Chains large and small have quietly handed over their circulars to Web sites like Bfads.net and Gottadeal.com this year to ensure that millions of deal-hungry shoppers see their discounts well before this Friday, traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year. Over the past few weeks, Home Depot, Pacific Sunwear, CompUSA and OshKosh B'Gosh each supplied the sites with an advance copy of its ads, according to the chains and the sites' owners. With consumers uneasy about the economy, the only thing worse than having a retail circular leaked to the sites, is not having it leaked to the …

Thanks to new product innovations and efforts to promote the health benefits of the fruit by industry leader Ocean Spray and others, cranberries no longer are relegated to a Thanksgiving side dish. But for the first time in years, cranberry crops are expected to drop this fall, meaning higher prices for everything from cranberry craisins to the traditional Thanksgiving sauce. Cranberries prefer cold winters and plenty of rain. Unusually warm winter and a summer drought in many parts of the U.S. and Canada hurt the crop now being harvested. Canned sauce, bottled juice and dried cranberry snacks will …

The Millennials have lived in a media-saturated world from a young age. Consequently, they are clued into--and tuned out of--marketers' most ingenious means of influence, according to conventional wisdom. But Notre Dame instructor Carol Phillips says that college kids naiveté regarding retailers' role, the true target for many brands, the rules on pricing and how product placement comes about might surprise you. Among her observations: Don't worry much about how to make a product or its advertising relevant to college students. If it's useful, they will believe it's for them. And students are surprised to learn that manufacturers …

Foreign-based automakers spent an average of $182 per shopper in 2006, compared with $223 per shopper from the domestic car manufacturers, according to data compiled by Compete, a Boston-based research firm. Last year, Honda had the most proficient spend per shopper at $118, trailed by Toyota at $158. Ford was the least effective in the million-plus sales range at $240 a shopper. Saturn's "like always, like never before" campaign helped bring down its cost-per-shopper by 35%, from $187 in 2005 to $121 last year, the report notes. Scion dropped to $30 per shopper from $44 the previous year. Kia …

U.S. retail sales may be weak, energy prices way up and housing prices way down, but pets rule at the holidays--especially dogs--and that's helping to keep many retailers' registers ringing. Caring owners are not likely to stiff their beloved animals for the holidays, experts say. Fifty-six percent of dog owners and 42% of cat owners bought holiday gifts for their pets last year, according to a survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. Overall, Americans are expected to spend an estimated $48.7 billion on their pets in 2007, nearly twice the amount of a decade ago and growing …