Winter Holidays

Charleston, S.C. -- Only two-thirds of Americans are all or almost finished with their holiday shopping as of Dec. 23. Of the 24 retailers surveyed by America’s Research Group and Inmar, only three retained 70% or more of their customer base, with Wal-Mart topping the list at 88.1%, followed closely by Dollar Tree at 80.4%, and Target at 72.1%.

Chicago -- Rough weather last week prevented many last-minute shoppers from getting to the stores to finish up their holiday purchasing. ShopperTrak reported that for the week of Dec. 16 to Dec. 22, GAFO in-store retail sales decreased by 3.1% from the same week last year. Retail brick-and-mortar shopper traffic decreased by 21.2% compared to the same time period in 2012.

Yonkers, N.Y. – Unsurprisingly, crowds and long lines are the single biggest consumer dread for the holiday season. According to a new Consumer Reports poll, 61% of consumers dread crowds and long lines, followed by bad traffic (54%).

Akron, Ohio – Kay Jewelers has launched a "Merry Match" sweepstakes on its Facebook page and for Twitter pages from Dec. 20-Dec. 24.

The windows of Macy’s Herald Square flagship are a holiday delight. The six windows on the Broadway side of the store — with themes of Dream, Giving & Sharing, Joy, Beauty, Magic and Believe — tell the story of a young boy’s dream on Christmas Eve, where he travels to a magical crystal forest complete with fairies and sparkling, animated snow.

Groupon is offering last-minute holiday shoppers Grouponvelope and a digital gift voucher. With these new options, Groupon lets local merchants who do not have a gift card program reach customers who are looking for last-minute holiday gift ideas.

New York – LLBean.com provided the highest-rated customer service of all major online retailers during the month of November 2013. According to the Stella Monthly Ranking from the StellaService customer service analysis firm, L.L. Bean was ranked number one for overall customer service and also in the email customer service area.

SierraTradingPost.com took top honors for phone customer service, Sears.com had the highest ranked shipping customer service and Bloomingdales.com has the best returns customer service.

Pier 1 is touting the progress it’s made with its 1 Pier 1 omnichannel strategy, following financial results for the third quarter. Pier1.com continued to outperform the company’s expectations with increases in traffic and conversion, and representing more than 4% of total sales in the quarter.