Happy Black Friday!!

“To Lure Shoppers, Wal-Mart Tries Same-Day Delivery” by Jeff Brady at NPR News (audio and text).  Walmart testing same day delivery in Northern Virginia, Philly, Minneapolis, San Jose and San Francisco during holidays.  https://www.wbur.org/npr/165592058/to-lure-shoppers-wal-mart-tries-same-day-delivery

“Canadian retailers cast ‘Black Friday’ net to keep shoppers at home — and spending” by Vito Pilieci in the Edmonton Journal.  “According to the Retail Council of Canada, 2012 is marking a bit of a watershed moment for Canadian retailers, who have for years watched as busloads of Canadians headed south to the United States to take advantage of post-Thanksgiving sale prices.  This year, the Canadian retailers have simply had enough.”  https://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Canadian+retailers+cast+Black+Friday+keep+shoppers+home/7590854/story.html 

“Here’s A Holiday-Shopping Chart That Should Terrify Google Investors” by Owen Thomas at Business Insider.  “So far this month, Amazon and eBay’s sales are way up over last year—41.5% and 24.5% respectively. Sales through search and comparison shopping engines are flat or down.  At the same time, sales are strongly shifting off of PCs—an environment where shopping typically starts by typing what you’re looking for into a search engine—and onto tablets and smartphones, where it’s much more common to shop with an app.”  https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-ebay-google-mobile-shopping-2012-11

60 Percent of U.S. Adults Plan to Shop and Buy Gifts Thanksgiving Weekend, According to CEA Survey.  “CEA’s Pre-Black Friday Survey found that 60 percent of U.S. adults plan to shop Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, through Cyber Monday, with Black Friday expected to be the busiest shopping day of the weekend. Overall, 37 percent of U.S. adults plan to shop this Friday, with one-third (33 percent) going to a retail store and 20 percent shopping online. Saturday and Cyber Monday will be the next most popular shopping days of the weekend, with more than a third (34 percent) of adults planning to shop on Saturday and a quarter (25 percent) will go in-store or online on Monday.”  https://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsLang=en&newsId=20121120006482&div=-1245645151

“The Secret Place Where Apple Hides Your Shopping Bags” by Buster Heine at Cult of Mac (includes picture).  “When you walk into an Apple Store the only thing Apple wants you to think about are Macs, iPhones, iPads and iPods…Next time you’re in a store, take a gander under the tables to see what kind of stuff Apple is hiding.”https://www.cultofmac.com/202132/the-secret-place-where-apple-hides-your-shopping-bags-image/#B0tGlkl41iXdGDTm.99

“Tablets, discounters top U.S. holiday shopping lists” by Jessica Wohl at Reuters.  “Amazon is the top online retailer shoppers plan to visit more than they did last year, with 42 percent picking it, 38 percent choosing Walmart, 23 percent selecting Target and 14 percent picking EBay.  Physical stores remain the top destination, with 26 percent planning to shop primarily at stores and only 14 percent planning to shop primarily online.”  https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/20/us-usa-retail-holiday-poll-idUSBRE8AJ1BF20121120 

Wal-Mart exec: ‘Great shopping experience’ despite strike’ at NBC News (with video).  “Wal-Mart’s chief marketing officer Duncan Mac Naughton tells TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie that the retail company is “confident” that customers will not be affected by employees strikes.”  https://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/49914793/#49914793

“Target Corp. goes on 50 years of Black Friday’s” by Annie Baxter on Minnesota Public Radio (audio and text).  “They didn’t call it Black Friday at the time, but 50 years ago Target held its first-ever day-after-Thanksgiving sale.  The discount retailer had just begun to operate in May 1962.  By coincidence, Wal-Mart and Kmart also opened their doors that year.”  https://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/11/21/business/target-corp-50-years/

“Get Instragram prints from…Walgreens” by Suzanne Choney at NBC News.  “Now, a new app, Printicular, lets you order up Instagram 4×4 prints from Walgreens, and pick them up in an hour. It makes sense for Walgreens: Instagram now has more than 100 million users.”  https://www.nbcnews.com/technology/gadgetbox/get-instagram-prints-walgreens-1C7181506

Kodak Extends Retail Printing Relationship with CVS/pharmacy.  “Eastman Kodak Company today announced that it will extend its relationship with CVS/pharmacy through 2016. CVS/pharmacy operates 7,400 stores across the U.S. and is the largest customer of Kodak’s Retail Systems Solutions (RSS) business.”  https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20121116006088/en/Kodak-Extends-Retail-Printing-Relationship-CVSpharmacy