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An online Care2 petition to get Birchbox to stop featuring cosmetics from companies that test products on animals has over 47,000 signatures already. According to a Care2 press release, Massachusetts resident Jess Barnett canceled her Birchbox subscription after discovering that the retailer included samples of products from companies that aren't animal cruelty-free. She started the petition after emails with Birchbox customer service representatives left her feeling dissatisfied with the company's response.

As the holiday season arrives, Banana Republic is rolling out 15-second, content-rich video advertisements through Instagram, connecting to the brand's female millennial customers. Instagram users can expect to see the short videos appear on their news feeds. Banana Republic is among the first of leading companies along with Lancome, Disney, Cosmopolitian and Activision to incorporate Instagram videos as a way to interact with consumers. Jonathan Anastas, head of digital and social media at Activision, stated, "Our audience is becoming increasingly mobile centric, and Instagram is a mobile-centric platform. So it's an important part of the marketing mix."

The mobile payments app — which hasn't been officially released — was created for the sole purpose of getting stores away from credit card fees they pay every time you swipe your card. On Wednesday, those taking part in the CurrentC pilot program received a warning from the consortium of anti-credit card retailers called MCX, or Merchant Consumer Exchange: The program was hacked in the last 36 hours, and criminals managed to grab the email addresses of anyone who signed up for the program.

Buying products from inside a video isn't a new concept — YouTube introduced a click-to-buy feature in January 2009 — but more online retailers are experimenting with interactive video sales as the interfaces improve and touchscreens become ubiquitous. Shoppable video is growing up. But without compelling statistics to back up its efficacy, it still has a ways to go. In the past year, 39 department stores produced and released at least one shoppable video, including Sears, Kohl's and Mr. Porter, according to business intelligence service L2. 

Gap's new tagline, introduced a few months back, is "Dress normal." But the retailer knows your family is anything but — particularly at the holidays. Having launched the new positioning with David Fincher in August, Gap moves on to another Hollywood director, Sofia Coppola, for a stylish and quirky holiday campaign from Wieden + Kennedy in New York. The four ads are endearingly weird, with storytelling that's more about momentary glimpses into the charms and foibles of family life than traditional plots.

Victoria's Secret is under fire for a campaign that some say holds up the trim and toned figures of its underwear-clad models as the ideal body type. The controversial ads for the brand's "Body by Victoria" line boast the words "The Perfect 'Body" in front of thin women with similar figures. "This marketing campaign is harmful," a Change.org petition reads. "It fails to celebrate the amazing diversity of women's bodies by choosing to call only one body type ‘perfect.’"

Sewing machines hum inside a spacious clothing boutique where the wife and son of lululemon athletica's founder hope to capture the retail magic that turned the yogawear maker into a stock market darling. Meet Kit and Ace, the brainchild of billionaire Chip Wilson's wife, former lululemon lead designer Shannon Wilson, who started the new streetwear venture with his son J.J. Backed entirely by Wilson family money, Kit and Ace has started with one store in the heart of Vancouver's artsy Gastown neighborhood.

RadioShack named former U.S. Treasury Department adviser Harry Wilson as its chief revitalization officer, enlisting a turnaround expert who helped restructure General Motors and Chrysler. Wilson, founder of the advisory firm Maeva Group, will report to RadioShack's board and CEO Joe Magnacca, the Fort Worth, Texas-based company said in a statement. The struggling electronics chain, which received a rescue financing package earlier this month, cited Wilson's experience reviving U.S. automakers in the wake of the recession. He was a senior member of the Auto Task Force, which led the Treasury Department's role in revamping GM and Chrysler.

At Costco, the Black Friday deals won't begin until, well, Friday. The warehouse retail chain will again stay closed on Thanksgiving this year, bucking the trend of retailers opening their doors earlier and earlier. "Our employees work especially hard during the holiday season and we simply believe that they deserve the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with their families," a Costco spokesman told the website Think Progress. The company didn't say when on Friday it would open the doors of its 468 locations. Most locations normally open at 10 a.m. on weekdays.

British retailers are investing heavily in the use of digital and mobile in-store to persuade consumers that brick-and-mortar shops aren't just relevant in a digital world but the only place to get the best retail experience in the run-up to Christmas. For example, John Lewis, best known in creative circles for its emotive advertising, is now making digital waves with plans to test a number of new apps designed to deepen customers’ physical in-store experience. First up in early November will be an in-store 3-D printing pilot which, combined with RFID tagging, will help people choosing a new sofa.