Retail Trends to Watch During Your Holiday Shopping This Year

Written by Evan Schuman; illustrated by Brian Moore

Web sites will be encouraging customers to post videos about their product experiences. Unlike Amazons text consumer comments, the videos should allow customers to see exactly what a device looks like and how it behaves.

Some e-commerce sites are preparing to jettison professional reviews and go only with customer reviews. Surveys are showing that people tend to read–and believe–those far more.

With Target.com now fighting off a lawsuit accusing it of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, look for many sites to suddenly become enlightened and make themselves more accessible to those with vision difficulties. The good news is that those

For those who want to look like celebrities, this year has seen the launch of Web sites–such as like.com–that let people shop by looking at pictures of celebrities and models and choosing the accessories and clothing shown.

Some sites are experimenting with new live chat systems, which dont wait for the prospect to ask a question but look for signs that he or she may need help, such as if the customer spends a lot of time looking at variations of a product or putting someth

Traditional credit cards–primarily MasterCard, Visa and American Express–are feeling the heat as retailers look for alternatives. Interchange Fee $68. Time Spent Managing Bank Paperwork $49. Jettisoning It All by Accepting PayPal: Priceless.

Whos most likely to try and steal your identity? Law enforcement now says its close relatives, especially ex-spouses. So when you come back from a shopping trip, dont just hide the presents from your housemates. Hide the receipts, too.

One of the companies that capture retail phone conversations is trying to take it a step further. The idea from Nice Systems is to give customers a copy of the digital phone recording of their transactions. Lets see how many retailers take them up on the

Due to several reasons–including government crackdowns–look for gift cards this year to become much friendlier, with fewer expiration dates and inactivity fees.

Contactless payment options are going to soar this season, with credit cards making retailers offers they cant refuse to let customers try it out. Look for incentives, from price reductions to free merchandise, for consumers to try it as well.

Retail marketers dont want to miss the chance to manipulate all of a consumers senses, so beware of retailers emitting smells that make your nose happy–such as chocolate to prompt food purchases or other fragrances to put you in the mood to buy certain

In-store digital media–everywhere from malls to grocery stores–will get an intelligence upgrade this season, with RFID-enabled products, credit cards and loyalty cards communicating with some digital ad systems to tell them who you are and what ads shou

With increasing online competition, expect many merchants to liberalize their return policies. Various new anti-fraud tactics can be effective without limiting legitimate returns. Technologies such as return receipts can be scratched to verify authenticit

As wireless becomes more mainstream at retailers, look for more employees to be armed with wireless point-of-sale devices, taking the checkout process to the end and the middle of the line with so-called line busters.

Almost all merchants are reporting an unusually high consumer interest in gift cards this year. This might be good because a new service–www.plasticjungle.com–is offering to buy new or partially used gift cards from consumers for cash. It will also sell

As more grocery stores turn into mini-department stores, expect to see more smartcarts showing up. The first carts will help the store watch cart locations and use them to help keep lines moving. Next-generation carts will show targeted ads,

As smart phones get smarter, retailers are getting greedier. Retailers are looking to use your cell phone for everything from charging your purchases to using the phones camera lens to tie into advertisements and allow you to immediately make a purchase.