Kohl's Department Stores will increase its investment in digital media by 25% this holiday season. The chain will also boost the amount of mailings to Kohl's Charge Card users, including distributing a men's holiday gift guide in select markets.

E-commerce services provider GSI Commerce has agreed to acquire Retail Convergence, operator of private sale e-commerce site RueLaLa.com, for up to $350 million. The transaction includes a $180 million pay out at the closing of the deal and an earn-out of up to $170 million based on Retail Convergence's performance in fiscal year 2012.

Although there's been talk by retail watchdogs that this holiday season's discounting might not be what it was in past years, retailers are racing to the lowest prices on book sales.

In an effort to attract the growing economic might of Hispanics living in the US, the NBA this month launched Éne-bé-a, a multichannel marketing campaign.

I'm back from the Direct Marketing Association's annual conference with a stack of business cards as big as my head. I always return from DMA Annual exhausted, but with a renewed sense of vigor and great story ideas.

Julie Petroski, VP, group creative director at Targetbase talks about the latest campaigns from Supershoes.com, Rubbermaid and Inkubook

Toy manufacturer Mattel has launched MattelShop.com, which has, in addition to traditional e-commerce features, social shopping tools and real-time updated content. Previously, Mattel brands like American Girl, Fisher-Price and Barbie Collector had their own e-commerce portals. This is the first time all of Mattel's brands are sold on one e-commerce site.

Playboy Enterprises and e-commerce and catalog service provider eFashionSolutions have settled a dispute over the operation of Playboy's e-commerce and catalog businesses. The companies announced the deal on October 20. EFashionSolutions said in a statement that it will continue to manage the e-commerce operations of Playboy's retail brands ShopTheBunny.com and PlayboyStore.com.

Martha Stewart delivered a single message to a crowd of about 600 at the Direct Marketing Association's annual conference in San Diego on October 19: It's good to be everywhere.

The Direct Marketing Association this week named Eugene Raitt, SVP for accident and health and CMO for Asia at Allied World Assurance Company, its 2010 board chairman. The group made the announcement at its annual business meeting in San Diego.