Winter Holidays

The new Star Wars film awoke a promotional force of epic proportions over the weekend, but now retailers are faced with daunting task of driving sales of merchandise tied to a movie that won’t hit theaters for more than three months.

More than 3,000 retail locations in the U.S. opened at midnight on Friday to unveil aisles of new merchandise tied to the upcoming “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” film, according to Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media.

New York -- Disney unleashed its considerable marketing prowess on Friday and retailers were hoping the company’s “force” would translate into big sales.

On Friday, the entertainment giant formally debuted hundreds of toys and other products related to its upcoming — and hugely anticipated — film, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”  

As the demand for differentiation grows among retailers and suppliers, Daymon Worldwide’s Omni Global Sourcing Solutions has opened a new showroom to allow customers access to in-demand seasonal and general merchandise imports.

Toronto – Real estate transactions helped Sears Canada swing to a profit in the second quarter even as revenue and same-store sales decreased.

The retailer on Wednesday reported net earnings of $13.5 million, compared to a net loss of $21.3 million the same quarter a year earlier. The company, which has been working to turn around its business, also announced additional cost-cutting plans and real-estate sales.

Scottsdale, Ariz. – Shoppers keep getting smarter about using their mobile devices.

According to a new study from OneStop Marketing, 83% of mobile users now engage in shopping activities on their phone immediately before, during or after a trip to the store.

In addition, 45% of online traffic during the 2014 holiday season came from mobile but only 20% of sales came from mobile devices, indicating a substantial opportunity to increase mobile conversion rates.

The value of a super premium domain name that people instinctively visit during the holidays will be revealed soon as a leading asset disposition firm looks to extract maximum value for Santa.com.

Retailers will reveal their 2015 holiday strategies in the weeks ahead and as they do so the National Retail Federation is offering a powerful new resource filled with industry best practices to benchmark against for this year and beyond.

The newly released document is called the 2015 Holiday Planning Playbook and was compiled by top retailers over the course of the past year who served on various NRF councils focused on retail industry disciplines.

Washington, D.C. -- Retailers will reveal their 2015 holiday strategies in the weeks ahead and as they do so the National Retail Federation is offering a powerful new resource filled with industry best practices to benchmark against for this year and beyond.

The newly released report, called the 2015 Holiday Planning Playbook, was compiled by top retailers over the course of the past year who served on various NRF councils focused on retail industry disciplines.