Half of holiday shoppers plan to use curbside or contactless pickup: survey

The pandemic has boosted BOPIS offerings, especially as retailers highlight pickup as a safe alternative to in-store shopping.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Sept. 22, 2020

The standard holiday season is 'meaningless' this year, AlixPartners says

The consultancy added October sales in its forecast for 2020 to account for shifts retailers and consumers are making in a pandemic. 

By Ben Unglesbee • Sept. 21, 2020

Explore the Trendline➔

Inside the 2024 holiday season

Retailers are navigating the effects of inflation as retail’s most important quarter looms.

By Retail Dive staff

Study: 20% of retailers 'dependent' on the holidays to survive

To cope with the threats of coronavirus and fewer in-store shoppers, retailers are implementing safety measures and investing in curbside pickup.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Sept. 17, 2020

A 'rocky' fall season lies ahead for retailers, Cowen says

Trip consolidation, spending changes, government action (or lack of) on the economy and the continued spread of COVID-19 make for many possibilities. 

By Ben Unglesbee • Sept. 17, 2020

Deloitte predicts tepid-to-modest holiday sales growth

How consumers spend during the upcoming season depends much on COVID-19 and the efforts to slow it. 

By Ben Unglesbee • Sept. 16, 2020

Holidays will drive mobile shopping to record highs, App Annie predicts

Online events like Amazon's Prime Day and Alibaba's Singles Day may help extend the holiday shopping season for people who want to avoid stores.

By Robert Williams • Sept. 15, 2020

Macy's parade is on, but only on television

The pandemic forced the retailer to work with New York City officials to figure out how to safely stage the event in and around Herald Square.

By Daphne Howland • Sept. 15, 2020

Lululemon to expand holiday pop-ups to 70 to ease pandemic pressure

Profits and margins shrank in Q2, but the retailer is among the few in the black, and CEO Calvin McDonald said he remains "cautiously optimistic."

By Daphne Howland • Sept. 9, 2020

Back-to-school shoppers are showing up after all, study shows

Mass merchants, Best Buy and even office retailers saw foot traffic upticks in August, after steeper declines last month, according to Placer.ai.

By Daphne Howland • Sept. 1, 2020

Macy's will 'reimagine' Thanksgiving Day Parade

After disrupting the department store's turnaround, the pandemic takes yet another whack at its plans this year.

By Daphne Howland • Aug. 24, 2020

Toys R Us online sales now supported by Amazon

The e-commerce giant has taken over a role that Target stepped into during the holiday period last year. 

By Ben Unglesbee • Aug. 21, 2020

L Brands warns that the holidays could be tough this year

The company also said it has hired bankers for advice on its work in separating Victoria's Secret from its better-performing Bath & Body Works business.

By Daphne Howland • Aug. 20, 2020

FedEx to raise peak surcharges on Ground, Express, SmartPost

The move makes it the final of the three major parcel carriers to levy hefty fees on shippers for the first holiday shopping season in the midst of a pandemic.

By Emma Cosgrove • Aug. 19, 2020

USPS will raise commercial parcel rates for peak season

The temporary rate hikes will take effect Oct. 18 and be removed Dec. 27. 

By Shefali Kapadia • Aug. 14, 2020

Can summer BOPIS practices forecast holiday trends?

With COVID-19 uncertainty and the holidays ahead, retailers must refine their buy online, pick up in-store operations. 

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Aug. 6, 2020

Target to close for Thanksgiving, double down on same-day services

The retail giant will also start its holiday deals in October to reduce crowds and said the changes were made in anticipation of a "very different" holiday season.

By Ben Unglesbee • July 27, 2020

Walmart to close on Thanksgiving

The retailer framed the decision to close U.S. stores on the holiday — for the first time in more than 30 years — as a gesture of thanks to employees.

By Ben Unglesbee • July 22, 2020

Amazon preps for peak with restrictions on third-party seller warehouse space

"Even though it's July, we're preparing early for the holiday season to meet sustained increased demand," the company wrote in an announcement. 

By Emma Cosgrove • July 14, 2020

Department stores miss out on Fourth of July consumer attention

Specialty retailers, while giving off-price retailers a run for their money, leaned on promotions to sway shoppers, according to Wedbush analysts.

By Daphne Howland • July 7, 2020

App downloads increased by 42% during Cyber Week 2019, study says

App commerce firm Poq predicts that more than 25% of online traffic will come from mobile apps by the 2020 holiday season.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • March 16, 2020

Holiday online sales reached over $137B

An eMarketer report found that total retail sales during the season exceeded $1 trillion for the first time.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Feb. 19, 2020

Moody's warns department stores to brace for another tough year

More stores will have to close for the sector to regain its footing, the ratings firm said Wednesday.

By Daphne Howland • Jan. 16, 2020

Holiday shoppers spent more than $50B via smartphone

Mobile accounted for 84% of the season's e-commerce growth, according to a new report by Adobe. 

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Jan. 16, 2020

Target 'stumbled' in the holidays as sales fell short

Even as comparables missed the retailer's expectations, Target boosted sales and market share in some key categories. 

By Ben Unglesbee • Jan. 15, 2020

Holiday sales by the numbers: Target same-store sales up 1.4%, miss estimates

The retailer's overall sales were dragged down by comp declines in electronics and home, while toys — an important category in the period — remained flat.

By Ben Unglesbee , Daphne Howland • Updated Jan. 16, 2020