Holiday sales increased 5% over last year, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse report, marking the largest year-over-year increase since 2011. Christian Magoon, CEO of Amplify, and Melissa Gonzalez, CEO and Founder of Lion'esque Group, join The Long and The Short to recap retail in 2017 and make predictions for 2018.
According to the Mastercard survey, aggressive promotions early in the holiday season were the main driver for the uptick in retail sales. As for the specific categories that saw growth: sales of electronics and appliances increased by 7.5%, and home furnishings and improvement sales jumped 5%. However, women's apparel was negative over the entire year.
Magoon believes mobile commerce is growing by leaps and bounds, which is a direct result of retail sales going up. This is a white-hot growth opportunity for retailers, as smart devices, faster internet, and more trusted mobile payment technology push mobile sales above desktop or foot-traffic. Gonzalez says that retail stores need to start offering perks to their shoppers to get them in the store. Additionally, aggressive discounts were a main driver this year.
Before the SAG-AFTRA strike, this was the weekend “Dune: Part Two” was supposed to open. When Warner Bros. and Legendary pushed that opening back to March 2024 and no other blockbuster stepped in to take its spot.
DiGiorno is offering a pizza with toppings that include turkey, big chunks of turkey, sweet potatoes, green beans, cranberries, crispy onions and gravy.
Magnolia Bakery announced it'll start selling THC-infused edibles in three states.
The upcoming movie, 'The Fall Guy,' stars Ryan Gosling as a stunt man who has to locate a missing movie star all while solving a major conspiracy.
The official English version trailer for 'The Boy and the Heron' is finally out.
If you're looking for plans this weekend, we've got you covered since there are a few fun movies hitting theaters first up. Cheddar News has more.
Following the death of Matthew Perry last week, the foundation he wanted to launch has finally been created.
The story started as an accidental 911 call, but then it ended up in a hug. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's office in Florida responded to a 911 call from a young boy who wasn't facing any emergency. Instead, he was asking to give police a hug.
One of the world's rarest diamonds nicknamed Bleu Royal is set to be auctioned next week.
There could be such a thing as being too clean after heated debates on social media about how often you should shower. Dermatologists and other health experts are now weighing in, saying while showering every day is a must, some experts say it may not be good for your health to shower too often.
