shopping

Microsoft has revamped the Shopping section of its Bing search engine having added among other things the ability to link to Facebook accounts. Now with the pairing to Facebook users can stay reminded of friends' birthdays, as well as share their shopping lists with them.

Besides, Microsoft also redesigned Shopping home page and now it gives more prominent placement to top search queries, popular products and relevant articles.

Social networking giant Facebook decided to step up into the overcrowded coupons market by offering users in five U.S. cities coupons for everything from wine tastings to concert tickets.

Now users can purchase the special Deals coupons directly from Facebook and get discounted prices or access to limited-availability goods. Facebook will take a cut of each transaction.

"Although the market has seen huge growth and there are big players already there, it's not something that's locked down," said Ray Valdes, an Internet analyst at research firm Gartner.

A growing number of consumers are viewing their smartphones as the best tool to save money while staying aware when buying. About six in 10 mobile users say they'll be using their phones for holiday shopping, and retailers are falling all over themselves to offer applications and mobile websites to meet the demand. With smartphones, shoppers can compare prices, store loyalty and gift cards, make wish lists and get discounts at their favorite stores.

As retailers are offering more discounts and deals the number of shoppers wishing to buy "impulse" gifts for themselves or others is on the rise this season. An exclusive survey for Reuters by consumer research firm America's Research Group revealed that about 46% of U.S. consumers have already purchased an "impulse item" this season.

According to 2 similar surveys conducted earlier in November that number rose from 28% and 38%.

A new service, Answers, has been launched by online coupon web site Savings.com. The new offering let users ask shopping related questions and get answers from others in real time.

Saturday, a lot of shoppers came back to malls searching for doorbuster deals, next year's Christmas gifts and, for most, gifts for themselves.

Recognizing shoppers would likely spend less this holiday season, vendors carefully managed inventory this Christmas. That resulted in some store shelves to be practically empty December 26.

Retailers made a push to woo gift-card-toting shoppers by cutting prices and offering doorbuster deals often reserved for the day after Thanksgiving.

New uses for mobile phones as technology advancements, spurred on by Apple’s iPhone, open up a host of new shopping opportunities are available for shoppers in Europe this Christmas. A host of new services that can deliver discount vouchers to phones, compare prices of vendors in a vicinity or direct shoppers to online stores are becoming easy to find and use, and they hold attractions for marketers as well as consumers.

Webroot, a leading Internet security provider for the consumer, enterprise and SMB markets, and AnchorFree, the creator of Hotspot Shield, the world's most popular free virtual private network that keeps consumers safe online, today announced a partnership to deliver a new consumer security and privacy offering to a large segment of Hotspot Shield's 7.5 million users worldwide.

 Lightspeed Research, an online marketing company, released a study that shows 64% of Americans think it's annoying or crazy that stores have Christmas decorations up before Halloween.

American consumers shopped more for bargains at the start of the U.S. holiday season and spent significantly less than a year ago, according to early data released on Sunday.

Consumers said they will have spent nearly 8 percent less on average, or about $343 per person, over the weekend that includes U.S. Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday and runs through Sunday, according to the National Retail Federation.

 Many economists and experts continue their lauding the achievements made to date that moved us forth from where we had been in the crisis. They say that the worst of the US recession is over now and improved reports in jobs, consumer spending and housing are taken as an index of recovery.

Discover card today announced a variety of ways Discover Cardmembers can take advantage of extra cash rewards when shopping this holiday season, including the opportunity to earn Double Cashback Bonus on all online purchases, as well as at department stores, jewelry and apparel retailers.