| Boomers stream to Shopzilla, Nextag and Yahoo! Shopping
It appears that more Boomers are online and using comparison shopping Web sites for research early in the holiday season.
Hitwise, a company owned by Experian that tracks online shopping traffic, said traffic from shoppers aged 45 and older increased 38 percent on the week ending Nov. 3 compared to the same week in 2006.
Most popular sites for people in this demographic were Shopzilla, Nextag and Yahoo! Shopping, Hitwise director of research Heather Dougherty said in a statement. Many were researching consumer electronics items, she said.
"As we enter the holiday shopping season, consumers are beginning to research potential gift purchases and compare prices earlier than last year especially with retailers beginning to roll out seasonal promotions," Dougherty said.
More Pressies To The Pound - In NY
The dramatic fall in the dollar against the pound means that canny shoppers who fancy a few days away could get some Christmas bargains across the pond in New York. Taking a bite out of celebrity shopping habits with a trip to the Big Apple could save hundreds of pounds on "bit ticket items". That is good news for the city's tourist industry which confirms that record-breaking numbers of British tourists are heading to New York. The UK is the city's number one international travel market; it had more than 1.1m people visiting in 2006. And the current weak value of the dollar means many goods are as much as 30% cheaper on average than in London, according to price comparison website PriceRunner.co.uk. Recent shoppers back up the website's claim, with one saying she bought an Apple Mac at 200 less than the same model in London, making a saving of around 25%.
eBay, Embrace Your Inner Retailer
That's the advice of Stifel, Nicolaus analyst Scott Devitt, and I think he's on to something. In his latest note on eBay, on which he has a buy, he says eBay should focus less on the kind of fee adjustments that appear to be imminent and focus more on merchandising their sellers' products better. In a telling comparison, he points out that when a consumer goes to Amazon, she is not only always logged on, she is presented with more than 50 items targeted to her apparent preferences, judging from what she has bought, put in her shopping cart, or viewed. On eBay, she has to sign in every day and still sees only untargeted pictures of women's purses regardless of what she has bought on eBay. Devitt thinks Amazon-style personalization could provide "material lift" to revenue per customer.
ShopLocal Retail Index Up 43% in December; Continues Record Growth for ...
CHICAGO, Jan. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- ShopLocal(TM), the leader in multi-channel shopping and marketing services, today announced the ShopLocal Index was up 43 percent for the month of December compared with the same period last year. The Index ended the 2007 year with a 36 percent overall growth versus 2006, reflecting consumers' heightened awareness and use of the Internet to search for the best deals and promotions available in-store. As a point of comparison, e-commerce increased 19 percent in December versus last year, and total online retail spending grew 20% in 2007 (up from $102.1 billion to $122.7 billion) (1). In terms of retailer segments tracked by the ShopLocal Index, mass merchant and discount department stores showed the greatest growth, followed by consumer electronics and office stores.
Sarley: Columnist looking for a 'friend'
I am dead serious. I was elated. I was excited. I was traumatized. Traumatized? Yes, my feeling of glee was in the slow lane as angst passed it like a blur in the far left lane.Why the trauma? Because I had put in for a tag, was lucky enough to get one and didn’t have the first clue as to trying to find property that I could use it on.So, that brings us full circle to the opening paragraph of this column. I am looking for a "friend," a "friend" who has access to some property that he/she has permission to hunt on with shotguns. This "friend" also would need to be kind enough to invite the outdoors columnist from this fine newspaper to join him on a whitetail hunt.I am a beginner. Put me in a tree stand or even at ground blind where I have a decent chance to see an animal close enough so I can pull the trigger.
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