LifePics, Boulder, Colo., is now the online digital imaging solutions provider for Brookshire Grocery Co., a Tyler, Texas-based supermarket chain. Using the LifePics solution, Brookshire's will now offer its customers a range of prints and photo products. LifePics will also provide the company with digital photography-related educational consumer e-mailswritten by professional photographers and tailored for the average photo enthusiast. The e-mails are sent directly to consumers who elect to receive them, and provide photography tips for various topics. Consumers are encouraged to branch out from basic photography techniques and explore other methods used by professional photographers, says the company. The consumer e-mails are branded with Brookshire Grocery Co.'s logo and custom advertisements.

CompUSA, which was sold to Gordon Brothers Group LLC earlier this month, provided a website for consumers on Friday with details about the impact of its sale on customer programs and policies, reports Reuters. The website, www.compusaconsumerhelp.com, offers details on the electronics retailer's policies on extended warranties, gift cards, rebates and other service programs. CompUSA said it would update the site regularly and provide relevant telephone numbers and Web links to assist with customer inquiries.

  The Dallas, Texas-based company said it would keep its stores open during the holiday season, offering "attractive bargains" on computers and electronics. All sales after Dec. 12 in its stores would be final, CompUSA said, adding it had posted signs announcing the policy to its customers.

  CompUSA, once controlled by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, was sold to Gordon Brothers, a Boston, Mass.-based restructuring and real estate firm earlier this month, reports Reuters. Gordon Brothers has started closing its retail stores, and is in discussions with various parties to sell some of its assets, CompUSA said.

After today, there are seven shopping days until Christmas, but the number of shipping days varies depending on who is doing the shipping, says a USA Today article, and how much consumers are willing to spend.

  "Consumers continue to buy online later and later," says Lauren Freedman, president of The E-tailing Group, an online retail consultancy. "So merchants keep extending their deadlines to get as much of the pie as possible."

  This week, more packages will be shipped than any week of the year, says Susan Rosenberg, UPS spokeswoman. More packages, cards and letters will be mailed at the post office today -- roughly 1 billion -- than any day of the year, says Joanne Veto, spokeswoman for the United States Postal Service (USPS).

  A holiday shipping update:

·         UPS: The company's busiest day will be Wednesday, when it expects to ship 22 million packages, says Rosenberg. Its 2007 ground fuel surcharge is 3.5 percent and air fuel surcharge is 11.5 percent.

·         USPS: Monday is the last day to send domestic mail for arrival before Christmas, says Veto. Express Mail sent by Saturday comes with a guarantee for arrival by Christmas. Express Mail is delivered on Christmas Day, she notes.

·         FedEx: Monday will be FedEx's busiest day of the year, and it expects to ship 11.3 million packages, says spokesman Howard Clabo. Saturday is the last day to ship in time for Christmas arrival.

·         Wal-Mart.com: Wal-Mart's standard shipping window expires Tuesday at 11:30 p.m. PST, says spokesman Ravi Jariwala.

·         Amazon.com: Monday is its deadline for free shipping for most orders of $25 or more, says Amazon spokesman Craig Berman. Tuesday is the deadline for standard shipping orders to arrive by Christmas Day.

·         BestBuy.com: The electronics retailer's standard shipping deadline for Christmas is Thursday at 11 a.m. EST, says Chap Achen, director of Best Buy's order management. "The longer we can extend the cut-off date, the more likely consumers are to shop with us."

·         CircuitCity.com: The company is offering free shipping for any order over $24. The last day for standard shipping is by 1 p.m. EST Wednesday, says Mark Oldani, vice president of Circuit City Direct. The company is offering 10 percent off any order purchased online but picked up at the store by Saturday.

comScore Inc., Reston, Va., reports holiday season e-commerce spending for Nov. 1 through Dec. 14 has increased. More than $22 billion has been spent online during the season-to-date, showing an 18-percent gain versus last year. Dec. 10 reached $881 million in sales, up 33 percent versus last year, registering as the heaviest online spending day of the season and the heaviest online spending day on record, says comScore.

  Online spending by household income shows slower growth among lower income households. Households earning at least $100,000 a year have increased online spending 28 percent versus 2006, and households making less than $50,000 have increased their spending by 10 percent.

  While online sales are up, retailers are hiring fewer seasonal in-store workers, reports a Fortune magazine article. Around 509,000 retail jobs were created in October and November, a 9 percent decrease from 2006, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a Chicago,Ill.-based staffing firm. The last temporary sales help decline occurred following Sept. 11, 2001, dropping 26 percent to 585,000 workers, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Current economic conditions have led lower income shoppers to be more conservative in their spending, and retailers looking to cut expenses have hired fewer seasonal employees, says Fortune.

  In light of the dwindling amount of seasonal workers, a record number of shoppers said they walked out of stores recently, because they couldn't find a sales clerk to help them, said Brit Beemer, founder of America's Research Group. Nearly one-quarter of those surveyed said they walked out of a store without buying anything, because there was no one to help them, up from 22 percent who said so last year, says Fortune.