Many retailers began using Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social media sites as a way to engage consumers, promote new products and sales as well as conduct customer service. However, it appears some shoppers are beginning to grow disillusioned with poorly implemented social media plans, with a new report from Shop.org and the National Retail Federation suggesting fewer people are following brands via social media.

According to the research, 51 percent of respondents follow a retail brand on at least one social network, which is down from 58 percent during the same timeframe last year. While this doesn't represent a huge drop off, it does suggest that some retailers are losing followers. Whether it's because of new privacy issues stemming from social media usage or ineffectual engagement strategies, retailers need to ensure they are providing meaningful value to consumers.

That said, the NRF was quick to note the efficiency with which retailers have adapted to new players in the social media landscape. A number of brands have already integrated Pinterest into their social media strategy, which is a picture-sharing site that can be used to disseminate photographs of new products, store locations and other company-related achievements.

"Retailers have done a commendable job embracing social media – engaging their customers where it makes sense while keeping their brand relevant, interesting, appealing and exciting on each platform," said Shop.org executive director Vicki Cantrell. "Specifically, Pinterest has given retailers another channel to listen to and interact with both existing and new customers."

Social clicks

Social media has also been pivotal to the generation of website traffic. After visiting a retailer's social profiles, many consumers will click through to the actual website. This gives merchants the opportunity to sell products and other retail services to visitors.

"Company blogs, YouTube and Facebook command the majority of consumers' social activity," the report added. "In particular, seven in 10 (70 percent) of those who follow a retailer's blog click through to the website, and though sometimes overlooked in the overall social media mix, more than two-thirds (68 percent) of consumers use YouTube to browse and research a retail company."

Facebook is home to more than 800 million users, while upward of 200 million people have Twitter accounts. Social networks give retail merchants a huge audience to work with. It's crucial that companies take advantage of this potential customer base.

Wal-Mart hopes that shoppers will use the company's mobile applications in-store and even recently announced some specific features made just for customers in the brand's brick-and-mortar locations.

One such feature is an aisle locator, which tells shoppers precisely where they can locate any item they are looking for within the store. Consumers can add various products to their mobile shopping list, and the app will provide information on which aisle that product is located in, Internet Retailer reports.

Another new feature is In-Store Mode, which enables shoppers to scan barcodes on products to get prices or other product information. They can also look for any discounts the brand may be running.

"Wal-Mart also added a tool to its app that lets consumers select the store they visit most often and create a shopping list at home by scanning, typing or speaking items to buy," the news source adds. "The app then pulls the price for each item from the selected store and calculates the total price for all items on the list."

A number of retailers fear consumers will use their smartphones in-store to find better prices elsewhere, which makes Wal-Mart's new initiative unique in that it is encouraging shoppers to utilize these devices.

Sears has devised an interesting strategy for acquiring more product reviews on its website. The American retailer is encouraging shopper feedback – good or bad – through a new project called "Love/Hate: Share Your Thoughts, Send Some Love."

After consumers write a review, they will have the option to vote for one of four charities: The American Cancer Society, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, World Vision and the World Wildlife Fund. The charity that receives the most votes will be awarded with a $100,000 donation.

"Customer opinions are important to us at Sears. Good or bad, we want to encourage our online community to share their thoughts on our products," said Adriana Llames, division vice president of social media marketing for Sears. "The Love/Hate project will help us continue our commitment to providing products our customers love while helping to further the work of their favorite charities."

With more customers using the web to research products before buying them, having a number of on-site reviews may help to win over purchases. Sears' new initiative may serve dual benefits, helping to generate reviews while also improving its brand reputation by donating to charity.

Approximately one in 10 Europeans (12 percent) have used their tablets, smartphones or other mobile devices to browse their favorite retailers and make a purchase – a number that will almost certainly continue to climb, asserts John Sullivan, director of information technology at the Gondola Group.

