Deloitte

New York -- Increasing smartphone ownership is taking more consumers down the digital shopping route, while many shoppers plan to frequent local small businesses when visiting stores this holiday season. According to the Deloitte Annual Holiday Survey overall smartphone ownership has risen to 61% of respondents from 42% two years ago.

Increasing smartphone ownership is taking more consumers down the digital shopping route, while many shoppers plan to frequent local small businesses when visiting stores this holiday season. According to the Deloitte Annual Holiday Survey overall smartphone ownership has risen to 61% of respondents from 42% two years ago.

Redwood Shores, Calif. – Toms — the company that gives a pair of its shoes or provides eye care to a person in need for every corresponding purchase — has deployed the Oracle Commerce platform to support its rapid business growth and international expansion.

By James McCandless and Kenneth Katz,  X Team International

The recent government shutdown has analysts scrambling to determine how much damage was done to the national economy. From a retail perspective, understanding the scale and scope of the shutdown requires a more thorough understanding of the issues at play; including a closer look at how retailers responded and a breakdown of how the lingering effects of the partial government closure may impact the holiday sales season.

The ripple effect on retail

New York – Despite many forecasts of a gloomy holiday season for retailers, Deloitte is predicting an increase in consumer spending. Deloitte's 28th annual survey of holiday spending intentions and trends indicates shoppers surveyed plan to spend an average of $421 on holiday gifts this year, up from $386 last year. They also expect to buy an average of 12.9 gifts, ending a five-year decline in the number of gifts they plan to purchase.

Despite many forecasts of a gloomy holiday season for retailers, Deloitte is predicting an increase in consumer spending.

New York -- E-commerce and payments fraud remains high on the agenda for consumer-facing organizations, according to a recent Deloitte online poll. Nearly half (47%) of executives and managers reported that fraud protection ranks as a "high priority" for their organization, and a further 8% cited this as their organization's number one priority.

I don’t want to be a Grinch, but things aren’t looking too promising for retailers who were hoping to end the year on a holiday high note. But, before I get into more predictions on retail sales this holiday season, it might be a good idea to talk a little bit about why I’m feeling so lukewarm about the prospects for a 2013 end-of-year bonanza.

Single Touch Systems, a technology based mobile media solutions provider, has announced that its mobile messaging volume, which is a key business metric that drives revenues, has been growing at an increasingly accelerated pace.

Single Touch generates a portion of its operating business revenues by sending SMS text messages including reminder messages to customers of some of the largest retailers in the U.S. and U.K. Each message sent generates incremental revenues for Single Touch.

New York -- Shaky consumer confidence and increased efficiencies among retailers may put a damper on retailers’ holiday hiring plans, according to global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

In its annual holiday hiring forecast, Challenger estimated that seasonal job gains will not see a significant decline from last year’s robust numbers, but they are likely to at best match the level of hiring that occurred in October, November, and December 2012.