A new law that will require retailers in Europe to get permission from shoppers before placing a cookie on their computers has been lambasted by merchants. According to new research from EConsultancy, approximately four out five respondents (82 percent) believe the new law is a bad idea and will hinder their web efforts.

Cookies are used to track consumers' online actions. For example, retailers using cookies will be able to tell which sections of websites shoppers have visited and which items they looked at. This information can be used to develop more relevant campaigns – for example, customers who looked at iPods at an electronics site could be given discounts on other Apple products in the future.

"There's total confusion on how to apply [the new law] and what it should be applied [to]," one participant asserts. "There are a few nice implementations [but] nothing which everyone agrees on, which means a disjointed user experience from site to site."

This adds yet another challenge that retail merchants must account for as they further enhance the online shopping experience. Given the number of people shopping online, however, the shift to ecommerce is something they must do.

While the jury is out whether social shopping will eventually become a popular form of ecommerce, that isn't stopping major retail brands for experimenting with the platform. According to a recent report from the E-Tailing Group, approximately half of retailers (51 percent) allow shoppers to browse goods from their Facebook pages.

Moreover, 16 percent give their Facebook fans the ability to make purchases straight from their company pages. The rest link back to a traditional ecommerce website instead. However, the return on investment is not clear with these social shopping initiatives – many aren't seeing a strong payback on the money spent to develop these platforms.

The key will lie in whether brands can convince shoppers to buy via their Facebook pages.

"Retailers will follow the money and should results be forthcoming, you can certainly expect to find their participation to grow," E-Tailing Group's president Lauren Freedman told Internet Retailer.

Facebook has upward of 850 million users. Whether retailers leverage the site for customer service or ecommerce, it can have a big impact on store operations when used correctly.

Retail merchandising isn't just about how products are marketed and advertised. Often, customer service and experience can be equally important factors in sales.

One surprising way businesses are able to motivate their employees is by developing and upholding high customer service standards that really put the consumer first. A recent article in Business 2 Community discusses the results of a recent study it undertook, and how the ways in which a company treats its customers can communicate the expectations it has for its employees.

When employees believe that every customer is valued by a company, they will work harder to create an environment in which shoppers feel like they're receiving a personalized experience, the website explains.

"People take pride in working for a company that does right by its customers and value being part of a company that allows them to build lasting relationships with loyal customers and clients," said one respondent, according to the study.

Creating a high level of customer service also has the benefit of spurring stores' reputations, which can ultimately attract new shoppers.

Retailers are going digital to compete with their online counterparts. However, store operations aren't moving to the internet – it's all about in-store help.

A Toronto-based department store, the Bay, has introduced its first digital employee. "Anna," as the company has named the 5-foot 8-inch (in high heels) digital worker, greets consumers from a glass tower in the center of the store, the Globe and Mail reports.

The introduction of Anna is what the news source characterizes as part of a trend on behalf of brick-and-mortar retailers to use high-tech programs and developments to cut costs and boost revenue.

"As merchants compete against deep-pocketed global titans, they're being forced to look for digital and automated alternatives to buttress operations. Retailers such as clothier Gap Inc. and office supplies specialist Staples are already staffing their warehouses with thousands of robots," the Globe and Mail writes.

However, retailers don't need to create a digital workforce to improve operations. Consider using your retail management system to set up your floor staff with mobile sales tools, introduce interactive kiosks through your stores, or launch a social space where consumers can access store information or discounts.

"The customer comes first" is a slogan constantly thrown around the retail industry. Whether merchants agree or not, the importance of catering to the needs of shoppers is paramount to success.

Dell recently found how this can translate into marketing, Internet Retailer reports. The computer manufacturer rolled out a pair of retail apps late last year. To promote the launch of these apps, Dell wanted to send an email news blast out. Because the campaign would be relevant to both traditional desktop users and smartphone owners, the brand designed two emails: one for at-home readers and one for on-the-go subscribers.

The mobile email was specifically made for the smaller resolution of smartphones and also had bigger buttons to encourage users to download the app. The results speak for themselves – app downloads increased five times the day the mobile email was sent out.

Whether retail merchants are tailoring their marketing campaigns or developing new services, they need to think of the intended audience. By designing an experience specifically around the customer, retail brands are showing that they understand the needs and wants of their shoppers.

