SmallBusinessNewz

comScore: Online Shopping Trends Still Strong

"So far, so good" is the main message conveyed by new stats from comScore.  More money's been spent online during the first five weeks of the November-December shopping season this year than last, and social media marketing efforts appear to be succeeding, too.

Black Friday Results Point To Positive Trend

What many people regard as the official start of the holiday shopping season went quite well, according to statistics from comScore.  Indeed - although it's too early to tell for sure - Black Friday appeared to point the way towards retail sites experiencing a better season this year than last.

Cyber Monday Participation Headed Up This Year

Small businesses that don't have something planned for Cyber Monday may want to reconsider.  It looks like the vast majority of retailers intend to hold a promotion of one sort or another, which could make acknowledging the shopping event a semi-necessity.

What You Can Learn from Amazon to Increase Holiday Sales

There is a reason Amazon is widely known as one of the biggest retailers online (if not the biggest). The company knows what it's doing. Amazon has appeared in headlines recently for a number of reasons, and a fair amount of them are related to different things the company has been doing to increase its sales as the holiday season approaches. While as a small business, you don't likely have the clout that Amazon does, they do employ strategies that you can learn from in order to potentially increase your own sales. 1. Mobile Payments

Free Shipping Day May Bring You a Sales Boost

December 17th is National Free Shipping Day in the U.S. That means that on that day, consumers all over the country are going to be looking for great deals with free shipping options. While, if you can swing it, free shipping is always an attractive offering to customers, it would probably be a good idea to at least try it out on that day for a potential boost in business.

Hitwise Declares "Hunt Is On" For Discounts

More evidence has surfaced to indicate that small business owners who want searchers to wind up at their sites should consider breaking out terms like "free shipping" and "coupon."  Hitwise took a look at how searches for these terms tend to increase dramatically around the holidays.

21 Stats to Keep in Mind This Holiday Season

Deloitte released the results of a new survey looking at holiday retail spending and trends. Social media, mobile phones, and online reviews are playing increasingly big parts in the lives and shopping habits of consumers.

Eight Percent Increase In Online Holiday Sales Predicted

There's fresh good news - and unfortunately, a little fresh bad news, too - with regards to the 2009 holiday season.  It looks like online sales will increase, but consumers will be focused on low prices and thus perhaps put small businesses up against big retailers.

eBay iPhone App A Cash Machine

If you've given up on eBay and/or not embraced the mobile market, it may be time to rethink those decisions.  It seems that consumers have bought over $400 million worth of stuff from eBay this year using an iPhone app.

Google Asks Small Biz Owners To Support Net Neutrality

Google, while big, has long appeared to have a soft spot in its heart for small businesses.  Now, the search giant with a market cap of about $175 billion is calling on you to join the network neutrality fight for its sake and your own.