Wal-Mart Stores announced on Tuesday it will begin testing a new in-store locker system that will allow a customer to select an item online, ship it for free to a locker at her local store, and pick it up at her convenience.

Wal-Mart's lead e-commerce executives described the program during a presentation on digital strategy to at least 20 reporters in San Bruno, Calf.

The in-store locker program, which will be tested in about a dozen U.S. stores, adds to a growing suite of delivery options now being offered by the company, including free shipping, ship-to-store, and expedited delivery to local FedEx centers.

Just browsing? That'll cost you at some retailers.

At Vera Wang's bridal boutique in Shanghai, customers must fork over about $482 (or 3,000 yuan) for a 90-minute time slot to try on dresses, China's Global Times newspaper reports.

The store isn't alone. At a Brisbane, Australia, specialty food store, customers have to pay $5 for just looking, according to a post on Reddit.

U.S. soda consumption fell in 2012 for the eighth-straight year, this time by 1.2 percent to levels not seen since the Clinton administration, according to new beverage statistics.

Consumption per person fared even worse, declining to the lowest level since 1987 as consumers increasingly turned to energy drinks and bottled water to quench their thirst, according to Beverage-Digest data.

During the majority of the 1990s, the category's volume grew about 3 percent a year, but then growth began to slow in 1999. Volume has been declining since 2005. This year's level marks the lowest since 1996.

The beer business puts up some big numbers, a Michigan brewery's annual release is so bright it inspired sunglasses and one of rock's best known songs becomes a Cabernet Sauvignon, here are six things that have people buzzing in the world of beer, wine and spirits:

1. Big Beer Numbers Part 1: Craft beer is the rolling like a runaway train. The Brewers Association, the trade group which represents small and independent brewers, is out with its final numbers for 2012 and the growth in the craft beer segment continues unabated. According to the Brewers Association, craft brewers saw a 15 percent rise in volume and a 17 percent increase in dollar growth in 2012. Helping to drive the growth? A proliferation of new players entering the market. 409 new breweries opened in 2012, bringing the total brewery count at the end of 2012 to 2,403. "On average, we are seeing slightly more than one craft brewery per day opening somewhere in the U.S. and we anticipate even more in the coming year" said Paul Gatza, director,Brewers Association.

After reaching fever pitch during the cash-strapped economic downturn, coupon usage appears to be waning, but not for lack of consumer interest, according to a new report.

Last year, coupon redemption fell 14.3 percent even with nearly the same number of deals, reported Inmar, a leading coupon processor. A separate report from competitor NCH Marketing paints a even bleaker picture, showing a 17-percent drop in coupon redemptions last year.

Still, NCH found that consumer interest remains high. Nearly four in five people surveyed said they regularly shopped with coupons for consumer packaged goods. So what gives?

Payroll tax increases and high gasoline prices have pushed consumers to dine out less. But tax refunds, which are rolling in, may bring relief to the limping restaurant industry.

"Payroll tax takes its negative toll. Starting February consumers have less money — low- and middle-income groups," said Darren Tristano, a restaurant industry analyst at Technomic, a market researcher.

The payroll tax was raised in January two percentage points to its previous level from 2010. (Read more: Payroll Tax Hike Will Affect Your Paycheck and Economy)

According to research from the National Retail Federation that was released in February, nearly three-quarters of Americans said they're adjusting spending because of the payroll tax change. Plus, 16 percent of those surveyed said they're eating out less, and 15 percent are using coupons more often, according to the retail group.

Rising fuel prices have hit restaurants even harder. More than 37 percent of those surveyed said they're eating out less because of the gas prices, according to a separate survey from the retail group.

Value is King

Given tighter wallets, it's no surprise consumers are looking for more value, said Tristano of Technomic. Pizza and burger chains will likely grow further during the next few months as they offer more value. Tristano sees a slow growth of 1 percent (adjusted for inflation) for the restaurant industry in 2013.

"Hopefully those tax returns coming in will give us a boost in terms of sales," said Tristano, "Enough to offset, perhaps, the impact of the payroll tax."

With fuel prices forecast to climb further, dining out will be trickier for consumers. But restaurants catering to more wealthy customers won't be hit as hard by payroll tax fluctuations, the analyst said.

California Pizza Kitchen has built its name by getting consumers to expect the unexpected — like Brussels sprouts and bacon pizza. Now the company is applying that same sense of adventure to its beverage offerings.

They've offered beer and wine since they opened in 1985, but now they're adding wine flights, new craft beers and what they call the "Diet Pepsi Mixology program," which is where they offer unique Pepsi-juice combinations like Diet Pepsi with a SoBe low-calorie beverage, fresh blueberries, passion fruit, blood orange and pomegranate melange.

For the wine flights, customers can choose from one of three flights: white, red or "adventurous," which consists of three 3-ounce pours for $12.

"It really gives someone who may not understand that much about wine or doesn't really know what they like or dislike and it gives them a wide range they can try at a reasonable price," said California Pizza Kitchen CEO G.J. Hart.

The adventurous flight, for the record, includes Jacob's Creek Moscato, Markham Merlot and Rodney Strong Cabernet Sauvignon. They were already on the menu but the company says the wines were selected for the "adventurous" list as they were wines new wine drinkers might not necessarily try on their own.

"We wanted to have a more adventuresome wine list, things that you may not see everywhere, and wines that may not be your run-of-the-mill-type brands," Hart said.

The Stuart Weitzman ballet flats from Neiman Marcus sported sweet faux fur pom-poms. The Alice and Olivia coat was trimmed with a dark faux fur collar.

The problem was that the faux fur was, in fact, real fur.

That's right: it was faux faux fur.

In a forehead-slapping development, Neiman Marcus and two other retailers, DrJays.com and Eminent, on Tuesday settled federal claims that they had marketed real fur as fake fur. The supposedly fake stuff was actually rabbit, raccoon and, possibly, dyed mink.

A "strong holiday lineup" of new products propelled Williams-Sonoma to better-than-expected quarterly earnings, CEO Laura Alber told CNBC on Wednesday.

The home goods retailer—behind its namesake brand as well as Pottery Barn and West Elm—earned $1.34 per share for the fourth quarter, 5 cents above Wall Street estimates. Revenue of $1.41 billion also beat expectations on the back of strong online sales and a reduction in discounting.

Williams-Sonoma also said it is increasing its quarterly cash dividend by 41 percent to 31 cents per share.

"We are lucky that we have multiple brands across a wide range of demographics and aesthetics." Alber told "Squawk Box."

When it comes to paying with plastic at the cash register, you know the drill. A quick swipe, a signature and the contents of your shopping cart are yours. But sometimes the cashier asks for one more thing:

"May I have your ZIP code, please?"

You may think it's necessary to complete the transaction or it may seem like a harmless piece of information to give out, so you go ahead and reveal it.

But that simple decision can result in more junk mail heading your way and more telemarketers disrupting your day, said Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy for Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a nonprofit watchdog group based in San Diego, Calif.

So what's a credit card customer to do when a merchant asks for a ZIP code at the cash register?