"What got us here is not going to get us to the next level," says John Torella, senior partner at Toronto-based consulting firm J.C. Williams Co. "We're going to have to be better at everything we do. [Consumers] have so much choice and so little loyalty." International retailers pushing into North America, increasing consumer diversity and technology are all influencing consumer shopping patterns, he says.

Gift cards are increasingly becoming a standard present during the holidays. About $80 billion of them were bought last year, with a projected $151 billion to sell during next year's holiday season, says Kristen Dembowiak, director of American Express Stored Value Group's prepaid partnerships. "The spike that we see the day before Christmas is insane," she says.

And retailer fears that gift cards take a while to spend are, in part, unfounded, says Dembowiak, who's group is also the gift-card provider for such mall owners as CBL & Associates, Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust and Westfield Group. About 74% of all gift cards are spent by the end of January, she says, so it's important for stores to have their inventories replenished right after the holiday season.