Some retailers reported stronger-than-expected November sales on Thursday, helped by a post-Thanksgiving rush and holiday discounts, but notable misses by others and a shift in the retail calendar left an unclear picture of the strength of the key holiday season.
The holiday tug-of-war is under way. U.S. retailers want to rack up sales now, not later. Consumers, however, are resisting, playing the waiting game for bigger discounts closer to Christmas. To win the battle, many retailers are enticing shoppers with so-called limited-time sales, hoping a deadline will convince them to spend money now -- and help stores avoid profit-crunching price cuts later in the season.
Software maker Adobe Systems Inc and Internet company Yahoo Inc said on Wednesday they will offer a service to let publishers run advertisements in Adobe's popular document-reading format.
In an effort to boost sales, advertisers are exploring new technologies to provide consumers with more relevant ads in emerging platforms such as mobile phones and TV/ web hybrids.
Eager shoppers stormed malls and stores across the country on Friday to snap up the early-bird specials that mark Black Friday, the first official day of the U.S. holiday shopping season. While shoppers were looking for giveaways and discounts, analysts and investors were watching for signs of consumer strength or weakness.
The 2007 holiday shopping season kicked off on Friday with crowds of shoppers, many braving the bitter cold, snagging early bargains on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Analysts expected moderate sales this year as consumers struggle with the slumping housing market, a credit crunch, rising food and fuel costs and uncertainty about their jobs.
The holiday shopping season kicked off on Thursday even before the turkey was carved, as retailers, worried that gift buying may slow this year, posted special deals on their Web sites on Thanksgiving day. Numerous retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Best Buy Co Inc and Circuit City Stores Inc, are offering special deals online.
AT&T expanded its online push on Monday, announcing it acquired advertising technology firm Ingenio.
Let the holiday shopping madness begin ... please? That is the silent plea coming from U.S. retailers, which are gearing up for Black Friday, the chaotic and competitive day after Thanksgiving (November 22) when stores offer eye-popping, limited-time deals to kick off the holiday shopping season.
Ads before videos irritate consumers, raising the risk they'll ignore the promotion or leave the Web site.
Americans can watch television shows on anything from a computer to an iPod these days, but media companies and advertisers have yet to figure out how best to take advantage of all the new ways to reach audiences.
Gauging retail success or failure for the holidays is an increasingly difficult, and often unreliable, endeavor.
As investors bet on the future of social networks, some of the biggest players in the field are due to unveil this week ways of piping in advertising to the most personal of media formats.
Nine privacy and consumer organizations asked the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday to create a do not track list for Internet users who don't want their online activities tracked, stored and used by advertising networks.
In the UK the Competition Commission has released an initial report on the groceries industry saying that “the UK groceries market is delivering a good deal for consumers.â€
Multinational retailers are waiting for India's chaotic industry to settle down.
Wal-Mart's lawyers have an early holiday message for Web sites that post Black Friday ads ahead of their official release date: Don't do it.
U.S. shoppers may spend more money on holiday purchases this year, but that spending will increase at only about half the pace it did a year ago, an industry trade group study released on Tuesday found.
Shares of Asia's top oil and gas company, PetroChina Co Ltd, jumped 13 percent on Monday as news of increased production and hopes of major new discoveries spurred optimism about its performance in the fourth quarter.
Companies will spend a record $31 billion this year to advertise everything from toothpaste to home loans on the Internet, supporting countless news sites, social networks, video exchanges and blogs.
Retailers are touting holiday deals and discounts earlier than ever this year, but the efforts may fall flat as consumers expect to start shopping for this crucial season later than ever, according to a survey released on Tuesday by NPD Group.
A fast car with a James Bond image held onto its place atop a list of the coolest brands in Britain in a newly released survey on Thursday.
