Only 6% of multichannel shoppers said the first step they took when buying or researching a holiday purchase was on a mobile phone, according to a new study by ForeSee. However, 21% made it to an online retail site at some point during the purchase process, the same percentage who ended up visiting a physical store. 

Proposed changes to European Union (EU) data rules that limit some current marketing practices are under fire from both sides of the Atlantic. Among the changes opposed by lobbyists for digital marketing and technology companies include the need for explicit consumer consent ("opt-in") if personal data is to be collected and used by companies, the "right to be forgotten" – whereby firms must delete consumer data when it is no longer needed when requested by consumers, and a ban on "profiling" – targeting marketing communications at individual consumers preselected by a company.

Shares of Groupon are up 6% today after the company announced its move away from email reliance and towards the integration of a new local deals marketplace. A Sterne Agee analyst covering the company raised his rating on the stock from neutral to buy.  

Email encryption company Zix Corporation has announced the launch of ZixDLP, an email specific data loss prevention (DLP) solution. The company claims that email is the greatest source of data loss in many companies.

Sky Broadband has confirmed that Sky Email will become Sky Yahoo! Mail in April. The company currently uses Google but is switching because it said that Google can no longer fulfill its requirements.

LinkedIn owned SlideShare announced the launch of a new tool called Send Tracker, which monitors the slides and content from users' presentations that are being shared via email by people reading the presentation. Someone sharing content by email is then able to view analytics on the shared content, including when recipients opened the link to the content, how they engaged with it, and then determine which parts of the content resonated with the recipient the most.

Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference today, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer reiterated Yahoo's focus on email as a core product. She asked the audience, 'How many of you have read an email on your phone and marked it unread so you could read it on your PC later?' and raised her own hand along with many audience members, hinting at a product development the company may have in the works.

A new study on mobile coupons by Radium One found that 62% of respondents redeem grocery and retail coupons, while 42% prefer SMS-based coupons. The survey targeted women aged 35-54.

Fab.com 36-year-old Co-founder and Chief Design Officer Bradford Shellhammer is savvy enough to carry an iPhone 5 wrapped in a blue leather Prada case. The communication channel of choice for one of the trendiest people in technology may come as a surprise: email. He reports his favorite app is Mail and treats his inbox like a to-do list, keeping below 15 items at all times. He also does not like to use his phone for either texting or calls. "Calls annoy me; texts I always miss. I am an e-mailer."

Almost 1 out of every 3 visits to e-commerce sites in Q4 came from a search engine, according to a new report by Monetate. 4.3% of visits came from email, up from 4.1% during Q3. Social media drove less traffic at only 1.9%, dropping for the fourth consecutive quarter. Social media conversions also showed the lowest average order value of the three, at $69.46. Email was almost 30% higher at $89.64 and search was higher still at a $97.54 AOV.