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1DirectConnect

  1. How do you ship? Nearly 2/3's of retailers' standard shipping deadlines for 12/25 delivery will expire by 12/18 http://ow.ly/3ooae
  2. 60% of holiday shoppers will provide a gift receipt most/some of the time. Also, 90% said they find store return policies to be fair. (NRF)
  3. Holiday ecommerce spending to reach $38.5B in 2010, up 14.3%. This will be the 2nd straight year of double-digit growth.. http://ow.ly/3mxs9
  4. A fact for you: More than 70 million people will shop for holiday gifts from the office this year. Source: Shop.org survey/BIGresearch
  5. Burning the midnight oil for deals? The # of people who began Black Friday shopping @12AM tripled to 9.5%-up from 3.3% LY. (NRF/BIGresearch)
  6. Retailers saw November same-store sales climb 6%-beating predictions- during the month and not just on Black Friday weekend (NRF SmartBrief)
  7. Joyful staff: ...create an environment where employees have "the freedom [to] create, connect & surprise." IDEA ALERT...http://ow.ly/3jrWz
  8. Retailers estimate that less than 4% of returns with a receipt are fraudulent, but that number skyrockets to more than... http://ow.ly/3iVgV
  9. From WBJ: Cyber Monday saw the highest-ever single day dollar volume for online shopping, topping $1 billion... http://ow.ly/3ipsk
  10. Fun fact: More than 40% of holiday shoppers will use debit cards as a primary form of payment, up 20% from 2005. Source: NRF/BIGresearch
  11. We're validated: Restaurant gift cards sales are up this season...they may provide a sales boost post-holiday when redeemed. FastCasual.com
  12. Cyber Monday Success: Online shoppers spent about 20% more by 6PM than they did last year. (Coremetrics) Grab online sales with our Gateway!
  13. Is this you? Employees spend about 4 hours/day managing multiple inboxes, such as Facebook & e-mail, People-OnTheGo found. FastCompany blog
  14. How do you compete w/big box stores? Be a valued community resource and offer what most large stores can't--time and...http://ow.ly/3h6TE
  15. The Nat'l Retail Federation has said up to 138M people could hit stores this weekend. Read more on Black Friday weekend http://ow.ly/3gfl5
  16. About Thanksgiving, Black Friday & Cyber Monday - fun facts about the holiday and the shopping days associated with it http://ow.ly/3eSGT
  17. Gobble gobble: 23% of shoppers are interested in eateries w/in grocery stores. Read more about prepared foods @ our blog http://ow.ly/3enAa
  18. In honor of Black Friday-Local Saturday-Cyber Monday: The avg annual %age increase of holiday sales has been 2.45% in the past decade. (NRF)
  19. Quick Fact: The average amount of each gift card purchased this holiday season is $41.48, up from $39.80 in 2009. Source: NRF/BIGresearch
  20. 60M Americans will definitely shop Black Friday weekend; also, 78M are waiting to see if the bargains are worth braving cold & crowds. (NRF)