Microsoft

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Staples and LinkedIn have teamed up to launch SUCCEED: Small Business Network, an online forum for small business professionals.

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Fruit of the Loom has chosen Crispin Porter + Bogusky to oversee and manage advertising for the Fruit of the Loom, Vanity Fair and Russell Athletic brands.

The leading international, vertically integrated basic apparel and athletic goods company’s brands include Fruit of the Loom, Vanity Fair, Russell Athletic and Spalding. It is an independent wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which is chaired by Warren Buffett.

Microsoft has taken offense to the practice of paying to improve one’s ranking in Google search results and has launched a campaign touting its "honest" search results.

Google is the leader in search, but Bing contend the company has begun a "pay-to-rank" practice whereby companies ranking in product searches is determined by how much they pay. Bing derides the practices as being "Scroogled," and said its approach provides consumers with more credible results.

Armonk, N.Y. -- IBM reported Tuesday that online spending surged 30.3% year-over-year on Cyber Monday, an all-time high.

Mobile shopping rose 70% over the prior year.

As part of IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative, the IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark revealed the following additional Cyber Monday key findings:

New York -- According to a report by IBM, U.S. shoppers took full advantage of early promotions this holiday season, driving a 17.4% increase in online sales Thanksgiving Day. This increase set the stage for 20.7% growth on Black Friday. The biggest surge came from mobile consumers, with sales reaching 16.3%, led by the iPad.

The data is the result of cloud-based analytics findings from IBM.  

Other findings of the IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark revealed the following trends:

New York -- Learn how Chico's FAS is staying ahead of the information evolution and providing personalized customer interactions at a Chain Store Age webinar on Thursday, Oct. 18 ( 2 p.m. ET, 11 a.m. PT). Bob Murray, architect of Chico's Store Technology, will discuss such top-of-mind imperatives as loyalty, mobile, and seamless digital connections with the customer in the omni-channel market space.

NEW YORK & REDMOND, Wash. — Barnes & Noble and Microsoft have completed their previously announced strategic partnership in Nook Media LLC, a recently formed Barnes & Noble subsidiary and a leader in the emerging digital reading and digital education markets.

Build-A-Bear Workshop has gone high-tech. The company has debuted a new store design that combines its signature hands-on bear-making experience with innovative technology that’s right in line with today’s digitally savvy kids. The new format, which premiered in Build-A-Bear Workshop’s renovated location at West County Center, St. Louis, also provides more interactive options to keep shoppers coming back.