quarter (28.9 percent) of their shopping, according to a new survey conducted for the National Retail Federation by BIGresearch. Though 47.1 ...read more
The Michigan Retailers Association (MRA), the nation's largest state trade association of general merchandise retailers, is projecting an overall 6 percent increase in holiday sales, but not for every retailer. The latest Michigan Retail Index reveals that 49 percent of retailers ...read more