shop

It's no secret that a relaxing environment can keep customers more satisfied. But a new study shows that shoppers also rate products' values higher when they're relaxed. Here's why it might be better to hold off on buying until you're less calm.

Knowing customers' likes and dislikes is about as basic as it gets in retailing. But for years, national department stores got it wrong. More concerned with controlling costs, big retailers focused on sameness. Not anymore.

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.

As I browsed Digg this week looking for fresh stories, I had to laugh a bit when I saw that a CNN piece touting the potential health benefits of coffee ranked among the most popular pieces. After all, I've been serving the stuff for about five years as a barista, and the effects of America's coffee...

As unemployment soars and consumer credit dries up, some investors have braced for a "new frugality" with battered consumers cutting spending and looking for cheaper goods. But Wall Street is now betting that the fortunes of expensive luxury retailers may actually look much brighter than that of...

If you do decide that shopping is the answer, you'll be set to save a lot in the coming weeks of post-holiday markdowns. Due to an unusually bad holiday season for retailers -- with sales down 19% to 21% for apparel, and 26% for electronics -- stores are making huge markdowns and coming up with...

Ahh, the eighties. How luxury goods makers must miss you. In those days, Gucci and Tiffany never would have heard the request, "May I get that in a brown paper bag?" But these days, the rich are in hiding and conspicuous consumption needs to be a little less conspicuous. Most famously, according to...

Last night I watched the latest episode of Life, which described a murder shortly before a mall opens on Black Friday. The detectives are standing in the path of shoppers who flood the mall at 6 a.m. and all any fiscally sensible person can ask herself is: why? At least, that's what I ask myself,...