The test program is part of a broader plan to bring a variety of specialty boutiques into Target stores. This program, “The Shops at Target” is meant to bolster the retailer’s flagging sales and mimic similar specialty shops found within other retailers like Kohl’s.

Best Buy’s version of this program has been relatively successful, however Best Buy is specifically an electronics company. It will be interesting to see how these mini Apple Stores fare in a department store like Target.

[Source: Reuters]

Microsoft’s website welcomed 93.8 million unique visitors from the U.S. in September 2011, more than any other computer and consumer electronics brand online during the month. Visitors spent an average of 42 minutes perusing the site. In comparison, Apple saw 68.7 million unique visitors but their they were more likely to spend more time on their site as the average visitor remained on their website for 62 minutes per visitor. “Adobe, Mozilla, and CNET rounded out the top five brands, with 24 to 28 million visitors going to their sites and spending 2 to 6 minutes each on average. CNET was the only news website among the top 5 in this category overall.”

Amazon had the third-highest amount of unique visitor traffic with 72 million unique visitors, each spending an average of 29 minutes on the site. Amazon was leaps and bounds the most visited mass merchandiser website, easily dwarfing the traffic for and time spent on rival sites like Walmart, Target, and Overstock.com. Consumer traffic at Walmart “followed as the second-ranked site, where 34.5 million visitors spent an average of 13 minutes per person on the site. Target, Shopathome.com, and Overstock.com rounded out the top five most visited mass merchandiser websites.”

One stand-out factoid about Amazon: 1 in 3 people in the United States visited the site in September 2011.

Demographically speaking, women were more likely to both categories of websites. 3 out of 4 Internet savvy women visited consumer electronics sites during September 2011, compared to 7 out of 10 men. “Women were also 7 percent more likely to visit mass merchandiser sites. Young people aged 18-34 were slightly more likely than the general population (4 percent more likely) to visit consumer electronics sites.” Additionally, those in the middle income bracket were also more likely to visit computer and consumer electronics websites (guess that makes sense that they’d visit it more than low income consumers, and those 1%ers probably just hire people to do their comparative shopping for them).

Nielsen suggests that interested readers take a look at their State of the Media: Consumer Usage Report for additional insights about these consumer habits.

Yesterday, Italian designer Missoni launched a 400-piece collection at Target. And yesterday, Target felt the full force of fashion-hungry online shoppers as their website crashed multiple times and was pretty much non-functional for most of the day.

The site didn’t become functional again until early this morning, as a Tweet from Target claims that online sales resumed sometimes around 6 am EST.

Apparently, Target knows how to create buzz for a product launch, and this time it worked a little too well. Missoni is a fashion house known for colorful, abstract patterns and the use of a variety of fabrics and materials. I’m not really in tune with the current trends in fashion at the moment, but apparently they are kind of a big deal. And Target’s Missoni collection offers the products for a fraction of the cost one would pay normally. Popularity + bargain = your online infrastructure taking quite the hit.

Both the official Target Twitter account and the Target Style account spent most of the day yesterday and part of the day today fielding tweets about the down site. All in all, the two accounts must have responded to dozens, possibly over a hundred specific complaints.

Of course, it wasn’t just the website that saw a spike in traffic. Retail stores were swamped as well, as you can see from this picture posted to a Target blog All the way up here.

One little thing about that blog. It’s billed as the blog of Marina, the spokesmodel for Missoni for Target. The thing is, Marina is a giant doll. She even has a Twitter account that says “I’m little Marina and I’m a real doll -joints hinges and all. Target and Missoni have hired me to cover their new collection.” Here’s a video clip of her in action at an undisclosed event. Trust me, it’s not creepy at all…

If you’re on the frugal side, they’ll even let you trade in your own iPhone 3GS or 3G to knock off $150.

Note that this is at “select” Target stores. It doesn’t appear that they even sell the iPhone 4 on their site (though they do provide a variety of accessories). It’s unclear whether the new White model is available as an option.

Back in November, Target announced it would carry the iPhone in 846 stores – those that include Target Mobile Centers.

If you do buy your mom an iPhone for Mothers Day, you might also want to make sure she’s aware of the whole location tracking thing that’s been in the news that last couple weeks. It couldn’t hurt.

TargetIn honor of Mother’s Day week, we’re celebrating the best of motherly advice. #42 on the list? Eat your veggies. http://tgt.bz/6033RB4B 33 minutes ago · 254 likes · 65 comments

Target.com’s Daily Deals will offer one-day sales of up to 50 percent off regular prices. New deals this holiday season include:

*“Mega Merry Mondays,” beginning each week with deals on 17 popular items.

