I recently read a great blog in Shop.org about one of the sessions at Retail Big Show called "A Look Back..and Forward...at Retail eCommerce Trends, 2011-2012," by Sucharita Mulpuru from Forrester. One attendee shared that this session offers a positive overview of how the holidays played out for retailers and a look ahead to see how some of the trends will impact 2012. 

Here are 5 trends that the 2011 Holiday Season Revealed: 

1. Consumers now expect free shipping. Fifty-five percent of consumers expect free shipping on all orders. Also, shipping clubs such as Amazon Prime and ShopRunner are growing. 
   
   2. Mobile is making marketers’ jobs a lot harder. Mobile shopping is definitely growing, and retailers are investing and planning in the channel, but it’s clear that direct sales are only part of the picture - retailers are still trying to "crack this code."
   
   3. Leverage the cross-channel. Cross-channel is having a greater impact than originally perceived. Retailers need to ensure they have a consistent message across the board while still understanding the "nuance" of each shopping channel and how customers interact with it.  People are using their mobile devices to do a lot more than just buy – they’re checking store hours, locating nearby stores, using special mobile shopping apps, but a majority of sales are still being made.
   
   4. Social commerce is not quite living up to what retailers expected. In fact, social networks are pretty negligible as a source of measured sales, but have worked great for customer service and some special deals or customer loyalty rewards. But many retailers still have prioritized social networks for 2012...

How Lessons of the 2011 Holiday Season Apply to 2012:

1. In 2012, web retailers will account for 20% of holiday spending in the US. Deep discounts, deals and free shipping will just be a cost of doing business.
   
   2. Email and search will continue to grow.
   
   3. Retailers need to focus on mobile and tablet optimization.

Hopefully these lessons learned from the 2011 Holiday Season will help retailers compete and do better in 2012. 
Source: Retail Big Blog