Winter Holidays

New York --Forrester Research said Monday it expects U.S. online sales to reach $89 billion in November and December. That's up 13%, or about $10 billion, over a year ago. But Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru noted that the expected growth is not as high as it could be due to a few unique constraints, including fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and capacity constraints in the already constrained carrier networks.

New York -- Retail sales this holiday season will grow about 4%, according to a survey by brand loyalty and customer engagement consultancy Brand Keys.   In the 2014 Brand Keys Holiday Shopping survey, 54% of consumers indicated they were going to start holiday shopping in November, “a trend we’ve commented upon for a number of years,” said Brand Keys founder and president Robert Passikoff.    

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holiding Company joined the growing list of retailers with extended shopping hours on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.   Sears and Kmart stores will open on Thanksgiving Day, with Sears opening at its earliest time ever: 6 p.m, two hours earlier than last year. Kmart will open its doors for 42 hours straight, from 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving to midnight on Black Friday.

New York -- Saks Fifth Avenue’s flagship in Manhattan will unveil its holiday window display and light show on Monday, Nov. 24. Presented by MasterCard, the show will integrate LEDs, strobes, up-lights, video projections and music.   

Indianapolis -- More than eight in 10 (83%) of holiday shoppers will shop at the mall during the 2014 holiday season, and that percentage climbs to 89% of millennial shoppers age 18-33. According to the new "2014 Holiday Shopping Behavior Survey" from Simon, nearly nine in 10 (87%) respondents agree that "malls have the latest and hottest fashion and styles of the season."   

Enchanted holidays are ahead for Saks Fifth Avenue and its shoppers.  On Monday, November 24, Saks’ flagship store in New York will debut An Enchanted Experience – a new show featuring the unveiling of the store's holiday windows and a dramatic light display incorporating the entire building.

The Rockettes will perform on the opening night with a line of 36 dancers on the streets of Fifth Avenue.  The windows and light display presented exclusively by Master Card will continue throughout the holiday season.

Amazon made it even easier to find holiday gifts for technology lovers this year.   The company launched its annual Electronics Holiday Gift Guide (www.amazon.com/giftguide), a curated list of more than 500 top tech gifts of the season which features 3 times more deals than last year, with 10 deals on electronics items offered every day.

Customers and Shop Your Way members can shop Black Friday deals at most Sears stores starting as early as 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving. Sears’ subsidiary Kmart, continuing a 23-year tradition as a destination for early-bird shopping, will open for 42 hours straight, from 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving to midnight on Black Friday.

Seattle –- Amazon.com will start offering daily Black Friday deals on Saturday, Nov. 1. Amazon will also start offering two Deals of the Day every day through Monday, Dec. 22.  

San Francisco –- Compared to non-users, Twitter users start holiday shopping earlier, spend more and are more prone to impulse purchases. According to a new study conducted by brand research firm DB5 for Twitter, more than a third (34%) of Twitter users have already begun thinking about holiday shopping, and 81% say they love holiday shopping, compared to 56% of non-users.