I’ve been thinking a lot about possessions lately, as the now-inevitable reports of violence inflicted by Black Friday shoppers on one another during the struggle for discounted Xboxes and television sets has coincided in my life with the depressing and exhausting task of cleaning out my mother’s apartment after her death at age 90. Read full article > >

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Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the morality of money

It may be Tuesday, but retailers are milking every bit of excitement they can from Cyber Monday by continuing to offer deep discounts throughout the week. Amazon, Wal-Mart and others are putting up a week of Cyber Monday-like deals on their Web sites, stretching the shopping frenzy that started on Thanksgiving over an even longer period. The stores are adding more deals to their sites as the week progresses in an effort to lure customers back to their sites repeatedly throughout the day. Read full article > >

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Cyber Monday continues as sales figures roll in

As the days shorten toward winter, sniffles and sore throats return. Noses start dripping, and all too soon you’ve got aches and pains, fever and malaise. And so do your kids, or your colleagues, or your friends. This is the onset of cold and flu season, when germs travel easily from person to person as we spend more time close together indoors. And everything can be a good breeding ground for germs: computer keyboards, the knob on the door into your office, the telephone you use, the subway seat where someone coughs behind you, the escalator railing, the shopping cart handle. Read full article > >

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As cold and flu season begins, you can guard against germs and infected people

As the days shorten toward winter, sniffles and sore throats return. Noses start dripping, and all too soon you’ve got aches and pains, fever and malaise. And so do your kids, or your colleagues, or your friends. This is the onset of cold and flu season, when germs travel easily from person to person as we spend more time close together indoors. And everything can be a good breeding ground for germs: computer keyboards, the knob on the door into your office, the telephone you use, the subway seat where someone coughs behind you, the escalator railing, the shopping cart handle. Read full article > >

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As cold and flu season begins, you can guard against germs and infected people

It’s day two in America’s annual celebration of holiday consumerism: Cyber Monday , which will kill officeworkers’ productivity all day with deals from online retailers. But for a certain contingent of shoppers, Cyber Monday has one major pitfall: a lack of instant gratification, which is a major part of the Black Friday experience. The two shopping days have the same goal, and often the same products, but attract very different types of bargain-hunters: Which one are you? Read full article > >

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Are you Cyber Monday or Black Friday?

As retailers slash prices left and right, online shoppers have to be on the lookout for good deals and beware of deals that are too good to be true. Online shoppers prowling the Web for deals have to be extra careful on Cyber Monday, since scammers will take advantage of users who may not realize that the Web sites they visit may not be legitimate. Since advertisements promising deep discounts are the norm rather than the exception on the year’s biggest online shopping day, shoppers may be tempted to let their guard down and click pop-ups or banner ads promising unbelievable deals. Read full article > >

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Cyber Monday scams put shoppers on guard

A southern California woman turned herself in to authorities as the person who pepper sprayed video-game shoppers in a Walmart during Black Friday's shopping frenzy, Los Angeles police said Saturday.

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Black Friday pepper-sprayer surrenders

If you’re like most Americans, your holiday shopping bonanza officially starts Friday, Nov. 25. Or as it’s more commonly known: Black Friday. The precursor to the gift-giving season that is this hallowed Friday seems to be now inexorably tied to the industry I cover: consumer technology and gadgets. Perhaps 30 years ago, the shopping masses were more concerned with gifts of ties, mixers and Mattel toys — but now they seem to only have eyes for the battery-powered, pluggable and 3G-connected. Read full article > >

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Black Friday 2011: Joshua Topolsky’s tips for how to shop like a geek

LivingSocial, the D.C.-based daily deals site, is prepping for the biggest shopping week of the season and Monday announced several national deals in honor of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. (LivingSocial is run by Tim O’Shaughnessy, who is Post. Co. Chairman and chief executive Don Graham’s son-in-law.) Read full article > >

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Black Friday 2011: LivingSocial announces half-off deals

Aggressive promotions by online merchants are creating a frenzy among traditional retailers, who count the Friday after Thanksgiving as the busiest shopping day of the year.

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Mobile Deals Aimed at Black Friday Shoppers Stuck in Line

A growing number of consumers are committing to new cars without ever getting behind the wheel. Online shopping, improved quality and short-term leases are among the reasons they are comfortable doing this.

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Motoring: New-Car Test Drives Now Seem So 1995

TEHRAN — Hidden in a corner of the atrium of the tiny Feresteh shopping center, right behind Tehran’s only Victoria’s Secret and a traditional pastry seller, the high-end Lime coffee shop is only for those who know where to find it. The music of pop singer Ricky Martin filled the air as customers ordered $4 shots of espresso and connected to the shop’s wireless Internet with their cellphones. Girls with long hair spilling out from under their obligatory Islamic head scarves giggled shyly as they held hands with their boyfriends. Read full article > >

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Tehran’s coffee shops provide a retreat

Walmart has unveiled new apps for the iPad and the iPhone that allow shoppers to browse inventory at their local store, scan products and create voice-activated shopping lists. The iPad app debuted last week and the response has been “phenomenal,” said Gibu Thomas, Walmart’s senior vice president of mobile and digital. The new version of the iPhone app includes both a bar code scanner and a QR code scanner. The new voice-activated shopping list can also help customers find coupons and provides a running tally of the bill. Read full article > >

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Walmart introduces new iPhone, iPad apps

Around this time last year, we ran a series of polls on bad customer behavior, from inconsiderate grocery store patrons to folks practically making babies at their restaurant table. Today's debate comes courtesy of a 30 weeks pregnant mom arrested last week in Honolulu after she ate a sandwich in a Safeway store and forgot to pay. Nicole Leszczynski, a former Air Force staff sergeant, was charged with fourth-degree theft, a petty misdemeanor, as was her husband Marcin. The charges were later dropped by the store, but per standard procedure when both parents are arrested with a child present, Honolulu police called Child Welfare Services, and their 2 year old daughter was taken into custody overnight. Leszczynski's defense was that she didn't know it was taboo to eat while shopping , and in some cultures and communities, that's the case. Shoppers think nothing of nibbling on an apple to stave off hunger pangs, or ripping open a packet of cookies to keep a fussy toddler occupied until it's time to check out. In others – especially big chain stores and places where items are paid for by the pound – eating before buying is considered as shoplifting, even if the customer fully intended to pay. In Leszczynski's case, it was seemingly an honest mistake; she'd kept the sandwich wrapper to be scanned at the register and forgot. The family, when stopped by security, offered to pay once they realized what was going on. Though the managers involved during the incident argued to the contrary at the time, the Safeway chain has no official policy about in-store eating. They do, however maintain that shoppers should identify and pay for anything they consumed before checkout. So, is it wrong to sneak a snack while shopping, if you fully intend to pay upon checkout, or is that simply beyond the pale? Share your stories and opinions in the comments below and we'll highlight the best of the debate in an upcoming post. View This Poll Previously – Pay-per-pound nibbling

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Snacking and shopping – is that wrong?

Wal-Mart will be leaking its Black Friday deals early, following the lead of several major retailers in offering consumers an early peek at what it’s got on tap for the biggest shopping week of the year. As of 2:30 p.m., Eastern, 10,000 people have “liked” a post on the retailer’s Facebook page that promises to release the company’s Black Friday ad to its Facebook fans first. Those who register at Walmart.com will also get an early look at the ad. Read full article > >

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Black Friday: Wal-Mart will leak its holiday deals