New Year’s Eve, a night known for its drunken revelries,  is almost here. Everyone knows about the dangers of drunk driving and dialing. The new risk is drunk shopping.

In her article, “Online Merchants Home In on Imbibing Consumers,” the New York Times‘ Stephanie Clifford reports on the logic behind retailers tailoring their online marketing strategies to reach consumers who might be shopping under the influence.

“‘Post-bar, inhibitions can be impacted, and that can cause shopping, and hopefully healthy impulse buying,’” Andy Page, president of Gilt Groupe, an online retailer, tells Clifford. Page also mentioned his company was adding more sales starting at 9 p.m. to respond to high traffic at that time.

ComScore reports that e-commerce spending for the first 48 days of the holiday season reached $32 billion, jumping 15 percent over last year. It also found that close to 40 percent of smartphone owners have used their phone to make a purchase at least once.

Obviously, it is impossible for online retailers to determine what percentage of their sales can be attributed to drunk buying, but as more people do their shopping online through a pc or a smartphone, the chances of it happening are  increasing.

It’s also a given that some customers will immediately return the item they purchased while wearing beer goggles, however there’s no denying business owners have an added incentive for targeting those happy hour and late-night shoppers.

Retailers may experience a whole new spike in traffic now that the holidays have come and gone, according to a recent Consumer Reports poll.

Some 82 percent of those polled cite post-holiday discounts as just too alluring to pass up. Almost half of those polled, 47 percent, plan to take advantage of gift cards and some 31 percent expect to return gifts.

After a characteristically successful 2011 holiday-shopping season, which the National Retail Federation predicts saw a 3.8 percent increase in sales, the trend to online as far as purchasing may also ebb to the Web in terms of return, exchange and additional deals.

Amazon.com operates its very own Online Returns Center, with international and digital content return policies. Based on product criteria, customers may fill out a return label, print and expedite the process instantly. Of course, there are discrepancies based on product [software will have stricter guidelines than socks].

If you received a gift via Apple this year, the company has drafted clear deadlines for online returns. For items purchased in the online Apple store between Oct. 29 and Dec. 25, 2011, shoppers have until Jan. 9 to get their refund [though you may be hard-pressed to find a reason to return that snazzy new iPad 2). Via their Apple ID and relevant password, customers may return and manage the process virtually.

Barnes & Noble recently extended their return policy for purchases made between Nov. 14 and Dec. 31, giving you bookworms until Jan. 31 to complete a return. Best Buy similarly instated an extended return deadline, giving gadget-lovers a few extra days [through Jan. 24 on items purchased between Nov. 13 and Dec. 24] to send back or drop off items in-store.

During a season that was apparently hot on e-commerce all around, retailers can expect customers to increasingly take their inquiries, research and return actions online.

The National Retail Federation reported 31.4 percent of tablet owners used their device to purchase products and 30.5 percent utilized it to research and compare products. Word spreads fast. Competitor policies on returns are instantly accessible. And many offer to waive any shipping fees on returns and provide deep discounts on additional purchases to keep the satisfaction of the season lingering that much longer.

Facebook made it clear it was warming up to advertisers even more when it announced this week that it will begin plopping ads in users’ news feeds starting in January. The company calls them “Sponsored Stories” and they already show up on the right-hand column of Facebook pages.

For advertisers, Sponsored Stories can be very enticing since they come with the built-in endorsement of a friend. Here’s how it works: When your friends “like” a brand page, for example, a post informing you about it will show up on your news feed as a Sponsored Story.

The Sponsored Stories will be the same size as other items appearing in the stream and will be identifiable by a link that reads “Sponsored” below the post. When you move your cursor over the link, you will see the following text: “This was already shared with you. A sponsor paid to feature it here.”

So as not to irritate Facebook users too much, the company will place only one ad per day on their news feed. Facebook also not so subtly reminded users that ad revenue keeps the social network free by posting a huge banner saying so at the the top of the news feed page.

