Winter Holidays

Genesco, the company behind Lids and Journeys, is the latest company to express concern about the holiday season and lower fourth-quarter expectations after producing a solid third-quarter performance.

Black Friday social mentions more than doubled those of Cyber Monday this year. But a new infographic from SAP shows that consumers felt the most excited and happy about Cyber Monday.

The retail industry will lose an estimated $8.76 billion to return fraud this year, and $3.39 billion during the holiday season alone, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2013 Return Fraud Survey. Overall, 5.8% of holiday returns are fraudulent, up slightly from 4.6% last year.

New York -- Sales at U.S. chain stores were up 2.1% in November, or 3% without the effects of gasoline sales, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. The group had predicted an increase of 3.5% to 4.5%.

“Sales were constrained by weak apparel sales this month,” said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist, ICSC. “November was a very competitive environment for retailers, and the softness in the November tally suggests some cautiousness by consumers.”

Menomonee Falls, Wis. – Kohl’s will keep its doors open for more than 100 hours straight, beginning at 6 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 20 through 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24. Kohl’s is also offering free gift boxes and a “no questions asked” returns policy that offers full refunds and exchanges for purchases made with a receipt or on a Kohl’s charge card.

Edmonton, Alberta -- Lux Beauty Boutique is rolling out in-store mobile app SelfPay, which lets shoppers handle payment and look up product information on their own devices, enabling shopper-controlled in-store checkout from anywhere within a brick-and-mortar store. Lux Beauty Boutique will host a SelfPay launch party at its store on Dec. 6.  

New York -- Impact Architectural Signs completed a street-level, storefront signage project for Tiffany's in Chicago that served as a fall seasonal promotion to help sell upscale watches. The Michigan Avenue retailer used vinyl window graphics in which gold vinyl film was used to suggest a clock face.

Ottawa, Ontario -- Black Friday deep discounts could be a myth, with only a few retailers dropping prices on only a few categories. Some key findings from pricing intelligence technology provider 360pi based on Amazon's own assortment in eight categories, including TVs, video games, tablets and digital cameras, show that:

By Tom Rittman, VP of marketing, The Retail Equation

Retailers around the world are gearing up for the hustle and bustle of the busiest time of year. Experts are projecting consumers will spend $602 billion this holiday season. And with billions in sales, there’s bound to be billions in merchandise returns, which can cause retailers to lose a significant profit margin.

With the holiday shopping season underway and many retailers bracing for stiff competition, Kohl’s plans on keeping its doors open for more than 100 hours, from 6 a.m. Friday, Dec. 20 through 6 p.m. Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24.

Although the strategy is familiar to retailers such as Toys “R” Us, it is a first for Kohl’s. The move comes following a comparable-store sales increase of 0.9% for the second-quarter which fell short of Wall Street estimates.