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Shopping

Retailers have an inventory problem as lockdown lifestyle fades

by Savannah Peters
Jun 7, 2022
As inflation hits and consumers abandon pandemic spending habits, Target and others have the wrong kind of stuff on their hands.
The home goods section at a Target store. Now that consumers are getting out and about, stores are left with too much inventory.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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Industry shakeup signals change for grocery delivery

by Kristin Schwab
Jun 1, 2022
More people have gone back to shopping in person, but some pandemic behaviors have stuck.
A distribution center for Buyk, a grocery delivery app, in New York. Inflation and comfort with in-person shopping are hurting delivery services.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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Consumers are spending on services again as the pandemic shopping spree for goods cools

by Sabri Ben-Achour
May 31, 2022
People want to get outside and do stuff, not just buy stuff. That's reflected in surging travel bookings — and airfare.
Consumers are still spending on big-ticket, durable goods like furniture. But now demand for services is picking up again.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
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When consumers feel strapped, some brands do well anyway

by Kristin Schwab
May 27, 2022
Strong earnings from Nordstrom, Macy's and Dollar General suggest pent-up demand and a reframing of what people consider essential spending.
Dollar Tree said groceries made up a bigger part of its sales last quarter — which could spell trouble for retailers like Walmart and Target.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
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The pandemic drove people to buy more online, and some of those buying habits are sticking

by Samantha Fields
Mar 17, 2022
One retail category that remains popular: buying groceries online, something many people had not tried before the pandemic.
Online shopping has surged during the pandemic, according to data from Adobe, But inflation accounts for a significant portion of that growth.
David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
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People are clothes shopping in person again, and small businesses want to be ready

by Stephanie Hughes
Mar 14, 2022
In-store purchases of clothes and accessories rose 21.9% from last year. Small businesses stand to benefit if they can attract once-cautious shoppers.
Jill Lindsey said she received two federal loans totaling $86,000 to keep her eponymous Brooklyn boutique open during the pandemic.
Stephanie Hughes/Marketplace
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For many retailers, business has never been better. The future? Uncertain.

by Kristin Schwab
Jan 13, 2022
Millions of Americans are still shopping like crazy. But retailers worry their voracious appetite won't last much longer.
Americans have been eager to shop in recent months but haven't been able to find everything they want. Fresh retail sales data will come out Friday.
Raul Ratje/AFP via Getty Images
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South African luxury mall navigates the return to in-person shopping

by ish Mafundikwa
Nov 26, 2021
Some stores in the complex didn't survive pandemic closures, but other tenants expanded or relocated.
Shoppers walk by the Nelson Mandela statue at Sandton City in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2010. When the pandemic began, all nonessential stores at the luxury shopping center were forced to close.
Gianluigi Guercia via Getty Images
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Delta variant starting to alter consumer spending – except among unvaccinated

by Amanda Peacher
Aug 17, 2021
Many Americans who’ve gotten the shot are feeling anxious, but not so with the unvaccinated.  
People spend time at an ice skating rink in The Galleria mall on Aug. 03, 2021 in Houston, Texas.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
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Is shopping by livestream the next chapter of e-commerce?

by Scott Tong
Apr 15, 2021
A lot of stores, brands and internet titans expect livestreaming to soar this year. And they’re investing accordingly.
Many businesses are able to use livestreaming as an inexpensive and direct way to reach customers.
hobo_018 via Getty Images
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