Top Story

• Buffett's Berkshire buys Oriental Trading
  Berkshire Hathaway will acquire online and catalog retailer Oriental Trading, which emerged from bankruptcy early last year and generated an estimated $320 million in revenue in 2011. "Being part of Berkshire Hathaway will serve as an additional reminder for us to continually focus on our customers," said Oriental Trading CEO Sam Taylor. Internet Retailer (11/2)     

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Online Retail Trends

• Fashion-focused Amazon leases NYC photo studio
  Fashion is the fastest-growing product category for Amazon, which signed a lease on a 40,000-square-foot photo studio in New York City, Amazon Fashion President Cathy Beaudoin said. "New York is obviously one of the fashion capitals of the world," she said. "It felt like a pretty natural evolution for us as we build our fashion business, to anchor it to key outposts where we have access to top talent." Women's Wear Daily (subscription required) (11/5)     

• Is your holiday game plan ready?
  Nobody knows your online retail business like you do, so keeping a detailed checklist for the holidays and checking it often is key to learning how to boost sales, writes Vendio CEO Mike Effle. He shares a general list that retailers can tailor to their needs, starting with widely promoting Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. E-Commerce Times (11/3)     

• Other News

• Tips to avoid holiday season cyberattacks
  Internet Retailer (11/1)     

New Media & Technology

• Retailers cut costs with digital receipts
  A growing number of retailers including Macy's, Whole Foods, Nordstrom and Gap are discovering they can boost their bottom lines by offering customers the option of receiving a digital receipt via e-mail instead of the traditional paper version. USA Today (11/3)     

• Small players' dependence widens Google's reach
  Google has drawn the attention of antitrust officials at home and abroad because of its size and growing importance to online retailers and other Web businesses. Google's search and paid ads generate about $80 billion annually for 1.8 million U.S. companies and nonprofit organizations. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (11/3)     

Hot Topics

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

• The top 5 "buzziest" social shopping sites (The Wall Street Journal)

• A primer on responsive design (eConsultancy.com)

• Google reportedly tests same-day delivery with self-driving cars (The New York Times (tiered subscription model))

• Zappos' rules of employee engagement (U.S. News & World Report)

• The science of shopping cart abandonment (Blank)

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

Companies in the News

• How Halsbrook.com is wooing mature shoppers
  Halsey Schroeder created fashion retail site Halsbrook to cater to underserved older fashion fans, many of whom fall into the same age group as her 70-year-old mom. The glitch: While older women are growing used to shopping online, most still haven't started turning to e-commerce when they're shopping for clothes, she says. The Daily Beast (11/4)     

• EBay sees a way to expand in China
  EBay reportedly is working on a deal with Xiu.com, a Chinese luxury retailer, that would give the U.S. company a way to expand its limited presence in China. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model)/Bloomberg (11/2)     

Interactive Advertising

• Kohl's holiday campaign maximizes online interaction
  Kohl's is running its "Dream Gifts" campaign in TV spots and online, and is promoting a daily free shopping trip giveaway. The department store is encouraging the social sharing of shopping lists and hopes to create "a comfortable, convenient and inspiring shopping experience in-store, online and through mobile devices," says CEO Kevin Mansell. MediaPost Communications/Marketing Daily (11/2)     

Legislative & Regulatory

• Calif. high court to decide whether privacy law applies online
  The California Supreme Court this week will hear arguments from online retailers and consumer privacy advocates over the question of whether a state law that prohibits bricks-and-mortar retailers from asking credit card users for personal data also applies to online retailers. Apple and other online retailers say the issue is security and avoiding fraud, while opponents say Apple, eBay and other e-commerce companies want the data for marketing purposes. San Jose Mercury News (Calif.) (free registration) (11/5)     

Shop.org Spotlight

• Looking for the candidates' stance on key retail issues? Look no further.
  In this pivotal election, the voice of the retail industry -- 42 million strong -- will play a big role in determining who will be the next leader of the United States. NRF's Retail Means Votes resource center provides a bird's-eye view of each candidate's position on policies such as tax policy, health care reform and more. Be sure to get out and vote tomorrow and ensure the industry's policy priorities are supported in Washington. View the Presidential comparison.     

• Shop.org SmartStat: Nov. 5, 2012
  More than half of online retailers have invested in mobile optimized websites for the holiday season. Source: Shop.org eHoliday survey conducted by BIGinsight.     

Best practices to break through in the world’s largest online marketplace As online retailers look to diversify revenues internationally, one of the most captivating markets is China with some forecasts projecting as much as $420 billion in total online sales by 2015. In a members' only webinar on Nov. 7, The Luxury Club Executive Vice Chairwoman Angela Kapp will explain how online consumer behavior differs from North America and Europe, as well as the cultural distribution and other critical factors that have helped global companies thrive so far. Learn more or register.

SmartQuote

Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible." --George Orwell, British novelist and journalist