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Photos of first lady Michelle Obama strolling away from the checkout counter at a Target store in Alexandria, Va. circled the globe Sept 30. The images were unusual and striking, depicting the elegant first lady in an unglamorous disguise shopping at a discount store familiar to millions of Americans.

No doubt, a key objective for retailers today is to influence shopper decisions across all selling channels. Sales and marketing campaigns that use mobility stand to gain the most when they integrate with both online and in-store shopping tools. The more channels the customer is exposed to, the greater the chance for cross-selling successes.

New findings show that mobile devices continue to drive traffic to e-commerce websites. However, shoppers who use iPads and tablets convert to the purchase funnel more often and also spend more money compared to smartphone shoppers. Ability Commerce, a company that provides mobile-optimized versions of e-commerce sites for its clients through the SmartSite e-commerce platform noticed this trend within their customer's analytics.

The world of shopping and shoppers is neatly divided into haves and have-nots. While the recovery of the luxury retail business, due largely to its successful globalization efforts, has been in the forefront of the news a lot lately, at the opposite end of the spectrum another equally strong and important movement is underway.

Merchants and their customers will save billions of dollars now that new Federal Reserve regulations cutting debit card swipe fees roughly in half have taken effect, the National Retail Federation said.

On the verge of reporting historic losses, the U.S. Postal Service is launching a new TV advertising campaign designed to slow the migration away from snail mail. 

Massmart CEO Grant Pattison. Photo: Simphiwe Mbokazi. Massmart Holdings, the South African retailer majority owned by Wal-Mart , plans to open 23 new stores in the next eight months, its chief executive said in a statement. “In the next eight months alone, we will be opening 23 new stores,” Grant Pattison said in a statement on Saturday. Wal-Mart in June finalised its $2.4 billion purchase of 51 percent of Massmart. South Africa's government has since said it would push Wal-Mart to rejig the conditions of the deal, citing concern that Wal-Mart's expansion could squeeze local suppliers and lead to

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Neiman Marcus has launched its first-ever foursquare challenge to take place on Oct. 1. As part of the challenge, Neiman Marcus will hide 15 Nancy Gonzalez clutches in secret locations throughout its stores. Participants will engage in a hunt for the clutches by unlocking a message when they check into Neiman Marcus stores on foursquare.

Bellevue, Wash. -- T-Mobile USA announced Thursday the rollout of a new global design for nearly 400 new and remodeled stores across the country. The move follows successful test pilots in Tukwila, Wash., and in New York City at Seventh Ave. and 48th St., T-Mobile said it adopted the new design format from its parent company, Deutsche Telekom AG, which has received positive customer feedback for this new design in retail stores across Europe. Each redesigned store will be completely new from floor to ceiling, and will feature a more customer-centric layout, including private customer service desks and clearly