EBay plans to buy e-commerce company GSI Commerce for $1.96 billion in cash in a bid to draw more buyers and sellers to its online marketplaces and win more business from large store chains. Get the full story »
Inside these posts: Online shopping
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Dec. 26 storms delay $1 billion in retail spending
The blizzard that swept through the Northeast on Sunday and Monday delayed $1 billion in retail spending, according to research firm ShopperTrak, but won’t derail a holiday shopping season expected to be the best since 2007. Get the full story »
Groupon, CouponCabin ranked busiest deal sites
What does Chicago have that no other U.S. city has this holiday season? The top two busiest coupon Web sites.
Top ranked was Groupon, the daily deal site, with 10 million unique visitors in November, up 54 percent over the previous month, according to online research firm ComScore Inc. Second was CouponCabin, a coupon-code aggregator, with 8.8 million visitors, a 400 percent increase over October.
Coupon sites, which offer promotional codes and other discounts to consumers, ranked as the top-gaining category of Web sites at the start of the holiday season, ComScore said. A record 44 million Americans visited a coupon site during November, up 40 percent since October. Get the full story »
Holiday retail sales up more than 5%, reports show
Shopping is back in style, at least for the holiday season.
Retail sales for the holidays soared more than 5 percent, according to two reports released Monday, led by online and clothing purchases. The preliminary reports, among the first tallies of the holiday shopping season, beat the estimates of most retail economists. Get the full story »
Online holiday spending rises 12%
U.S. online sales are up 12 percent to $27.5 billion so far this holiday shopping season compared with a year ago, according to research firm comScore. Get the full story »
Consumers offered tips for safe online shopping
The Consumer Federation of America on Thursday offered advice for online shoppers to keep their wallets and identities safe this holiday season.
“Unfortunately, there are scam artists and some less-than-honest retailers that take advantage of unwary buyers,” Susan Grant, CFA director of consumer protection, said during a news conference Thursday morning. Get the full story »
Groupon teams up with Tribune shopping site
Chicago-based Groupon.com, the fast-growing social networking site that offers its users daily discounts to businesses in their individual markets, has entered into a partnership with Chicago Tribune Media Group’s recently launched e-commerce site.
Cyber Monday sales top $1B for first time
Americans jumped on deals and promotions offered online on Cyber Monday, spending $1 billion and making it the busiest online shopping day ever, according to new data. Get the full story »
Retailers are counting on Cyber Monday
A worker at online retailer Zappos. (Isaac Brekken/Los Angeles Times)
U.S. retailers who saw strong online sales as the holiday selling season kicked off over the weekend aim to cash in further on that momentum with Cyber Monday, one of the biggest days for Web commerce.
The term Cyber Monday was coined five years ago for the day many people return to work after U.S. Thanksgiving Day and make online gift purchases on their computers.
More recently, retailers have been increasingly offering online deals on Thanksgiving itself and through the holiday weekend, as consumers regularly shop on the Internet. Get the full story »
Amazon hurt by rivals’ free shipping, deals
Amazon.com shares tumbled as much as 4 percent Monday on concerns that offers of free shipping by Wal-Mart Stores Inc and other retailers could challenge the online company’s results. Get the full story »
Wal-Mart offering free shipping for holidays
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is going for the jugular in the holiday retailing war, announcing Thursday that it will offer free shipping on nearly 60,000 online items — with no minimum purchase requirement. Get the full story »
Amazon to buy Diapers.com owner for $500M
Expanding its online retail empire, Amazon.com Inc. said Monday that it is buying Quidsi, the owner of Diapers.com and Soap.com, for $500 million in cash.
Judge: Free speech protects Amazon buyers’ data
A federal judge says constitutional free-speech rights protect Amazon.com customers from North Carolina tax collectors who wanted to learn what they bought from the online retailer.
Wal-Mart to offer free shipping to Chicago FedEx offices
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to unveil Thursday free delivery of purchases made through its web site to Chicago FedEx offices — a move aimed at reaching urban consumers.
The world’s largest retailer launched the pilot program, called FedEx Site-to-Store, this summer in Boston and Los Angeles. The test expands this week to Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.. There will be 40 FedEx sites participating in the Chicago market, concentrated in the city with a smattering of sites in the suburbs, according to Wal-Mart spokesman Ravi Jariwala. Get the full story »
Sears drops offensive mousepad from online store
From CBS2 Chicago | Mousepads with controversial messages like “My kid had sex with your honor student” do not fall outside the guidelines of Sears’ online marketplace, but the company is pulling them anyway after complaints from at least one shopper.
