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Online shopping across the EU to be easier from 3 December | News

Consumers will have wider and easier cross-border access to products, hotel bookings, car rentals, music festivals or leisure park tickets in the EU, under new rules addressing unjustified geo-blocking. The legislation approved by the European Parliament in February 2018 begins applying on Monday, 3 December. Róża Thun (EPP, PL), who steered this legislation through Parliament, said: “This is another step forward in creating a true single market where all consumers are treated equally. When purchasing products abroad, all of us will now have the right to be treated like local consumers. We can no longer be denied access to the…
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Global e-commerce jumps to $26.7 trillion, fueled by COVID-19

According to UN trade and development experts UNCTAD, the e-commerce sector saw a “dramatic” rise in its share of all retail sales, from 16 per cent to 19 per cent in 2020. The digital retail economy experienced the most growth in the Republic of Korea, where internet sales increased from around one in five transactions in 2019, to more than one in four last year. “These statistics show the growing importance of online activities”, said Shamika Sirimanne, UNCTAD’s director of technology and logistics. “They also point to the need for countries, especially developing ones, to have such information as they…
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Never too late: Pandemic propels older shoppers online

NEW YORK (AP) — In November, Paula Mont did something new: The 86-year-old, who hasn’t left her New Jersey senior living community in nearly a year, went shopping — online. Mont used an iPad, equipped with a stylus to help her shaky hands, to buy a toy grand piano for her great-granddaughter. She picked it out from more than a dozen versions of the instrument on Amazon. “It’s like a wow feeling. I found it!” Mont said. The internet has become a crucial link to the outside world during the pandemic, one that millions of people still have don’t have…
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Walmart Online Shopping Arsenal Grows

The Walmart online shopping suite of tools has added a “Text to Shop” feature to its growing arsenal of digital offerings. The move comes just one week after the debut of its video image search tool TrendGetter aimed at making shopping and searching easier. “Text to Shop” syncs with customers’ Walmart accounts, “so we know your usually ordered items. Simply text the items you need, and get them added to your cart,” the retail giant said in a Wednesday (Dec. 14) press release. The tool offers “the full selection of Walmart’s products, including items from your local store and from…
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Is Black Friday shopping a thing of the past?

This season, holiday sales are expected to hit at least $942 billion dollars, which is a 6% increase from last year, according to the National Retail Federation. But with online shopping and earlier sales, does Black Friday still hold the same power in holiday shopping as it has in the past? Kristen Gall, the president of the cash-back app Rakuten Rewards, says Black Friday “is not dead” but instead that “it’s just changing a lot.” “A lot fewer of us are willing to go to the stores on Black Friday and fight people and use our elbows,” Gall said. The…
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Family-owned clothing store in North Platte celebrates a century of service

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KOLN) – Hirschfeld’s has been in the apparel business for 100 years in North Platte, and the store’s Prom Shoppe is now a destination in itself. We caught up with manager Abbie Pack to talk about the history of Hirschfeld’s, and to find out more about the services at the “Prom Shoppe” in North Platte’s Canteen District. “Hirschfeld’s clothing has been in business since 1917,” Pack said. “My boss is the third generation owner of this long-standing family business. It’s a big honor to be a part of a wonderful tradition of retail in this community.” Hirschfeld’s…