Quentin Fottrell/Morningstar—Amazon’s (AMZN) app for iPhone this week added “Flow,” an image recognition tool designed to allow consumers to add a product to their shopping cart by merely pointing their phone’s camera at it. Flow–as its name suggests–aims to make it as seamless as possible to shop. MarketWatch carried out its own “showrooming” with the […]
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Sales tax holiday a boost for retailers
Justine Griffin/Sarasota Herald-Tribune—Following a relatively flat year for the retail industry and tepid back-to-school sales last August, Gov. Rick Scott’s proposal for an extended sales tax holiday in 2014 came as good news for retailers in Florida. The governor announced plans for a 10-day sales tax holiday as a part of his “It’s Your Money […]
Bargain Hunting in U.S. Spreads Christmas Coal to UPS
Jeff Green and Lindsey Rupp/Bloomberg BusinessWeek—The list of U.S. companies that didn’t get what they wanted for Christmas is growing. United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS:US) became the latest when it said yesterday that a crush of last-minute orders resulted in higher costs and lower-than-expected earnings. Earlier this week, Best Buy Co. said holiday sales fell, […]
J.C. Penney closing 33 stores, including Phillipsburg Mall location
Bill Landauer/The Morning Call—J.C. Penney Co. Inc. said Wednesday it will close 33 underperforming stores, including its Phillipsburg Mall location, and cut 2,000 jobs as part of its turnaround. About 50 people work at the Phillipsburg Mall store, which straddles Lopatcong and Pohatcong townships and is expected to close in early May. J.C. Penney, which […]
Shopping down on weekend before Christmas, reports indicate
Justine Griffin/Sarasota Herald-Tribune—While retail stores were busy with the many bargain hunters looking for a last minute deal before the holiday this past weekend, Sarasota shoppers Beth McCullagh and Melissa Tomasso were relaxing at home, their shopping already done for the season. McCullagh, a dedicated Black Friday shopper who lives with her family in Lakewood […]
At Christmas, region’s retailers just warming up
Justine Griffin/Sarasota Herald-Tribune—The shopping days that precede the holidays are taking on their own personality. We’ve got Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Small Business Saturday. There’s Free Shipping Day, which fell on Wednesday, a week before Christmas, this year. And now we’ve got Gray Thursday, a title for those murky hours on Thanksgiving evening into […]
