Amazon

In-store purchasing of electronics is going the way of the horse and buggy.

Best Buy recently announced the closure of 50 stores and experts are speculating the inevitable demise of the big-box company, thanks to stiff competition from e-retailers like Amazon. In 2011, Amazon's revenue rose 69 percent in electronics and general merchandise sales alone, according to the Associated Press. And Circuit City accepted its fate years ago when it closed its brick-and-mortar locations and now operates exclusively online.

Convenience and better prices are the name of the online-purchasing game, but that doesn't mean there aren't pitfalls to the practice. Before you invest in your next pricey gadget, consider these do's and don'ts before clicking "purchase."

DO Compare Prices
Most people know to consult online prices when shopping at brick-and-mortar stores, but the same diligence should be applied when purchasing something online. Though Amazon offers competitive prices, it behooves you to look at other sites and take advantage of sales and promotions. Read more

...but Consumers, Retailers

"I told you- good day I'm okay, bad day I'm okay. Stop bugging me on my feelings. They're irrelevant." – Lewis Zabel, "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," 20th Century Fox, 2010

Joe Corzine, former head of MF Global, "misplaced" $1.2B of investors' money but was certain it would show up.

The EU stress tested a bunch of banks (to see if they could withstand a financial fiscal shock attack), a lot failed.

Talk about stress testing U.S. banks is avoided because…

Banks, credit card companies and digital site folks (Google, PayPal, Apple, etc) want to make life easier for you – they want to eliminate the need to handle all that dirty, filthy money and hauling out your plastic every time you want to buy something.

Face it, money - dollars, rubles, pounds, francs, yen, Yuan, etc. – doesn't really exist. It's just a bunch of ones and zeros flying from cloud to cloud.

To save yourself from carrying all that junk, you can do it all with your feature/smartphone.

Your phone is always with you anyway for playing your music, showing you your videos, sending you the latest news, giving you your exercise plan, keeping your appointments, showing you how to get from home to office.

So, it's the logical place for your money.Read more

Better Year – To know where you're going you have to know where you've been, what you've been through. Based largely on what we've been through, people are cautiously more optimistic about the coming year. Image – Universal Pictures

Imagine:

• A global population of seven billion people … and growing.
• More than six billion mobile subscribers … and growing.
• More than nine billion connected devices (two billion machine to machine) … and growing.

We've become a mobile and open world, and there's no turning back.

Constantly Connected – Some feel at a loss if they don't have their mobile "tools" – smartphone, iPad, notebook – with them constantly. Admit it. You go back home if you forgot your phone. You're at a loss when your tablet/computer battery runs low. No wonder we feel we're always connected … we are!Read more

It's not too late to order Amazon's most popular gifts in time for Christmas - customers who order by 8 pm PT on December 21 will receive free two-day shipping on the $79 Kindle, $99 Kindle Touch, $149 Kindle Touch 3G and $199 Kindle Fire

Millions of customers have already ordered Kindle Fire, the most wished for, most gifted, and #1 bestselling item on Amazon.com for 12 weeks running

Dec 20, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Amazon.com, Inc. today announced free two-day shipping for the Kindle family, Amazon's most gifted, most wished for, and bestselling products, for delivery before Christmas. Customers who order by 8 pm PT on December 21 will receive their Kindle in time for Christmas with free 2 day shipping to any address in the continental U.S. As the holiday approaches, customers still looking for the perfect gift can order the $79 Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/kindle, the $99 Kindle Touch at http://www.amazon.com/kindletouch, the $149 Kindle Touch 3G at http://www.amazon.com/kindletouch3G, and the $199 Kindle Fire at http://www.amazon.com/kindlefire.Read more

Still looking for the perfect gift? Amazon is offering deals on popular toys, electronics, sporting goods and other great gift items starting this Sunday – plus Free Super Saver Shipping on millions of eligible items every day

Dec. 2, 2011 -- Cyber Monday may be over, but customers will continue to find great deals at Amazon this holiday season. Amazon.com, Inc. today announced it will offer customers category-specific deals each day starting this Sunday at www.amazon.com/flurrydeals. Categories include Sports & Outdoors, Video Games, Tools & Home Improvement, Movies & TV, Toys & Games, Electronics and Shoes & Accessories.

"With three weeks left until Christmas, a lot of customers are still shopping for the perfect gifts for their friends and family. We want to make it easy and convenient to find the best presents at the best prices," said Sally Fouts, Amazon.com. Read more

Making a list and checking it twice has never been easier with new app that helps children and their parents create holiday Wish Lists to share with friends, family and the jolly guy himself

Nov 30, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Amazon.com, Inc. today announced Amazon Santa, a free app for Kindle Fire and iPad that makes it fun and easy for children and their parents to create holiday Wish Lists to share with friends, family and Mr. Claus. The Amazon Santa app provides a visual Wish List creation experience designed for children to browse and search more than five-hundred thousand kid-friendly items. With a little help from their parents, kids can make a holiday Wish List to share with loved ones, making it easier than ever for family and friends to give the right gifts this holiday season.

"Sometimes Santa can use help sorting out what gifts to give everyone and this new app makes it easy and fun for kids to create their perfect Wish List," said Sam Hall, director of Amazon Mobile. "We've selected more than five-hundred thousand of the hottest kid-friendly holiday gifts and made it fun, easy and intuitive for kids to find exactly what they want. The Amazon Santa app is also a great way for parents to spend some quality time with their kids and help make certain there's a smile Christmas morning."Read more

All week long, the Black Friday Deals Store will offer new doorbuster deals including a Nikon Coolpix for 50 percent off, up to 50 percent off select LeapFrog electronic toys and white gold princess cut diamond earrings for just $299.99

November 21, 2011-- Just days before Black Friday, Amazon.com, Inc. is adding even more great deals to its Black Friday Deals Store (www.amazon.com/blackfriday). The deals destination will continue to offer huge discounts on the season's most popular products with free shipping* on millions of eligible items every day now through Black Friday weekend.

"In addition to offering great deals on some of the season’s hottest products, we will be watching Black Friday advertisements online and offline to ensure we’re meeting or beating the best deals out there," said Sally Fouts, Amazon.com. "Shoppers who do decide to brave the crowds and the long lines in physical retail stores on Friday should use the Price Check by Amazon app in order to make sure they’re truly getting a good deal."Read more

Kindle Fire, already the bestselling item on Amazon.com, will start arriving on customers' doorsteps one day early

November 14, 2011 -- Amazon.com announced today it is shipping Kindle Fire one day early. Kindle Fire offers more than 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, books, magazines, apps and games, as well as free storage of Amazon digital content in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync for books and movies, a 14.6 ounce design that's easy to hold with one hand, a vibrant color touch screen, a powerful dual-core processor and Amazon Silk – Amazon's new revolutionary web browser that accelerates the power of the mobile device by using the computing speed and power of the Amazon Web Services cloud – all for only $199. To learn more about Kindle Fire, visit www.amazon.com/kindlefire.

"We’re thrilled to be able to ship Kindle Fire to our customers earlier than we expected. Kindle Fire quickly became the bestselling item across all of Amazon.com, and based on customer response we’re building millions more than we’d planned," said Dave Limp, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. "Customers are excited about Kindle Fire because it is a premium product at the non-premium price of only $199." Read more