DailyFinance's Matt Brownell is covering the Black Friday holiday shopping kickoff, starting Thursday evening. This article will be updated periodically with fresh details from across the country. And if you've got pictures or stories of your own shopping experiences, pass them along for us to share.
Walmart is testing a new mobile checkout system. With Scan and Go, customers will be able to scan items with their smartphones as they shop, then pay quickly at kiosks, skipping the checkout line. But the program could be less about making it easier for shoppers to pay, and more about getting you to spend more.
Parents are expected to spend more on hoodies, backpacks and notebooks for their kids this back-to-school season, but they'll also be laser-focused on bargains as they scour stores and e-commerce sites for the best deals.
Memo to extreme couponers: Some retailers, particularly supermarkets and drugstore chains, are mad as hell and they're not going to take it anymore. To save their bottom lines, they're setting limits on just how much all your coupon cleverness can save you.
This Black Friday, here are a few things to whet your bargain-hunting "app"-etite: 5 mobile apps designed to help you nab deals during the holiday weekend shopping bonanza.
Black Friday, the Super Bowl of the holiday shopping season, is upon us. Deal pros cut through the barrage of bargain-hunting tips with a pared down -- and doorbuster-free -- list of simple ways to save during the shopping blitz.
Even before Hurricane Irene interrupted back-to-school shopping, the nation was cautious about spending for the new semester. A teetering economy is affecting the purchasing choices of 75% of families with school-age children, and 70% say they plan to spend the same or less as last year.
Before you shell out big bucks for a big-ticket item -- be it a mattress, a flat-screen TV or a new car -- remember that being a savvy shopper isn't just about finding the best sale you can right now: It's also about timing your purchase.
January's retail and food services sales rose a sharp 7.8% from January 2010 and 0.3% from December. For the most part, merchants and manufacturers worked to line up wares that consumers want at prices that attract those who are now more frugal.
After a holiday season that marked a return to some form of normalcy, merchants are bracing for a year of mild sales growth and more stable operations. Whether that momentum holds is an open question, given the state of the housing and job markets.
Much to retailers' surprise, old man winter didn't deter consumers from the post-holiday clearance sales. Merchants posted better-than-expected January results despite the dreadful weather that had caused many analysts to cool their forecasts.
Big merchants got an early Christmas present this year: Better-than expected November sales. This group posted 6% sales growth compared to 2009, far ahead of most forecasts for 3% to 4% growth. But bargain-hunting is likely to continue in December.
As retailers wrapped up their earnings reports this week, most said they're back in cost-control mode and will tighten inventories after the holidays. Shoppers are still spending cautiously and costs are on the rise, so profits will have to be squeezed out of slowly rising sales.
