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Jeremy Hobson speaks to Juli Neimann, analyst at Smith Moore and Company, about retail numbers and Best Buy's retail struggles.

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--A handful of major U.S. retailers are bucking the holiday sales trend of major discounting, outfitting their merchandise with higher prices in some cases and in others taking the first shots at reversing two years of cut-throat

The home furnishings style icon Crate and Barrel has joined Shopkick as the latest strategic partner to deliver location-based shopping rewards simply for visiting stores.

The level of shopping on eBay through mobile devices peaked on the second Sunday of December for the second year in a row, leading eBay to coin the term, "Mobile Sunday." In the U.S., mobile Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) on eBay on December 12 reached $5 million, 127% higher than the same Sunday last year. Worldwide, mobile GMV reached $13 million, 165% higher than last year. There have been more than 30 million downloads of eBay's suite of mobile apps globally. Other factoids about Mobile Sunday include: Clothing and accessories topped the list of most-sold items among U.S. shoppers

The American consumer is back for the first holiday season since 2007. But while shoppers are hitting the malls, they're also being choosy — and comparison shopping is more easily done online.

Sales at U.S. retailers rose more than expected in November as consumers splurged on clothing and other items at the start of the holiday season and receipts at gasoline stations surged, more evidence the economic recovery gathered steam in the fourth quarter.

Wal-Mart is closing the Moscow office it opened just a few years ago, saying it no longer wants to build an operation in Russia from scratch, though it remains open to acquisition possibilities.

Cheap counterfeits continue to plague U.S. retailers this holiday season thanks to lax customs controls and low penalties for offenders.

JCPenney has launched a fully integrated Facebook ecommerce application powered by Usablenet under the Shop tab on its Facebook. JCPenney customers can add to cart, checkout, edit and remove products from cart, specify shipping address, ship to store, and pay with credit card - all within the JCPenney Facebook. Facebook users can like and share items and purchases with their friends. Product display pages are integrated with reviews API, allowing users to comment on products. Usablenetpowers the application for JCPenney and works with leading brands to translate their existing website content and functionality to mobile Web, applications, kiosk, tablet,

The Supreme Court upheld an earlier ruling from a U.S. appeals court that found wholesale giant Costco violated U.S. copyright law by reselling imported Omega watches made by Swatch Group without its consent.