*“Total Toy Tuesdays,” offering discounts on five popular toys.

Shoppers can be notified of the daily deals by signing up for email, text message or Twitter alerts at Target.com/dailydeals.

For the first time, Target.com is selling real Christmas trees, wreaths and garlands. Customers can pre-order now, with trees shipping for free beginning November 15. Prices range from $79 to $159, based on height.

When shoppers spend $50 or more on Target.com from November 21 tto December 11, they will receive free shipping on more than 800,000 items.

"From our popular Daily Deals experience to online-only shopping events, Target.com is the place to be this year for guests seeking the convenience of online shopping,” said Steve Eastman, president, Target.com.

“And this year we have enhanced that experience by quadrupling the number of items eligible for free shipping and offering an additional five percent off all online purchases when guests use their REDcard at checkout."

"Where this gets really interesting is when you bring the social graph into it," he writes. "So, for example, if I check-in near a spot where a friend of mine asked his wife to marry him, I’ll get a message alerting me of that. Or if I’m looking for the best taco place in Austin, Texas, I can visit the Highlight page and see what the masses are voting for. There are a lot of potentially interesting uses for this when it starts to get populated with a lot of data."

As reported, Target is going to start selling Facebook Credits gift cards. SFGate.com has an interesting article about the implications of this, in terms of Facebook securing.

Wired looks at today’s story about a man who took hostages at the Discovery Channel’s headquarters in Maryland, and posted his demands to the web, on his site savetheplanetprotest.com – the text is still available in cached form here.

Apple announced a bunch of new things today. You may have heard. Here’s a summary.

Michael Arrington has an interesting piece about how Google has lost 118 employees to Facebook, and how the company makes counteroffers to those employees receive offers from Facebook.

Marshall Kirkpatrick at ReadWriteWeb talks about why Alcatel-Lucent acquiring OpenPlug is big news.

Henry Blodget at Silicon Alley Insider reports that South Korea’s Naver has taken search in-house. Unfortunately for Yahoo (and Microsoft), it has been Yahoo’s biggest search affiliate, according to Blodget.

Facebook Credits gift cards will be available in increments of $15, $25 and $50. Facebook says its gift cards will be an “ideal gift” this holiday season for users who like playing games on the social network.

“One of Facebook’s goals is to create a great place for games – both for people who love to play and the developers that create fun and engaging social experiences,” said Dan Rose, vice president of partnerships and platform marketing at Facebook.

“Gift cards are easy to use and very popular. We’re looking forward to launching in Target stores and giving people the ability to purchase Facebook Credits for their own use or to give as gifts to their friends and family.”

More than 200 million people play social games on Facebook each month. According to Inside Network, Americans will spend more than $1.6 billion in 2010 on virtual goods and social gaming.

Facebook Credits are accepted by a number of popular games on the network, including Zynga’s FarmVille and Mafia Wars; CrowdStar’s Happy Aquarium; PopCap Games’ Bejeweled Blitz; Playdom’s City of Wonder; and EA SPORTS FIFA Superstars from Playfish.
 

My TargetWeekly allows users to create customized views and deal alerts so they know when items they are looking for are on sale. Users can also view coupons, see top 10 deals, share via Facebook and Twitter and create their own customized mobile shopping lists to use in-store or online.

“We are excited to provide our guests with yet another innovation to simplify their lives and improve their shopping experience,” said Steve Eastman, President, Target.com.

“As the only retailer offering this technology, we are proud to give our guests more ways to make the most of their dollar, which helps us deliver on our ‘Expect More. Pay Less.’ brand promise.”

My TargetWeekly is also on the Target Facebook fan page and users can share products and shopping experiences to create recommendations. The more users “love” a product, the better the recommendation engine becomes.
 

Sure, Black Friday seems utterly atrocious when thinking about it. I mean you got long lines, rabid shoppers, insane traffic, and bitterly cold weather. Mix that with sleep deprivation and you get a very lethal cocktail of insanity. So why do people put themselves through this monotony?

Well the answer to that is quite easy: It’s the deals.

Although Black Friday got its start sometime during the 1960s, online deals didn’t come into play until around 2000. The reasoning for this was that most people had very slow dial-up connections at home, which made online purchases more of an annoyance, then a convenience. Most people would wait until the following Monday, when they returned to work, to do there online shopping. Utilizing the faster connection of the workplace, people would do their online shopping, thus creating Cyber Monday (often referred to as the busiest online shopping day of the year).

Have you found any good deals online this week? Let us know.

