Something I just thought about, how many retailer’s are throwing coupon’s at your feet? And pushing you to open a free membership account like no tomorrow? Every retailer including pharmacy retailer’s like Walgreen’s and RiteAid are pushing for customer’s to sign up for more promos. Also membership point system is very flashy, every time you shop at the store’s , you get point’s for your stays. It push’s many customer’s to shop there to get points. It’s a great marketing tool that many retailer’s use to market to customer’s with coupons, emailing promotions and also sending out enticing offers.

Some big retailers enjoyed a healthy September sales growth while other’ didn’t do as well. Back to school sales helped retail sales a bit, but with the holiday season coming, most retailer’s aren’t sure what to expect as holiday season comes closer. Most retailers who are experiencing good september sales includes Kohl’s who introduced Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony lines in September. Retailer’s are doing their best to keep up with the month to month sales, trying newer sales techniques to substain its run through the holiday season.

Retail Giant Wal-mart has gone back to basics so to speak, Wal-Mart Stores Inc is launching a campaign early next month called “It’s. Back,” It’s their way of telling customer that despite its recent efforts of removing certain items in what can only be described as a floored renovation effort. From early May Wal-Mart will herald the return of items such as fishing tackle, fabric items and other so called “heritage” items. The store removed these items from their outlets in a failed attempt of sprucing up the store’s image with upmarket shoppers and the general perception of the cliental it targets.

Car makers around the world are bracing for what could be the biggest
parts shortage the industry has ever seen, already Ford has been
forced to cut production due to supply orders unable to be met. Toyota
is another industry giant who has suffered huge reductions in car
productions as the ripple effect by the tsunami that hit Japan. It is
140,000 vehicles short on its usual production for the year. The parts
shortage is expected to continue indefinitely as most of the building
where the parts are produced were totally wiped out by the tsunami. It
is indeed dark times for the global automotive industry.

Major retailers posted a 4.2% increase in sales. The gain, which beat expectations of a 3.6% rise, was spread across all major retail categories, including discounters, department stores, apparel sellers and teen clothing chains.

Despite winter storms and rising gas prices, the retail market shows retail sales improved significantly in the month of February. Sales improvements were recorded in categories ranging from clothing to furniture. The strong sales performance in February was driven by store promotions, better weather and demand for spring merchandise.

With unemployment claims falling, “There must be a lot of new jobs getting created out there,” said Chris Rupkey, an economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in New York.

These sales surges are going to make more jobs and will hopefully help with the unemployment rate.

The country’s high unemployment rate has been the last major problem hammering retail sales, analysts said. An improvement could strengthen the retail sector even more.

Figures released by MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse show shoppers spent more in most categories in February. Clothing sales rose 6 percent. Furniture sales rose 4 percent — the fourth consecutive increase for that category, one of the hardest hit during the recession.

These strong retail improvements have been slowly climbing for the last several months, adding retail jobs and a sign of positive economic growth in the country.

Sales of luxury items excluding jewelry rose 1.7 percent. Online sales rose 13.2 percent, continuing to outpace sales in stores.

More details on February spending will come Thursday when major retailers, including Target Corp. and Macy’s Inc., report their revenue at stores open at least a year.

U.S retailers encountered surprisingly strong sales gains for the month of February. The surge in retail sales suggests that people are benefiting from the economic recovery. Chief economist, Michael Niemira stated that high retail sales are adding more retail jobs.

He believes that the economy may be shifting, at least technically, from recovery to expansion. In recent months, retails sales have been improving. Some economists’ worry that rising gas prices could affect shopper’s budgets just as the sector is building momentum.

This could be a major setback for retail sales. Target Corp’s sales remained lackluster, however, Target’s total retail sales rose 2.4 percent in February, compared to the 2010 period. The high sales in February could catch on and help increase retail jobs and help improve the economy. It’s clear that sales in retail have been on the steady climb suggesting that the economy may be on a strong rise. U.S retailers have enjoyed these much-needed increases in retail sales.

Target said it expects a decline in its March comparable-store sales, partly because the Easter holiday is later this year. It expects same-store sales in April to be very strong. If the momentum in February sales can remain we can expect some real improvements in the economy. The more retail sales, the more job opportunity for that sector. Retail sales are a great way to judge progress in a struggling economy.

Target Corp, however, posted a same-store sales increase of just 1.8 percent; similar to the low increases the discounter has posted in most of the preceding seven months.

Target’s total retail sales increased 2.4 percent in February, compared to the 2010 period.

Retail sales increased a healthy 4.2% in January. Usually, post-Christmas shopping fatigues but Americans didn’t stay away from the malls last month. Retailers are excited and have confirmed that Americans are spending more money in the retail market. Retail business is slowly climbing. After a solid holiday season and with consumer spending appearing to stabilize, economists and retail watchers are hoping the momentum carries on to other sectors. Not all the news in business is good, retailers are worried about the higher cost of cotton, and increased labor and transportation prices could hinder retail business in the coming months.

Retail sales might have gained momentum in January as promotions enticed U.S. Shoppers. Retailers such as Gap topped the charts for January sales, making it clear that household spending will keep growing. Retail sales might have climbed due to post holiday specials. Retail businesses are learning from these special promotions as a way of improving retailing. Retail jobs may also ride as retail gains ground. Sales at stores at 30 chains tracked by Retail Metrics climbed 4.4 percent in January. Could this be a sign that U.S economy is showing a strong back from the plague of the economic downfall? Maybe.

The blizzard that created havoc in the south not only paralyzed travel but last minute Christmas Shopping. Many shops and stores in the south just didn’t open because owners and employees were unable to get to work. The retail stores that were open found little to no shoppers and put a bitter end to what was an excellent shopping season for stores. One Target store in North Carolina did not close and an employee counted 40 shoppers throughout the whole day. Retailers are hoping to make up for the missed sales this week.

With the large success of the Christmas shopping season, retails are looking to cash in further with extended promotions. Stores are hoping that consumers will take advantage of extended discounts throughout January to start off the New Year with a bang. Many online stores are still offering free shipping for almost any order and retail stores are looking to cash in by offering 30-40% off many items. Also now is the best time to stock up on holiday items for next year with Christmas items such as wrapping paper, discounted up to 90% off in certain stores.