Winter Holidays

All systems are go and the holiday season is clear for takeoff at Macy's Herald Square in New York City.

That’s because this year’s Macy’s Christmas window display, “Santa’s Journey to the Stars,” traces the adventures of Alex, a young boy who receives a magical and mystical telescope that allows him to experience the wonder of Christmas on other planets before landing back on Earth at the iconic Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Move over pumpkin pie: Black Friday fervor seemed to stir up more conversations on social media than the Thanksgiving holiday itself.

According to Salesforce.com, social media posts about Black Friday shopping numbered 2.7 million. Roughly 278,000 posts were stamped with the hashtag "#blackfriday" and another 8,000 were labeled "#deals," vs. just 85,000 with "#Thanksgiving."

There were also about 1.84 million holiday shopping posts on Thanksgiving Day, and about 719,000 posts the day before Thanksgiving.

Online sales are expected to reach $300 billion in 2014, $335 billion in 2015 and $512 billion by 2020.

According to business forecasting experts at FTI Consulting Inc., online sales will continue to grow at a double-digit rate for the next several years.

To celebrate the busiest monogramming season of the year, Lands’ End is launching #MonogramMonday.

The world's largest retailer reported a robust Black Friday weekend — including record online sales — as part of its kickoff to the 2014 holiday sales season.

“In a few short hours, we flipped from being the largest grocery store in town to the best gift shop on the block," said Laura Phillips, SVP of merchandising at Walmart. "Not only did we have millions of customers shopping our stores, but we’re confident Walmart was the first stop of the night for most of them."

Grand Rapids, Mich. — Meijer is offering a 20% coupon on Monday, Dec. 1, which it is calling “Digital Monday,” through its mPerks digital loyalty program. The mPerks Monday promotion includes a 20% coupon through mPerks that can be used on one electronics, apparel or general merchandise item.

Meijer credit card customers who have a 15% reward coupon can use it in addition to the mPerks Monday. The coupon will be available for mPerks subscribers to clip Nov. 30 through Dec. 1 and will only be available for use on Dec. 1.

New York — More consumers (40%) say they plan to shop on Cyber Monday than Black Friday (36%). According to a new survey of 1,000 consumers from Verizon Wireless and KRC Research, people in the West (39%) are most likely to go shopping on Cyber Monday compared to other regions (33% Northeast, 36% South, 36% Midwest).

 

New York — Saks Fifth Avenue flagship on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue has unveiled its holiday windows along with a dramatic light display that encompasses the entire façade of the iconic buiding.  

New York — More than half of consumers are either unsure or not confident at all in the security of their personal information when shopping both in-store (58%) and online (63%), which could impact holiday shopping, according to a new survey by KPMG.  Twenty-seven percent of of respondents indicate they will only shop at a store that previously experienced a cyberattack if they cannot find the product elsewhere, with 8% refusing to shop at these stores all together.