Target

While the twinkling lights and tinsel make 2011 seem like a typical year for holiday shopping, the truth is it's not. The biggest difference this year is with consumers themselves, specifically where and how they spend their money and how retailers are competing for those dollars.

Direct mail is an integral part of any holiday marketing campaign. As a channel, print delivers a uniquely engaging and tangible experience. It's a quietly insistent communication that integrates well into any campaign and even affords some holiday fun. What follows are four direct mail concepts retailers can leverage to drive relevant offers, increase store traffic and build customer loyalty during the holidays:

For a decade, Target outsourced its website operations to Amazon.com. The retail giant began preparing two years ago to take control of the site when the deal with Amazon expired this August. Three weeks after the switch, the site crashed. It went down again a month later. Then again, and again.

San Francisco -- The 15 cities with the most shopping activity on Black Friday 2011 were Manhattan, N.Y.; San Francisco; Los Angeles; Brooklyn, N.Y.; San Jose, Calif.; Seattle; Chicago; San Diego; Houston; Atlanta; Dallas; Saint Louis; Portland, Ore.; Austin, Texas; and Minneapolis, according to mint.com, an online personal finance site. The 10 national merchants with the most shopping activity on Black Friday, mint.com reported, were Apple, Best Buy, Nordstrom, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Target, Wal-Mart, Gap, Old Navy and Amazon. After comparing user spend from Black Friday 2011 to last year’s spend, Mint.com found that: Atlanta, New York and Houston

Target will donate $5 million to local schools nationwide as part of the company's commitment to give $1 billion for education by the end of 2015. Target has teamed up with "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and its viewers to select 50 schools in need to receive a $100,000 grant.

New York City -- E-commerce spending jumped 26% on Black Friday, according to comscore. Black Friday web sales totaled $816 million, up from $648 million last year, comScore reported. “With brick-and-mortar retail also reporting strong gains on Black Friday, it's clear that the heavy promotional activity had a positive impact on both channels," said Gian Fulgoni, chairman, comScore. Fifty million Americans visited online retail sites on Black Friday, up 35% over last year, comScore said. Each of the top five retail sites reported double-digit gains in visitors, in percentage terms, led by top retail site Amazon. Walmart ranked second,

Most retailers are feeling quite merry after the start of the holiday shopping season drew a record number of visitors to their websites and stores. Shares of most major retailers soared in Monday trading, amid a broad market rally. The National Retail Federation estimates a record 226 million shoppers went to stores and websites during the four-day holiday weekend that started on Thanksgiving Day, up from 212 million last year. Each of them spent more this year too, shelling out $398.62 over the weekend, on average, compared with $365.34 a year ago. "Black Friday did not disappoint," Wedbush analyst

Target has promoted Casey Carl to president of multichannel and senior vice president of merchandising, a move that will now have him oversee the recently relaunched Target.com. The discount store chain said that Carl, who most recently served as senior vice president of hardlines and as a co-lead on Target's multichannel steering committee, takes over the posts effective immediately.

Black Friday is an unforgiving affair. Retailers duke it out, using middle-of-the-night openings, limited-time promotions and mega sales as their weapons in the battle to grab as much share of consumers' holiday shopping budgets as possible.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target merchandising executive Casey Carl was given added responsibilities for the retailer’s online businesses, following a series of snafus related to an August relaunch that resulted in the departure of former online president Steve Eastman. Carl will serve as president of multichannel with responsibility for Target’s digital platforms including mobile, social and Target.com, while retaining his prior responsibilities as SVP merchandising for entertainment, toys, sporting goods and electronics. “We are firmly committed to implementing a multichannel strategy that enables our guests to engage with Target anywhere, anytime,” Target EVP merchandising Kathee Tesija said. “Under Casey’s leadership and