Cybercops Bust Retailers Whose Deals Are Too Good

... and store websites may change to accommodate them

(NEWSER) - Marketing in the modern age: It seems tablet users make the best online shoppers, reports the Wall Street Journal . Industry stats put the coveted "conversion rate" at 4% or 5% for tablet users vs. 3% for PC users. What's more, perhaps because tablet users tend to be wealthier, people who buy things with them tend to place bigger orders than those using a PC or smartphone. More»

Bulk retailer, beverage titan reconcile pricing dispute

(NEWSER) - Coca-Cola and Costco have ironed out a pricing dispute that kept the warehouse chain from restocking its shelves with the soda titan's products for over a month. Coke devotees should be seeing their favorite beverages at the stores soon, Costco CFO Richard Galanti said. "Our sign on shelves—'Until we can provide members with these products at competitive prices, we're not going to sell it' and we're now going to sell it, that's all I have to say at this point," he said. More»

A list of retail strategies to do good while you buy

(NEWSER) - Want to do some shopping and do some good—at the same time? Sandy Stonesifer, writing for Slate, offers some ways to buy for the betterment of humanity:

• Go for products that donate a portion of proceeds to charity—like Product (Red) iPods, which give to the Global Fund, and pink playing cards, which donate to breast cancer research.
• Web sites like Goodshop let you send a piece of your purchase price to charities.

(NEWSER) - Looking for a last-minute price break on the Guitar Hero World Tour Band Kit? Don’t hold your breath. The video game is one of many products retailers can’t discount without losing advertising dollars—or supplies—from the manufacturers, reports the Wall Street Journal. Such minimum-advertised-price policies were deemed legal in a controversial Supreme Court ruling last year, and manufacturers are taking advantage. More»

The online auction giant sees 'Amazonification' as a path to profit

(NEWSER) - Looking to compete more aggressively with Amazon for users who want to sell items at a fixed cost, eBay is changing its pricing model, lowering listing fees by up to 75% and increasing its final sales commission, BusinessWeek reports. The goal is to increase inventory of items listed at a "buy-it-now" price, increasingly popular with buyers weary of waiting for auctions to play out. More»