It’s no surprise that Facebook wants to capitalize on its millions of users. It’s up to more than 800 million active users according to the company’s info page.

It would also be no surprise if most users ignore these advertisements, as they already do with most online ads.

When adults were asked which type of ads do they tend to ignore or disregard the most, over six in ten said Internet ads, according to a poll by Adweek Media and Harris Interactive. The survey was conducted in 2010 and did not specify if these included friend-endorsed ads, however I believe the sentiment still stands.

Placing Sponsored Stories on a more prominent space could help brands get more eyeballs but as every smart marketer knows, it takes a lot of creativity and the right incentives to convert those eyeballs into sales.

Whatever happened to the missing face on the milk carton?

It’s apparently been refashioned and rewired by a few federal agencies and wireless carriers.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) took precautionary measures into the future late last week when it teamed up with the Federal Communications Commission, Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and New York City Office of Emergency Management to conduct a Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system test during a five-hour window with compatible Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless user phones.

According to CBS News, “The New York test comes days after Verizon Wireless accidentally sent an emergency alert, telling some of their customers in the Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties of New Jersey that an extreme alert was in place. The text message told people to, ‘Take shelter now,’ It was not marked as a test.”

Naturally, some concerned citizens checked in with emergency response centers to ensure all was okay. The Associated Press reported call volume doubled at the Monmouth County 911 call center despite the fact that the state’s office of Homeland Security tweeted that the populace was, in fact, in the clear, CBS says.

The State of New Jersey Office of Emergency Management took it to Facebook to remind residents that the test would be occurring. “Got one of these on Monday,” posts Dawn, a Verizon user. “Thanks for the info Verizon … always a pleasure.”

However, a few days prior, Verizon notified affected customers that a FEMA Commercial Mobile Alert System test message had been inadvertently transmitted. Concerned poster Fred says, “I’m scratching my head on this one. I’d like to chalk it up as just some accident or typo but this is serious and can create a panic.”

The WEA system has good intentions. It can clue city dwellers in on missing child alerts, terrorist activity or freak fall snowstorms. It’s a more proactive way to wave the red flag than say, asking residents to stay tuned in to the news when they may not have power or be blessed with a generator.

Either way, said New York test never made it as far as my smartphone, but perhaps I was remotely en route underground. What about you? Let us know if you received an OEM alert (or better yet – if you didn’t.) It looks like they’re working the kinks out, when on Jan. 1, 2012, it should be out in full swing in New York City and across the country by the end of 2012, WCBS says.

Today is Free Shipping Day, when 2,581 participating retailers and manufacturers  offer free shipping on all orders placed today (provided the merchandise is in stock) with guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve within the 48 contiguous states. So, is it just another gimmick, or will customers actually spend even more today than they did on this year’s record-breaking Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

Last year, online stores enjoyed the third-biggest shopping day ever. Free Shipping Day generated nearly $1 billion in sales, beating Black Friday’s total by hundreds of millions of dollars. The event grew from 250 retailers in 2008, its inaugural year, to 1,750 in 2010.

Laurie Brown, author of the book The Greet Your Customer Manual, expects retailers  to see huge numbers again today. But, more than that, retailers can use today as an opportunity to grow their businesses all year long, she wrote in an email.

“Free Shipping Day, if executed properly by retailers, can bring customers back to spend on their sites all year long, well after the holiday season, even without free shipping,” she wrote.

Brown offered the following tips to help retailers achieve the maximum benefit:

• Think of every customer as an opportunity. With new, first-time, and even more customers clicking onto your site today, make sure to impress them; it can be done through a Web site.
• Remember, it is even easier for a customer to “walk out” of your Web site and go to your competitor’s site than it is to walk out of an actual store.
• Make sure your site is easy to navigate.
• Get rid of flash openings. Imagine forcing customers to watch a 30-second video before they are allowed to enter a store.
• Make it easy to contact you.
• Make sure return policies are clear and easy to read.
• Prioritize information.
• Streamline the page design.
• Optimize your search engine.