Holiday retail sales are up nearly 4.9% this season. "Giftology" author John Ruhlin shares his picks for the top trends in gifts for the 2017 holiday season.
The top trends this year include personalization, being locally made, artificial intelligence enabled selection, conscious capitalism, and practicality over novelty. Ruhlin says Amazon's launch of Marketplace is a great example of how the e-commerce giant is capitalizing on the growing popularity of personalization.
Shoppers spent more than $800 billion during this holiday season according to Reuters. Ruhlin says ultimately its the story that sells to consumers.
Much like all the upheaval shaking the world, the huge swings rocking Wall Street may feel far from normal. But, for investing at least, this is normal.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
