Pricing

Coach, the largest U.S. luxury handbag maker, will begin discounting purses at its North American full-price stores, breaking from tradition to combat sluggish sales and mounting competition. Coach will offer goods on sale twice a year — in June and January — said Andrea Resnick, a company spokeswoman. New York-based Coach had been one of the few fashion and luxury industry companies that refused to discount goods in its domestic stores. The move is consistent with what Coach already does overseas.

Hibbett Sports has one simple philosophy: it's all about the customer. Though the sporting goods retailer has grown to more than 900 stores in 31 states, it retains a strong local focus in each of its markets, including fan apparel for college and professional teams specific to each of its markets. Hibbett Sports targets its merchandise to ensure that consumers in each market will find exactly what they're looking for. Beginning at the local store level, the retailer chooses a selection of sporting goods designed to meet the demand of the customers based on their locations.

Wal-Mart is trying to shake up the world of pricing once again. The retailer told The Associated Press that it's rolled out an online tool that allows shoppers to compare its prices on 80,000 food and household products to those of its competitors. The world's largest retailer began offering the feature that's called "Savings Catcher" on its website late last month in seven big markets that include Dallas, San Diego and Atlanta. The move by Wal-Mart, which has a long history of undercutting competitors, could change the way people shop and how other retailers price their merchandise. 

Black Friday might be the most hyped (and most frenzied) shopping day of the year, but newly released data suggest discount hunters may well find better deals on Presidents Day from the comfort of their own laptops. Personal shopping site Shop It To Me analyzed more than 1 million sale items available online from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2013, and found Presidents Day was the best holiday to buy, with an average discount of 47 percent off on that Monday. By way of comparison, Black Friday online retail sales averaged 44 percent off.

The idea of big savings for consumers on Black Friday may be nothing more than a "myth," according to a firm that specializes in tracking price points on behalf of the retail industry. 360pi Corp. is an Ottawa startup that tracked and recorded the pricing of more than 8,000 items offered at mainstream U.S. retailers between Nov. 15 and Dec. 2, a period that included last week's Black Friday sales. What the firm found was that not only are prices not competitive with those online, in some cases retailers raised average prices in anticipation of Black Friday shopping mobs.

Retailer Toys"R"Us has agreed to pay more than $178,000 to settle claims of overpricing errors at its stores in San Diego and Los Angeles counties, prosecutors announced Monday. Inspections by county and state agencies checking on accuracy of prices at Toys"R"Us and Babies"R"Us stores in the two counties from late 2009 to mid-2012 uncovered what the San Diego County District Attorney's Office called "a significant pattern of inaccuracies." Inspectors bought more than 4,150 items in the probe. The stores overcharged in 5 percent of the purchases, authorities said. 

Amazon.com has the best price on products in its assortment about 80 percent of the time. However, the new "Amazon Holiday Pricing Insights" analysis from pricing technology provider 360pi shows that Amazon does have weak spots, and that retailers can compete with the online giant, especially if they can beat Amazon on other nonprice purchase factors. For example, once Home Depot decided to be price competitive on Oct. 26, it was instantly and dynamically able to beat Amazon prices on power drills. 

Treadmills for $33? Computer monitors for $9? The deals were even too good to be true — even for Wal-Mart. The megaretailer said a "technical error" caused certain products to be priced absurdly low or high on its website early Wednesday morning. By Wednesday evening, the discounter had fixed the glitch and decided to cancel the orders of customers who were able to snag the items at steep discounts.

Savvy shoppers across Britain are anxious to see if their Asda grocery deliveries will arrive on Friday, after cashing in £50 ($80) vouchers accidentally issued by the supermarket. The Wal-Mart-owned chain launched a deal on Thursday which gave shoppers £50 off online grocery orders. Bargain hunters were quick to take advantage of the offer, adding £50 worth of goods to their basket, paying only for the delivery charge. News of the deal went viral on Twitter — with hashtags including #AsdaGate and #SupermarketSweep becoming popular — and Asda's website crashed as a result of the traffic.

Staples is offering an added incentive to drive traffic to its stores this holiday season. Starting Nov. 3, the retailer will match prices on items sold and shipped by Amazon.com or any retailer that sells products in retail stores and online under the same brand. "Staples is committed to offering great products at the best prices," said Alison Corcoran, senior vice president of North American stores and online marketing. "Staples customers will be able to shop confidently during the holiday season and beyond knowing that we're providing them with all the right products and must-have gifts at the lowest prices."