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Ecommerce

For online retail, the holidays are coming earlier and earlier

by Matt Levin
Nov 15, 2024
Web retail requires no mall Santas or displays, and shoppers easily compare prices online, so the messaging starts around Oct. 1, experts say.
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Wayfair steps into IRL retail

by Meghan McCarty Carino
May 16, 2024
Many consumers are more comfortable buying furnishings in person. Several online-native brands have recently expanded into physical retail.
Wayfair's first brick-and-mortar store, located in Wilmette, Illinois. The 150,000-square-foot space will carry only a fraction of what’s online.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
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The big business of gift guides

by Kai Ryssdal and Andie Corban
Dec 15, 2023
Author Jessica Roy explains why it seems like everyone is releasing a gift guide this year.
Gift guides help legacy media outlets generate revenue amid declining ad sales and subscriptions.
Matt Cardy/Getty Images
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Crafts vendor Etsy has strengths, weaknesses at a time of economic headwinds

by Elizabeth Trovall
Oct 31, 2023
Consumer spending has been resilient, but will Etsy, a site that epitomizes discretionary spending, continue to rake in money?
Etsy's artisanal offerings may do well during the holiday shopping season, said Claire Tassin with Morning Consult.
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"Dark patterns": The deceptive arts of e-commerce

by Reema Khrais
Jan 16, 2023
Emily Stewart of Vox explains how web tactics like countdown clocks and inventory trackers can create a false sense of urgency for consumers.
Many e-commerce sites use well-honed tactics to influence consumers to "buy, buy, buy." Emily Stewart advises consumers to learn about them and avoid impulsive shopping.
Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images
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Online inflation catches up

by Matt Levin
Dec 10, 2021
Fading are the days when you could count on cheaper prices online.
Online shopping used to be a haven for better deals. That might not be the case for much longer.
iStockPhoto.com
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There's an industry that handles our returns, and it's not pretty

by Kai Ryssdal and Sean McHenry
Oct 19, 2021
Companies spend a lot of money processing those returns, and many items that are returned won't end up back on the shelf.
An Amazon delivery driver carries boxes into a van outside of a distribution facility in Hawthorne, California.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
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Why Valentine’s Day shipping delays are this CEO’s “biggest fear”

by Kai Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst
Feb 3, 2021
“There’s just a lot of it that’s out of our control completely,” says Christina Stembel of Farmgirl Flowers.
Valentine's Day shipping delays have the potential to cost Farmgirl Flowers $12 million in a worst-case scenario, CEO Christina Stembel says. Above, a Farmgirl Flowers bouquet.
Courtesy of Farmgirl Flowers
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COVID-19

Holiday surge in e-commerce could cause delivery crunch

by Meghan McCarty Carino
Nov 27, 2020
It won't be as bad as early in the pandemic, but shoppers should plan ahead.
A postal worker loads packages into a mail truck outside a USPS center in Los Angeles, California, in August.
Kyle Grillot/AFP via Getty Images
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Target's winning streak slows with disappointing holiday sales

by Meghan McCarty Carino
Jan 15, 2020
The retailer missed the mark on electronics and toy sales.
A Target cashier rings up customers at a Target store in Albany, California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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