Contactless mobile experiences took a step closer in 2011. According to a new report by IMS Research, a leading independent supplier of market research and consultancy to the global electronics industry the number of Near Field Communications (NFC)-enabled phones shipped in 2011 totaled 35 million globally – and it’ll be nearer 80million by end of 2012

Early indicators suggest that the final week of the Christmas shopping season has been busy online, as shoppers bought up to the last minute before delivery cut-offs. Now multichannel retailers are making the most of their click and collect services, with shoppers able to collect goods up to Christmas Eve. But it seems there’s not likely to be much respite over Christmas either, with Christmas Day expected to be busy.

Emerging markets such as China will be among the key focuses for retailers who are looking to adapt to survive in a ‘gloomy’ retail market in 2012. That’s one of the conclusions of two reports looking ahead to 2012 from the KPMG/Synovate Retail Think Tank and the Economist Intellligence Unit.

by Yuval Moed
Department store personal shoppers – both in the modern brick-and-mortar store and in the shops of past generations – could teach internet retailers plenty about converting customers. These professionals, who predict customer needs …

According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, the total value of the global mobile marketing and advertising market will grow from €2.6 billion in 2010 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37% to €17.2 billion in 2016. This corresponds to 15.2% of the total online advertising market or 3.8% of the total global ad spend for all media

Amazon.co.uk scores most highly among UK shoppers for keeping its customers satisfied, according to a new study from customer satisfaction measurement company ForeSee.

Kuoni has consolidated its performance marketing to Affiliate Window, which has a dedicated travel specialist concentrating on recruiting new and relevant affiliates to its programme.

Netflix and LOVEFiLM have both boosted their services for UK consumers this week. The two will be competitors when US-based Netflix launches its streaming service in the UK and Ireland early next year.

The peak day for Christmas buying has come later than expected at department stores House of Fraser and John Lewis. House of Fraser’s head of multichannel says that is down to customers’ increased trust in deliveries being made on time.

Ocado and HMV have both seen share price falls after disappointing financial updates to the markets. Online grocer Ocado said it would concentrate on boosting sales and fulfillment capacity in the coming year, while HMV is looking to improved product ranges in its stores.

Shoppers keen to net bargains in the ecommerce sales will be logging on to ecommerce sites this Christmas Day, predicts the IMRG. It says they will spend more than £180m on Christmas Day, but that total will almost double on Boxing Day.

Aurora Fashion has boosted the management teams at its multichannel Coast, Oasis and Warehouse brands as it prepares for further international and domestic expansion in 2012.

John Lewis says its new iPhone app will help improve its customers multichannel experience, whether they are in its stores or on the move. Meanwhile its website enjoyed a second successive record sales week.

Customers are turning to social media as a non-confrontational way of complaining, but retailers and other businesses are slow to respond, a study from Sage has found. That, says personality and psychological profiling expert Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, is the wrong approach.

Delivery businesses are reporting a record week, seeming to suggest that more shoppers are buying online this December. Delivery management specialist MetaPack says it expects trading to stay high this week and into early next week.

A tweet from Take That star and X Factor Gary Barlow sent thousands to online sweet shop AQuarterOf. The company has declined to say what Barlow brought from them, but the spike in traffic has also meant a boost to pre-Christmas orders.

Fashion retailers AllSaints has consolidated its performance marketing to Affiliate Window as it looks to boost customer numbers by tapping into the power of bloggers. Since AllSaints put its online marketing work in the hands of agency Profero, year-on-year revenue has grown by 108%.

Despite tomorrow’s Panic Saturday when some 11m shoppers are expected to spend more than £1bn on Britain’s high streets, shopping is on track to grow at more than 16% online and to fall by more than 2% on the high street over the Christmas period, according to the latest figures from Kelkoo.

Online sales rose in November, according to figures from both the IMRG and the ONS. Growth, according to both sources, was strongly up compared to the 0.7% rise in sales volumes across UK retailing, which is mostly through high street stores.

How are the retailers’ Christmas campaigns playing in cyberspace? Steve Richards of social media agency Yomego does the research to find out what the social media judgement is on this year’s festive ads from John Lewis, M&S, Matalan, Littlewoods and Iceland.