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For most brands, the decision to participate in social media was made because the audience numbers on platforms like Facebook or Twitter made it an alluring marketing opportunity. This opportunity, coupled with competitive brands setting up an official presence, pushed a vast majority of fashion brands to now be present on the most popular platforms.

Casual clothing retailer Lands’ End took a social and multichannel approach to acquiring new customers this past holiday season with St. Nick’s Picks, a campaign that offered consumers daily deals and discounts on merchandise. St. Nick’s Picks was complemented with a “12 Hours of Twitter” campaign and Facebook fan contest.

Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe, but 2012 is here and in full swing. Hopefully you had a busy and productive holiday season and are now ready to jump into 2012 no-holds-barred. Before you get started, however, make sure to check out this guide. We’ve assembled a top-notch group of cross-channel retail experts to offer you their best advice for the year ahead. W

Social and search continue to be essential inbound marketing channels. And while Google's generating a lot of discussion around Google+, another website is actually driving more inbound traffic: Pinterest.

Think about it: A century ago, shopkeepers and customers actually knew each other by name since their visits were frequent. Loyalty wasn’t a function of points, deals or discounts, but of service. Relationships were built on trust. Merchants knew their customers’ likes and dislikes and strived to deliver on those preferences. Putting purchases “on account” was done in part because some payments were done via barter and some were handled by the “man of the house,” who settled the account at a later time.

We're often asked by online retailers how using an online feedback solution is going to help them increase conversions and sales. On the surface, the question is quite reasonable. They know that providing the products and services their target audience wants, along with competitive pricing and a great user experience is the winning strategy in e-commerce. What will listening to their customers really add to what they already know about growing their business?

The recession has been tough for many catalog retailers. Recently announced cuts and operational changes within the U.S. Postal Service will burden catalog retailers even further in 2012. That said, catalog retailers can take actions now to improve profitability and competitiveness. Like losing weight or quitting smoking, these five New Year’s resolutions will lead to greater financial and operational health in 2012.

If your latest Google search was faster and provided fresh, current results, it's because Google recently updated their search algorithm to reward newsworthy, updated information — and discourage reworked, repetitive, stagnant or multilinked sites to nowhere, sites that copy content from other websites or are just not very useful.

In a presentation she delivered at the National Retail Federation's Annual Convention & Expo in New York City yesterday, Forrester Research's Vice President and Principal Analyst Sucharita Mulpuru reviewed four retail trends her firm identified from the recently completed holiday shopping season, along with what the findings will mean for retailers looking to get ahead in the new year. 

If you’re not familiar with the term “big data,” or more importantly the concept behind it, it’s not too late to get up to speed. Big data is here and its presence is expanding to fill every aspect of business today and into the foreseeable future.