online shopping

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'Not the Old Black Friday That We Used to Know'

Retailers tried to entice shoppers with sales, but energy level doesn't seem the same as in years past

(Newser) - Retailers used giveaways and big discounts to reward US shoppers who ventured out for Black Friday, even as earlier offers, the prospect of better bargains in the days ahead, and the ease of e-commerce drained much of the excitement from the holiday shopping season's much-hyped kickoff. Frequent deals throughout...

Watch Out, Shein and Temu. Amazon's Haul Is Here

E-commerce giant launches new online storefront to compete with China's discount retailers

(Newser) - Amazon has launched a low-cost online storefront featuring electronics, apparel, and other products priced at under $20, an effort to compete with discount retailers that have increasingly encroached on the e-commerce giant's turf. In a blog post on Wednesday, the company said the new Amazon Haul storefront will mostly...

New Sam's Club Model Ditches Checkout Lines

Differentiating itself from Costco, the superstore is leaning into tech that mirrors online shopping

(Newser) - Sam's Club is testing out a checkout-free future, leaning into its Scan & Go app that allows customers a brick-and-mortar shopping experience, sans the lines. CNBC reports that the member's club is reopening a store in Dallas that will allow customers to shop in a show-room like space,...

You're Not Using Alexa the Way Amazon Wants

The company thought people would spend more using their smart devices. It cost them billions

(Newser) - Amazon bet that smart devices like Alexa would bring in major revenue, prompting the behemoth to invest major cash in them. But it turns out that wager cost the company billions, the Wall Street Journal reports, and they're now attempting to turn the tide on those losses. The logic...

Online Shoppers, Today Is Your Big Day

With Black Friday, it's on to Cyber Monday, wrapping up 5-day Cyber Week for holiday shopping

(Newser) - Consumers are scouring the internet for online deals as they begin to cap off the five-day post-Thanksgiving shopping bonanza with Cyber Monday. Even though e-commerce is now part and parcel of our everyday lives and much of the holiday shopping season, Cyber Monday—a term coined back in 2005 by...

The Amount of Stuff We Return Is Mind-Boggling
Americans Return a
Mind-Boggling Amount of Stuff
longform
Aug 19, 2023 11:30 AM CDT

Americans Return a Mind-Boggling Amount of Stuff

'New Yorker' explores the whole new industry that has arisen to deal with it

(Newser) - More than a century ago, JC Penney pioneered the concept of no-questions-asked returns. Even so, the return rate was maybe 2%, writes David Owen in the New Yorker . In today's age of internet shopping, the return rate is closer to 20% and perhaps twice that for items of clothing....

China Tries to Boost Retail With Post-COVID Online Sale

Consumer spending has lagged in a generally slow economy

(Newser) - Shoppers were treated to deep discounts, new products, and payment plans as online merchants sought to revive their sluggish appetite for spending during China's first major online shopping festival after the end of zero-COVID policies . For the first time, e-commerce retailer JD.com did not release the results of...

Amazon Is Doubling Down on Prime Day

There'll be another sale next month, the first time company has had 2 in one calendar year

(Newser) - If one Amazon Prime Day in 2022 wasn't enough for you, you're in luck: On the heels of its annual summer sale exclusively for Prime members, Amazon is hosting another one next month. The 48-hour preholiday event, called the "Prime Early Access Sale," will take place...

Toddler Takes Himself on $2K Online Shopping Spree

22-month-old Ayaansh Kumar teaches his parents a lesson about phone security

(Newser) - Born at the start of the pandemic, Ayaansh Kumar is no stranger to screens. The 22-month-old from Monmouth Junction, NJ, often plays on mom Madhu Kumar's phone, mimicking his older siblings who've been studying virtually over the last two years. However, his parents never expected that he was...

