Top Story

• Krispy Kreme taps QR codes, Facebook for Valentine's campaign
  Krispy Kreme customers can send Valentine e-cards by scanning a QR code on boxes of the brand's special heart-shaped doughnuts. The holiday is also the occasion for Krispy Kreme to leverage Facebook, where users are invited to customize a Share Your Heart Facebook cover photo. MobileCommerceDaily.com (2/1)     

	The Future of Drop Shipping: DropShip Commerce Connect the endless aisle to the virtual supply chain: Learn how drop shipping can ensure a great customer experience without inventory risk. Dropship Commerce provides SaaS solutions for Retailers, Brand Manufacturers, and Distributors to manage and scale drop shipping operations. See how DropShip Commerce can help your business.

Online Retail Trends

• Tips to keep your online shoppers faithful
  High home page bounce rates and frequent shopping cart abandonment may be signs that your online customers are cheating on you, writes marketer Paul Dunay. He shares five signs, along with tips for keeping customers coming back. Social Media Today (2/2)     

• Turning e-mail marketing into art
  What story is your e-mail campaign telling about your brand? Print out a month's worth, start reading and figure out how to craft a more compelling approach, advises Bronto Software's Jim Davidson. "As you evaluate your emails for opens, clicks and purchases, also consider how storytelling perspectives can influence engagement, brand perception and promotional effectiveness," he writes. Multichannel Merchant (1/31)     

New Media & Technology

• Pinterest comes with a learning curve for merchants
  Pinterest users have liked, pinned or otherwise referenced H&M 145,000 times in the past month, but many of the pins lead users to popular styles that are no longer available. It's a common issue for retailers using the image-driven social site, says Curalate CEO Apu Gupta. Curalate, and another company called Pinfluencer, have developed tools to refer users to other products when they hit upon something that's out of stock. Adweek (2/4)     

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by Shop.org SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• Study: Why do customers buy online? (eConsultancy.com)

• Will grocery unit AmazonFresh move beyond Seattle? (The Seattle Times)

• Retailers ramp up omnichannel integration investment (Women's Wear Daily (subscription required))

• 92.5 million people used digital coupons in 2012 (eMarketer)

• Tips to reach the 7 types of Valentine's Day shoppers (Multichannel Merchant)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

Companies in the News

• Men's Wearhouse app helps wedding party coordinate tuxes
  Men's Wearhouse has launched a mobile app for those renting tuxedos for weddings. The Tuxedo Group Manager incorporates all the tuxedo needs of the wedding party, allowing brides and grooms to monitor the status of members' efforts to get fitted, pick up and return their tuxes. MobileCommerceDaily.com (2/1)     

• Online sellers rank Etsy No. 1
  Etsy and Ruby Lane ranked ahead of Amazon in EcommerceBytes' Sellers Choice Awards, an annual rating by online sellers of the top 16 online marketplaces based on profitability, customer service, communication and ease of use. EcommerceBytes (2/4)     

Interactive Advertising

• Brands get another way to target Facebook users
  Facebook is testing Suggested Page ad units that let companies advertise in the news feed of people who haven't "liked" their brand. The minimalist units are "among the least social units Facebook has on offer," and likely reflect an effort by Facebook to encourage more advertisers to buy news feed space, Tim Peterson writes. Adweek (2/1)     

Legislative & Regulatory

• FTC offers new privacy guidelines for mobile industry
  The mobile industry should improve privacy protection and allow device users to opt out of ad-network tracking, the Federal Trade Commission argues in a new set of nonbinding recommendations. Outgoing FTC chief Jon Leibowitz called the mobile sector "a sort of Wild West" and called for industry players to act to tackle its "unique privacy challenges." Separately, the social networking application Path has agreed to settle with the FTC for $800,000 over charges that it collected children's personal information. The Wall Street Journal (2/2), Adweek (2/1)     

Shop.org Spotlight

• Social media and the new age of Super Bowl television advertising
  As more Super Bowl ads tend to be leaked prior to the big game, several brands are using a variety of social channels to generate more content and buzz before Super Sunday. In a post on Retail's BIG Blog, Retail Advertising and Marketing Association Chairman Kevin Brown reveals his must-see ads from Super Bowl XLVII, and how Coca-Cola's chase campaign resonated with yet another generation of viewers who tune in primarily for the commercials. Read more. Retail's BIG Blog (2/2)     

• Shop.org SmartStat: Feb. 4, 2013
  Among gift card buyers during the holiday season, two out of five spent between $50 and $200 for cards purchased online. Source: Shop.org eHoliday 2012 post-holiday results.     

• Pinterest vs. Facebook: Which site wins at shopping engagement?
  As one of the newest social media darlings, Pinterest has established itself as the dominant source for visual inspiration, with questions now focusing on e-commerce comparisons with Facebook. In an addition to the Shop.org white paper library, Bizrate Insight tackles how shopping conversions and product inspiration measure up between the two channels, and how activities with brands and retailers vary by each platform. Download the white paper.     

SmartQuote

To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, subtract things every day." --Laozi, Chinese philosopher