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Fifty-nine percent of U.K. shoppers haven't decided on the brand they'll purchase before researching or buying a product online. Consumers are also beginning to take the web with them when they shop, accessing price comparison sites, social networks and product reviews via their mobile phones — all of which are key factors in helping them to make decisions on which brand to purchase.

Williams-Sonoma Inc. issued a profit forecast that could fall short of Wall Street estimates in the period covering the all-important holiday season, and its shares fell.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Gap Inc. reported late Thursday third-quarter net income fell 1% to $303 million, or 48 cents a share, from net income of $307 million, or 44 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Sales rose 2% to $3.65 billion. Gap, which also owns Banana Republic and Old Navy, reiterated its 2010 profit target. Gap shares fell 2% in after-hours trade. The stock is unchanged for the year. Copyright © 2010 MarketWatch, Inc.

By number of shoppers and sales, packaged-goods e-commerce remains decidedly tiny. But Amazon's acquisition of Diapers.com, Soap.com and the newer BeautyBar.com for a reported $545 million in cash and debt has given the space some big-money validation.

Buy.com launched a Rakuten Super Points program to reward loyal shoppers with points redeemable as payment toward future purchases. All items purchased by credit card via a Buy.

Discount apparel retailer Loehmann’s is seeking bankruptcy protection after it failed to reach a debt-extension deal with creditors.

Target Corp. is reporting income of $535 million, or 74 cents per diluted share, on revenues of $15.6 billion for the quarter ending Oct. 30. That’s up from a profit of $436 million, or 58 cents per diluted share, on sales of $15.3 billion during the same quarter last year. The Minneapolis-based retailer (NYSE: TGT) operates 1,752 stores in 49 states, including two stores on Oahu and one on the Big Island. You're almost there... To access the full benefits of bizWatch and receive a weekly email with aggregated news on all the companies you are following, please provide

Howard Lester turned a West Coast kitchenware store into a retail powerhouse of 600 stores. Mr. Lester, who died Monday at age 75, was chairman and CEO of Williams-Sonoma, the high-end kitchenware chain found in malls nationwide. He liked to describe the store's luxury lineup as "aspirational."

eBay launched the Gift Card Mall on Wednesday, which is actually an eBay Store powered by Blackhawk Network - that's the company that operates GiftCardMall.com, which calls itself the largest provider of third-party gift cards in the U.S. and Canada. eBay spokesperson Johnna Hoff said the new Gift Card Mall on eBay would give shoppers a new option for purchasing gift cards from popular retailers. For a limited time, shoppers will get free shipping, plus double eBay Bucks when they purchase through the gift card mall, according to Hoff. By Wednesday evening, giftcardmall had received two positive feedback ratings