“Target Canada ♥ Boxing Day” by Thomas Lee at Star-Tribune.  “Target Corp.’s campaign to win over Canadian consumers continued Thursday with 6 a.m. store openings and early bird deals for one of the nation’s top shopping events of the year — Boxing Day…Boxing Day has actually lost some of its punch over the last two years. Canadian retailers are increasingly adopting Black Friday as the premiere shopping event of the season, mostly to win back shoppers who cross the U.S. border the day after Thanksgiving looking for holiday deals.”  Read more

 

“Aldi’s $3 Billion Expansion;  It Could Have Been Walmart Instead” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “Aldi recently announced a five-year, $3 billion, strategic plan to open 650 new stores across the nation…“The model of deeply discounted groceries and heavy private label is a model that could have been a winner for Wal-Mart. It could have co-existed nicely with Wal-Mart’s current grocery strategy which is still largely a branded house,” Long said.”  Read more

 

“In About 22 Months Retailers Will be Less Likely to Get Hacked (Until Then It Could Get Worse)” by Jennifer Bjorhus at Star-Tribune.  “There is no hard deadline, but by October 2015 retailers are supposed to be ready to accept the new smart cards…Retailers who aren’t ready to accept EMV cards on that date will be held responsible for any fraud…There is concern that as the U.S. market moves toward October 2015 there could be a surge of thefts as gangs try to take full advantage of the more easily plundered magnetic stripes.  “These attacks could increase between now and 2015,” Vanderhoof said.”  Read more

 

“Amazon: Here’s The Finally Tally For All The Insane Shopping Everyone Did This Holiday Season” by Jay Yarow at Business Insider.  “Over 1 million people joined Amazon Prime, the $79 service that gives you free two-day shipping, in the third week of Christmas. Amazon now has “tens of millions” Prime members.”  Read more

 

“Chart of the Day: The most requested gift cards (Walmart #1, Target #2)” by Izzy Best at CNBC.  See the Top 20 List

 

“Costco Gets Its Peanuts Back After Ruling from Bankruptcy Judge” by Dan Flynn at Food Safety News.  “In pre-Christmas hearings before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma in Albuquerque, a complex deal was reached that allows Costco to take possession of the shelled peanuts. The short version is that Costco will have to pay accumulated monthly storage costs to two local peanut storage companies. One is owed $14,700, and $10,731 is due to the other. ”  Read more

 

“Mobile Shopping Likely Contributed to UPS Shipping Debacle” by Maria Halkias at Dallas News.  “Mobile shopping may be contributing to the volume of packages.  It’s harder to build shopping carts on phones, so more mobile shopping may mean more packages,” Last said.  More than half of Amazon’s customers shopped from a mobile device this year…Overall this holiday season, 1 in 3 orders was done on a phone or tablet vs. 1 in 4 last year, according to Custora Pulse.”  Read more

 

“Report:  Holiday Sales Increased 3.5%” at SF Gate.  “Number of the day. 3.5%.  That’s how much retail sales rose during the holiday season, according to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse. Sales were helped by deep discounts at malls and purchases of jewelry and children’s clothing.”  Read more

 

“Amazon Points Finger at UPS for Delays; Offers $20 Gift Cards” by Craig Trudell at Bloomberg via SF Gate.  “Amazon cited failures in UPS’s transportation network in messages to customers, saying its own fulfillment centers processed customers’ orders in time for holiday delivery. Amazon is reviewing the performance of the delivery carriers, spokeswoman Mary Osako said in an e-mail.” Read more

 

Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet Will Return 1/2/14

 

Have a Happy New Year!

 

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