Twitter… Facebook… Nowadays it seems as though everything is going online. The internet is fast becoming one of the quickest and easiest ways to reach customers. Sometimes it can be confusing deciding what should and should not be included on your website. Simply follow the steps listed below and you will create a website that is sure to attract more business to your store.

Hennes & Mauritz said that despite the global economic downturn, it will open 225 locations this year, including one in the newly renovated Qianmen strip near Tiananmen Square in Beijing. An H&M spokesman said the fashion chain has acquired numerous stores from rivals that had gone bankrupt.

Teen spending is down 14%, and more expensive brands and their labels may be on their way out of fashion. However, retailers such as Hot Topic and Aeropostale are gaining ground among teenage consumers. “There’s just so much retail out there. I think the people who will win are the ones who provide something different. It’s not just a price war,” Hot Topic’s CEO said.

The overwhelming majority of teens are worried about the economy and are cutting back spending by about 14%, research shows. While they’re spending less on clothing, beauty, food and trips to movie theaters and concerts, video game, music and DVD sales have been less affected.

Businesses hope to harness the expertise of “super-users,” a group of unpaid but expert users who are willing to help out others. Verizon Communications is one company that is experimenting with super-users in a move that may prove that company-sponsored online communities have the potential to revolutionize customer service.

Supermarket giant Tesco intends to create a next-generation loyalty scheme as a powerful weapon in its fight to prevent rivals eroding its market share.

Wal-Mart aims to eliminate packaging waste in its U.S. stores by 2025 and in its British stores by 2010. The retailer will reduce the amount of packaging it uses and work with suppliers to find sustainable alternatives.

Companies including Mars, Cadbury in the U.K. and Wal-Mart are becoming more environmentally sensitive, saying the moves make business sense.

Retailers such as Walgreen and Jos. A. Bank are offering customers job-loss guarantees. Walgreen, for instance, will allow people to stay enrolled for free in its clinics if they lack health insurance.

Customers age 50 and older are becoming increasingly attractive to marketers. One reason is that older people who might have paid off their mortgages are less damaged by the recession, and another is that baby boomers, who have long set Madison Avenue’s agenda, are aging.

A paper in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that companies often hurt themselves by offering a free item with the purchase of another item. Consumers perceive both the free item and the one that it is packaged with as having less value after the giveaway ends.

Recreational retailers are seeing sales of equipment such as bikes and kayaks do well. The retailers surmise that people are investing in such lasting items instead of taking expensive vacations.

Office Depot will offer free resume copies — up to 25 pages — through May 30. The chain also is giving away a limited number of free faxes

Domino’s and CNN recently faced potential reputation crises either brought on or exacerbated by the speed and reach of Twitter users. CNN responded to a challenge to reach 1 million Twitter followers by hiring the user who had established himself as an independent provider of CNN updates via Twitter. Domino’s was able to tamp down online reaction to a damaging YouTube video with Twitter outreach.

Win two free tickets to the May 1st premiere of Valentino The Last Emperor here in Baltimore at the Charles Theater. Email us by Wednesday, April 29!

On May 7th, Christine will be featured on a Thursday segment to discuss Mother’s Day shopping in Maryland.

Do you have what it takes to be the next hot fashion designer? Always dreamed of showing your work on the runways of New York City’s Fashion Week? This is your opportunity!

To fill empty retail space in a high-profile development, one Baltimore developer may loan retailers the money to open for business.

Sales at Atwater’s haven’t been as robust as its chowder.

It’s not easy having the hardest job in the world, but mom will likely understand the reasoning behind smaller, less expensive gifts for Mother’s Day.