The U.S. economy is still sputtering, and household budgets are still under pressure. So where are we cutting: Fancy coffee? Check. Eating out? You bet. But there are a few things that once would have been considered luxuries the recent poll shows Americans just aren't willing to do without.
Over the last few years, Home Depot has expanded its retail stores aggressively, adding more than 200 outlets annually. However, the firm has recently embarked on a $1.1 billion program to improve its Web presence while dramatically reducing the number of new store openings to around 10 in 2011.
"Your call is important to us ...," but how important? A study out Monday ranks the top 100 Internet retailers for customer service response speeds: How long they make us wait on hold, how fast they reply to emails. There's a wide disparity between the worst and the best -- and a couple of companies that are both.
GSI Commerce, which operates websites for big retailers such as Toys R Us and Bath and Body Works, is now selling itself. Web marketplace eBay says its buying GSI for a cool $2.4 billion.
Three years into a recession and a lumpy recovery, consumers aren't getting comfort from retail therapy. They're price-shopping online and jumping in and out of stores. So, bricks-and-motor merchants are looking for ways to make stores more convenient and flexible.
So far this holiday season, U.S. online retail spending is up 12% from a year ago. More people took to the Internet last weekend to finish up their last-minute shopping, according to a ComScore report.
More shoppers are flocking to the Web for the holidays, boosting online retail sales 12% over a year ago. In five weeks ending Dec. 3, Americans spent $17.5 billion on retail items on the Web, up from $15.7 billion in the year-ago period, according to a new report from ComScore.
As shoppers head to back-to-school sales early this year, the retail industry is watching their behavior closely for hints about the coming holiday season. So far, the signals appear mixed, with analysts disagreeing about whether revenue is up or down.
Losses on commercial property loans are one problem. But a bigger, often-overlooked, risk is the potential for CRE to be a drag on the U.S. economy for years to come, or its potential to trigger a slide back, into a double-dip recession.
