Winter Holidays

Target is getting ready for the holidays with a big multichannel push that includes expanding its in-store pick-up program for products ordered online to all of its U.S. stores by Nov. 1 — a service that is now available in about half of the chain’s locations.

Target will run an ad campaign Dec. 1 through Dec. 3 that promotes deals during Cyber Monday and the rest of Cyber week.

Dodgeville, Wis. -- Lands' End in November will open its first standalone store in a shopping mall. The store will be located in the western Chicago suburbs, in the Yorktown Center Mall, Lombard, Ill.
 
The store officially opens to the public on Nov. 15, marking the first ever full-price Lands' End store outside of Madison, Wis. The company opens the doors on the new location in its milestone 50th anniversary year.
 

New York -- FedEx expects to transport more than 22 million shipments around the world on Cyber Monday, Dec. 2, which it anticipates will be its busiest day in company history. The 11% year-over-year increase will be driven by online retailers feeding the FedEx Ground and FedEx SmartPost networks.

Austin, Texas - The current state of the economy will drive 41% of consumers to look for ways to save money on their holiday shopping this year, seeking out bargains and coupons. According to the new annual holiday shopping and coupon usage survey from Offers.com, about half of people (51%) make a holiday gift list, and 62% set a budget for their holiday gift shopping.

Other holiday-related findings from the survey include:

York, Pa. – The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. is the latest retailer to plan to have its stores open Thanksgiving night. Bon-Ton will open its stores at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 28 and offer in-store doorbuster deals through 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 29.

Online doorbusters will begin at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 27. Other retailers that have already announced plans to open stores at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving night include Macy’s, J.C. Penney and Kohl’s.

The Bon-Ton Stores will be opening its stores at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, joining a growing list of retailers getting a jump on Black Friday. The retailer is also offering in-store doorbuster deals through 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 29.

Online doorbusters will begin at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 27. Other retailers that have already announced plans to open stores at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving night include Macy’s, J.C. Penney and Kohl’s.

Walmart customers can now trade in their tablets at more than 3,600 stores and Sam’s Club locations nationwide. Similar to its new smartphone trade-in program, customers and members can receive up to $300 for their current tablet, which will then be applied toward the purchase of a new tablet.

FedEx anticipates moving more than 22 million shipments around the world on Cyber Monday, Dec. 2 —its busiest day in company history. The 11% year-over-year increase will be driven by online retailers feeding the FedEx Ground and FedEx SmartPost networks.

New York -- Amazon.com has raised its free shipping minimum from $25 to $35. The change, which applies to orders shipped to U.S. addresses, took effect Tuesday, just ahead of the holiday shopping season.

"This is the first time in more than a decade that Amazon has altered the minimum order for free shipping in the U.S.,” the online giant said in a brief post on its website. “During that time, we have expanded free shipping selection by millions of items across all 40 product categories."

New York -- Coach reported a decline in first-quarter profit amid declining North America sales. The company had net income of $217.88 million, down from $221.38 million in the previous year.
 
Net sales for the quarter fell 1% to $1.15 billion from $1.16 billion a year ago, below analysts' estimate of $1.19 billion.