Best Buy - Their commercials have a social-media tie-in. (Its YouTube channel offers behind-the-scenes footage of employees .) The retailer also has a robust Facebook presence, featuring several exclusive applications such as Hint Helper, Secret Santa, Idea Giftr and, coming soon, Christmas Morning Simulator. The Hint Helper will drop personalized hints to friends and family via a cookie placed on their computers. While Best Buy's application section is robust, it could do a better job of leading the conversation on Facebook, as opposed to simply responding to customer complaints. Still, when it comes to customer interaction, Best Buy has it down on Twitter. Its handles @bestbuy and @twelpforce.

eBay - The online retailer offers Delta flights, which earned plenty of mid-air tweets of appreciation. Those following eBay on Facebook or Twitter have also been rewarded with up-to-date sales and promotions data. On Facebook, eBay leads the conversation with sales news or by posting content from popular sites such as Chow. And its Twitter handles @ebay and @ebaydailydeal are completely holiday themed. The former supports the retailer's mobile boutique, which is popping up in 12 cities this holiday, and the latter gives out hints about its "12 Days of Deals" program, which features a new item with limited availability at a deep discount each day. Both Twitter feeds are streamed onto ebayholiday.com. Also, there are streams of texts and tweets featuring holiday gift wishes.

JC Penny - JCPenney uses its Facebook page as much for customer service as for marketing. When customers post complaints or praise to Penney's wall, the retailer jumps in to address them , offering personal assistance and thanking customers for posting their love for the brand. It occasionally posts video content and links to buyer guide CheapToday.com. Another tab on its Facebook page links to a follow-up to "Beware of the Doghouse," the 2008 video from Saatchi & Saatchi that drew millions of views, as well as a new website from North Kingdom. (The new "Doghouse" site is in itself a user-generated fest and users can post that content back on Facebook.) Fans can also participate in an online giving tree, and view designer collections and sale items. On Twitter, the brand tapped blogger and tweeter @SavvyAuntie to disseminate sweepstakes and sale items on Cyber Monday to her nearly 12,000 followers.

Toys 'R' us - With Shaquille O'Neal, Toys 'R' Us will donate $1 to a charity for every new Facebook fan. Shaq even tweeted about the promotion called the "Shaq-a-Claus" challenge -- to his more than 2.6 million followers. The brand also appeals to parental nostalgia on Facebook, providing audio and surveys on the old-school jingle "I don't want to grow up." Mixed in with callouts of discount products, polls have a substantial presence on the brand's wall, with queries on favorite board games or Disney characters. The page also contains coupons to use in the brick-and-mortar stores. On the customer-service front, Toys 'R' Us is an exemplar brand for responding to fans and managing customer reaction. On Twitter, the brand used tweets to drive traffic to Facebook with offers of online discounts for new fans. While the brand responded to a few customer tweets, next year they should Twitter more in this way.

Walmart - Since the last holidays, Walmart has gone from no holiday traffic from Twitter to being the most-visited retail site during Black Friday and Cyber Monday after Amazon. With nearly a dozen Twitter handles, the brand addresses topics from music to customer service and calls out deals online. The biggest retailer in the world dubbed the week following Thanksgiving "Cyber Week" and used social-media channels to drive traffic to its online specials. On Facebook, the brand features apps to support U.S. troops and generate wish lists, as well as sections that aggregate commercials and photos. While we can offer Walmart lots of advice for its social holiday next year -- get into the conversation on the comments wall; Facebook isn't a broadcast channel, it's a chance to foster conversation with customers. The brand does a good job with holiday-themed articles, such as "Using Leftovers," that offer advice and don't just shill