Retailer Daily

‘Daily Wrap:’ Best Buy, Holiday E-commerce, Wal-Mart

After more than three-and-a-half years of courtroom battles with the Connecticut Attorney General’s office, Best Buy has admitted that its in-store kiosks tricked consumers out of web price-matching and agreed to pay consumers in that state $399,000. StorefrontBacktalk reports Best Buy also said it would stop showing higher prices on its in-store kiosks and would “conspicuously disclose to consumers” if the kiosk was displaying lower prices.

Stats & Research

• The final shopping weekend before Christmas reached $900 million in retail e-commerce spending, representing a strong 17% growth rate compared to last year.
• The South and West saw the largest population gains in the latest US Census, at the expense of the slower-growing Northeast and Midwest.
• The Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) for the U.S. increased 1.1% in November 2010 to 112.4 (2004=100), following a 0.4% increase in October, and a 0.6% increase in September.
• More than a third of US shoppers are planning to buy presents for a larger group of friends and loved ones this holiday season compared with last year, according to a survey by America’s Research Group, a consumer research firm in South Carolina.
• Rising prices for birds and gold pushed the cost of the traditional “12 gifts of Christmas” - from the partridge in the pear tree to the 12 drummers drumming - up by 9.2% to $23,439.38, according to PNC Wealth Management, the second-biggest increase since the Christmas Price Index was started 27 years ago.
• The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.1% in November 2010 on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.

IT Operations

• Wal-Mart is upgrading and expanding its data warehouse to achieve next-generation capabilities.

E-commerce & Multichannel Retailing

• Groupon's growth from a little-known start-up peddling group-buying discounts to a shopping force that spawned countless clones and a rumored $6 billion bid from Google was one of the top tech stories in 2010.
• Consumers for the first time got federally approved rules guaranteeing their right to view what they want on the Internet.

Marketing & Advertising

• Macy’s and Saks are incorporating digital technology into their holiday windows.

Supply Chain & Distribution

• Dillard’s will locate an internet fulfillment center in Maumelle, Ark., in 2012 to support the continuing growth of its online business.