Category: Online Shopping

Marriage proposal aside, making a purchase as big as an engagement ring is a daunting decision—even more so if you’re doing it virtually. But in the last decade, fine jewelers have responded to the modern needs of the world and made it enjoyable (and efficient) to shop around for the best engagement rings online at a variety of price points, with peace of mind. Many have translated the in-store experience to online consultations, which is great when you’re in need of human help, and set new standards for price transparency and ethical labor and environmental practices. These e-retailers also provide comprehensive valuation reports to ensure your pieces are authentic so you can shop securely and easily.

Below, we’ve rounded up seven of the best places to shop

Plenty of online retailers have microsites offering closeouts or returned-and-refurbished items. But Costco may rise above, matey, with its Treasure Hunt collection, with its array of often-one-off items, collectibles, high-end jewelry, fine wines, pricey meats, caviar and other gourmet items.

Costco Treasure Hunt isn’t new – but it also isn’t widely promoted by the retailer, which seems more focused on in-store sales. Still, it’s a quiet online perk of Costco that could be another tool as Costco looks to goose online sales while continuing to fortify its wide-ranging Kirkland Signature store brand as time ticks for a possible rise in membership fees.

Treasure Hunt is an odd mish-mash. It’s the spot to buy, for a limited time, items including a $55,000 one-off radiant cut 3.49-carat diamond ringa 2.54-carat diamond wedding ring for a lot less ($24,000), a $20,000 in-home golf simulatoror eight 6-ounce Japanese Wagyu filet mignon steaks

A new retail and e-commerce report finds inflation is affecting the shopping habits of 85% of Americans, leading most to reduce their purchases and feel unhappier buying online.

In the report published Thursday, Morning Consult found that 77% of Americans are shopping less to save money. Only 41% said they enjoyed online shopping in June, down from 50% in March.

The report warns against blaming supply-chain issues for the trend. It notes that Americans, especially the millennials who make up most online shoppers, have less money to spend as consumer prices rise.

“Online shoppers are reporting fewer delayed orders, but as consumers begin deferring discretionary purchases because of inflation, shopping for fun isn’t what it used to be,” the report stated.

Many shoppers also are coping with inflation by looking for discounts and shopping at discount stores, Morning Consult reported.

Some retailers say the findings are spot-on.

“We sell pet

Retailers can bar shoppers for – in their view – returning too many items or making too many complaints, as Nannette Herbert has discovered.

Herbert told Guardian Money she has been banned by a number of retailers – including Amazon and Waitrose – for making complaints and refund requests.

Businesses are sometimes alerted when a customer displays “unusual” activity, such as requesting what might be viewed as a disproportionate number of refunds, and can block them from making future purchases.

Consumers can also be banned for making too many complaints if the retailer believes they are abusing the process.

Amazon told Herbert, who lives in London, that it was closing her account last month, saying she had “consistently requested refunds for a large number of orders”.

She says

Bill Maher has a warning … online shopping is taking a not-so-hidden toll on America … and he makes a case that going OG shopping is better for your head and the planet.

The “Real Time” host went scorched earth on people who like to order 9 pairs of pants to find the one that fits just right … only to return the other 8. Those boxes go somewhere … yep, landfills, oceans . .. not good.

The visual tells the story … buy a small item, it comes in a big box. Buy 3 items … you get 3 big boxes. When you add it up, it’s kind of an environmental disaster.

And, then there’s the human toll … Americans don’t leave their homes like they used to because it’s easier to push a button than to start a car and drive to a mall. Thing is … Americans

Veteran Costco shoppers are familiar with the limited-run vendor roadshows for high-end (but heavily discounted) items like Vitamix or Traeger grills that liven up Costco warehouses, particularly on weekends.

The “surprise treasure” nature of these offerings flesh out the private label Kirkland Signature brand of products that draw shoppers in regularly. But Costco is employing a similar strategy in an out-of-the-way online portal of its website. It’s called Costco Next, and it contains a curated selection of limited goods Costco says are supplied by “some of Costco’s most trusted suppliers.” They’re mostly in the home goods, tech, fashion and outdoors realms – a hodgepodge of retailers you might know and some you probably don’t.

To let the warehouse giant explain it, “this innovative approach helps us achieve our goal of bringing a broader selection of goods to our members while increasing the value of the Costco membership.” That’s a

A resident, wearing a face mask following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, walks past a JD.com advertisement for the “618” shopping festival displayed outside a shopping mall in Beijing, China June 14, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Aug 23 (Reuters) – Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com Inc (9618.HK), beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly revenue on Tuesday as lockdowns in China to control the coronavirus boosted online shopping and the company’s “618” shopping event.

The company reported second-quarter revenue of 267.6 billion yuan ($39.07 billion), up 5.4% year on year, topping analysts’ average estimate of 262.31 billion yuan, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Revenue rose 11% in the first half to 507.3 billion yuan.

Sales in its product segment, which includes online retail sales, rose 2.9% in the quarter, while those from services such as logistics and marketing jumped 21.9%.

With high consumer prices brought on by inflation, many US consumers are looking closely for the best deals, and scammers are ready to lure online shoppers to fraudulent websites with “unbeatable” prices, according to the Better Business Bureau.

Not every unfamiliar website is suspicious, but some can lead to sites that deliver low-quality products or nothing at all, according to the Washington-based Better Business Bureau of the Great West and Pacific.

Though inflation has slipped from the four-decade high it reached in June, people are still grappling with high consumer prices.

Consumer prices jumped 8.5% in July compared with a year earlier, the government said Wednesday, down from a 9.1% year-over-year jump in June.

When shopping for the best online deals, “The key is knowing how to spot suspicious websites and using trusted resources to research a business before making a purchase, said the BBB in a news statement. “Unfamiliar

E-commerce prices began rising in June 2020, beginning an unprecedented stretch of 25 consecutive months of increases that underscored the severe price pressures hitting the US economy.

Of course, it may take considerable time before inflation gets anywhere back to normal levels, and Adobe noted that online grocery prices continue to surge.

Inflation remains way too high across the US economy.