Top Story

• ShopRunner adds in-store pickup for online orders
  ShopRunner has launched a new feature called PickupPoints to give shoppers at any of its members' online stores the choice of picking up their purchases at a brick-and-mortar location. A growing list of retailers including Lord & Taylor, Toys R Us, Sports Authority and PetSmart have joined ShopRunner, created to give merchants a way to compete with Amazon Prime. TechCrunch (11/12)     

Why do 87% of Digital Marketers Consider Tag Management Critical to Their Success? Tag management is a new class of application that enables e-commerce marketers to deploy and manage their online marketing solutions without ongoing IT assistance. Add, edit or remove any digital marketing vendor tag with point and click simplicity. Generate more revenue and reduce costs. Download 'The ROI of Tag Management'

Online Retail Trends

• StubHub partnership takes aim at Ticketmaster
  EBay-owned StubHub will be the exclusive secondary ticket seller for AEG venues, including the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and AXS Ticketing, the ticketing solution launched by AEG last year. The partnership will challenge the dominant position held for decades by Ticketmaster. CNBC (11/11)     

• China's online retailers celebrate Singles Day
  Sunday was Singles Day, created by Chinese college students in the 1990s for single people as an alternative to Valentine's Day. The day has become a major gift-giving occasion and a boon for online retailers including Alibaba Group's Tmall and Taobao, which took in about $3 billion in sales on Sunday, more than double what US online retailers booked on Cyber Monday last year. NorthJersey.com (Hackensack, N.J.)/The Associated Press (free registration) (11/11)     

• Younger diners use mobile for restaurant research
  Searching for dinning options via mobile appears to be popular with young people, with almost a third of millennials saying they use their devices to check out restaurant menus online, according to a Technomic survey. The survey also found that more than 60% of mobile users who placed orders via mobile said it improved their dining experience. eMarketer (11/12)     

	LiveChat — 15 mins can help you sell 15% more! Holiday season is right behind the corner and most of the online retailers seek methods to push their sales over the limits. LiveChat has a proven history of increasing sales for customers in multiple industries. Try LiveChat for free and sell more during holiday season!

New Media & Technology

• Google Shopper gets update ahead of Black Friday
  Google has updated mobile application Google Shopper in time for the holidays, saying 4 in 5 consumers expect to use a mobile device for shopping this year. The app features an easier-to-use search box on the home screen and allows users to shop around for the best price. TechCrunch (11/9)     

• IKEA's interactive online catalog permits behavior watching
  IKEA is creating its first interactive catalog in time for holiday shopping. Called "Celebrate Brilliantly," the 31-page catalog runs on the company's website and allows IKEA marketers to monitor consumer behavior, unlike previous catalogs. An e-mail campaign and online banners will promote the Brownstein Group-produced catalog. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/Media Decoder blog (11/11)     

• 7 ways to convince your CEO that social media matters
  Many CEOs are still skeptical about the value of social media, writes Dave Thomas. To win them over, wheel out statistical evidence showing that your company's customers and rivals are already using social media, and point out that it's better to proactively engage in the chatter surrounding your brand rather than ceding control of the conversation to your competitors. ViralBlog (11/11)     

Hot Topics

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

• Amazon creates monthly option for Prime (Bloomberg)

• Retailers ramp up free-shipping offers (Internet Retailer)

• How Obama's reelection will affect the retail industry (Retail's BIG Blog)

• Infographic: The politics of online shopping (MarketingProfs)

• Retailers cut costs with digital receipts (USA Today)

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

Companies in the News

• Mobile investment pays off for eBay, CEO says
  EBay's investment in mobile is beginning to bear fruit as more consumers use smartphones and tablets in more areas of their lives, including shopping, CEO John Donahoe said. "Retailers are telling us not just to provide payments but to be a platform that allows them to drive volume and incremental traffic in their stores," he said. CNBC (11/9)     

• Forever 21 integrates augmented reality into holiday campaign
  Forever 21 has created a mobile application tied to its holiday windows and ad campaign, which let viewers watch videos of Chanel Iman modeling the winter collection. “Fashion is heavily influenced by the digital age and Forever 21 is about following the trends in fashion and beyond," said global marketing director Linda Chang. MobileCommerceDaily.com (11/12)     

	The Buzz(CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENTS) Viejas Outlets Kicks off the Holiday Shopping Season with Special Late-night Store Hours and the Opening of Southern California's Largest Outdoor Ice Rink Interested in learning more about advertising with SmartBrief? Click here for detailed industry information and media kits.

Featured Content

Shop.org Spotlight

• The economics behind the "new norm" of holiday shopping
  Today’s lackluster economy has caused Americans to rethink their shopping strategies, and retailers have creatively responded to this shift. A new post on Retail’s BIG Blog explains the new habits consumers have adopted to better prepare their families for future economic uncertainties, and the marketing and technological savvy response by the industry to meet this new reality during the holiday season. Read more. Retail's BIG Blog (11/9)     

• Shop.org SmartStat: Nov. 12, 2012
  According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, online holiday sales grew by 15% in 2011. Source: NRF.     

• 10 tips to drive more revenue through paid search
  Paid search for retailers is a complex process, requiring a deep understanding of not only consumer behavior but also managing the different aspects of product categories and leveraging promotions in real-time. In a new white paper in the Shop.org library, adlucent breaks down metrics, search engine offerings, the development of a mobile strategy and much more for retailers to make the most of paid search operations. Download the white paper.     

SmartQuote

I observe the physician with the same diligence as the disease." --John Donne, British poet, satirist, lawyer and cleric