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Columbus, Ohio -- Big Lots Inc. reported Tuesday a loss of $6 million for the third quarter, compared with net income of $4.2 million in the year-ago period. Results, however, topped analysts’ earnings expectations.

Revenue slipped 0.4% to $1.13 billion, missing Wall Street’s forecast of $1.3 billion.

The retailer also announced that its CEO Steven Fishman will retire as chairman and CEO after 40 years in retail. Big Lots has launched a search for his successor; Fishman will stay until a new CEO is appointed.

Framingham, Mass. -- A survey by Staples of 1,000 American shoppers revealed that the majority tend to wait until the last minute to mail holiday gifts.

The Staples Winter Holiday Survey found that two-thirds of those polled confessed to sending holiday cards out too late and nearly half admitted to shipping gifts at the last minute.

Houston -- A Tuesday report by NPD Group found that total consumer traffic through convenience stores was down 2.1% in the third quarter, compared with the same period last year.

NPD’s convenience store market research reports that the traffic decline this quarter was largely driven by lower purchase frequency (5.9 visits per 30 days), but was also influenced by a slight decline in the overall reach of the channel (only 50.2% of consumers aged 16+).
 

New York -- Early reports indicate that Target Corp.’s holiday promotion with Neiman Marcus is not off to the spectacular start that many industry experts had expected. The promotion includes some 50 gift items featuring works of 24 well-known designers from Marc Jacobs to Diane von Furstenberg to Judith Leiber.

Through the first 30 days of the holiday season online sales have surpassed $20 billion with several days last week above the $1 billion mark.

Thorofare, N.J. -- Retailers in the United States are expected to lose $8.9 billion over the holiday season as a result of shoplifting, dishonest employees and vendor or distribution losses, according to a new study released by the Centre for Retail Research. In total, the losses could represent a 4% increase over the same period last year.

Solon, Ohio -- Black Friday and Cyber Monday does not always mean lower prices, according to a study by ECRM Analytics that examines Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions. The analysis exposes many common misconceptions around these two important shopping days.

ECRM found that when comparing Black Friday deals to other times throughout the year, it is apparent that holiday prices are not always the lowest, with leading retailers promoting higher prices than previously advertised on toys and consumer electronics.

New York -- Amazon and Costco lead the pack lead the pack when it comes to the e-tailers that have most satisfied their customers, according to the "2012 Harris Poll Shopper Satisfaction Study of Online Retailers." The survey used a 100-point scale to measure customer satisfaction with the e-commerce sites of 14 big retailers. Amazon.com ranked first with a score of 82.