We are excited to see innovative companies such as Become.com join Shop.org and support the online and multi-channel retail community. We look forward to their contribution as a new member.

Retailers cited several positive external factors contributing to the increased sales this year. The top three reasons were decreased gas prices, increased acceptance or comfort with online shopping, and the press coverage about online shopping. We are experiencing a general momentum right now.

This week, consumers can expect to be hearing from retailers reminding them of all the strong promotions they are offering.

That's an indication of their confidence in their logistics and fulfillment to get the orders to their customers in time. The last thing you'd want to do is not deliver a gift on time. You will lose a customer for life that way.

There's no big surprise as to what's causing the growth.

If it's a card-not-present transaction, you can see how there is a greater likelihood for fraud.

I think there's still a lot to learn.

This year, online retailers will be capitalizing on the increased traffic by offering special promotions and discounts.

The Internet makes for very strange bedfellows. At this point nothing surprises me.