Seasonal

According to Deloitte’s annual retail holiday sales forecast, steadily improving economic fundamentals should moderately boost holiday sales in stores and online this year.

Stamford, Conn. -- Half of Americans (49%) plan to shop online earlier for gifts this holiday season, with the main reason being to ensure they receive their packages on time (63%), according to a survey by Pitney Bowes.

Boston – UsTrendy, a fashion e-commerce site with 20,000 designers from more than 100 countries posting their items for sale and receiving funding along with promotion for their clothing lines, is launching several new customer experience features in fourth quarter 2014.

These include:

Purchasers can customize clothing to fit by entering their measurements. They can also adjust the style of a garment, according to the designer’s choices.

While it might still be September, Toys “R” Us isn’t wasting any time announcing what they clearly consider to be some newsworthy changes set to take effect this holiday season.

Seattle – The retail industry is expected to benefit from mobile commerce, free shipping offers, in-store pickup promotions and e-commerce videos during the 2014 holiday season. According to global analytics and insights firm Blueocean Intelligence, the top six digital and social media trends that will drive sales for retailers in the upcoming holiday season are:

Wayne, N.J. – Toys ‘R Us Inc. plans to hire 45,000 seasonal employees at its stores and distribution centers nationwide, more than doubling the company’s workforce, as it prepares for the 2014 holiday shopping season.

The positions include sales associates, stock crew and omnichannel fulfillment teams, as well as distribution center workers and department managers.

Kmart has unveiled its annual Fab 15 holiday toy list, a week after Toys “R” Us announced its Fabulous 15.

To help drive sales, Kmart has also unveiled a "Trending Toy Ticker" at Kmart.com/Fab15. The ticker continually updates the top-selling toys as the season progresses to help shoppers keep up to date with the latest trends.

As part of its holiday strategy, Toys"R"Us plans to hire 45,000 seasonal employees at its stores and distribution centers nationwide, more than doubling the company's workforce as it continues preparing for the highly contested shopping season ahead.

Woodbridge, Va. - Potomac Mills, an outlet and value retail shopping center in the Washington, D.C., area with more than 220 stores, is adding A|X Armani Exchange, Steve Madden, an outlet concept for Swarovski and a first-in-market location for Great American Cookies. Potomac Mills also recently added Factory Outlet, Kate Spade New York Outlet, Charlotte Russe and a first-in-state location for The Limited Outlet.

Niagara Falls, N.Y. -- Macerich announced that its outlet property Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls USA will open the doors of its planned expansion on Oct. 23. The new expansion delivers nearly 175,000 sq. ft. and opens with 35 new tenants, and more to come in 2015.