Product Sources, Retail News & Internet Strategies
Eager holiday shoppers helped drive retail sales upwards in November, helping boost sales in the first half of the holiday season. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), the world’s largest retail trade association, November retail sales (excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants) increased 0.8 percent seasonally adjusted from October and increased 4.4 percent unadjusted ... [Read more]
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October marked the one-year anniversary of landmark Federal Reserve regulations that cut the average debit card swipe fee collected by the nation's largest banks, from about 44 cents per transaction to around 22 cents. Reform was the result of more than five years of retail industry advocacy efforts, led by the National Retail Federation (NRF). This debit card swipe fee reform is resulting in ... [Read more]
Halloween is one of the most widely celebrated days in the U.S., with 70 percent of Americans expected to take part in the costumed revelry this year, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2012 Halloween spending survey. Halloween sales are projected to reach $8 billion this year, and that is certainly a treat for retailers. “Typically, when Halloween sales are strong, it provides ... [Read more]
The average holiday shopper will spend $749.51 on gifts, décor, greeting cards and more, up slightly from the $740.57 they spent last year, according to NRF’s holiday consumer spending survey. NRF is forecasting holiday sales will increase 4.1 percent to $586.1 billion. Retailers will continue to look for ways to stand out, specifically with attractive deals on toys, electronics and apparel, ... [Read more]
In the ChainLinks 2012 Retail Forecast Report, carried out by the market research group, Terranomics, the success of last year’s holiday retail sales was attributed, in part, to many retailers extending their Black Friday sales, beginning earlier and lasting longer into the weekend. “The impact of ‘Black Friday’ is slowly slipping away,” the report states. In spite of some stores opting ... [Read more]
Coming on the heels of the first presidential debate, the National Retail Federation (NRF) has launched a grassroots get-out-the-vote initiative, Retail Means Votes. The new, non-partisan effort dedicated to educating and engaging America’s retail industry, which supports 42 million American jobs, is designed to encourage retail’s active participation in the elections. “With an election ... [Read more]
In a letter sent to House and Senate Leaders today, a group of associations representing merchants of all sizes across all segments of the merchant community highlighted the reasons behind the growing opposition to a proposed settlement of long-standing antitrust lawsuits filed by merchants against Visa, MasterCard and the nation’s largest banks. If ultimately approved in court, the terms of ... [Read more]
The average person with children in grades K-12 will spend $688.62 on their children's back-to-school merchandise, up from $603.63 last year, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF) 2012 Back-to-School spending survey, conducted by BIGinsight. Total spending is expected to reach $30.3 billion. Combined K-12 and college spending will reach $83.8 billion, serving as the second biggest ... [Read more]
A settlement was recently proposed in a lawsuit against Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc. and bank card issuers which suggests that $6.5 billion be parceled out among plaintiffs in the class-action suit, plus another $1.2 billion to cover eight months of reduced merchant fees. Major retailers, small businesses and independent contractors who accused the card companies of price fixing when setting fees ... [Read more]
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