eCommerce

New York – More than half of Americans (53%) prefer general purpose gift cards as opposed to branded gift cards. In addition, new survey data from Bankrate.com shows that almost two in three Americans have given a gift card, and more than three in four have received one.

The most common value of gift cards, both given and received, is between $25 and $50. People older than 65 and those between 18 and 29 years old are the least likely to give a gift card. As income level increases, Americans are more likely to give and receive gift cards.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Environmental Protection Agency has recognized Ahold USA for its efforts to reduce food waste, the agency said.

The EPA said it recognized Ahold for its contributions to the Food Recovery Challenge, which encourages organizations to donate and divert as much of their excess food as possible, which the agency said helps protect the environment and feed needy people. Ahold USA owns the Giant Food Stores of Carlisle, Pa., Giant Food of Landover, Md., and Stop & Shop supermarket banners, as well as the online grocer Peapod.

New York -- Half of Americans (50%) say they will be purchasing toys as gifts this holiday season. This is slightly down from the 52% of U.S. adults who said they were purchasing toys last year, according to results of a new Harris Poll.

This year, it seems that you can’t turn on the TV or read the news without seeing that another store is opening on Thanksgiving. Some believe Black Friday is fading away as more retailers choose to open early to compete with other shopping options such as online sales. I don’t think that Black Friday is going away, but I do think that it is evolving to best serve the needs of the consumer. Any retailer that is going to be successful long-term has to evolve, too.

San Francisco – Free digital personal shopping assistant Shop It To Me has released an iPhone app. This makes Shop It To Me, previously available via Internet and e-mail, available to smartphone users.

Shop It To Me searches more than 100 online department stores and specialty retailers to uncover sales on items that exactly match each shopper's preferences. Relevant sale items are compiled into a single email and delivered to the shopper, who can click through to a retailer to make the purchase.

Ottawa, Canada – Amazon.com has the best price on products in its assortment about 80% of the time. However, the new “Amazon Holiday Pricing Insights” analysis from pricing technology provider 360pi shows that Amazon does have weak spots, and that retailers can compete with the online giant, especially if they can beat Amazon on other non-price purchase factors.

Red hot Pinterest is offering new functunality to third parties that will allow them to curate content and drive traffic to their sites, and major retailers such as Walmart, Target and Zappos are all over it.

New York -- Transportation logistics services provider XPO Logistics has acquired Optima Service Solutions, a non-asset provider of last-mile logistics services for major retailers and manufacturers in the United States.

The cash purchase price was $26.6 million, excluding any working capital adjustments, with no assumption of debt.