Seasonal

 Any toy purchased at Meijer through Nov. 30 will help the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer grant a child's wish this holiday season.

Meijer is once again donating a portion of customer purchases made in the toy department, up to $400,000, to children's gift-giving programs throughout the Midwest.

Nearly one-third of retailers surveyed by JLL say they plan to open on Thanksgiving Day in order to get a jump on Black Friday sales.

JLL’s 2015 Holiday Sentiment Report, which includes feedback from largely national or global retailers in JLL-managed shopping centers across the United States, also reveals more than half of those retailers expect an uptick in shopper traffic this year.

For merchants looking to sustainably grow their revenue and future-proof their business in an ever-increasing competitive landscape, there is almost no better decision they can make than expanding beyond their domestic market.

It turns out that the No. 1 retail perk for online shoppers is not speedy delivery, according to Deloitte's 30th annual holiday survey of consumer spending intentions and trends.

The survey shows that free shipping is the top retailer policy preferred by shoppers. Furthermore, the ubiquity of personal mobile devices allows consumers to take their time researching purchases and store policies giving them opportunity to request exactly what they want.

The world’s biggest online shopping holiday got off to a roaring start in China.

In the first 90 minutes of the “Singles Day” sale, which kicked off at 12 midnight in Beijing on Nov. 11, total sales exceeded $5 billion, Alibaba reported. About 74% of sales were from mobile phones.

Estimates are that annual shopping extravaganza could reach as high as $11 billion in sales.

It would take a pretty big event to cause Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Off 5th, and Neiman Marcus to all align their online discount offers.

Singles Day, coming up on Nov. 11, is just that size of an event. Once an informal celebration of the Chinese singles dating scene, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba formally turned Singles Day into a shopping holiday in 2009. The occasion generated gross merchandise volume of more than $9.3 billion on the Alibaba Alipay mobile and digital payment platform alone in 2014.

While some retailers are taking a stand this year against opening on Thanksgiving Day and even Black Friday, Toys “R” Us thinks its customers will be ready to do some shopping after their turkey dinners.

The toy retailer announced that its stores will open at 5 p.m. on Nov. 26, the same time as last year. Stores will remain open through 11 p.m. on Nov. 27.

Last month outdoors retailer REI said it would close on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. GameStop, At Home and Staples have also announced they would not open on Thanksgiving.

Sam’s Club is introducing a new way for shoppers to get a head start on their holiday shopping: Pre-Black Friday.

The nation’s eighth largest retailer and the warehouse division of Walmart is planning to give Sam's Club members early access to exclusive savings on some of the most sought-after holiday items and Thanksgiving meal must-haves.