Along with the projected increase in holiday spending this season, especially e-commerce, major carriers are all expecting significant double-digit growth in parcel volume before the end of the year.

Mondelez International Inc., trying to adapt as more shoppers buy food outside of traditional grocery stores, is diving deeper into online retail with a holiday-season website that is selling tins of Oreos directly to consumers.

Year over year, Target says it's surpassed expectations for 2016 thanks to investments in inventory data. Although the third quarter saw a 0.2-percent decline in sales from last year, its comparable digital channel sales grew 26 percent over last year.