SalesHQ

Conventional measures of the U.S. recession may be no more accurate than the underwear index, which charts sales of men's underwear, a consumer researcher said. The theory suggests that sales of men's underwear are stable - as are sales of other necessities - but during financial downturns sales drop off. "It's a prolonged purchase," Marshal Cohen, senior analyst with the consumer ...

PRIZES for the most remarkable promotional offer of recent times go to a US tractor dealer who is offering a free AK-47 assault rifle with every tractor purchase. Henry Jordan, a partner in Carolina Tractor and Marine, in South Carolina, said the offer was a 'win-win' to boost vehicle sales and give farmers 'vital protection'. "We thought: 'You know what? Every ...

Stolen laptop? Now you can tell those thieves exactly what you think of them. Front Door Software's Retriever program displays your contact information as your computer boots up. There's even space for a plea to a Good Samaritan — "$50 for my safe return," maybe. In most cases, that's enough to help an honest person return the machine, said Carrie Hafeman, ...

Sluggish consumer spending is forcing retailers to either find a niche, cut prices or risk losing business. Concerns mounted about the crucial back-to-school season as July sales dipped 5 percent, according to a survey of major chains by the International Council of Shopping Centers. The anemic sales are an indication that consumers—skittish because of rising unemployment and a treacherous housing market—are ...

Americans watched more television than ever in the fourth quarter, Nielsen reported Monday, even though the Internet is providing another way to watch. The average American older than 2 years watched television for 151 hours per month, Nielsen said. That was up from 146 hours in the same period the previous year. More watching of recorded TV explained some of the ...

'Netflix says that it will continue to offer the current bundled service.' - Movie rentals are a big business for many companies and traditional movie stores have been around for many years. As technology matured and the speeds of internet connections increased, streaming video online became a popular pastime for many users. Netflix started out as a mail order movie rental ...

May sales turned out to be a big letdown for many retail chains, although there were some positive results amid the mostly bad news. Retail analyst C. Britt Beemer said the disappointing results were not expected because shopper traffic was up for the Memorial Day weekend pre- and post-sales. "I think this reflects that consumer issues are worse than what everybody ...

WASHINGTON - Wholesalers slashed inventories more than expected in April as businesses struggled to get stockpiles in line with falling sales. Still, analysts were slightly encouraged because sales dipped at a slower pace than in the previous month. The Commerce Department said Tuesday that wholesale inventories fell 1.4 percent in April, more than the 1.1 percent decline that economists expected. It ...

Energy, sustainability, single origin, Fair Trade and antioxidants are a few of the trends impacting coffee and ready-to-drink coffee drinks this year. Ground coffee posted nearly $2.3 billion in sales, which marked an increase of 8.2 percent in food, drug and mass merchandise outlets (excluding Wal-Mart) for the year ending Oct. 5, according to Information Resources Inc. (IRI), Chicago. Whole bean ...

Allergan is gearing up for the launch of Latisse, the first FDA-approved cosmetic eyelash enhancer, with a website and consumer ads in development. Allergan estimates that global sales of Latisse could exceed $500 million annually. A complete product website, at www.latisse.com, goes live on January 15. Approved in December, the product will land on drugstore shelves in “late January, early February,” ...

Austere times bring austere fashions to the runways but not, it seems, to toy stores. Hunting for birthday presents lately, I've waded through sequined princess costumes at FAO Schwarz, the opulent Princess Barbie section of Toys "R" Us, and sparkly shelves of Disney Princess gear at its retailers. Yes, princesses are everywhere, and they seem to be recession-proof. Disney racked up ...

Regardless of the economic climate, people want to lead a greener lifestyle according to an informal survey of ecomii.com visitors and Debatables participants. ecomii is the #1 green lifestyle resource on the Internet (according to comScore). Lack of information and consumer understanding as to how to be greener remain an impediment according to the survey. "We decided to tap the collective ...

The current trend with everyone currently is to ‘go green’ and this trend definitely does not stop at large and small companies alike. Everyone is looking to save a little bit of money in any way possible, if going green will help them do this then they will gladly look into it. 1. Reusable/Recycled Bags This is one of the most ...

Verizon and Apple are discussing the possible development of an iPhone for Verizon, with the goal of introducing it next year, people familiar with the situation say. It would mark the first time Apple has produced a version of the iPhone for a CDMA wireless network, which is different from AT&T's GSM technology. Vodafone, co-owner of Verizon Wireless, already sells the ...

 do you think all of them do this

Hitting Twitterville now: Jajah, the Internet telephony concern will announce next week a service that will turn any iPod touch into fully functioning mobile phone using only a Wi-Fi connection. I remember trying Jajah sometime back for making phone-to-phone calls that are connected via the Internet. I was wondering when someone would figure out a way to turn the iPod touch ...

Nowadays, computing has entered the portable world. Nearly everyone has an access to a laptop or a netbook. Of course, more often than not, that portability comes at a cost of lesser features than their desktop counterparts. One way to make up for this is through the purchase and use of the various laptop accessories that are available all over. A ...

With the slam of the gate, the bull runs into the sale ring, the auctioneer begins to shout, and ringmen begin to yell as the audience bids on the animal. However, the only sound of gates opening and slamming shut at the Fink Beef Genetics Bull Sale in Randolph, Kan., is people walking in and out of the pens outside the ...

LOS ANGELES - Selling a home without a real estate agent can save thousands of dollars in commission fees, but it can also be a painstaking, confusing task. Foregoing an agent, however, is easier these days thanks to Web sites that help homeowners advertise their properties on the hottest real estate portals and even walk them through figuring out how to ...

DETROIT - Americans bought more cars in May than in any other month this year, drawn by fire sale prices that pushed General Motors and Chrysler's sales above expectations despite their forays into bankruptcy protection. Overall sales were still 34 percent lower than a year ago. But low gas prices encouraged the sale of bigger gas guzzlers while small cars stacked ...