Seasonal

New York -- In a Tuesday night address at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. president and CEO Mike Duke didn’t shy away from discussing the fiscal cliff, saying that the current debate is having a negative impact on consumer spending.

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Wednesday by Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, found that retailers are in tune with the last-minute shipping intentions of the average consumer.

According to Shop.org’s 2012 eHoliday Study conducted by BIGinsight, 45.7% of retailers will end standard shipping promotions by Monday, Dec. 17, in direct response to the average consumer’s tendency to wait until the last minute to finish holiday shopping.

New York -- The Chase Holiday Pulse on Wednesday revealed that Green Monday, Dec. 10, sales showed a  10.7% year-over-year increase over Green Monday (Dec. 12) in 2011, mainly driven by merchant deals and discounts on popular gift items.

Retailers are enjoying solid sales of male grooming aids this holiday season, according to NPD.

Men’s grooming products are perennially popular holiday items because they provide a convenient gift-giving solution, but this trend is even more evident this year based on NPD’s findings.

Men’s grooming appliances include men’s electric shavers, facial trimmers, home hair clippers, pen trimmers, body groomers and nose/ear trimmers.

What better way to celebrate the holidays than a tour of a CPG company’s headquarter?

The SC Johnson company is proud of its corporate campus designed by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright and is offering free tours it contends make for a great activity for families and guests visiting the company’s home town of Racine, WI.

Reston, Va. -- For the holiday season-to-date, $26.6 billion has been spent online, up 13% versus the corresponding days last year, according to comScore. The firm predicts that Green Monday (Monday, December 10, 2012) is likely to be one of the heaviest online spending days of the season and a headliner for what is expected to the busiest online spending week on record.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS/pharmacy is reminding holiday shoppers that it is a one-stop shop for holiday décor and an ideal gift destination for tech gadgets, beauty products and toys.

Atlanta -- Dollar volume growth remained solid at 5.8% in November, down from 6.7% in October, according to the First Data SpendTrend analysis for the full month of November 2012 compared with November 2011. SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations.