online sales

As the coronavirus spreads, shelves across the world are clean out of hand sanitizers and disinfecting wipes. Shoppers are instead, going online to find third-party suppliers trying to profit off fears of Walmart and Amazon jacking up prices.

As the coronavirus spreads, shelves across the world are clean out of hand sanitizers and disinfecting wipes. Shoppers are instead, going online to find third-party suppliers trying to profit off fears of Walmart and Amazon jacking up prices. Ian Cull reports.

Shoppers, many of them using smartphones, spent $3.6 billion buying online from small businesses on Saturday.

This year’s Black Friday was the biggest ever for online sales, as fewer people hit the stores and shoppers rang up $7.4 billion in transactions from their phones, computers and tablets. That’s just behind the $7.9 billion haul of last year’s Cyber Monday, which holds the one-day record for online sales, according to Adobe Analytics. Adobe measures sales at 80...

Black Friday shoppers fought for parking spots and traveled cross-state to their favorite malls, kicking off a shortened shopping season that intensified the mad scramble between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The shopping season is the shortest since 2013 because Thanksgiving fell on the last Thursday in November — the latest possible date it could be. That means customers will have less...

Major League Baseball’s online sales from the postseason and the World Series featuring the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals have been strong — and the “Baby Shark” craze is adding to that, according to data from the league. In the last 10 days, the MLBShop.com has sold more than 4,500 various adult and children’s “Baby Shark” products, totaling more...

You’ll be able to shop at Toys R Us online again — thanks to a little help from Target. Target announced on Tuesday that it’s partnering with the parent company of the Toys R Us brand, TRU Kids, to help it relaunch ToysRUs.com. The deal will allow Toys R Us to once again have an online presence, post bankruptcy, as...

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer moved Wednesday to make her state the first to ban flavored electronic cigarettes, accusing companies of using candy flavors and deceptive advertising to “hook children on nicotine.” The Democrat ordered the state health department to issue emergency rules that will prohibit the sale of flavored nicotine vaping products, including to adults, and the misleading marketing of...

Walmart’s latest quarterly earnings report just revealed how the biggest retailer in the world is being even more aggressive in order to take on Amazon. In the midst of a trade war between the U.S. and China, and in the wake of two deadly shootings at Walmart stores, everyone is tuned in to what Walmart has to say about tariffs...

From industry stalwarts to high-profile politicians, seemingly everyone’s turning their backs against Amazon these days. Except one: Wall Street. Just this week, old players in two major categories — logistics and pharmacies — turned into foes. FedEx terminated its ground-delivery contract with Amazon, two months after ending its U.S. express shipping deal. Meanwhile, CVS and Walgreens were accused of unfairly...

One of San Francisco’s last independent musical instrument stores abruptly hung up a “Store Closing” sign this week, blaming its demise on the city’s shifting tech demographic.

Walmart is opening up dozens more veterinary clinics in its stores and launching its first online pet pharmacy, hoping to lure more U.S. pet owners who are spending billions of dollars each year on their dogs and cats. The biggest retailer in the world already operates 21 veterinary clinics in its stores across six states, but over the next 12...

Clothing retailers, consumer electronics companies and home furnishing businesses will need to close more stores across the U.S. as e-commerce sales proliferate, according to UBS. In a note to clients this week, the investment firm said “store rationalization needs to accelerate meaningfully as online penetration continues to rise.” Assuming online sales’ share of total retail sales in the U.S. grows...

Kibbles for Fido? Nope. These days he’s getting diced chicken with sweet potatoes and spinach. U.S. pet owners are increasingly feeding fresh food to their dogs and cats. Some order pre-proportioned meals of meat and vegetables or frozen raw meat online. Others find them in refrigerators at big retailers like Walmart. Later this spring, Petco and its partner, California-based JustFoodForDogs,...

Tesla is walking back plans to close most of its showrooms worldwide and announced price hikes for most of its electric vehicles.

For years, there have been lots of electric cars proudly rolled out at auto shows but few on the streets or at dealers. That could be about to change. The electric cars under the lights at the Geneva International Motor Show promise to be the leading edge of more affordable, longer-range vehicles that start to move battery cars out of...

A federal appeals judge ruled Tuesday AT&T’s merger with Time Warner can stand. The ruling brings closer the conclusion of a years-long merger process that has pitted AT&T against U.S. antitrust regulators. Shares of AT&T popped immediately following the news to trade roughly half of 1 percent higher. “The merger of these innovative companies has already yielded significant consumer benefits,...

Macy’s said Tuesday it will cut about 100 management jobs as looks trim costs and improve profitability amid declining sales. The department store chain was able to top lowered expectations for its fourth quarter. But same-store sales came up short of expectations, as tourism spending weakened toward the end of 2018. Macy’s was forced to cut its 2018 outlook last...

David’s Bridal already has something old: 60 years in the bridal industry. Now, having emerged from three months in bankruptcy proceedings, it is trying something new as start-up competition and millennial brides upend its market. The retailer filed for bankruptcy in November, saddled in debt that partially stemmed from its $1.05 billion sale to private equity firm Clayton Dubilier &...

The explosion in online shopping has led to porch pirates and stoop surfers swiping holiday packages from unsuspecting residents. The cops in one New Jersey city are trying to catch the thieves with some trickery of their own. Police in Jersey City, across the Hudson River from New York, are teaming up with Amazon to install doorbell cameras and plant...