What, exactly, is a "sample panel," and what will one look like tomorrow?

The holiday season has become a benchmark for the forward progress of online and mobile shopping activity. Pew has reported that 58% of cellphone owners used their phones in a store to get information to guide their shopping.

• 46% of cellphone owners used their phones to call a friend or family member for advice.
• 28% of cellphone owners used their phones to look up product reviews.

By Shaili Bhatt, Senior Analyst

In this era of over-sharing, curated storytelling is imperative. While many of us own and use smartphones as cameras, it's a challenge to remember to do something with the pictures and videos that we capture with these devices.

Many of us love to capture pictures and videos on our phones, and more often than not, we try to publish the most irresistible moments in our social galleries. (There's an undeniable sense of accomplishment when I can share my stories and memories--perhaps you can relate.)