holiday season

Your ears do not deceive you. Many McDonald's restaurants have already started pumping out holiday music. Hey, when MCD corporate sends its monthly CD, you play it. But isn't a tad early? Or are we ready, even before trick or treating, for the sounds of holly, jolly Christmas cheer?

When it comes time for children both naughty and nice to make their holiday shopping lists and check them twice, they may have a few things in common. Click inside for a peek at why Toys R Us thinks these will be some of the hottest toys of the 2011 holiday season.

Walmart Stores increased prices of thousands of toys at each store this month, as the world's largest retailer looks to turn around its trend of negative same-store sales by spurring holiday-season revenue, Bloomberg News reported.

Amazon.com, Kohl's and Nordstrom rank among the top 10 companies for customer service, according to a shopper survey released by the National Retail Federation on Tuesday. Online electronics retailer Newegg made the list this year, while Coldwater Creek and HSN fell off.

As UPS gears up for its busiest time of year by hiring about 50,000 temporary workers, the world's largest package-delivery service said it expects to ship about 7.5% more packages this holiday season than it did a year ago.

Amazon will hire more than 12,500 temporary workers for its U.S. fulfillment centers during the holiday season as the world's largest online retailer gears up for its busiest time of year.

About six in 10 U.S. consumers will use their cellphones to find and buy gifts for the holiday season, according to a new report released Wednesday.

Online sales growth will outpace revenue at brick-and-mortar-only stores this holiday season, according to research firm ComScore. The company predicts online shopping will grow three times as fast as overall retail sales.

More customers will fraudulently return merchandise to stores this holiday season than last year, the National Retail Federation predicts. It expects the return of stolen goods and used merchandise will cost retailers nearly $3.7 billion, up 34% from $2.7 billion during the holiday season last year.

Amazon has positions to fill in three fulfillment centers in two states. It's joining other retailers such as Toys 'R' Us and Kohl's is adding scads of temporary hires for 2010 holiday sales crunch -- the most since 2007.