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Google added a "Best Match" feature to its Google Product Search shopping engine to make it easier for shoppers to find products and feel confident in their purchases. When searching for a specific product, Google will highlight the product it thinks the shopper is looking for at the top of the search results page. Google also added a "Popular Products" feature, which is a list of products ranked in order of popularity. This is designed to help shoppers focus quickly on a few models, and Google will provide suggestions on how to refine the search - for example, by

New York City -- Family Dollar hasn’t faced much community opposition during an ambitious decade-long expansion program that has left the company with roughly 7,000 stores in 45 states. However, there is a first time for everything and residents in the North Carolina community of Carrboro are pushing back against the retailer’s efforts to open a new store. According to a report in The Carrboro Citizen, which serves the community near Chapel Hill, residents are concerned about traffic, noise and safety -- and felt disrespected by a developer they said didn’t listen to their concerns. Those same types of

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Cyber Monday online sales were up 20% over last year as of 12 p.m. EST, according to IBM Benchmark. Most shopping is expected to come from laptops and PCs during the day, with mobile shopping activity picking up later this afternoon. The number of consumers currently using a mobile device to visit a retailer's Web site is 13.3%, while 8.5% are using smartphones to make a purchase.

In Stamps.com’s second annual e-commerce shipping survey, free shipping shows a surge with 68 percent of sellers planning to offer the promotion on more products during the 2011 holiday season.

Gap, which opened its flagship store in Hong Kong on Nov. 25, said it intends to increase its store presence in China by five times in the next year. The retailer said it expects to have 45 stores in China by the end of 2012.

For those keeping score, consumers’ voracious appetites for great deals on Thanksgiving and Black Friday this year helped secure this weekend’s place in the record books. According to a National Retail Federation survey conducted by BIGresearch over the weekend, traffic and spending were up both online and in stores, reaching historic highs.

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226 million shoppers visited stores and websites as spending also rose Below: x Jump to discuss comments below x Jump to data See the latest rates around the country x Latest market data Stock search Advertise | AdChoices updated 31 minutes ago 2011-11-27T19:19:55 Font: + - NEW YORK— More people headed to stores and websites over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and average spending per person rose 9.1 percent as bargain-hunting shoppers scooped up discounts on everything from gadgets to hoodies, a National Retail Federation survey on Sunday showed. The trade group's survey found that a record 226

Retailers were hoping for more shoppers like Shawn Elzia as the annual Black Friday bargain stampede marked the unofficial start of what is widely expected to be a middling holiday shopping season. The Brooklyn, New York teacher, one of hundreds of thousands of shoppers jostling for deals around the country, said he ended up spending about 25 percent more than he planned, even while worrying about the state of the economy. "I did not expect such deals," the 33-year old said as he left a Macy's store in Jersey City, New Jersey clutching bags full of clothing for himself

The Gap, Inc. announced the launch of its first flagship store in Hong Kong. The store will be Gap's ninth in the Greater China region as the Company continues to expand the international reach of its brands through its franchise, online and Company-operated channels. The new store spans more than 15,000 square feet over four floors on the sought-after Queens Road in Hong Kong’s burgeoning Central District. The store location is housed in a new building with an award winning architectural design. With large floor-to-ceiling windows, white marble and Chinese oak wooden floors, the store creates an inviting and