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☆ Americans are completely addicted to free shipping. It just makes us spend more.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Free shipping is never really free, and retailers devise clever ways to cover the cost. According to new data from shipping technology firm Shippo, 62% of Americans refuse to buy something online without free shipping. "Having some type of free shipping option is now a permanent expectation." Does free shipping make you spend more? And since they know free shipping is such a prerequisite for shoppers, they also know that they can change our behavior with minimum purchase requirements.

☆ More beauty brands are ditching plastic packaging — and consumers are buying in
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Korie Wilkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Some beauty companies are ditching plastics in favor of aluminum, glass, or plant-based materials. "Beauty products come in bottles and pots with pumps and lids, and we're noticing the first question a consumer asks is, 'Is this all recyclable?'" Purpose-driven beauty companies are ditching plastics in favor of aluminum, glass, or plant-based materials. If they use plastic, they're trying to ensure that it's designed to be recyclable (mindful of inks and coatings). As a result, shoppers, namely millennials and Gen Z, are skipping the store and ordering their beauty products online.

☆ Meet the 'zillennials,' who grew up online, live with their parents, and have retailers chasing their disposable income
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Avery Hartmans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

'Zillennials' are the consumers at the cusp of the millennial and Gen Z generations. As many as 48% of zillennials live with their parents, meaning they don't pay a mortgage or rent. That means that a large share of young consumers aren't paying for rent or a mortgage. Add that to their steady income and the fact that they grew up on the internet, and zillennials are becoming savvy shoppers with plenty of disposable cash. Morgan Stanley analysts wrote recently that young consumers living with their parents are helping to fuel the luxury boom because they're saving on bills and necessities like groceries.

☆ Consumers aren't lined up for Black Friday anymore, says BMO Capital's Simeon Siegel
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailConsumers aren't lined up for Black Friday anymore, says BMO Capital's Simeon SiegelBMO's Simeon Siegel and Piper Sandler's Ed Yruma, join 'Closing Bell' to discuss retail on 'Black Friday' and consumer behavior and trends.

☆ Outperforming asset manager picks the stocks set to win as margins get squeezed
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Zavier Ong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"Consumers are going to have their purse strings pulled by utility bills, higher mortgage costs, higher petrol prices, and there's going to be margin squeeze." He said wage pressure and higher commodity prices were particularly challenging and could eat into companies' margins. Luxury Luxury stocks are another favorite for Armstrong. Moreover, the "massive" profit margins of luxury companies are also insulated from increases in input prices, he added. Within the space, Armstrong's fund owns French luxury goods companies LVMH and Hermes , given their "defendable margins" and the ability to be price setters.

☆ Mercedes will unlock your $100,000 electric car's full power — for an extra $1,200 per year
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mercedes-Benz will offer a $1,200-per-year "acceleration Increase" feature for some electric cars. Customers who pay the fee will unlock between 20% and 24% more power output from their electric Mercedes. The upgrade will also boost torque and shave up to one second off of a vehicle's zero-to-60-mph time, Mercedes says. Three-quarters of consumers aren't willing to pay a subscription fee for most car features, according to an April survey from Cox Automotive. Have a story about car subscription features that you'd like to share?

☆ The ad industry is prepping for a make-or-break holiday shopping season, with some advertisers pulling spend up to 25% even before Black Friday
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | Ryan Joe | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales figures will determine whether ad spend budgets decline. Some advertisers are already pulling back spend up to 25%Last year, advertisers marched into the holiday shopping season with confidence. For retailers who are making the bulk of their money during that time, ad spend correlates to sales, Lardner said. Marketers feel less pressure to spend their fourth quarter ad budgets this yearSome advertisers are pulling back even before the holiday shopping season kicks off. Traditionally, marketers deploy most of their ad dollars during the fourth quarter — and not just because it's the holiday gifting season.

☆ Buy these 26 retail stocks on their way to recovery as bearish investors oversold them ahead of the holiday shopping season, according to Morningstar
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Marley Jay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Morningstar's Dave Sekera says it's a hard time for retail, but many stocks are too undervalued. He explained that a number of major retailers are trading for half of their fair value. Sign up for our newsletter to get the inside scoop on what traders are talking about — delivered daily to your inbox. Despite all that, Sekara thinks retail in general is getting oversold, with many stocks trading for just half of what Morningstar considers to be their fair value. Sekera named a series of stocks from across the retail and consumer technology spaces that have become overly cheap relative to Morningstar's fair value estimates.

☆ Meta Quest Pro review: A very expensive VR experiment that doesn't have a target audience
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Sofia Pitt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

In this article META Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTSofia Pitt using Meta Quest Pro Sofia PittI've been testing the new $1,500 Meta Quest Pro virtual reality headset since it launched on Oct. 25. In other words, the Meta Quest Pro is a very expensive experiment built to help figure out the use cases for the metaverse. Meta Quest Pro vs. Meta Quest 2: Design upgradesThe fit and design of the Meta Quest Pro are a huge upgrade compared with the Meta Quest 2 headset, which launched in 2020 under the name Oculus Quest 2. Meta Quest Pro. Painting VR on Meta Quest Pro Sofia PittThese experiences are not new or exclusive to the Pro.

