Holiday shoppers plan to buy more online than in stores, survey finds

Oct 25, 2017
This year for the first time, consumers say they’ll spend more shopping online than in physical stores. That’s according to an annual consumer holiday shopping survey by Deloitte. It’s one more data point documenting the march of e-commerce to capture ever more of America’s retail spending. Deloitte’s online survey of more than 5,000 Americans found […]

Walmart deal would put Lord & Taylor merch on the discounter's website

Oct 20, 2017
Pressure from Amazon has Walmart.com looking for new kinds of customers. According to the Wall Street Journal, the giant discount store is close to landing a deal with Lord & Taylor, one of the oldest luxury department stores in the country.  Click the audio player above to hear the full story.

It's hard being a retail worker in this economy

Oct 12, 2017
With 31,000 jobs cut in a year, even those still employed wonder how long they can hang on.
People walk by a Sears store in a nearly empty shopping mall on March 2017 in Meriden, Connecticut.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Let's do the numbers: Halloween edition

Oct 9, 2017
Halloween spending is expected to hit a record $9.1 billion this year.
Rich Polk/Getty Images for Universal Studios Hollywood

Amazon is trimming some profit off high-end salons

Sep 28, 2017
Hair products once sold only in salons are now offered online. Salons are relying on customer relationships to sell the merchandise.
Companies used to sell their high-end hair care products only in salons and stores. But they found their products were being sold online, whether they wanted them to be or not.  
Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty Images

Retail workers likely to be in demand for holiday jobs this year

Sep 19, 2017
It’s been a volatile year for U.S. retailers. They’ve closed a record number of stores and slashed more jobs than they have since 2009. However, for this year’s holiday season, there’s expected to be a whole lot of hiring going on, as the economy strengthens and consumer confidence returns. Click the audio player above to […]

Today, Target reports. More bad news from the retail sector?

Aug 16, 2017
This morning, we’ll hear from discount retailer Target on how it performed in the second quarter of the year. Last month, Target raised its guidance on sales at stores open at least a year. Analysts will be watching to see how its digital sales perform against big rivals like Amazon, which present ever increasing threats. […]

For public good, not for profit.

Amazon is everywhere. Even in economic data.

Aug 15, 2017
Today the retail industry got a small piece of good news in the form of some data from July that was better than expected. The government announced this morning that retail sales last month were up 0.6 percent during the previous month and more than 4 percent from this time last year. Not bad for […]

Nordstrom’s doing better than most retailers — so why is it struggling to find a buyer?

Aug 10, 2017
Earnings for Nordstrom are expected later today. The retailer announced back in June that it was considering becoming a private company again. Buying out shareholders takes a lot of financing, and the company appears to be having a tough time getting formal talks going with potential investors. But that may not be such a bad […]

Hassle-free returns will apply to all sellers on Amazon’s site from October

Aug 4, 2017
Amazon announced this week that it’s going to apply its hassle-free returns policy to all items purchased on the website from October. That’s good news for consumers, but it’s a new burden for some third-party Amazon sellers, who, until now, could have policies of their own.  Click the audio player above to hear the full […]