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For online retail, the holidays are coming earlier and earlier

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.
kerkez/Getty Images

More consumers are planning to use generative AI for holiday shopping

Nov 13, 2024
Amazon and Walmart are both touting AI chatbots as a convenient way to shop this holiday season. But will it really change the way we buy?
It's the first holiday season for Rufus, Amazon's AI shopping assistant, which launched in February.
Nathan Stirk/Getty Images

With Tupperware's bankruptcy, where's the party now?

Oct 25, 2024
The sales model was innovative when the company embraced it after WWII. But in the digital age, that strategy has evolved.
Tupperware is now sold is some stores, but nearly 90% of the company's sales last year came through direct sellers.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Wayfair steps into IRL retail

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

More people shopped by phone than by computer over the holidays

Jan 4, 2024
Consumers are more comfortable making impulse buys on smartphones — and retailers know it.
As people get more comfortable shopping on their phones, retailers are offering apps meant to attract and retain time-pressed customers.
Tero Vesalainen/Getty Images

Layoffs signal retailers are adjusting to more sharp turns

Apr 17, 2023
Retailers like Walmart and Best Buy are cutting staff as consumers pull back on discretionary spending.
Retail sales had a weak showing in March, and stores like Best Buy and Walmart are laying off workers.
Ken Betancur/Getty Images

How does a water bottle go viral — and stay viral?

Feb 21, 2023
Stanley, the popular drinkware brand, has transitioned from venerable camping staple to TikTok sensation.
A woman with a Stanley tumbler in hand. Short-form social media has accelerated the trend cycle of various products, says marketing professor Justin Huang.
Courtesy Stanley

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How a Seattle retailer hopes to navigate an uncertain holiday season

Dec 3, 2020
Sales estimates are all over the place. Small business owners are hoping to ride out the uncertainty.
 Tom Butcher, right, and Cindy Reichel, left, co-owners of Patchwerks in Seattle. The four-year-old store and online business specializes in synthesizers and other electronic music instruments.
Image provided by Tom Butcher

U.S. was top seller to China during Singles Day

Nov 12, 2020
But overall retail sales in China for the year are still down significantly due to the pandemic.
Workers sort packages for delivery at a warehouse of China Post Group in Hengyang, in central China's Hunan province on Nov. 12, 2020, a day after the end of the Singles Day shopping festival.
STR/AFP via Getty Images

With stores closed, local bookstores lean on online sales

Mar 31, 2020
At Bookshop.org, a platform for independent bookstores, sales are way up.
Keystone/Getty Images