shopping

Stories 121 - 140 | << Prev 

Black Friday Getting Longer
Black Friday Getting Longer
Nov 22, 2007 8:08 PM CST

Black Friday Getting Longer

Stores open earlier to boost profits, attract headlines

(Newser) - Stores will open earlier than ever on Black Friday, with midnight openings becoming more common, the AP reports. Wal-Mart, in fact, began its sales today. "You sell two sweaters and you've broken even,” said one analyst. But Gap chief Glenn Murphy will be out with the hordes, then...

Now PayPal Is Everywhere MasterCard Is

New service aims to protect financial info, simplify shopping

(Newser) - PayPal is offering a new way for customers to pay on sites that don't normally accept the service. PayPal Secure Card creates a new MasterCard number for every transaction and retrieves members' payment information from their PayPal accounts. "From a merchant's perspective this looks like any other MasterCard transaction,...

Stores Expose Customer Credit Card, Personal Data to Hackers

Major retailers neglect anti-theft encryption

(Newser) - Major US and European retailers routinely transmit sensitive data, including customer credit card and Social Security numbers, over wireless networks wide open to hackers. A recent undercover study by a wireless data security firm found half of stores in major shopping areas either exchanged data without anti-hacking encryption or used...

Compulsive Shopping Linked to Mental Woes

Disorder affects both sexes equally

(Newser) - Nearly 6% of the population suffers from compulsive buying, which is often linked to other problems with control and mood disorders, according to research in the American Journal of Psychiatry. About the same percentage of women and men are shopaholics, and addicts are likely to be young, near the limit...

Save Money; Buy Used
Save Money; Buy Used
Oct 20, 2007 6:01 PM CDT

Save Money; Buy Used

There's no need to throw away cash on these 10 items you shouldn't buy new

(Newser) - Some things, like lingerie and toothbrushes, are best purchased new. In other cases, used is just as good—and far cheaper. MSN Money gives you the lowdown:
  1. Books
  2. CDs and DVDs
  3. Little kids' toys

Cargo Drop-off a Sign of Slow Economy

Observers stunned as port imports fall after years of growth

(Newser) - A drop in cargo at US ports has stunned analysts, who call the 1.4% fall more evidence of a stalled economy. A few factors are keeping foreign cargo at bay—the low dollar, wary buyers, and a cool housing market among them—yet observers still expressed shock. "When...

All I Want for Xmas is a $1.6M Concert

Private Kirov Orchestra show tops new Neiman Marcus gift catalogue

(Newser) - A $1.6 million concert by the Kirov Orchestra is just one eye-popping highlight of Neiman Marcus' brand new Christmas catalogue, which is chock full of super-extravagant gifts most of us can only salivate over. The private concert for 500 includes a Steinway Concert Grand piano autographed by the musicians....

America, as Defined by Wal-Mart
America,
as Defined
by Wal-Mart
Sep 13, 2007 4:29 PM CDT

America, as Defined by Wal-Mart

With firm grasp on US consumers, snapshot of giant's sales is a self-portrait

(Newser) - Wal-Mart knows a lot about Americans, courtesy of the 208 million US consumers who shop there every year. ABC News takes a look at the superstore's sales figures and finds a portrait of the nation's changing face and taste. Some highlights: Boxers are tied with briefs; Ohio buys the most...

China's Malls Beg for Shoppers
China's Malls Beg for Shoppers
Aug 28, 2007 1:44 PM CDT

China's Malls Beg for Shoppers

China’s mall explosion may mimic US mortgages

(Newser) - The malls keep going up in China, but the number of mallrats isn't keeping up with them. Indications abound of retail real-estate bubble, the Christian Science Monitor reports, but warnings to banks about loaning to malls aren’t halting new construction. Consumption is only 37% of Chinese output—half the...

Product Design Gets Wilder, Faster
Product Design Gets Wilder, Faster
Aug 10, 2007 2:55 PM CDT

Product Design Gets Wilder, Faster

Today it's round Kleenex boxes; tomorrow, talking ones

(Newser) - Commercial product design is being overhauled faster and faster as brands compete in a fragmented market. The Internet and cable TV have diluted the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, and companies are spending more money on engaging design to win customers: Pepsi, for one, is rolling out a new can every...

