Property developer Wanda Group and Internet giants Baidu and Tencent have unveiled an e-commerce venture in a challenge to industry leader Alibaba Group ahead of its U.S. stock offering.

As retailers look ahead to the holiday selling season, e-commerce platform provider Volusion predicts that online sales during the holiday season will grow 9 percent compared to last year for small- to medium-sized businesses.

Digital interactions influence 36 cents of every dollar spent in the retail store, or approximately $1.1tr, according to the latest study from Deloitte Digital. By the end of 2014, that number will climb to 50 percent, or $1.5tr of total store sales.

With 92 percent of retailers selling online, 68 percent maintaining brick-and-mortar stores, and 64 percent utilizing catalogs, retailers are embracing a multichannel approach to meet buyer expectations and battle for market share, according to Jones Lang LaSalle's latest report, Retail 3.0: the evolution of multi-channel retail distribution.