Winter Holidays

More holiday shoppers grabbed Cyber Week deals this year than ever before — and retailers are eager to keep up the momentum.   Consumers set new records for online sales this year across Black Friday and Cyber Monday, marking a 15.7% year-over-year (YoY) increase in transactions compared to online holiday sales last year. However, there is another day contributing to this increase: Bounceback Tuesday — the day following Cyber Monday where advertisers are actively re-engaging shoppers to drive additional sales.  

Ulta has finished its third quarter with another very impressive set of numbers. Despite lapping some tough comparatives, the pace of growth has quickened with strong uplifts in total and comparable sales, as well as on the bottom line where operating and net income both grew by well over 20%.  

Competition was fierce during Cyber Week, however, the clear winners were those retailers that stayed in-stock and offered assortments at the best price points.    That’s according to the third annual “Holiday Season Report” from Ugam. The managed analytics firm collected and analyzed detailed assortment and pricing information among Amazon, Best Buy, Jet.com, Target, Toys "R" Us and Walmart during Thanksgiving week, from Nov. 24-28, 2016.   

The Mall of America is making headlines for one of its seasonal hires.  

J.C. Penney is often associated with an older shopper demographic. But its comeback is being fueled, at least partially, by a surprising group.    Millennial moms now account for 45% of Penney's revenue, CNBC reported, and the group is also driving much of the growth in the company's sales and customer count.   

Both Black Friday and Cyber Monday broke sales records this year, and early promotions could be a key contributor to this success.   Out of more than 400 major retailers that offered promotions via RetailMeNot, 70% started promoting Black Friday deals before Thanksgiving, the savings destination reported in the “RetailMeNot Promotions Index.” The study, which was conducted between Nov. 24 and Nov. 28, is based on responses from 1,500 Americans aged 18 and over.   

Mobile commerce drove healthy bottom lines for retailers industry-wide during Cyber Week, and PayPal witnessed the experience first-hand.   The payment processor said one-third of all payment volume on its network during both Thanksgiving Day and on Black Friday occurred on mobile devices, according to Tech Crunch.  

Express reported a drop in third-quarter profit and slashed its full-year adjusted earnings outlook, warning that the holiday season will "remain challenging."   In recent days, an array of apparel retailers have expressed caution about the holiday selling season, including Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch  and American Eagle Outfitters.    Express earned $11.6 million, 15 cents per share, for the quarter ended Oct. 29, down from $26.3 million, or 31 cents per share, a year earlier.