Speaking on a panel during the Open Mobile Summit in London, Sullivan was quick to stress the importance of offering a mobile shopping experience for customers who want to make purchases through this new technology. While mobile shopping may not be replacing brick-and-mortar or even online sales, it's important to provide shoppers with a multichannel experience to ensure their highest satisfaction.

While the results of going mobile will vary depending on the brand and the audience it's targeting, the benefits could be huge.

"Fifty percent of our traffic is on mobile. The more we give the customer on mobile, the more they use," explained Sullivan, as quoted by Internet Retailer. "You just need to get out there and do some experimentation to find out what your customer wants."

Crafting a mobile experience

That said, mobile technology is relatively new to the market. Each year, Apple is announcing updated products with radically different specifications, not to mention the wide array of differences between the various Android phones. When developing a mobile site or application, retailers need to be willing to experiment. Nothing should be sacred, and merchants should be prepared to scrap parts of their mobile site if they aren't displaying correctly or if customers aren't reacting positively to them.

"Just focus on what the experience needs to be," Ian Cranna, vice president of marketing at Starbucks, added. "See your way through the technology through the customer's eyes and make an experience of those things that are working as opposed to first focusing on the more challenging things that are hard to use."

Howard Gefen, director of worldwide mobile business development, suggests focusing on the core experience. While features such as behavioral-based recommendations may be nice, they shouldn't come at the expense of loading times or other key aspects.

Just having a mobile site may not be enough. Some retailers have begun using mobile devices for other purposes as well. For example, Target recently rolled out Shopkick to its stores nationwide, which enables visitors to collect loyalty points for checking in.

Digital channels have heralded a revolution in retail merchandising and marketing. Social networks, email and company websites have changed to ways in which business engage consumers and preserve loyalty.

In fact, as consumers' lives become more embedded in digital technologies such as smartphones, tablet computers and laptops, traditional tactics of outreach are falling to the side.

Print still helpful, but digital catching up

A recent survey of 23,000 shoppers from Brick Meets Click illustrates the growing preference for online marketing communications. For example, while more than 80 percent of find printed supermarket circulars helpful, acceptance of digital coupons was not far behind – 20 percent of shoppers said Facebook and text messages were helpful.

Retail websites proved to be one of the most popular digital options, with 90 percent of shoppers admitting that they visited their preferred retail websites at least once per month. Moreover, 64 percent said they visited between one and six times per month.

"The frequency of site visits by digitally engaged shoppers indicates a lot of activity can be generated provided that useful content is available," the report said. Companies may find it helpful to mine customer data to determine which content is best for their websites and even social networks.

Coupon websites catch on

The rapid growth of online coupon website Groupon may also prove a boon for businesses. The survey reported that in addition to visiting retailer websites, they also search online coupon providers and compare prices with other retailers.

Online coupon providers such as Groupon, Living Social and Coupon Chief work with businesses to give consumers daily deals – limited time offers which give consumers a service or discount.

However, while online coupon websites can help retailers reach new consumers across a wide array of demographics, they also come with a few challenges.

Many small businesses have noted that coupon users can often turn out to be one-time customers, rather than repeat patrons. Additionally, other local companies have found themselves unprepared for the demand online coupons can create for their services.

What matters most for retailers is to research and find out which channels work best, not only for their business model but also for their customers. Older demographics may prefer a more traditional approach, while young customers could highly value smartphone communications.

While some retailers continue struggling in the fluctuating marketplace, others have found their retail point-of-sale systems in high demand around the world.

The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, is experiencing both boons and setbacks. At its annual rally for international workers this week, the company will discuss how it plans to slow expansion in Brazil, improve productivity in its Chinese outlets and continue growing operations in Canada.

According CBS News, Wal-Mart has continued to expand worldwide to offset what it sees as limited growth opportunities in the U.S. While the U.S. still makes up the majority of the retailer's business, international net sales are growing. Currently, the international market accounts for 28.4 percent of Wal-Mart's net sales.

