Retail Stores

Body Central reported that net income for the third quarter more than doubled to $2.8 million from $1.3 million a year earlier. Total revenue rose 18 percent to $67.1 million, compared with $56.9 million a year ago.

In anticipation of the holidays, Performics has been tracking key paid search metrics for an aggregate group of retailer clients through the fourth quarter. Compared to the same week last year, retailers are dedicating significantly more budget to paid search leading up to Black Friday 2011.

If Halloween didn’t scare you enough this year, the fact that holiday shopping has already begun is sure to be a hair-raiser. Over half of polled shoppers fresh off of their sugar highs have taken to the internet to search for holiday gifts this season.

London-based apparel brand Topshop is launching a new service to target busy shoppers this holiday season. Topshop’s personal shopping team will handpick gift items, based on a buyer’s requirement, and wrap each item individually. If the buyer approves of the selection, the wrapped presents will then be shipped out and arrive at the receiver’s doorsteps on Christmas Day.

Economic conditions have always had an impact on impulse purchases, habitual purchases and switch considerations. Consumers will rely more on “real-time” relevant communications, real-time reinforcement of purchase decisions, smarter search and comparison services, more flexible payment options, and most importantly, an uncanny ability to synchronize the experience from store to web.

The gloves are coming off this holiday season, with retailers announcing unprecedented Thanksgiving openings and "Black Midnight" entering into the lexicon. Now Kohl's is making sure its efforts will be very well-funded.

Fewer retailers are expecting return fraud rates to grow this holiday season, thanks in part to enhanced return policies and requiring identification when receipts are not present during the return process.

Simon Doonan need not fear his absence from decorating the holiday windows at Barneys this year because Lady Gaga has created the Gaga Workshop. Barneys has launched a microsite that will debut a product a day from the workshop available for purchase. The retailer is calling it the "12 Days of Gaga."

It might as well be called Black Thursday. Joining a slew of other national retailers, Wal-Mart said it too will open its doors nationwide on Thanksgiving night. Not to be one-upped by Target, which recently announced it would open at midnight on Black Friday, Wal-Mart said it will kick off its Black Friday deals at 10 p.m. on Thursday.

Cabela's announced the introduction of PayItFast for accepting Cabela's Club Visa card payments in all of the brand's U.S. stores. The Cabela's Club Visa card is issued by World's Foremost Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cabela's.