Most retailers are anxious to put 2009 behind them. The lingering effects of the recession cut into top-line sales and left many merchants scrambling to cut costs. Looking ahead to 2010, leading industry analysts predict spending by retailers will remain tight, and the priorities will be centered on areas that can provide cost efficiencies, increase sales and also strengthen the relationship with a retailer’s customer base.

In the areas where retailers are planning to invest in technologies, Aberdeen found store operations and CRM initiatives would be a top priority.

© Jason Ryan Dorsey, The Gen Y Guy

Why should Ihire Gen Y? Employers ask me this question every day. Then they start in with their stories about people my age. One ofmy recent favorites: “I know all about employing your generation. Last year I hired a young guy right out of college. He had good grades and seemed like a hard worker. A week later I’m in the company bathroom and I hear him talking on his cell phone in a restroom stall. And his phone was on speaker! Even worse, he didn’t think he was doing anything wrong. He just kept talking and talking.”

Okay, I get it. My peers and I can be a little different when we enter the workplace (which is, on average, about 10 minutes later than you’d like).

NRF 2010, “Retail’s Big Show,” officially kicks off on Sunday, Jan.10 – but the hottest ticket at the show is a one-of-a-kind retail

Click here to download your FREE NRF Expo Pass.

research event scheduled for the day before, free to all retailers. Click here to register.

RetailROI Super Saturday is a research and networking event taking place at NRF2010, benefiting the Retail Orphan Initiative (Retail ROI), a charitable foundation established to help the 400 million orphaned and vulnerable children worldwide.

Though the Christmas countdown is in its final stages, it seems shoppers still have plenty of shopping left to do. According to NRF’s 2009 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, the average person had completed 46.7 percent of their holiday shopping by the second week of December, less than the 47.1 percent completed by this time last year. This is the lowest percentage since 2004, when the average person had completed 46.3 percent of their shopping by the same period.