The market for customized goods is here, thanks to your data

Apr 25, 2019
Companies have created a new form of convenience with personalized products.
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images

Regional grocery chains are in fight-or-flight mode

Apr 18, 2019
Some are thriving. Others are closing. All are strategizing.
People shop at Wegmans Foods store in Fairfax, Virginia, on February 24, 2011. 
JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images

Look out, beef. Plant-based patties are vying to win over meat lovers.

Feb 12, 2019
Two new burgers made from plants look like meat, cook like meat, and taste like meat.
The Impossible Burger is served at Toasted in Winter Park, Fl. as a classic burger.
Renata Sago/Marketplace

Social media fury over Instacart pay scale raises industry-wide concerns

Feb 8, 2019
Instacart and other apps are competing for consistent customers, while worker pay is inconsistent.
This illustration photo taken on December 22, 2012, in Paris, shows credit cards in a miniature toy shopping cart.
JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images

As tariffs increase prices, are consumers noticing?

Jan 15, 2019
Last year, the Trump administration imposed new tariffs on roughly $280 billion worth of U.S. imports — everything from solar panels and washing machines, steel and aluminum, and about half of what we import from China. In response, Ford, Coca-Cola, Walmart and other large companies have warned about the impact of tariffs on their bottom […]
Cars are prepared for distribution at a Ford factory in Dagenham, England.
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How a new service could help boost your credit score

Dec 21, 2018
Experian says consumers who let the firm monitor their checking accounts could get easier access to credit.
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How companies are sizing you up based on your behavior as a customer

Nov 23, 2018
Companies use your "customer lifetime value score," a secret shopper score of sorts, to determine how to treat you.
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For public good, not for profit.

How the day after Thanksgiving came to be known as Black Friday

Nov 19, 2018
This Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving, is ubiquitously referred to as “Black Friday” by retailers, consumers and the media. We wondered: What does the term mean? And where’d it come from? Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 
The 24th of September 1869: Panic on 'Black Friday' in the New York Gold Room.
Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images

Apple gear is getting more expensive. Here's why.

Nov 1, 2018
The company has managed to make its products seem indispensable to its loyal customers, who appear willing to pay more.
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, unveils new products during an Apple launch event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York on Oct. 30. The new products cost about 20 percent more than the previous generation.
Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

FICO scores are going to change. Here's how.

The Ultra FICO could make it easier for people with imperfect scores to qualify for credit.
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