Toy sales stabilize in first half of year

“The tide is turning for the industry,” according to a new report from Circana. But there are no guarantees for the second half of 2024.

By Kaarin Moore • Aug. 13, 2024

Amazon moves up Black Friday inventory deadline for sellers

The e-commerce giant wants products in a week earlier than in 2023 as it looks to maintain fast Prime delivery speeds during its busiest time of year.

By Max Garland • Aug. 5, 2024

Explore the Trendline➔

Inside the 2024 holiday season

Retailers are navigating the effects of inflation as retail’s most important quarter looms.

By Retail Dive staff

Walmart leans into value, touting ‘thousands’ of back-to-school items under $10

New this year is a “one-click food basket,” offering two weeks of lunch supplies for about $2 per day.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • July 25, 2024

Dollar General to offer over 100 back-to-school products for $1 or less

Notebooks, pencils, glue sticks and folders are among the low-priced offerings. The dollar store will also offer backpacks for $5.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • July 19, 2024

Back-to-school spending expected to drop from last year: report

Spending per child is projected to be $586, with overall market spend reaching $31.3 billion, according to a recent survey from Deloitte.

By Howard Ruben • July 16, 2024

Consumers were still cautious in May. That might be a good thing.

Weaker spending may be helping the Federal Reserve with this year’s balancing act of cooling inflation and staving off a recession.

By Daphne Howland • June 20, 2024

Citing momentum over the holidays, Nordstrom moves deeper into off-price

The retailer will open even more of its Rack stores this year than in 2023, but analysts warned that its full-line business also requires attention.

By Daphne Howland • March 6, 2024

Dillard’s manages ‘respectable’ holiday quarter

A challenging consumer environment kept a lid on the department store’s success in the period, but there were some bright spots.

By Daphne Howland • Feb. 27, 2024

For a seamless retail customer experience during peak season, start with employees

Improving the employee experience goes a long way to improving customer experience, writes Lindsey Peters, Retail and Consumer Goods Industry Lead at Celonis.

By Lindsey Peters, Retail and Consumer Goods Industry Lead, Celonis • Jan. 8, 2024

Holiday shoppers spent ‘record’ $222.1B online: report

BNPL usage hit an all-time high during the season, with Cyber Monday as the largest day on record for the payment method, per Adobe.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Jan. 4, 2024

Retail trends that shaped the holidays in 2023

From new marketing techniques to consumers spending despite inflation, here are the big takeaways from the latest holiday season. 

By Retail Dive Staff • Jan. 2, 2024

Consumers could return $82.1B worth of holiday merchandise, survey finds

To address the rising cost of returns, 44% of retailers have increased return or restocking fees, according to CBRE and Optoro.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Dec. 29, 2023

Free shipping is more important to shoppers than same-day delivery: Forrester

The costs of implementing same-day and next-day delivery might not be worth it given the level of consumer interest in the service.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Dec. 28, 2023

Returns are the last, but not least, component of a holiday CX strategy

The last thing retailers should do is make gift recipients feel guilty for making a return, according to experts. 

By Bryan Wassel • Dec. 27, 2023

Fragrance sees online boost during early part of holiday season: report

Online sales of prestige fragrance brands were nearly double the rate of in-store sales in the early part of Q4, according to Circana.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Dec. 26, 2023

’Tis the season for a retail tech-stack rethink

An influx of in-store technologies has CIOs leaning toward cloud for integration solutions, according to research by Bain and Aptos.

By Matt Ashare • Dec. 26, 2023

Can retail sell hygge?

The Scandinavian concept of cozy gatherings and togetherness fits in well with the holidays. Until the excessive purchasing begins.

By Cara Salpini • Dec. 24, 2023

Shoppers use BOPIS to avoid holiday shipping delays: report

Buy online, pick up in store accounted for one-fourth of online orders in the three weeks after Cyber Monday, according to Salesforce. 

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Dec. 21, 2023

Walmart outpaces Target, Macy’s for most recent holiday purchases: report

A fourth of respondents to a new survey said their last holiday shopping stop was at the big box retailer, followed by Target and Kohl’s. 

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Dec. 21, 2023

Holiday shelves unaffected by Suez Canal attacks, but retailers anticipate disruptions in the new year

Retail industry groups are monitoring the situation, which is adding time and costs to the supply chain as shippers seek alternative routes.

By Daphne Howland • Dec. 20, 2023

Target brings dog mascot Bullseye to Las Vegas Sphere for holiday blitz

The largest version of the bull terrier character yet is joined by an 11-story gingerbread Target for the snowglobe-inspired takeover.

By Peter Adams • Dec. 20, 2023

Are retailers ready for peak returns season?

E-commerce has surged at the end of the year, which could mean that more people than ever will bring back their purchases.

By Daphne Howland • Dec. 19, 2023

Half of US consumers expect to take on holiday debt: survey

Over a third of consumers expect to pay their holiday bills in two or more months, according to a new report. 

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Dec. 18, 2023

Super Saturday timing means fewer expected shoppers this year, survey finds

The National Retail Federation predicts 142 million people will shop that day, which falls on Dec. 23, down from 159 million last year.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Dec. 15, 2023

Black Friday, Cyber Monday saw ‘lackluster’ consumer tech sales, report finds

Both unit and dollar sales declined year over year during Black Friday Week, and the average price of products was down during Cyber Monday Week.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Dec. 14, 2023