Seasonal

St. Louis – Most Americans will spend the same or less on holiday shopping this year as they did last year. According to a recent survey by financial services firm Edward Jones, 37% say they plan to spend less on holiday shopping in 2013 than they spent in 2012.

LeapFrog Enterprises is rolling into the holiday with its strongest product lineup ever but concerns about consumer spending have the leading educational entertainment company tempering its view of fourth quarter sales.

Wayne, N.J. – The time may have come to change the name of Black Friday to Black Thursday. According to multiple media reports, Toys ‘R’ Us will open stores at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving night.

Chelmsford, Mass. -- It only take an average of 2.2 negative experiences for  Americans to stop purchasing from a retail brand -- across any channel, according to a new survey commissioned by Kronos Inc. Underscoring the urgency of a seamless omni-channel experience, 68% of Americans agree that a negative shopping experience within a single channel negatively impacts their perception across all shopping channels including physical stores, online, mobile, phone centers, and catalog.

Macy's has integrated NantMobile’s iD visual recognition technology into its Star Gifts app to allow customers to shop on the go from catalogs, billboards and magazine ads.

Sears and Kmart stores are joining the still growing list of retailers that will open Thanksgiving Day in the hopes of luring Black Friday shoppers early.

Kmart will open for 41 straight hours, starting at 6 a.m. Thanksgiving Day to 11 p.m. Black Friday. Sears will open doors starting at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day to 10 p.m. Black Friday, with more than 1,000 doorbusters available until 1 p.m. Friday afternoon.

New York -- Starting in November, J. Crew consumers can take advantage of MasterPass at checkout, a digital wallet service enables shoppers to use any payment card or enabled device to unlock a simplified and speedier checkout experience whether they’re at home, in a store or on the go.

J. Crew consumers can now take advantage of MasterCard’s digital wallet service, MasterPass, at checkout. The digital wallet service enables shoppers to use any payment card or enabled device to unlock a simplified and speedier checkout experience regardless of where they are.