Small retailers looking to do some cost-efficient marketing may want to consider a recent promotional offer launched by Twitter and American Express. The first 10,000 eligible businesses that register through the payment processor's site will be provided with $100 in free Twitter advertising.

"Small businesses were among the first to embrace Twitter as a way to connect and interact with consumers in real-time," said Dick Costolo, CEO of Twitter. "Today, we're announcing a simple way for small businesses to amplify their voices on Twitter and reach a new set of potential customers using our Promoted Products."

The Promoted Products lineup includes Promoted Tweets, which are displayed within users' timelines, and Promoted Trends, which are featured on the website's side bar. For example, an electronics retail store could promote an upcoming sale via users' timelines or try to acquire more followers by launching a Promoted Trend.

While Twitter definitely plays second fiddle to Facebook in terms of global audience, retailers can still use the platform to reach a considerable number of consumers. More than 200 million prospective shoppers are members of the social network.

An increasing number of companies are seeking to boost retail merchandising strategies through the use of "social videos."

What are social videos? They are short video segments that companies can post on social networks, blogs or their websites that hope to engage consumers while offering them practical advice, including how-to's and question-and-answer sessions.

In a recent interview on the website Video-Commerce, Zappo's senior manager of photo and video, Laurie Me'Chelle Gates, shared ways in which the company was using the channel to boost sales, decrease the number of returns and improve the overall customer shopping experience.

"It's not so much about product information as it is about product explorations," Gates told the source. "It's helping our customers out with questions like: Is this the right gear for my camping trip? How do I tie a tie? Or, what’s in season right now? Our ultimate goal is to reduce the barrier between our online shopper and the merchant delivering the Zappos level of service."

This is especially relevant with consumers' growing desire for more social interactions with brands. An inforgraphic from Zendesk showed that 62 percent of consumers wished that businesses engaged more with them via social networks.

Retailers currently not using Facebook's Connect feature, which enables users to log into ecommerce websites with their Facebook credentials, may want to rethink this omission. According to a new report from Sociable Labs, Americans who log into a retail site with their Facebook credentials are nine times more likely to share content than those who don't.

Nisan Gabbay, CEO of Social Labs, notes how crucial this is for retail brands, explaining that each share essentially translates into free exposure for a business. Each time consumers share content, they are expressing their advocacy to friends or followers – that could be anywhere from 100 people to more than 1,000, depending on the user.

"The big benefit of social log-ins is that it makes the social sharing experience that much easier and more compelling for the consumer," Gabbay told Internet Retailer.

Considering the sheer number of Facebook users – upward of 800 million potential buyers worldwide – the social network has a substantial reach. Retail merchants need to make use of the site as a part of their marketing efforts.

Despite January's relative retail merchandising success in boosting sales for the second month in a row, according a panel of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, consumers may not be espousing such a rosy vision for the future.

The latest Thomsom Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment shows that optimism fell to 72.5 in January, from 75 in December, a separate article from Bloomberg reports.

Prior to the index's release, Bloomberg News predicted that January would see only a slight fall in sentiment to 74.8. However, a 22-cent average increase in the price of a gallon of gasoline over the year has stifled the will to spend among some consumers.

"It's likely due to the gas prices and some payback for the strong gains we've seen in recent months," Gus Faucher, a senior economist at PNC Financial Services Group, told the source. "The recovery is going to continue and spending will be good, but not great."

Additionally, experts believe that an improving employment rate could help fuel spending and consumer confidence.

With the number of smartphone phones in the hands of Americans on the rise – 97.9 million U.S. consumers owned the devices as of December, according to comScore data – retail merchants are employing new means of leveraging the mobile communication tools.

A new report from Robert Half Technology suggests nearly half of all American companies are looking to make an impact on the mobile space. Twenty-seven percent already offer a mobile application, while 22 percent are planning to do so before the end of the year.

That isn't to say, however, that creating a mobile app is a walk in the park. Developing mobile applications is challenging because it involves a number of different departments, ranging from information technology to marketing.

"Building mobile applications requires intense collaboration between numerous groups within an organization, including marketing, IT, operations and sales," says John Reed, executive director of the firm. "It's important for mobile application developers to have strong skills, in addition to the ability to write code and test and debug software applications."