Americans Hit Shops, Holiday Season Opens
33828
Americans stormed the nation&#39;s shops on Friday after US Thanksgiving Day at the start of the key holiday shopping season, lured by cut-price toys, consumer electronics and Santa.
55766
_ The holiday shopping season began with a surge in spending but consumers faded by the long Thanksgiving weekend&#39;s close and many retailers were facing decent but hardly impressive sales.
355913
US shoppers are starting to get into the holiday spirit, with indices on Tuesday showing sales picking up with only 10 shopping days until Christmas.
750657
By Mick Zawislak Daily Herald Staff Writer  The holiday shopping season has begun and many purchases will be made online. Finding merchants you can trust and taking steps to protect your privacy are important this time of year, according to the Chicago Better Business Bureau.
235877
Bargain shoppers, many of them braving chilly temperatures, woke up before dawn to head for the nation&#39;s malls and stores Friday, the official beginning of the holiday shopping season, hoping to take advantage of early bird specials on a range of items
551618
In spite of a burst of Friday spending, the holiday shopping season got off to a sluggish start, forcing retailers to reassess their strategies for luring buyers. Slow sales reported by three retail sales trackers on Tuesday were blamed on higher fuel costs and an overall lack of confidence in the economy.
599340
Shopkeepers in Europe's biggest economy have a grin on their faces -- and not only because Santa is coming to town.Comment
102115
Travel: Gear up for a Christmas spending spree with a spot of online window shopping.
698976
hoAs the holiday season wound down, U.S. residents kept on shopping significantly more than they did in 2006, particularly on the day after Christmas, but they also reported being less satisfied with e-tailers, according to a pair of studies.Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 27 -- the first 57 days of the holiday season -- U.S. shoppers spent almost $28 billion in online retail purchases, up 19 percent compared with the same period in 2006, according to comScore.Shoppers spent $545 million on Dec. 26, more than doubling the spending on that day in 2006, as they took advantage of late-season offers and discounts, according to comScore.Still, it looks like online spending growth for the 2007 holiday season will fail to meet comScore&#39;s 20 percent forecast, and fall way below the 26 percent growth registered during this period in 2006.comScore chalks up the smaller-than-expected growth to several factors, including warm weather in early November and various economic challenges this year, including higher gas prices, the real estate crunch, and a &quot;jittery&quot; stock market, the company said Sunday.Another important metric that dropped this holiday season compared with 2006&#39;s was customer satisfaction, according to ForeSee Results, a provider of online customer-satisfaction measurement services.A survey of more than 11,000 shoppers revealed that, on a 100-point scale, customer satisfaction with the largest 40 e-tailers dropped, in aggregate, to 74 points, down 1.3 points from the 2006 holiday season, according to ForeSee. It conducted the survey in conjunction with FGI Research using the methodology of the University of Michigan&#8217;s American Customer Satisfaction Index.Still, the spending growth in online shopping this holiday season, even at 19 percent, would greatly outpace the growth of overall U.S. retail holiday spending, forecast at 4 percent by the National Retail Federation.That 4 percent growth rate -- which would put 2007 holiday season retail spending in the United States at almost $475 billion -- would fall below the 10-year average of 4.8 percent and be the slowest since 2002, according to the National Retail Federation.
760248
Americans are ready to put "Merry Christmas" back into holiday shopping, a new poll shows.
592309
US retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Toys ``R&#39;&#39; Us Inc. opened as early as 5 am, greeted by lines of customers waiting to buy discounted merchandise including $17.99 DVD players as the holiday-shopping season began.
367926
Holiday shoppers, intent on finding bargains, descended on the Washington region's malls this morning, joining a nationwide shopping spree that has come to be known as Black Friday.
430435
Most Americans are planning to curb their holiday spending this year, making it a challenging shopping season for U.S. retailers, according to a holiday buying survey by The NPD Group.
46800
Retailers opened their doors before the sun rose yesterday, the official start of the holiday shopping season, tempting early risers with specials on a variety of items including flat-screen TVs and toys.
394287
(CBS/AP) Shoppers braved chilly temperatures to be among the first inside retail stores and shopping malls on Friday, traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
609403
The holidays may be over, but the shopping hasn't stopped.
424131
With a weak back-to-school season behind them, US retailers are focused on the holidays and what steps they need to take to get consumers excited about shopping again.