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Fast-fashion retailer H&M is a bit frosty toward warm climates. The trendy company has stores in 37 countries, but none in Texas. Miami shoppers won't find a place to purchase H&M's cheap chic clothes, either. The problem isn't a lack of demand. It's that the chain's Swedish parent company, H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB, isn't sure how to sell clothes in cities that are always warm.

Macy’s, already one of the country's largest advertisers, is looking to augment that spend with partnerships designed to lure more shoppers into its stores. Martine Reardon, evp, marketing at Macy’s, said the push is also part of the company’s strategy to differentiate itself. “It’s important for a brand to have a personality,” she said.

In five short months, Staples has turned its Twitter account into a marketing insights and sales engine. Perhaps more importantly, the office supplies retailer has quickly learned the social site's benefits for customer relations. The brand has grown its follower base to 32,200 and increased its Twitter reps from a handful to 20. To encourage people to follow the Framingham, Mass.-based retailer, it's employed giveaway promotions for new-to-market technology products like netbooks. Consumers have typically had to follow the company to enter the contests.

The e-tailing group and PowerReviews released the findings of the 2010 Social Shopping Study, which surveyed over 1,000 consumers who shop at least 4 times per year and spend $250 or more annually shopping online, to assess their motivations and preferences regarding online product research and customer reviews. The study focused on two key areas: how, when and why consumers are conducting online product research as well as their behaviors and expectations related to customer reviews.

J.C. Penney Co., betting that better control of inventory and stronger online sales will underpin its growth, is spending heavily to speed up its supply chain and overhaul its website. The Plano, Texas, department store chain is boosting its tech spending for a second straight year, even as it has cut its broader capital spending in half over the same period as it scaled back store openings. The company's online growth has slowed in recent years and it's counting on Internet sales, now just 9 percent of its $17.5 billion in annual revenue, to deliver $1 billion in sales growth over the next five years.

Satisfaction with Top 100 e-retailers rebounded from a dive this time last year, to an all-time high score of 78 points out of 100, a five-point increase. According to ForeSee Results’ annual Top 100 Online Retail Satisfaction Index, consumers are more satisfied with their online experiences than ever before. Nearly every individual retailer registered a score that matched or exceeded previous satisfaction levels.

The Direct Marketing Association today expressed disappointment with the scope and broadly restrictive nature of the draft privacy legislation proposed by Representatives Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Cliff Stearns (R-FL). Addressing both online and offline collection of data, the draft bill has potentially sweeping impacts for direct marketers working across every marketing channel, from direct mail and telemarketing to email, Internet, and mobile marketing.  Requiring notice and consent from an individual prior to any collection, use, or disclosure of information for any purpose would threaten the most basic of direct marketing practices.  Further, while the bill would not require consent for data collected for “operational purposes,” it specifically excludes marketing, advertising, and sales activities from that operational definition, making it clear that lawmakers intend to focus on the marketing and advertising community.

U.S. antitrust enforcers are taking a keen interest in recent changes that Apple Inc. made to its licensing agreement with iPhone application developers and are likely to open a preliminary investigation into whether the company's actions stifle competition in mobile devices, according to people familiar with the situation. The Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department, which are jointly tasked with enforcing federal antitrust laws, are holding discussions over which agency would hold the inquiry.

The Golf Warehouse announces the launch of an iPhone application for the golf course. Now golf lovers searching for the latest golf club technology and highest quality golf equipment can quickly shop and buy directly from their Apple iPhone or iPod Touch device. The Golf Warehouse, a Redcats USA brand, created this mobile golf application as part of a multipronged approach to provide its valued customers with the most innovative and seamless purchasing platforms. This first-ever iPhone application for both The Golf Warehouse and Redcats USA provides customers with a simple mobile solution for researching and purchasing golf equipment.

Advertisers and internet companies have been scrambling to head off regulation they say will hamper growth of online advertising. The pressure is expected to build as lawmakers prepare to announce proposed privacy legislation. More than a year in the making, the draft legislation proposes regulating internet companies' tactics for collecting information about Web visitors and the use of that data for ad targeting. It also could apply to the practices for collecting consumers' information in the offline world.