Local retailers are being urged to grow their web platforms after strong growth in online retail spending.

Parents are losing hundreds of dollars through fraudulent websites claiming to sell popular baby products.

Customers are being tracked by bugging devices fixed to their shopping trolleys and baskets as they shop in an Auckland supermarket.

Will the internet giant evolve into the biggest retailer in the world? Katherine Rushton looks at what the future holds for the Seattle-based company.

Thousands of Kiwi parents have a new shopping dilemma this year - they will need to buy a tablet or other digital device for their child, writes Diana Clement.

Sick of shopping? You shouldn't be. January is the time of true bargains.

Retailers are "over the moon" at record Boxing Day sales on Thursday.

A shopping trolley of 15 items was $1,500 cheaper on Boxing Day - a saving of 26 per cent on Christmas prices - according to a Herald survey of a popular mall.

A gold iPhone 5s, a $600 keyboard and an inflatable remote-controlled dolphin were some of the unwanted gifts that flooded Trade Me on Christmas Day.

If you are going online in your search for Christmas presents, keep your wits about you.

Kiwis snapped up almost a million boxes of cutlery in the latest Countdown sticker promotion.

It's shaping up to be an outdoor Christmas for many Kiwis, a list of most searched for items on popular auction site Trade Me suggests.

With summer upon us, our attentions shift not only to weather forecasts, but also on how best to scorch a piece of Bambi as the BBQ season kicks into high gear.

New Zealanders have been spending up on food and liquor in the lead up to Christmas, according to Paymark, which says spending through its network during the first seven days of December was up almost nine per cent on the same week the year before.

According to Toyworld, the top 10 toys for Christmas include back-to-the-future Cabbage Patch Kids, Furby toys, LeapPad Ultras, and Robo Fish.

Additional Christmas outlay will leave more than half the population feeling financial stress over the holiday period, according to a MasterCard survey.

When it comes to clothes shopping, there are times to spend and times to save.

I'd never heard of BB creams until I was at the Estee Lauder counter at Smith & Caughey's Newmarket. "Everyone knows about BB creams," my daughter uttered with a touch of disgust.

You buy a new thing, lose interest in the thing, find a newer thing to buy, stick the old thing in a cupboard and repeat forever until you die. Ugh. Sound familiar?

Are you going camping this summer? And will you be taking the kitchen sink with you?

The battle of the supermarkets has never been so cut-throat, with the major players constantly on the lookout for new ways to lure us inside. Alan Perrott finds global trends indicate worse is to come.

Dear Halloween grinches. Have a heart and buy some lollies for the excited children who will be knocking on your door on Thursday.

Christmas decorations are appearing in the shops and it won't be long before perfume sales skyrocket. But where will you be buying your perfume?