Editor’s Note: This article is an excerpt from one of RetailWire’s recent online discussions. Each business morning on RetailWire.com, retail industry execs get plugged in to the latest news and issues with key insights from a panel of retail industry experts.

Some of the largest retailers in the U.S. are ignoring consumer complaints on Facebook, according to research by Conversocial, a company that helps businesses improve interactions with consumers on social media sites. In fact, during a five-day period in September, nearly two-thirds of consumer issues raised on Facebook went unaddressed.

Costco, Kmart and Kroger failed to respond to a single consumer inquiry on Facebook during the period. Others failed to respond in varying degrees, including: Walmart, which did not respond to 41% of inquiries; Macy's (35%); Dillards (25%); Bloomingdale's (20%); Nordstrom (20%); Sears (11%); and Safeway (5%).

Gift card purchases are expected to reach $100 billion in sales by 2012, according to research firm TowerGroup in its analysis titled "CARD Act Impact: New Regulations Set to Wipe Out Gift Card Junk Fees and Reposition Market." With the increased adoption of mobile commerce, digital gift cards are a new, abundant and low-hanging fruit for retailers.

Digital gift cards are a new tactic to drive in-store traffic and loyalty without focusing on discounting strategies such as coupons and daily deals.  In turn, start-up companies such as Wrapp are establishing themselves in the e-gift card space.

Retailers are developing better messaging that discourages online shopping cart abandonment, a major concern in e-Commerce, and entices online shoppers to process their orders. The average abandonment rate jumped from 71% to 75% during the first six months of 2011 as more consumers utilized online carts to compare prices before making a purchasing decision, according to a recent cart abandonment study from Listrak, an email marketing solutions firm. Online shoppers also abandon their carts due to high or unexpected shipping costs and simple interruptions, among other factors, the study said.

Entitled “Shopping Cart Abandonment Practices of the Internet Retailer 1000 Companies,” the October 2011 study was created by Listrak to help retailers implement cart abandonment campaigns to improve order completion rates and identify trends as well as best practices. Listrak tapped the abandonment habits of the Top 1000 Internet Retailers then examined the point in the checkout process in which retailers request shoppers’ email addresses. It also looked at whether or not the payment information is located on the same page as the email option.