Retailers hope gift cards will boost sales goals
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The holiday shopping season ended better than it started and most retailers are on track to meet humble sales goals, though many still hope for an extra boost the week after Christmas as consumers cash in gift cards.
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Forget frozen turkeys or ham, many  U.S. workers this year can expect to receive a retailer's gift  certificate as their holiday bonus.
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The nation's retailers are hoping furry ponchos, fur-lined flip-flops, and sweater sets adorned with multiple broaches will excite shoppers this holiday season and lure them into stores and malls earlier than in previous years.
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Target stores have a simple message for eager shoppers this holiday season: &quot;Get giving&#39; roughly translated, buy stuff. The national retail chain also has a simple
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Fueled by Web searches for iPods, Elmos, gift cards and video game consoles, online retailers are expecting sales to increase by about 20 percent this year.
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Christmas is a time of fantasy. Throughout the land, merchants fantasize about hitting their fourth-quarter numbers, with the aid of gift-givers with starry eyes and platinum credit cards.
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The nation's retailers slashed prices further Wednesday in hopes that a post-Christmas shopping rush will salvage holiday sales that, so far, have fallen below even modest expectations. They're waiting in particular for legions of shoppers armed with gift cards to snap up bargains and buy new merchandise that has just hit store shelves.
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Gift cards, one of the most popular holiday purchases, can lose value if not used quickly
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With poker's popularity growing because of televised tournaments, retailers are betting that playing cards and chips will be among the must-have items during the holiday shopping season.
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Gift cards remain this holiday  season's wild card for U.S. retailers who have slashed prices  by up to 70 percent since Christmas to boost sales, meet their  monthly targets and clear out seasonal inventory.
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Shoppers &#151; some holding out for the best bargains, others delayed by winter storms in the Midwest &#151; hit the nation's malls and stores, looking for last-minute gifts and snapping up gift cards on Friday, the day before Christmas.
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Shoe sales have jumped this holiday  season, but they haven't been enough to kick up holiday sales  growth overall, according to a MasterCard Advisors survey.
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Merchants who spent the past few weeks hoping shoppers would splurge on gifts opened their doors Sunday with high hopes the same people would now spend on themselves.
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Some retailers are benefiting from the rash of hurricanes.
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Shoppers across America have millions of gift cards tucked away in envelopes, drawers and wallets. And some of the nation's largest retailers are profiting as a result.
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With the 2007 run-up to Christmas boosted by a last-minute sales surge, retailers are putting an extra emphasis on after-Christmas discounts, hoping bargain shoppers and gift-card splurgers can enrich stores' holidays.
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This year retail marketing campaigns are helping shoppers give to charities.