"Overall, Wal-Mart's has successfully exported its 'everyday low price strategy' to the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Mexico and Central America," CBS News reports. "But it's in the planning stages for South Africa, Argentina, China, Chile and India. Company officials will likely offer more details on when it plans to implement the pricing plan in the remaining countries."

Wal-Mart may also face setbacks this summer, as gasoline prices are expected to spike in the U.S. This could constrain fleets and shipping operations.

U.K. retailers are facing a mixed market. While the Queen's Diamond Jubilee has helped boost revenues, a double-dip recession has made retail merchandising a tough task.

Regardless, foreign companies and outlets continue to seek a foothold in the national market. Yet China, one of the fastest growing economic powers in the world, has failed to make its way into the U.K. retail scene.

A recent article by Retail Week suggests the lack of Chinese companies could be due to a number of factors, including a rather inexperienced retail sector in the country as well as an already huge domestic marketplace. Furthermore, the article notes that when Chinese retailers feel prepared to go international, they may not even choose the U.K.

"There's often a perception that to make it big Asian companies have to have a presence in Europe and North America," Rob Gregory, Planet Retail global research director, told the website. "But 10 to 20 years down the line there’s no doubt the more mature markets are going to be relatively low growth. That’s why everyone’s moving to Asia."

This year, events such as the 2012 London Olympics and Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, which celebrates her 60th year on the throne, hope to spur tourism and fill retailers' registers.

In the past few years, reward cards and point systems have become a ubiquitous part of retail merchandising strategies.

Reward systems award benefits to customers of both retailers and supermarkets for shopping with the company or even helping to build its word-of-mouth reputation. These benefits can range from promotions to discounts and even special members-only events.

Now, more retailers are attempting to spice up their reward programs to differentiate themselves from competitors by introducing new membership structures. For example, Starbucks, Gap and Best Buy offer tiered memberships, awarding those who spend more with bigger rewards, the website Smart Money writes.

Additionally, some retailers have partnered with banks or credit card providers. Citibank cardholders can spend their reward points at Best Buy, while users of the mobile app Shopkick can access discounts at Old Navy, Target, Crate & Barrel and Exxon.

Whatever the type of reward system a retailer decides to implement, make sure it's tailored to consumers. If a store's main customers are older, a strictly smartphone application is unlikely to be a big hit.

While luxury retailers in the U.K. may be snapping up store space on local high streets, especially in London, the outlook for the rest of the industry is struggling, as retail point-of-sale software lays dormant.

In the first quarter of 2012, the number of British retailers who went out of business increased a staggering 38 percent from the fourth quarter, from 486 companies to 670 companies, Reuters reports.

The increase is part of the double-dip recession manifesting across the nation. This has also been affected by slow wage growth for U.K. workers, an unsteady euro zone and worries about job security.

"Last year was bad but this year is even worse. Retailers are still struggling with rents that they feel are far above the market rate and banks are particularly reluctant to extend credit to struggling retail businesses," Anthony Cork, a partner at the firm, told Reuters.

Many retailers, especially those in London, are hoping the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 London Olympics will boost sales.

This week, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's 60-year reign, is prepared to go into full swing, which shops hope will spur increased traffic at retail point-of-sale systems.

British retailers have been capitalizing on the event for months now, adorning china, clothing and every imaginable keepsake with the red, white and blue of the Union Jack or, alternatively, the Queen's youthful coronation photo.

High street department store John Lewis told the Financial Times that sales of royal memorabilia, including mementoes both for Diamond Jubilee and of last year's royal wedding, are increasing by 15 percent each week.

"Last year's royal wedding increased consumers' interest in royal memorabilia, and sales of these kinds of items have been consistently higher since then," Anna Rigby, head of buying for home accessories and gifts at John Lewis, told the FT. "People from both the U.K. and abroad want to share in the experience of these national events, and enjoy having something which reminds them of the day."

The event comes at a particular key moment for U.K. stores, as first quarter figures were released this week, revealing that the number of U.K. retailers who went bust in this period increased by 38 percent from the previous quarter, Reuters reports.