Before you get too excited about announcements that consumer spending has jumped, take a listen to what Marketplace's Bob Moon found out about how those numbers are calculated.
It takes a lot of commitment to get up early and hit the Black Friday crowds. Marshall Cohen does it for the sake of research. As chief retail analyst at the NPD Group, he gathered data about the retail sales straight from the customers standing in line and in the stores. Cohen talked to Kai Ryssdal about what he found.
America prepares to celebrate "Cyber-Monday" — the Internet equivalent of Black Friday. If this year's e-shopping follows the same trends as their brick-and-mortar counterparts, websites should be looking at a successful shopping day.
As we come across another holiday season, a new study reveals that consumers plan on holding back from using credit cards. Is this really true? Nancy Marshall Genzer investigates.
Even if you're not hitting the malls for those crazy doorbuster sales today, chances are pretty good you'll need to do some holiday shopping between now and the end of the year. Given that technology is supposed to be making our lives easier, we're offering some ways to leverage the digital age to make your shopping fruitful and easier.
Stores are starting to hire more staff and perhaps encouraging them to be extra helpful. Analysts say that better customer service may be a strategy to get people to part with their money.
Tomorrow is Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping days of the year. People typically head out to the big-box retailers for the huge deals, but what about your local thrift store? They might be getting into the spirit too.
