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December 9, 2008 Sign up Forward Archive RSS Feed News about digital retail commerce   Top Story    Survey: Half of online retailers report November sales increases Nearly half of the online retailers responding to a Shop.org survey reported sales growth in November compared with the year-earlier period. The 91 anonymous respondents also offered their insights into industry strategies to attract sales. Shop.org Blog (12/8) The Internet may be today's most crucial business tool, but unfettered use can endanger your most critical business asset — essential information. The requirements for Web security, e-mail security and data loss prevention have changed. Read the white paper Protecting Essential Information to learn where and why the traditional approaches fails and what you can do to do ensure your company's information is protected.   Online Retail Trends  Online buying hits new highs in U.K. Though brick-and-mortar stores are offering up bad news, pre-Christmas online sales look like they might beat last year's third-quarter totals by 15%, a retail trade organization says. The second Monday in December has become the biggest Web-shopping day of the year, and this week was no exception, with sales possibly surpassing $470 million. The Guardian (London) (12/9)   Mobile price comparisons not a big threat yet Retailers are worried about cell-phone applications that let users snap photos or scan bar codes in stores and compare prices online or at other local stores. But it's not time to panic yet: The technology is still spotty on comparisons among local shops, and people aren't comfortable with making purchases on their phones. Wired magazine/Epicenter blog (12/2008) Online retailers must beware of hackers Retail Web sites have seen a huge increase in attacks by hackers in the period between July and November, a security company says. The threats include attempts to obtain user names and passwords, as well as attempts to inject code to get a site's customer information. InternetRetailer.com (12/5)   New Media & Technology  Stores turn to mobile texts for customer contact Retailers increasingly are using text-message alerts to keep their customers informed about sales and special events, while online retailers are using microblogging site Twitter to alert shoppers to deals. Gap, Target, Sears Holdings and Amazon.com have launched wireless-outreach programs this year. The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model) (12/8)   Companies in the News  EMusic adds subscriber recommendations to site redesign Online music retailer eMusic has added a new recommendation engine to its redesigned home page. The independent download service's 400,000 subscribers are greeted with "Music You'll Love" recommendations, as well as YouTube videos and Flickr photos. TechCrunch (12/8) Google search ads go mobile Marketers using Google's AdWords program will be able to place ads on the Web browsers of Apple's iPhone and the new T-Mobile G1. ClickZ (12/9), CNET (12/8) MySpace launches Open Platform for partner sites MySpace Open Platform, which was announced at an industry event Monday in Paris, allows users to access the social network through partner sites, including Google and Vodafone Group, as well as link with MySpace contacts and send and publish information from those sites on their MySpace pages. The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model) (12/8), CNET (12/8)   Interactive Advertising  Forecasts still call for growth in Web-ad segment The online-ad segment, despite a worldwide ad recession, next year will post growth rates of between 10% and 18%, according to estimates cited in this article. MediaPost Communications/Online Media Daily (12/8)   Shop.org Spotlight  November online-sales results reported through Shop.org blog After stark October results off-line, online retailers have been wondering how everyone else fared in November. Last week, Shop.org teamed up with Forrester Research to conduct a quick survey of online retailers. The results are in. Read the Shop.org blog. Feeling social? Join the Shop.org member community The Shop.org message boards are available to members as a platform for participating in discussions relevant to retailers and service providers within online and multichannel retail industry. Participate in a conversation thread about customer service, online marketing, e-commerce Web design and more. Learn more. Learn more about Shop.org -> Website  |  Events  |  Research  |  Shop.org Blog  |  Join Shop.org   SmartQuote  If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders." --Abigail Van Buren, advice columnist   Subscriber Tools       Print friendly format | Web version | Search past news | Archive | Privacy policy Grab our News Widget Publish your Press Release   Advertise Senior Account Director:  Dena Malouf (202) 407-7837 Download Media Kit       Recent Shop.org SmartBrief Issues: Monday, December 08, 2008 Friday, December 05, 2008 Thursday, December 04, 2008 Wednesday, December 03, 2008 Tuesday, December 02, 2008     Lead Editor:  Megan Conniff       Mailing Address: SmartBrief, Inc.®, 1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20005     © 1999-2011 SmartBrief, Inc.® Legal Information