Winter Holidays

Philadelphia -- A post-holiday e-commerce report released Friday by technology company Monetate said that, on Christmas Day 2012, 16% of all e-commerce traffic came from smartphones and 15.6% came from tablets, a marked upswing from a year earlier when just 6.4% came from smartphones and 8% from tablets.

New York -- Department store retailers reported strong sales in January as shoppers responded positively to post-holiday clearance events.  

Overall, the 20 retailers reporting January comps saw an average rise of 5.1%, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, which beat the mall trade group’s 3% forecasted rise.

NEW YORK — Department store retailers reported strong sales in January as shoppers responded positively to post-holiday clearance events.  

Overall, the 20 retailers reporting January comps saw an average rise of 5.1%, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, which beat the mall trade group’s 3% forecasted rise.

GLENDALE, Calif. — Nestle today announced new additions to its line of Valentine’s Day offerings.

This season's collection includes the new Wonka Lik-M-Aid Fun Dip Mystery Flavor Valentine Exchange Kit. Returning this year are Lik-M-Aid Fun Dip Valentine Exchange Kit, Nestlé Crunch and Butterfinger Hearts, Wonka's best-selling Nerds , Pixy Stix, or Laffy Taffy Candy and Card Kits, Wonka Sweetarts Lollipops and Wonka Sweetarts Hearts.

New York -- Although there were some surprising gains among retailers in January, for the most part results were expectedly mixed, as consumers took a hit on their take-home pay from higher payroll taxes but cooler weather gave a boost to others.

CLEVELAND -- American Greetings has launched a new mobile app that lets users send personalized greetings featuring digital versions of its Taylor Swift line.

Austin, Texas -- Online coupon site RetailMeNot.com reported Thursday that men outspend women by more than $120 on Valentine’s Day gift giving.

According to the just-released results of the Valentine edition of RetailMeNot.com’s Shoppers Trend Report, the average person in a relationship plans to spend $226 for Valentine’s Day this year; the break-out is dominated by men, however, as they plan to spend $287 versus women at $164.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Limited Brands reported that comparable-store sales for the fourth quarter were up 5% and that net sales for the same period were $3.86 billion compared with $3.5 billion for the same period last year.

For the month of February, the company posted sales of $986.4 million compared with $774.5 million for the same period last year. Same-store sales for the month rose 9%.