☆ Ad prices are now cheaper than they've been all year. Here's how much marketers are paying for ads on Google, Meta, Amazon, and TikTok.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Ad prices on Meta, Amazon, and Google skyrocketed during the pandemic but are now declining. Digital ad prices are declining due to a number of factors:Advertisers are pulling back on spend on Meta and Google. Ad prices are typically low during the third quarter as marketers prepare to spend during the fourth quarter. Ad buyers usually anticipate a 15% to 20% increase in ad prices during the fourth quarter, said Vic Drabicky, founder and CEO of ad agency January Digital. As TikTok continues to build out its technology and relationships with advertisers, ad prices continue to rise.

☆ As advertisers cut spend, ads on Google, Meta, and Amazon are cheaper than they've been all year — but marketers don't expect it to last
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Ad prices on Meta, Amazon, and Google skyrocketed during the pandemic but are now declining. Digital ad prices are declining due to a number of factors:Advertisers are pulling back on spend on Meta and Google. Ad prices are typically low during the third quarter as marketers prepare to spend during the fourth quarter. For ads designed to get people to take more immediate action, like Amazon's and Google's shopping and search ads, we looked at cost per click (CPC). As TikTok continues to build out its technology and relationships with advertisers, ad prices continue to rise.

☆ Bank of America downgrades Whirlpool on 'severe' drop in appliance demand
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Carmen Reinicke | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Consumers aren't buying as many appliances as they used to, and that's bad news for Whirlpool according to Bank of America. The firm on Wednesday downgraded the company stock to underperform from neutral and cut its price target to $119 from $155. "Industry and company data suggests a severe drop in appliance demand and softening of pricing, while costs remain elevated, pressuring margins," wrote analyst Elizabeth Suzuki in the note, adding that Bank of America lowered its expectations for Whirlpool's 2023 earnings. "North America drove the lion's share of the miss, due to the impact of widespread global cost increases, combined with weakening demand. Shares of Whirlpool have slumped more than 41% year to date, underperforming the S & P 500's 19% drop.

☆ These two strategies can help you stay diversified in any kind of stock market
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Barbell strategy The other way to think about diversification — and one we used heavily during this year's choppy market — is the barbell portfolio strategy. And if inflation persists but also economic activity picks up, you better own energy stocks. That also brings more demand into the oil market, so expect oil prices and the energy stocks tied to it to benefit. But using correlations and the barbell method to create a diverse mix of holdings can help you stay invested in market. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio.

☆ The CNBC FA 100 ranking recognizes advisory firms that help clients navigate their financial lives
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-04 | by ( Kelli Grant | Cfp | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The top-ranked advisors on the CNBC list have an average 30 years in business and collectively have more than $300 billion in assets under management. The CNBC FA 100 recognizes those advisory firms that best help people navigate their financial lives. Working with an advisor has financial benefitsThe pandemic spurred consumer interest in working with a financial advisor. Yet reports indicate that many consumers aren't thinking about an advisor as their first choice for financial help. How, and how much, you pay for financial advice can also vary widely by advisor and the scope of services.

FILE PHOTO - Maersk CEO Soren Skou answers questions from the press after publishing the company's quarterly accounts, in Copenhagen, Denmark, November 2, 2021. Moller-Maersk's (MAERSKb.CO) chief executive said on Thursday he expects a "modest" pick-up in trade for the upcoming holidays this year amid concerns about the slowing global economy and consumer demand. "Volumes headed into the Christmas season are lower than a normal year," Soren Skou said in a Reuters Newsmaker interview. Ocean freight volumes will be flat or lower this year, though there is still congestion in global supply chains, he said. Maersk has raised its 2022 profit guidance twice this year as high freight rates persisted longer than expected.

☆ Home cheat home: How real-estate agents are ripping off homebuyers
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +20 min

The other day, Linda, the real-estate agent whom my wife and I used to buy our home, called me out of the blue. Real-estate agents, like doctors, are the friendly, knowledgeable face of a bewildering, price-gouging system. If Americans paid the same rate as the British, they would save more than $72 billion a year in real-estate commissions. The potential for big money, in turn, has led more and more Americans to become real-estate agents. Every dollar that is paid out in a real-estate transaction — to sellers, agents, inspectors, insurers, and the IRS — comes from you, the buyer.

☆ Families in over 20 states are scrambling to place a bet on what their energy bills will be in the future. A wrong decision could cost them hundreds of dollars.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In today's volatile energy market, a wrong decision could cost them hundreds of dollars. Increasing in prevalence in the 1990's, deregulated energy markets have pros and cons, experts say. In today's volatile energy market, a wrong decision could cost them hundreds of dollars. Pros and cons of deregulationIn general, Basseches says he thinks deregulation can help lower a state's energy costs. In Texas for instance, among the "most deregulated" states, he says energy costs are generally "very low."

☆ Buy now, pay later offers could save you more money than a credit card. Here are 3 things you should know before using one, according to a government watchdog.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-16 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

An investigation by the CFPB found that "buy now, pay later" programs can save consumers more money than credit cards. The CFPB says that BNPL products need to offer the same protections that major credit cards do. A common regulation for credit cards includes fraud protection, for instance, available for major credit card users and secured by federal law. Overall, however, BNPL "imposes significantly lower direct financial costs on consumers than legacy credit products," the report said. The CFPB report said that BNPL loans in the US increased by 970% between 2019 and 2021.

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