Retailers are using Twitter, Facebook and other social media means this holiday sesion to attract shoppers. About 47 percent of retailers are doing so, according to The New York Times.

This is America's first Twitter Christmas. How is that?

Basically, retailers and their customers are using this social networking site as a business tool to talk to one another about bargains, problems, purchases and shopping strategies. And for that, they are coming up with a Twitter plan. They designate tech-savvy employees to respond to the post, and sometimes they provide special deals and up-to-minute inventory information from a sales floor.

Some samples: Brands like Best Buy, J.C. Penney, Toys “R“ Us, Staples, Gap, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s and Barneys are using this emerging communication channel.

Why all this buzz around? Well, a Twitter post can be seen by millions, and that outperforms a e-mail message or a phone call to a store. It gives customers a practical way to ask questions or complain about something.

How does it work? From its password-protected page, each user searches for retailers to follow. Then, the chain's posts show up on the users' Twitter home page when they log in. And the systems allows users to send messages in other direction, so that a retailer's employees will see them.

To encourage usage, for instance, Gap Outlet offered 15 percent off purchases of $75 to those who decided to follow it. 

Retailers also use Facebook to interact with their customers, despite this community tool, with its photo albums and various applications, does not have the same immediacy as Twitter. A good example here is Best Buy's interactive Secret Santa application on its Facebook page.