One thing some people might not realize is that you don’t have to brave the crowds to find great deals for your Holiday shopping. Did you know that numerous stores are currently offering Black Friday deals online? That’s right, you could do most of your shopping from the comfort of your own home. Unlike the traditional Black Friday sales, the online deals tend to be more of a "one deal per day" sort of thing. Black-Friday.net offers the following info about this…

"During the entire month of November, stores such as Amazon.com, Walmart, and even eBay will be offering a "Deal of the Day". These deals are just as good as their Black Friday deals, except they are only good for one day! Be sure to check out the stores below to find out what they are offering today."

The site also lists online deals for 16 total stores (with more being added daily it seems), they are: Amazon.com, eBay, Walmart, onSale, Target, Kohl’s, MacMall, Best Buy, HP, Dell, Meijer, Sears, NewEgg.com, Buy.com, Kmart and 6th Ave.

Online Holiday sales might be "old hat" to Amazon, but they’re becoming known for the deals they have during the week of Thanksgiving. The site offers the following description of the weeklong sale…

You shouldn’t have to stand in a long line to get a great deal. We’re searching for the best Black Friday deals everywhere–including deals other stores are planning–so we can meet or beat their prices and bring them to you even earlier. These limited-supply offers will go quickly but we’ll add new ones throughout the day, every day this week, so you can skip the long lines and still save a bundle.

One company that is getting in on the Black Friday goodness is Apple, as they’ve announced a  “one-day shopping event” which will surely make it a happy Friday for some shoppers. Apple posted the following teaser to get shoppers stirring…

"Come back to the Apple Online Store this Friday for a special one-day-only shopping event. You’ll find lots of great iPod, iPhone and Mac gift ideas – all with free shipping."

Like we said before, shoppers will go to great lengths to save some money, some more so than others. So, what are some of the best deals that will be taking place on Black Friday 2009 in stores? We’ve scoured through the Black Friday advertisements and have listed the best prices for what surely will be the best selling items.

Televisions
[Target] Westinghouse 32" Class 720p LCD HDTV – $246.00
[Walmart] Emerson 32" LCD 720p HDTV – $248.00
[Best Buy] Dynex 32" 720p 60Hz LCD HDTV – $299.99
[Sears] Vizio 32" Class 720p LCD HDTV – $349.99

Desktop Computers
[Best Buy] eMachines Desktop: 18.5" LCD, 3GB RAM, 320GB HDD – $299.97
[Dell Home] Dell Inspiron 537s: 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD – $349.00
[Walmart] HP Pavilion Desktop: 20" LCD, 3GB RAM, 320GB HDD – $398.00

Laptops / Netbooks
[Walmart] eMachines 15.6" Laptop: 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD – $198.00
[Best Buy] Compaq Netbook: 1GB RAM, 160GB HD – $179.99
[Kmart] Delstar 7" Wireless Netbook – $119.99
[Radio Shack] Acer Aspire One Netbook – 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD – $249.99

MP3 Players – 4GB and under
[Kmart] Sylvania 4GB MP3/Video Player – $19.99
[Kohl's] 2GB MP3 Player with Video – $24.99
[Walmart] Philips 4GB MP3/Video Player – $29.00
[Best Buy] SanDisk: Sansa Fuze 4GB – $44.99

MP3 Players – 4GB and up
[Costco] Apple 8GB iPod Nano – $129.99
[Target] Apple 5th Gen. 8GB iPod Nano 2/ $15 Target Gift Card – $145.00
[Walmart] Apple 8GB iPod Touch w/ $50 iTunes Gift Card – $195.00

Digital Cameras
[Toys R Us] Vivitar 8.1MP Digital Camera – $39.99
[Best Buy] Insignia Digital Camera – $49.99
[Walmart] Kodak CD82: 12MP, 3x Optical Zoom, 3" LCD – $69.00
[Sears] GE A1250 12MP Black Digital Camera – $69.99

Will you be doing any shopping on Black Friday? Online or In Store? Tell us

Other Black Friday Resources:

Black Friday Websites
Two of the more popular Black Friday sites are BFAds.net and BlackFriday.info. Both are relatively the same, as they both feature scans, lists by store, and the ability to save to a shopping/wish list.

Black Friday & Facebook
Black-Friday.net runs a Facebook page, which lists the various Black Friday deals. The great thing about the Facebook page is that users can see the likes and comments, which could aid in the Black Friday planning for Facebook users.

Black Friday & Twitter
CheapTweet.com, a site that lists various deals, runs a very popular Twitter account, which tweets out Black Friday deals.

iPhone Apps
Black Friday? Yeah, there’s an app for that. With TGI Black Friday (iTunes link) you’re never without the latest Black Friday deal news. The best part about the app… it’s Free.

What are you going after this year on Black Friday? Have any good Black Friday stories? Tell us.