Early indicators reveal a strong Black Friday

Post-Thanksgiving traffic and early online shopping numbers point to a robust holiday shopping season. 

By Kaarin Moore • Nov. 23, 2018

Retailers to see 75% increase in social media during the holidays

The last two months of the year represent a huge spike in social media messages for retailers, making the busiest time of the year a little busier.

By Dan O'Shea • Nov. 21, 2018

Explore the Trendline➔

The state of holiday shopping and the consumer

Consumers are signaling they want value when it comes to quality, convenience and experiences. 

By Retail Dive staff

FAO Schwarz returns to New York

The dance piano is back where it belongs, and the iconic retailer's new Rockefeller Plaza location has new experiences in store.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 21, 2018

A lesson in chaos engineering as Black Friday, Cyber Monday loom

An hours-long outage could push a business into the red on the largest retail weekend of the year.

By Alex Hickey • Nov. 21, 2018

DSW cashes in on AR 'smile meter' for Black Friday

A full-screen ad asks mobile users to smile at their smartphone camera to measure their happy expressions and earn a discount.

By Robert Williams • Nov. 21, 2018

3 trends that bring holiday video marketing into focus

Marketers will take several of the biggest video trends to the next level as the holiday shopping season kicks into high gear and digital video consumption continues to grow.

By Dianna Christe • Nov. 20, 2018

Will marketers make Gen Z's naughty or nice list?

Gen Z defies easy categorization but that's unlikely to deter brands and retailers from trying to engage these influential consumers during the crucial shopping season.

By Jacqueline Renfrow • Nov. 20, 2018

71% will shop Thanksgiving weekend, Cyber Monday

A Deloitte study confirms that this will be a big holiday retail weekend with sales split almost evenly between online and physical stores.

By Dan Alaimo • Nov. 20, 2018

Gen Z, millennial consumers ready to shop Black Friday and beyond

Younger generations are well-prepared to shop all of the red-letter events that follow Thanksgiving, according to rewards app Shopkick.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 19, 2018

Walmart unveils 'digital playground' as it gets serious about toys

After aligning with interactive programmer Eko, the retailer is rolling out an online experience just in time for the holidays.

By Dan O'Shea • Nov. 19, 2018

Get ready for holiday sales: 5 sales tax tips

Sales tax mistakes that have potentially devastating consequences are avoidable, writes Avalara's Scott Peterson. 

By Scott Peterson • Nov. 16, 2018

Online fraud attempts forecasted to peak on Thanksgiving Day

Attempted e-commerce fraud is expected to grow less than last year, but the 14% rise seen by ACI Worldwide is still troublesome for retailers.

By Dan Alaimo • Nov. 16, 2018

Macy's, Lowe's, Kohl's shake up holiday shopping with Pinterest's Gift Globe

Etsy and Brit + Co also partnered with Pinterest to create a Gift Finder, a virtual gift tag to help shoppers find the perfect gifts.

By Erica Sweeney • Nov. 16, 2018

76% of Prime members prefer local merchants for holiday purchases

The e-commerce giant's best customers favor shopping at small businesses over Amazon's website for their gift shopping, according to a new study from Funding Circle.

By Dan Alaimo • Nov. 16, 2018

Retail Therapy: Neiman Marcus harvests Thanksgiving shoppers for cash

If impressing guests with food that says both "delicious" and "expensive" is something you crave this Thanksgiving, Neiman Marcus has you covered.

By Cara Salpini , Caroline Jansen • Nov. 16, 2018

Instagram courts holiday shoppers with 3 fresh features

The social networking company added a function that lets users save items to buy later, similar to pinning them on Pinterest.

By Robert Williams • Nov. 16, 2018

What New York's latest crop of stores says about holiday trends

From Glossier's first flagship to The Market @ Macy's, new retail concepts say a lot about what's happening in the industry as a whole.

By Cara Salpini • Nov. 16, 2018

EBay unveils toy book in print and online

The e-commerce player is looking to its marketplace to tout rare and retro toys as well as up-to-the-minute ones.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 15, 2018

42% of holiday shoppers turning to mobile this year

Almost three-quarters of shoppers will head to physical stores this season too, according to a study by Citi Retail Services.

By Dan O'Shea • Nov. 12, 2018

Holiday season set to cap off strong year for retail

A seamless partnership between e-commerce and brick-and-mortar will position retailers for the season, writes ICSC president and CEO Tom McGee. 

By Tom McGee • Nov. 9, 2018

Retailers lure shoppers with in-store holiday experiences

More physical stores are fighting to give consumers just what they crave — an experience.

By Pamela DeLoatch • Nov. 9, 2018

Amazon to launch holiday pop-ups throughout Europe

The e-commerce giant continues to expand its brick-and-mortar footprint through a series of temporary locations during the holidays.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 9, 2018

Holiday sales poised to be best since Great Recession

B. Riley FBR added another optimistic holiday sales forecast, saying same-store sales for select retailers will increase 2.2%, the highest in a decade.

By Dan Alaimo • Nov. 8, 2018

Amazon mails out 1st toy catalog

A Holiday of Play, the e-tailer's catalog, joins many others in the toy category, a market with considerable space in the absence of Toys R Us.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 8, 2018

Macy's, Facebook debut holiday pop-up shops

The social media giant will host 100 brands, many of them online pure-plays, at The Market @ Macy's. 

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 6, 2018