The annual holiday shopping hysteria is upon us, and this year's Thanksgiving madness promises to be more mobile than ever. In fact, a new survey indicates 28 percent of adult consumers who own smartphones or tablets will use them to shop on Thanksgiving day. That's nearly double last year's percentage.

As 20 percent of shoppers definitely plan to shop on Black Friday, they'll be enabled by QR codes (although almost 60 percent of shoppers don't know how to use them) as well as apps from websites and retailers catering to shoppers with smartphones and tablets. And beyond Black Friday throughout the holiday season, more so than ever this year.

"Apps will play a particularly strong role for driving commerce this holiday season," reports Mobile Commerce Daily. Nearly a third of smartphone owners will download a shopping app to use for holiday shopping, according to a Pricegrabber study and of those, over 80 percent will use their smartphones this holiday season in an effort to save money on purchases. eMarketer puts that figure at about 53%.

This year, retailers have resigned themselves to the fact that "showrooming" (checking out merchandise at stores and purchasing online) is the new competitive environment. "Consumers have been empowered by shopping apps," said Alexander Muse, founder of the Future Of Retail Alliance. "They've been armed with more product knowledge than clerks in most retail stores have. Retailers used to be threatened by this; now, they are finding ways to capitalize on it — such as through aggressive price-matching, as well as ship-to-store and other omnichannel strategies. That's the big difference between Black Friday 2011 and Black Friday 2012."Continue reading...

Target is taking the lead as the largest retailer to offer its customers Shopkick points (known as "kicks") starting today.

Shopkick, free and available on iPhone and Android devices, rewards users with 300 “kicks” just for walking-in to a store. “After 6 months in the market, shopkick reached 1 million users. Today, it is the largest location-based shopping app in the world,” said Cyriac Roeding, Shopkick CEO and Co-Founder.

Target customers can now use those “kicks” to scan products ranging from food and cleaning supplies to electronics and toys, redeemable for Target gift cards, Facebook credits, dining gift certificates, iTunes downloads and donations to charities, as well as receive special in-store deals including coupons and discounts.Continue reading...

Alleghany to buy Transatlantic.

American Apparel acting president quits.

Apple leapfrogs Argos to become 2nd biggest online retailer in the U.K., as textbooks and photography tops its new product priorities and Grand Central NYC store prepares to open and iPhone 4S heads to China.

Berkshire Hathaway to invite Wall Street analysts to annual meeting for once as Warren Buffett, excited about Japan, says company could spend $10 billion on its next acquisition.

Best Buy sees shoppers in Florida camping out since last week for Black Friday.

Chevron accepts responsibility for oil spill off Brazil.Continue reading...

How much is that doggy bed in the window? Shopkick knows.

The mobile application, which melds in-store and mobile retail, rewards consumers for just walking in, with further deals for scanning partner brand products at more than 250,000 stores across the U.S. 

Launching a year ago this month (it officially turns one on August 17th), its users have surpassed 6.5 million product scans as 12 new major brand partners sign on: CoverGirl, Disney, General Mills, Levi’s, Libman, Mead Johnson, Meguiar’s, Mr. Clean, Olay, Revlon, Tilex and Trident.Continue reading...

AOL reports earnings, says brand has taken a "meaningful" step forward.

Budweiser tops beer advertising effectiveness ranking.

Channel 4 tests interactive advertising.

Comcast and DirecTV spat continues.

Disney theme parks concerns investors.

Facebook and Twitter users rally to clean up U.K. riots.

Fred Perry to release Amy Winehouse's final designs early.Continue reading...

Abercrombie & Fitch to launch Gilly Hicks, a 'cheeky' lingerie line, in the UK.

Adidas makes big China push.

Amazon launches Amazon Studios, a $2.7 million fund to develop movies.

Apple's Steve Jobs reveals private side in just-released photos.

BMW rejects sales incentives as profits trump volume in US.

Boeing and Airbus waver on reworking small jets. 

BP ignored warning signs in the Gulf of Mexico, according to new report.

Chevrolet promotes Cruze on coffee cup sleeves.Continue reading...

While digital technology has revolutionized how we use the Internet, television and cell phones, it is increasingly playing an important role in the way retailers attract customers to their stores.

Last month we reported on two interesting developments in Japan — DeBeers' 3D store windows and Minority Report-style two-way billboards being tested in Tokyo — but that's just the tip of the digital iceberg.

Retailers are incorporating a wide range of digital interactive technologies into the store experience, believing that consumers are looking for engaging experiences that resemble what they can achieve online. Some of these technologies, such as the virtual mirror (above) being tested by L'Oreal, are beginning to pay off the promise of virtual reality.Continue reading...

We've noted Shopkick before, but it bears taking another look now that it's live. Shopkick is a new mobile app that rewards users with “kickbucks” redeemable via gift certificates, music downloads and Facebook games. The smartphone app tracks and offers promotions to customers from the moment they enter a store to the cash register – and even in the fitting room.

Enter the store: gain points. Head to the dressing room at American Eagle to try on something – more points. Try out a tennis racquet at Sports Authority – match points!

It takes 1,250 kickbucks to earn a $5.00 American Eagle giftcard, but already retailers are considering upping the ante. Shopkick takes a small fee for each kickbuck earned, and a percentage of any sale resulting from using the app. In addition to the retailers, Shopkick can offer brands' coupons and promotions to shoppers.Continue reading...