HOLIDAY SEASON NEWS ON FASTMOVING

New York -- Holiday sales are expected to climb to between $963 and $967 billion, representing a 4% to 4.5% increase in November through January holiday sales (excluding motor vehicles and gasoline) this year from last year’s season, according to the new Deloitte holiday sales forecast. The growth rate is on par with last year's 4.5% gain. read more

San Jose, Calif. -- Retailers are cautiously optimistic about the 2013 holiday season, with 60% forecasting revenue growth in excess of 10%, in line with industry forecasts, according to a survey by Baynote, a provider of personalized customer experience solutions. read more

Johannesburg - Withdrawals from ATMs across the country remained stagnant in February, increasing only 0.69% from January, Spark ATM Systems said on Monday. read more

Wayne, N.J. -- The search is on for a new chief executive of Toys “R” Us with the announcement that Gerald L. Storch is stepping down as CEO of the company. The news comes just weeks after the world's largest dedicated toy retailer reported that its same-store U.S. sales fell 4.5% during the holiday season, and that its total sales fell 4.7%.  read more

Nicolway Bryanston shopping centre in Sandton achieved record turnovers in December 2012, proving popular with shoppers for its first festive season after opening in April last year.  read more

South African consumers spent over R116 billion on their credit cards in December 2012, payment clearing house BankservAfrica said on Thursday. read more

Clothing retailer The Foschini Group (TFG) said on Friday group sales for the nine months to December increased by 11.4% from a year earlier‚ with same store sales growth of 5.6%.  read more

Johannesburg - Growth in South Africa's retail sales quickened to 3.4% year-on-year in November compared with a revised 0.9% expansion in October, Statistics South Africa said on Wednesday.  read more

New York -- Total holiday retail sales increased 3% to $579.8 billion, below the National Retail Federation s projected forecast of 4.1%. Non-store holiday sales grew 11%, below the 12% growth forecast by Shop.org. (The NRF sales figures exclude automobiles, gas stations and restaurants.) read more

Johannesburg - Withdrawals from ATMs across the country between December 11 and 18 rose 6.57% year-on-year, Spark ATM Systems said on Wednesday.  read more

The worldwide smart connected device market – a collective view of PCs, tablets, and smartphones – grew 27.1% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2012 (3Q12) reaching a record 303.6 million shipments valued at $140.4 billion. read more

Recent research shows December 2011 South Africa retail trade was up 12.8% on the prior December, however retail sales in December 2012 should increase between 7% and 9% – slightly above inflation – to levels between R80 billion and R82 billion, based on current prices read more

Johannesburg - South Africa's trade deficit widened more than expected to R21.2bn in October from R13.8bn in September as imports of machinery, vehicles and aircraft rose, the South African Revenue Service said on Friday.  read more

Chicago - Protesters demanding higher wages and better healthcare for Walmart hourly workers converged on the retailer's stores across the United States, though there was no evidence they disrupted operations for the start of the crucial holiday shopping season. read more

Johannesburg - Employment in the month of October increased by an annualised rate of 1% boosted by the informal sector, according to the Adcorp Employment Index released on Monday. read more

Copenhagen - Danish toy company Lego is likely to disappoint some of its young fans as it is struggling to meet strong demand ahead of the upcoming Christmas sales season, a report said on Friday. read more

The Kobo Touch e-reader has been released in SA as part of an exclusive partnership between Pick 'n Pay and Kobo.  read more

New York — Some Facebook investors may be feeling a bit disgruntled, but Walmart couldn’t be happier with its experience with the social network. 

Beijing - China's September exports rose 9.9% from a year earlier, the government said on Saturday, fuelled by strong demand ahead of the holiday shopping season and government stimulus measures. read more

Johannesburg - South African consumers are approaching the holiday season with caution and on the lookout for bargains, according to a survey conducted by advisory firm Deloitte. read more