The social engagement chops of luxury brands has become nothing to sniff at lately. We saw a few weeks ago where Burberry Group swept top honors in the FTSE 100 Social Media Index, landing the No. 1 brand on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. The high-end fashion label may have set the bar high, but that’s only because there’s a lot at stake in this corner of online retail.

As customer-reviews specialist Yelp proved yesterday in its first quarterly earnings report, all big acquisitions in our lives will start with asking the crowd first what they think or know of a particular merchant. Here in lies the promise – and challenge – for a social commerce sector that’s expected to top $30 billion in the next few years.

The silly season is back. This Friday starts the annual countdown to make-or-break-dom for retailers. Already I’m seeing plenty of #BlackFriday chatter, with Best Buy paying out handsomely for the most sought-after hashtag of the year. Days later, it will be #CyberMonday.

We’ve had a very positive response from our History of F-Commerce Infographic published last week and a number of you have asked if we could re-package it as a Slideshare presentation. Here it is in PowerPoint format.

Last week we noted the “Facebook effect” on digital advertising after it was reported the social network likely contributed £3 out of every £4 spent on social media marketing in the UK last year. Today, we see the “Facebook effect” holds true for retail too.

Another day, another newcomer to the daily deals market. After the New York Times and Axel Springer announced their own Groupon clones earlier this week, Microsoft is saying it too is getting in on the action with Bing deals.

Thanksgiving may be over, but the real fuss is just beginning. It looks like Christmas 2010 will go down as the first truly social media Christmas. How are big-name retailers using social media to beat out competitors today, Black Friday? We take a peek and give out the grades.

It’s no surprise that increasing numbers of retailers are establishing a presence in social media. The surprise lies in their reasons for going social – most say they were pushed into it by customers and rivals.

Whatever happened to Blockbuster? The movie-rental giant is closing stores in neighborhoods across the U.S., U.K. and parts of Europe, while online-only Netflix continues to flourish. The New York Times wraps up the story neatly today, pointing out Blockbuster failed to understand the market had moved beyond neighborhood stores. We look a bit closer and see another problem: a fraction of the public is talking up Blockbuster.

Facebook’s “Like” button is becoming much more than a thumbs-up seal of approval. Urban Outfitters is now integrating “Liking” into a social shopping experience to boost its already massive online following and growing online sales, which could also prove to be the next method of community crowdsourcing.