Winter Holidays

Sears is offering early access to Black Friday deals as a means to entice customers to join its free Shop Your Way membership-based loyalty program.

The retailer said its Shop Your Way members can begin Black Friday a week early at Sears.com when exclusive pricing on key items becomes available at 6 p.m. on Nov. 20. Then on Thanksgiving Day, Sears stores will open at 6 p.m. with more than 1,000 doorbuster deals continuing through 1 p.m. on Black Friday.

Gift card sales are expected to reach record levels again this holiday season and new research from the National Retail Federation (NRF) offers insight into the increased popularity of stored value products.

More than half of shoppers polled by NRF’s Gift Card Spending Survey said they will buy gift cards this holiday season because the cards allow the recipient to select their own gift. More than 25% of shoppers said gift cards are easier and faster to buy, and 3.8% said the cards help them stick to their holiday budgets.

New York -- According to Nielsen’s 2014 Holiday Retail Sales Forecast, nearly 25% of consumers polled had already started their holiday shopping in September. However, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are still relevant, as 52% of respondents in a just released Black Friday/Cyber Monday survey stated that they plan to venture into stores on Black Friday and 55% of respondents stated that they plan to fire up their computers for Cyber Monday. 

Grapevine, Texas –- GameStop is introducing the GameStop Holiday Hub. a seamless online experience allowing customers to check out gift guides, find deals, determine trade-in values, learn about layaway options, and other shopper-friendly tools such as in-store pickup of online orders.  

Washington, D.C. –- During the 2014 holiday season, spending on tiny plastic or digital gift cards will top all previous records. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF) Gift Card Spending Survey, the average person buying gift cards will spend $172.74, up from $163.16 in 2013. Total spending is expected to reach $31.74 billion.  

A third quarter same store sales decline of 1% at Dillard’s wasn’t enough to dissuade CEO William Dillard, II, from declaring the company is very well positioned for the holidays.

Total merchandise sales also declined 1% to $1.42 billion while net incomes increased to $55.2 million, or $1.30 a share, compared to $50.9 million, or $1.13 a share. The third quarter earnings per share benefited from a one time gain of $3.8 million, or nine cents a share, related to the sale of a store location.

When it comes to getting a great deal, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are big shopping days for consumers. But according to new research from Nielsen, men and women have different shopping behaviors on these two retail holidays.

San Francisco -- Euclid, the leader of in-store retail analytics, today releases its monthly retail benchmarks report to analyze shopper activity and behavior during the month of October.