RETAIL By Andrew Asch | Thursday, January 21, 2021
The Grove
The
National Retail Federation reported on Jan. 15 that business for the 2020 holiday season was surprisingly strong. Sales grew 8.3 percent to $789.4 billion, beating the prominent trade group’s forecast of 3.6 percent to 5.2 percent growth.
Business for the crucial retail season was widely forecasted to be undercut by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Jack Kleinhenz, the NRF’s chief economist, said that the season’s business was saved by government stimulus payments and because consumers were not spending money on entertainment, dining out or travel.
“The promise of a new round of stimulus checks after a deal was struck before Christmas helped increase consumer confidence. Consumers were also encouraged by the news of COVID-19 vaccines becoming available, which helped offset concerns about increased infection rates and state restrictions on activity,” Kleinhenz sai
TECHNOLOGY By Andrew Asch | Thursday, January 21, 2021
Social media has minted its own internet celebrities, but many entrepreneurs are trying to judge whether platforms such as
Instagram and
Facebook will make fortunes for retailers.
With the billions of people checking social media every day, these platforms should be natural candidates for shopping. In mid-2020, the platforms, both owned by Facebook Inc., the Menlo Park, Calif., technology conglomerate that earned more than $70 billion in 2019, introduced Instagram Shops and Facebook Shops. In the future, consumers will be able to pay for items through Facebook’s Messenger and Instagram Direct.
The timing to introduce the Shops feature could not be better. 2020 was the year that digital commerce skyrocketed. E-commerce sales increased 49 percent during the 2020 holiday season, according to a report from
Star Wars: Lucasfilm Shares Throwback to 1977 Holiday Ad
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The holiday-themed Star Wars content keeps pouring in and we can t get enough! We have already seen Lucasfilm s holiday card, which features Grogu and Din Djarin on a sleigh ride. Rosario Dawson, who played Ahsoka Tano on
The Mandalorian, also shared a fun holiday greeting featuring her Star Wars character. Now, Lucasfilm is taking it back to 1977 to show off an original holiday ad for the first Star Wars film. A special holiday-themed ad was created to run in US newspapers over the Christmas weekend in 1977, and featured season’s greetings from all the major characters. Even Tarkin and Vader made begrudging appearances to spread the holiday cheer. #tbt, Lucasfilm wrote. You can check out the as in the Instagram post below:
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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry s new holiday card proves royal life is behind them - and that Archie takes after his dad
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry s new holiday card proves royal life is behind them - and that Archie takes after his dad
Rachel AskinasiDec 24, 2020, 05:50 IST
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in 2018.Getty/Chris Jackson
Mayhew animal welfare charity shared Meghan Markle and Prince Harry s 2020 Christmas card on Twitter.
The card features an illustrated version of a photograph that was taken by Markle s mother, a family spokesperson told Hello magazine.
This marks the first holiday card sent by the couple since their move to the US earlier this year.