Wal-Mart Hits Facebook
Wal-Mart Hits Facebook
Aug 9, 2007 6:57 PM CDT

Wal-Mart Hits Facebook

Retail giant turns to social networking to court back-to-school college shoppers

(Newser) - Wal-Mart is launching a back-to-school marketing campaign using Facebook, Reuters reports. The megachain has created a "Roommate Style Match" Facebook group to give college students a chance to coordinate decorating before moving in—and then browse an array of "recommended" Wal-Mart goods, including many the retailer promotes as...

A Fool and His Money ... You Know
A Fool and
His Money
... You Know
Aug 8, 2007 6:22 PM CDT

A Fool and His Money ... You Know

Everyone has 10 ways to get rich—here are 10 tips for staying broke

(Newser) - Too much money? Here's some much-needed advice from the Consumerist:
  1. Make shopping your hobby.
  2. Don't budget.
  3. Buy your friends gifts you can't afford
  4. Grocery shop hungry, don't bring a list, and buy everything you sample.
  5. Use the ATM at the gas station.

Will That Be Credit, Debit, or Cellphone?

Next-gen tech gives cash-free shoppers more options

(Newser) - Shoppers in the not-too-distant future may have a new option when they get to the checkout line: their cell phones. Many retailers are warming up to the idea of consumers using "contactless" payment methods—cellphones or cards with a built-in wireless chips that can process transactions with a simple...

Top 10 Online Book Sellers
Top 10 Online Book Sellers
Jun 25, 2007 1:35 PM CDT

Top 10 Online Book Sellers

Forbes picks the best based on selection and buyer experience.

(Newser) - Forbes picks the best based on selection and buyer experience.
  1. abebooks.com
  2. amazon.com
  3. audible.com
  4. bn.com
  5. powells.com

Small Labels Are the New Fashion Stars

Trendy, casual designers are edging out the stalwarts

(Newser) - Women of all ages are springing for trendier clothes from newer labels, and the fashion industry is scrambling to keep up, the Wall Street Journal reports. The fastest growing segment of the industry is small risk-taking labels that have elevated casual pieces like jeans, t-shirts and  cotton dresses to edgy...

Wal-Mart Posts Record Sales Decline
Wal-Mart Posts Record Sales Decline
May 10, 2007 9:10 PM CDT

Wal-Mart Posts Record Sales Decline

Drop in business at megachain worst in 28 years

(Newser) - Wal-Mart reported a 3.5% decline in sales this April, the wost monthly result the retailer has announced in nearly three decades of announcing. The figures, for stores open at least a year, reflect an early Easter, bad weather, and a rejiggered sales calendar that gave Wal-Mart positive numbers in...

Eco-Awareness Is In The (Reusable) Bag

From cheap to designer, totes help eliminate the plastic glut

(Newser) - Whether it's a designer tote bag with a three-figure price tag or a $5 carryall from the convenience store, Americans are slowly catching on to the European trend of answering the eternal question "paper or plastic" with "neither." Tote bags eliminate environmental stress, proclaim a consumer's eco-friendliness,...

JCPenney Dominates Online
JCPenney Dominates Online
Apr 30, 2007 12:04 PM CDT

JCPenney Dominates Online

(Newser) - The identity of one of the web's largest and most successful retailers may come as a surprise. It's JCPenney, Business Week reports, and it attracted 926,000 paying customers to its website in the first quarter—a number that ranks the 105-year-old company with web giants like eBay, Amazon, and...

Death Be Not Proud (At a Discount)
Death Be Not Proud
(At a Discount)
Apr 12, 2007 4:47 PM CDT

Death Be Not Proud (At a Discount)

(Newser) - What does it say about us, Mark Morford asks, that wandering the aisles at Costco in Palm Desert, CA, we come upon not only drums of olive oil and eighty-packs of frozen cream puffs, but over there, right next to the tires and the lawn furniture and right behind the...

Small Towns to Chain Stores: Let Us Shop!

Little places lure big retailers at annual shopping convention

(Newser) - Small towns and exurbs are bending over backwards to woo national retail chains, Governing magazine reports from the International Council of Shopping Centers' convention. Phalanxes of city reps descend on the dizzingly massive—and cutthroat—annual spring conference in Vegas, attempting to raise their profile and land a Pottery Barn...

Stories 121 - 140 | << Prev 
Most Read on Newser