Google, Inc.

Boston – Eight-in-10 (77%) consumers would be willing to share their smartphone location data as long as they received enough value in return. A new study from in-store mobile marketing platform provider Swirl also revealed that consumers are much more likely to entrust their location information to their favorite retailers (65%) than to shopping/deals apps, Google or Facebook.

Eight-in-10 (77%) consumers would be willing to share their smartphone location data as long as they received enough value in return.

A new study from in-store mobile marketing platform provider Swirl also revealed that consumers are much more likely to entrust their location information to their favorite retailers (65%) than to shopping/deals apps, Google or Facebook.

New York -- When compared with a baseline shopping period of mid-October of this year, total mobile visits on Thanksgiving and Black Friday increased 93%. Data from multichannel platform provider Usablenet also shows that overall mobile transactions increased 219% and total revenue from mobile transactions increased by 368%.

In addition, average order value increased by 56.3%, conversion rates increased by 93%, and shoppers spent an average of 47 seconds longer on site (the average length of visit was just more than six minutes per site).

By Rodney Mason, CMO, Parago, [email protected]

In its annual survey of holiday spending trends, Deloitte reports that 46% of consumers plan to do their holiday shopping online. That puts online shopping in the number-one position for the first time in the survey’s history. Deloitte also found that nearly six out of 10 shoppers plan to use self-help technologies in-store when holiday shopping.

Canadian retailer Jersey City unifies store and online operations

By Sven Hammar, co-founder and CEO, Apica

Recent public and embarrassing website crashes of Amazon, Groupon and even Google accentuates the need to take web and mobile performance more seriously. Unresponsive websites and mobile applications is comparable to a physical shop throwing out its customers and locking its doors. Luckily, there are ways to minimize the risk of slow response times and site crashes.

New York  -- Experts from Oracle, Google, Red Hat Inc. and other top technology and Internet companies are joining the effort to "address the problems around Healthcare.gov," the  health-insurance exchange website for the Affordable Care Act, according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The website has been plagued by slowdowns and severely limited functionality since its rollout on Oct. 1.

Plano, Texas – Pizza Hut is introducing all-new mobile ordering apps and a refreshed mobile website. The new mobile enhancements will enable users to order in less than 30 seconds, will be GPS-enabled to assist in finding the nearest restaurant and will immediately update as new products and deals are introduced.

New York – Grocery discounter Aldi has been ranked the world’s “simplest” brand, with simplicity defined as a clarity of purpose that enables employee innovation and customer service. According to the annual 2013 Global Brand Simplicity Index from strategic marketing firm Siegel & Gale, Amazon.com is ranked second, followed by Google, which came out on top this year. The report is based on a study of 10,000 consumers in seven countries,

Walmart customers can now trade in their tablets at more than 3,600 stores and Sam’s Club locations nationwide. Similar to its new smartphone trade-in program, customers and members can receive up to $300 for their current tablet, which will then be applied toward the purchase of a new tablet.