Mobile Marketing

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. unveiled its lineup of gift cards for the upcoming holiday season. The expanded assortment, which include traditional gift cards with holiday and multicultural designs, and digital options, will be available in stores on Nov. 4

Los Angeles -- Survey results released Thursday by PriceGrabber revealed that 16% of consumers will shop using a mobile device during the holiday season, compared with 13% last year. Nearly all respondents indicated that they will do some online shopping from a computer.

The number of consumers who plan to visit brick-and-mortar stores dropped by two percentage points to 46% compared with last year.

Dodgeville, Wis. -- Canvas Lands' End is reinventing the pop-up concept by taking it online with the first-ever blog-up shop. The result is Arrivals, a virtual pop-up shop series curated by eight well-known fashion and lifestyle bloggers. Each shop will function as its own mini e-commerce site and will feature fall and holiday looks styled by the blogger in his or her unique style that readers can purchase.

Toronto -- Sears Canada said Tuesday it has debuted a permanent shoppable iPad application for its Wish Book catalog after a temporary launch for the 2011 holiday shopping season.

The app will contain various content throughout any given year, the first of which appears Tuesday in the form of the 60th anniversary Wish Book.

San Antonio -- Consumers plan to buy more gifts this year, according to a recent survey commissioned by USAA and released Monday. The fourth annual USAA holiday spending survey indicated that consumer sentiment toward holiday budgeting has become more positive in 2012 when compared to 2011 (53% versus 45%).

Retailers spend months developing smart, effective strategies across their in-store, Web and mobile channels each holiday season. But social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter can be just as powerful in getting the message out to shoppers in the days leading up to Christmas.

San Jose, Calif. -- Facebook brand engagement has risen 896% on a year-over-year basis, according to a new study from Adobe Systems Inc., with mobile users accounting for nearly one-quarter of all engagement.

Engagement on Facebook is expected to surge in the fourth quarter, Adobe's Digital Index for third quarter 2012 points out, as brands continue to invest in social marketing and take advantage of the latest Facebook platform changes (e.g., Timeline) to target consumers.

New York — Some Facebook investors may be feeling a bit disgruntled, but Walmart couldn’t be happier with its experience with the social network.