Consumers in Europe may be getting a head start on their holiday shopping. Many people have been flooding retail sites on their mobile devices in order to get some of their holiday shopping done early. While retailers have not yet begun to provide the special offers that have become common for the holidays, many of these companies are offering some special discounts to those that participate in mobile commerce. A new report from Adobe predicts that mobile commerce will have a major impact on this year's holiday season.

QVC has managed to establish itself as an m-commerce master, having ranked third in the 2014 Internet Retailer Mobile 500, with only Apple and Amazon ahead of its ranking. During this year's third quarter, the American m-commerce figures from QVC saw sales rising by a whopping 63 percent. This now means that mobile represents 31.6 percent of the total online sales for the company. Mobile brought in $169.2 million during that quarter. This was an increase from $103.8 million (or 21.7 percent of online sales) that were generated in the same quarter last year. This, according to the data released …

Moneris Solutions, a Canadian payment processor, has launched a new mobile payments service called "Payd Pro." The new service is designed to be used alongside debit cards, allowing the financial information associated with these cards to be used by a mobile device. The mobile payments service is meant to make commerce more convenient for consumers that are constantly on the go and could be ideal for commuters that have little time to shop at physical stores.

Just one hour into China's annual Single's Day shopping blitz, Taobao, China's leading e-commerce marketplace, racked up RMB 1 billion ($164 million) in mobile purchases from over 14 million user accounts. Techweb reports Taobao took just over four minutes to complete RMB 100 million ($16.4 million) in mobile purchases. By 7:35 a.m., mobile sales volume reached RMB 2 billion ($328 million). November 11, also known as Single's Day, is the biggest shopping day of the year in China. Sales are ongoing for the entire 24-hour period at both major and minor retailers across the country.

Capital One is making it easier for customers to sign into its mobile banking app replacing passwords with a pattern that users trace with their finger. The new feature is designed to address two of the biggest issues with mobile banking: Bill-pay security and ease of account sign-in. SureSwipe is Capital One's new pattern sign-in feature for its iOS mobile app. "We are allowing users to create a unique pattern by tracing their finger across a matrix of dots," said Chris O'Neil, director of digital and PR campaigns at Capital One, McLean, VA.

Department store chain Saks Fifth Avenue is giving visitors to its upcoming holiday windows the opportunity to become part of the display through a new mobile site. Opening Nov. 25, the windows this year tell the story of the Yeti, which is rumored to live on top of the Saks Fifth Avenue building in New York making snowflakes. Saks is working in conjunction with MasterCard and The Science Project on the mobile site that allows users to create their own Yeti name, customize a snowflake and flick it up from their phone or tablet onto screens in the display.

The mobile operator for the Hutchison Telecommunications organization, and Citibank Hong Kong have joined together to launch a new mobile wallet service called "3 Citi Wallet." The mobile wallet is designed to make it easier for used to pay for goods and services using their mobile devices. The platform can store financial information as well as information associated with credit cards, making this data accessible through the use of NFC technology. Mobile commerce is becoming quite prominent throughout Asia. In Hong Kong, mobile devices are beginning to play a fundamental role in people's lives and more are beginning to call …

Sionic Mobile, an mCommerce company providing mobile gifting, payments and rewards and Liberty USA, a major supplier of convenience and beverage products, have announced a strategic partnership to provide Liberty USA's 2,000 chain customers with Sionic Mobile's ION Loyalty solution. The cloud-based ION platform uses mobile devices to connect merchants with nearby, ready-to-spend consumers. ION Loyalty for merchants saves fuel retailers up to 75% or more in credit-card fees, helps increase traffic and high-margin sales, and rewards customers for their repeat business. ION Rewards gives consumers 3% free fuel every time, rewards them up to 2% instantly when they pay …

Groupon has acquired Korean e-commerce company Ticket Monster (aka TMON), who specialises in product, local and travel offers, for $260 million in cash and stock. 2010-launched TMON is currently owned by LivingSocial, but the Groupon deal is expected to close in H1 2014. The firm has seen consistent year-on-year billings growth, with annual figures at $800m. Interestingly, it was the company's mobile success that caught Groupon's eye, as more than half of sales come via devices. TMON has more than 1,000 employees and four million active customers.

Retail giant Target CIO Beth Jacob is working toward a day when multichannel commerce is just assumed and shopping becomes more social as technology blends into the consumer's daily life. Beth Jacob, Target CIO, oversees the massive retailer's technology operations. Here's a look at 10 takeaways from a recent video interview I did with her at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York. Working with Facebook. Target has developed a social savings program called Cartwheel. The effort was co-developed with Target and Facebook developers. Jacob said the program has 2 million guests who have saved $7 million so far.