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St. Petersburg, Fla. -- HSN (HSNi) is leveraging the cumulative power of its portfolio of leading lifestyle brands, which include HSN, Frontgate and Ballard Designs, to launch More the Merrier, a multi-platform holiday campaign. The campaign will include digital gift guides; special promotional offers, contests and sweepstakes.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. is making a big online push for the holidays, including expanding its in-store pick-up program for products ordered online to all of its U.S. stores by Nov. 1 (the service is now available in about half of the chain’s locations). And for the first time, Target will promote the concept of Cyber Week, with an ad campaign Dec. 1 through Dec. 3 that focuses on Cyber Week deals including Cyber Monday.

Target is getting ready for the holidays with a big multichannel push that includes expanding its in-store pick-up program for products ordered online to all of its U.S. stores by Nov. 1 — a service that is now available in about half of the chain’s locations.

Target will run an ad campaign Dec. 1 through Dec. 3 that promotes deals during Cyber Monday and the rest of Cyber week.

I have now been in my role as senior editor of Chain Store Age, specializing in retail IT coverage, for six months. Beyond being surprised at how quickly the past 180 days have gone by and grateful at how welcoming the industry has been to me, I also can’t help but be amazed at how much retail IT has changed since I was last actively involved in covering this field in 2006.

New York -- With a late Thanksgiving and the shortest holiday shopping season in years, consumers report they are starting their holiday shopping sooner and spending more this year, according to the latest American Express Spending & Saving Tracker research. The report is more optimistic than some other holiday forecasts.

Family is all about loyalty, and as a family-owned business, 301-store, Charlotte, N.C.-based Belk, Inc. makes an effort to maintain and reward loyalty from its customers. So when Belk reached its 125th anniversary this year, the retailer decided to launch a campaign that would reward loyal shoppers while also boosting its presence in channels such as mobile and social.

Prized customer engagement

New York – Duane Reade is running a three week, omnichannel social media marketing campaign to raise awareness of Duane Reade brand hosiery products. The "Boo-tiful Legs" Halloween contest calls for entrants to upload their original photos wearing Duane Reade brand hosiery with their Halloween costume, via a Duane Reade Facebook page FanGate, through Nov. 3.

Most retailers now have some sort of social presence, but too often it consists of having an account on popular social media networks and little more. Following are five examples of recent retail social media offerings that leverage social media’s unique ability to engage consumers, improve operations and boost profits.

American Eagle – ‘Rock Your Walk’