 | News about digital retail commerce |  | | |  | - Amazon reportedly is set to purchase Diapers.com's parent
Amazon is expected to announce as early as today that it will acquire Quidsi, the parent company of Diapers.com and Soap.com, in a deal valued at about $545 million in cash and assumed liabilities. The potential acquisition comes amid Amazon's push to increase its piece of the fast-growing household-goods segment of online retail, which hit about $10 billion last year. The Wall Street Journal (11/8)       | What makes a great mobile website or app?
Download this free whitepaper to learn must-haves of the mobile user experience to engage visitors, convert more sales, and keep customers coming back. | - Online retailers appeal to DIY-minded shoppers
A growing number of online merchants are catching on to the mass customization movement, allowing customers to design their own products including candy and dress shirts. "It's a combination of demand and possibility that's driving our business. Consumers want what they want when they want it," says Carmen Magar, whose Chocri.com offers customizable chocolate bars. Crain's New York Business (11/7) - EU's Kroes aims to make online shopping easier
Neelie Kroes, commissioner for the digital agenda for the European Union, faces significant challenges as she strives to make online shopping across European borders easier. "Digital, by definition, is borderless, so it's a perfect fit with the single market," Kroes said. "But now we are faced with the reality ... getting 27 states in one market to co-operate is not one day's work." Legal or technical difficulties continue to cause the failure of many cross-border online transactions. The Wall Street Journal (11/8) - Fashion brands catch on to mobile's potential
High-fashion brands are likely to miss out on significant selling opportunities if they move as slowly to create mobile sites and applications as many did with their first e-commerce efforts, writes BNET's Lydia Dishman. Early adopters include Rue La La, which now makes about 9% of its sales via mobile devices and projects that number will increase to 20% next year. BNET/Style Inc. blog (11/4)  | Free social media whitepaper! "The Five Most Important Metrics you should be Tracking on Facebook."
Facebook metrics can present a puzzling challenge for most digital marketers. Learn what metrics matter most and how to improve your Facebook Page results. Download Whitepaper. |
 - Retail's hot holiday tech trends
As retailers head into the holiday shopping season, they'll be incorporating technology, social media and hot online trends more than ever. Among the likely trends: Expect to see more merchants borrowing techniques from successful flash-sale sites, adding mobile shopping assistants and constantly updating Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (11/8) - Gap's first Facebook Deal brings out early shoppers
Gap's first promotion in conjunction with the new Facebook Deals feature brought out early crowds clamoring to be among the first 10,000 to check in at one of the chain's stores Friday and win a free pair of jeans. To win the jeans, shoppers had to show store managers that they had checked in on Facebook Places from the store. FastCompany.com (11/5)  | Comparison Guide: Hosted On-Demand CRM
Analyze 15 of the top CRM vendors on features and costs in this guide from Focus. Ensure that you choose the right customer relationship management system for your company.
Download this FREE guide now. |
 | Hot Topics |  | | | Top five news stories selected by Shop.org SmartBrief readers in the past week. - Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.
| Companies in the News | | | | - Sears promotes a service to compete with Amazon Prime
Shoppers at Sears.com and Kmart.com have the option of paying a $79 annual fee for free shipping on products sold on the two sites, excluding purchases from third-party sellers and big-ticket items that require a set delivery time. It's one of several new membership services aimed at competing with Amazon Prime; others include ShopRunner, launched last month by a group of national retailers including the Sports Authority and Toys R Us. InternetRetailer.com (11/5) - Chinese flash-sale site wins $20 million in new funding
High-profile venture capital firms DCM and Sequoia Capital have invested $20 million in China's Vipshop, a flash-sale site offering blink-and-you-miss-it deals on name brands including Adidas and Pepsi. Unlike similar U.S. and European sites such as Gilt Groupe and Vente Privee, which focus on fashion, Vipshop sells mass-market merchandise aimed at China's fast-growing middle class. Portfolio.com (11/8)
| Shop.org Spotlight | | | |  | - The obstacles and enablers of mobile commerce
On Nov. 15, join Sucharita Mulpuru of Forrester Research and Andrew Koven, president of e-commerce at Steve Madden, for a Shop.org webinar as they discuss three important markets for mobile and the obstacles and enablers of mobile commerce, including the technology, the consumer interface, and the need for marketers to adopt realistic expectations of what mobile can do for them. Register or learn more. |
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Online shoppers will also make holiday purchases in discount and department stores. Source: 