Amazon Makes Big Change to Complaints Policy

It will now compensate customers injured by faulty third-party products

(Newser) - Amazon is no longer trying to stay completely out of the process when people are injured by faulty products sold on its website by third parties. In a change to the company's return and complaints policy announced Tuesday, Amazon said that people who are injured or have their property...

Walmart Says It Has 'Incredibly Convenient' New Return Option

FedEx will take away unwanted items bought online

(Newser) - Walmart says it has worked with FedEx to create an "incredibly convenient" option for people who would prefer not to visit busy stores to return items in the middle of an intensifying pandemic. In a blog post , Walmart exec Linne Fulcher says customers can now return items bought online...

Here's Why You Can't Find a PlayStation 5

When shopping online, it's a battle against bots

(Newser) - Can't score a PlayStation 5? Thank the so-called "grinch bot." The Washington Post reports that Ted Brack, 47, is among those buying the next-gen consoles with software that alerts him when products are available—and allows him to "hammer" retailers with orders faster than a regular...

Black Friday Sales Break a New Record

US retail websites rock an estimated $9B in sales

(Newser) - Black Friday online sales hit a new record this year as pandemic-wary Americans filled virtual carts instead of real ones, the AP reports. Consumers spent an estimated $9 billion on US retail websites on Black Friday, according to Adobe Analytics, which tracks online shopping. That was a 22% increase over...

Everyone's Shopping Online Now. Amazon Needs Help

Company plans to hire 100K more workers, which doesn't count upcoming holiday hires

(Newser) - Amazon has a postponed Prime Day coming up, not to mention the general increase in online shopping seen since the pandemic began—and it needs lots more hands to help with demand. That's why, the company announced Monday, it's hiring an additional 100,000 part-time and full-time workers,...

This Nation May Soon Run Out of Credit Card Numbers

So many people are shopping at home during pandemic that it's facing a dearth of digits

(Newser) - In one sense, the extra credit cards that nearly 300 companies in Japan are issuing during the pandemic due to more people doing their shopping at home is a boon. In another sense, it's causing quite the headache. The Mainichi reports that, because so many people are requesting new...

A Bookstore Laid Off Hundreds. Then, This Took Its 'Breath Away'

Powell's, popular indie chain in Oregon, rehires more than 100 workers due to online ordering boom

(Newser) - A popular indie bookstore chain in Portland, Ore., let go most of its staff—more than 300 employees—earlier this month because of the coronavirus outbreak. Now, per the Los Angeles Times , Powell's has hired back more than 100 of those workers, thanks to a surge in buying books...

Rely on 'Amazon's Choice' Badges? Not So Fast

The Wall Street Journal doesn't like what it sees

(Newser) - Those "Amazon's Choice" badges do look nice—but don't take them all at face value, the Wall Street Journal warns. The paper's investigation of about 54,000 Amazon listings found various head-scratchers, like badges on seemingly unsafe items or products in violation of Amazon policies, like...

Sorry, but There's No Such Thing as 'Free Shipping'

Retailers just hide the costs, and we consumers fall for it

(Newser) - Pay for shipping? It's become a huge pet peeve for online shoppers, and big retailers have become expert at hiding the true costs, writes Amanda Mull at the Atlantic . Small retailers—think individual artisans on Etsy, for example, who have to schlep their own boxes to the post office—...

On Cyber Monday, a 'Threat' Has Emerged Against Amazon

Target, Walmart, other retailers could suck share on what's set to be biggest online shopping day yet

(Newser) - Nearly 70 million Americans will be plopped in front of their computers or phones today, and not just because they're back to the grind after the long holiday weekend. It's Cyber Monday, an online extension of the Black Friday sales that have gone on for years, and Reuters...

Decluttering Guru Wants to Sell You Stuff

Marie Kondo now has an extensive online store

(Newser) - Marie Kondo has a lot going on . The decluttering guru's new books may not have been all that shocking, considering the success of her first, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. But her latest move might indeed surprise you: Kondo, the queen of suggesting you toss anything that doesn'...

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