News — Retail

Out of nowhere, it’s suddenly summer. OK, well, almost! The warm weather is coming in hot and heavy and I’m fully ready to put my winter coats in storage and stock up on a few new summery pieces. Where to buy them, you ask? At Macy’s Friends & Family Sale, natch! As much as I love shopping small and supporting local businesses, I find that larger retailers always reel me in with their seasonal Friends & Family sales. The prices are just too good to resist, so every now and then I indulge—and by indulge, I mean place an absolutely...

Inauguration 2021, as PYMNTS has previously covered, was something of an unusual event when it came to commerce. The COVID-19 pandemic combined with advanced security measures meant that many local Washington, D.C. businesses who count on the influx of tourists every four years actually had to shut down at the mayor’s request. “We are 110 percent supportive of what the mayor is doing to secure the city right now,” David Moran, director of operations for Clyde’s Restaurant Group, told the Washingtonian. “Of course, we’d rather be open and do business, but it’s just the right thing to do.” But where some...

With a redesign of Google Shopping, the platform is receiving multiple new features such as options to track prices, shop local stores and come across style inspiration via Google Lens. The smart image recognition technology of Google Lens can already aid in identifying objects, finding similar items and translating text, according to reports.  With an image of an outfit that consumers like, Google Lens can now pull up other “style ideas” from the internet. Those concepts are geared toward showing consumers how others are wearing a particular item instead of merely showing matches of similar products. Consumers who find a skirt...