Seasonal

New York City -- A survey released Tuesday by Deloitte, which polled 1,000 consumers, found that the majority – 51% – will shop in stores or online over the Thanksgiving weekend. Among them, 66% plan to shop in stores on Black Friday and 17% plan to shop in stores on Thanksgiving Day.

The survey also found that shoppers expect to spend an average of $224 over the holiday weekend.

If you’re someone who puts off your holiday shopping until the last minute to save a few bucks by scouring for the best “deals” and taking advantage of those absolute bargain basement prices, I’m afraid you may be in for a rude awakening this holiday shopping season. If my sense of the retail landscape is correct, I think it’s possible we’ll see prices increase as Christmas gets closer.

San Francisco -- Walmart has the most engaged users across its social media platforms as the days count down to the holiday shopping season, according to a study by the social media and digital analytics company Socialbakers.

Walmart has the most number of fans topping the list at over 10 million fans, with over 7,500 fan posts last month, Socialbakers said. The engagement rate represents fan interactions and although Target ties with an average monthly engagement rate, Walmart has nearly double the number of fans who are actively posting.

You’ve seen her in television commercials, that blonde-haired wacky lady dressed in red whose passion for shopping at Target knows no bounds. Advertising Age’s Natalie Zmuda interviewed the “Christmas Champ” recently to get her thoughts on off-season preparation and Black Friday strategy. Read the article here. 

Jones Lang LaSalle, Atlanta, has launched its annual “Spread the Cheer” holiday campaign -- featuring digital media innovations -- across its portfolio of managed shopping centers.

To engage shoppers and drive sales and traffic during the most important retail season of the year, the firm will share insider intelligence on the best products and offers at its shopping centers through e-blasts, social media and text messages while also engaging them with events, giveaways and random acts of kindness across its 98 million-sq.-ft. nationwide retail portfolio.

Consistent with promotional strategies from previous years, Target is offering some insane prices on popular electronics items. Unfortunately, if holiday shoppers follow the advice of Consumer Reports this year they won’t be coming to Target.

WAYNE, N.J. — Toys“R”Us announced that it has expanded its mobile offerings for the holiday season, providing an enhanced shopping experience for on-the-go shoppers.

In addition, the retailer said it has made updates made to its iPhone and Android experience, as well as announced partnerships with eBay, Google and shopkick to help customers use their mobile devices to locate product, pay for purchases and source discounts.

Chicago -- Nearly 70% of U.S. adults would avoid shopping at a retail store if they encountered empty shelves, according to a nationwide survey commissioned by Galleria Retail Technology Solutions, a leading provider of retail and category optimization solutions. Long checkout lines are another big turnoff (64%).