Ecommerce

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  Exciting Commerce // Unlimited

• Magento Matters: Vertical Versions Coming in Spring

  Jason Soo

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:59 pm

  As Roy Rubin announced during the Open Source debate last Tuesday at the Insight E-Commerce conference in Jena, Magento will bring to the market in 2010 the first vertical versions for specific industries.On this point, he had already given us a short statement at the Shop.org Summit in Las Vegas: It will be exciting to see which industries will be served by Magento and how specific these industry solutions can be, and in particular see how this could act as a diversification strategy for Magento.All statements on the future of Magento to be found centrally on YouTube.Originally posted in…

• PayPal X: PayPal Launches Platform For Third Party Apps

  Jason Soo

  4 Nov 2009 | 2:55 pm

  PayPal X, a platform announced in July, was launched today at PayPal’s developer conference Innovate 2009.Amongst other things, PayPal X enables integrating PayPal based payment systems into applications such as social networks. With PayPal X, users won’t have to go anymore to PayPal.com in order to make purchases from within online games or other web applications.At x.com one can find developer tools, sample code and documentation to the various PayPal APIs as well as other information. PlaySpan, a producer of platforms for virtual goods for games, already uses PayPal’s new…

• Magento Matters: Roy Rubin On The Magento Ecosystem

  Jason Soo

  2 Nov 2009 | 4:52 am

  As a run-up to the Meet Magento #2 conference, happening today in Frankfurt, Exciting Commerce’s Jochen Krisch had the opportunity at the Shop.org Summit to shotgun Roy Rubin with questions on the future of Magento. His most interesting answers are now on Youtube.While many still regard Magento as a mere shopping system, Magento considers itself as rather an e-commerce platform and as an ecosystem for e-commerce applications: Here, Roy Rubin shortly sums up again the Open Source vision from Magento and the developments to the current day: Roy Rubin further describes in the following…

• Deals.Woot!: Woot! Brings A Woot! for Bargain Hunters

  Jason Soo

  30 Oct 2009 | 5:10 pm

  At the Shop.org Summit in Las Vegas, Woot! founder Matt Rutledge announced Deals.Woot! And at AuctionBytes, there is already a first taste of the newest Woot! initiative that should be coming online soon: "Deals.Woot.com aggregates deals from other websites, and also allows its community of Wooters to submit deals and vote on the best ones. While Woot.com is a "daily deals" site, its new Deals.Woot.com website is an aggregator of daily deals - and it is inviting eBay PowerSellers and other online merchants to submit their deals to the site."For loyal followers of Exciting…

• GSI Grabs RueLaLa/SmartBargains for $350 Million

  Jason Soo

  28 Oct 2009 | 5:21 am

  Exciting e-commerce fusion in the US: For $350 million, GSI Commerce has taken over Retail Convergence, the operator of private shopping club Ruelala (approx. $100 million revenues) and the bargain shop Smartbargains (approx. $60 million revenues). GSI Commerce is a full service e-commerce provider serving large (fashion) brands.Besides the detailed press release, Internetretailer has a written up a good background article.We at Exciting Commerce commented recently on the changes occurring in the fashion industry, which is again underlined by this particular deal:“According to our…

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  E-Commerce Times

• 'Tis the Season for Safe Holiday Shopping

  Steve Bachenheimer

  7 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  While recent reports don't predict a major recovery for retailers this holiday season, the outlook for e-commerce sites is slightly more optimistic: 2009 will post an 18 percent increase in online holiday shopping over last year. For many consumers, though, the convenience of online shopping comes with a hefty price: their identity. Holidays are when the majority of online identity theft problems occur. The number of identity theft victims is likely to rise this year. There is little doubt that fraudsters can -- and will -- prey on online shoppers.

• Windows 7 Flies Off the Shelves

  Erika Morphy

  6 Nov 2009 | 11:14 am

  Sales of Microsoft's Windows 7 boxed software over the first three days of its release have vastly surpassed those of its predecessor, Vista, for the same time period, according new figures from the NPD Group. Specifically, NPD's weekly tracking service is reporting that Windows 7 software sales in the U.S. were 234 percent higher for those three days, compared with Vista's sales. Windows 7 revenue, however, was not as high for that initial period, amounting to only about 82 percent over revenue earned by Vista.

• Record-Shattering Opening Expected for Video War Game

  Barbara Ortutay

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:42 am

  This holiday season's biggest entertainment blockbuster likely will be a sequel to a popular franchise, with jarring depictions of war and an intricate story of good versus evil. It could easily rake in more than last year's record $155 million opening weekend for "The Dark Knight." But this blockbuster is not a movie. It is "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," a video game that Activision Blizzard is releasing Tuesday. Fans worldwide are expected to spend at least half a billion dollars on the game in the first week.

• Cisco Forecast Suggests Tempered Optimism for Tech Sector

  Jordan Robertson

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:21 am

  Cisco Systems doesn't want Wall Street to interpret its forecast for its first quarterly revenue growth in a year as evidence that the U.S. and other economies are roaring back. A slow improvement in orders is under way, but the pace is still slow and the recovery is fragile, executives told analysts Wednesday. "There's still uncertainty in the economy on a global basis," said Cisco CFO Frank Calderoni. "It's not completely back to normal levels, and with that kind of uncertainty, you really have to take things quarter by quarter."

• Southwest Doesn't Fool Around

  Erika Morphy

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  This week, I headed southwest as I continued making the rounds of travel-planning Web sites for the E-Commerce Times. My first impression of Southwest Airlines' Web site was that its online presence faithfully reflected its corporate persona: It looked to be a roll-up-your sleeves, no nonsense outfit. The top half of the page was devoted to promoting a new destination for the airline -- Milwaukee. Book now, the item urged -- and frankly, I was tempted, as the image beckoning to me was one of the most enticing Wisconsin views I've ever seen.

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  Shop.org Blog

• Holiday 2009: What shoppers want

  Fiona Swerdlow, Head of Research, Shop.org

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:15 am

  A few weeks ago, we released the results of the Shop.org eHoliday Study pre-holiday consumer and retailer surveys. Since there is so much to learn from this research (conducted for us by BIGresearch), I’ll be highlighting a few of the findings each week in November and December. I’ll start this holiday series with consumer thoughts in response to the question, “When choosing to make holiday purchases from a given online retailer, what is most important to you?” The number one response (yes, ahead of value or deals, merchant reputation, product selection and myriad other factors):…

• Holiday ‘09 is off and running

  Fiona Swerdlow, Head of Research, Shop.org

  4 Nov 2009 | 2:38 pm

  With pumpkins and candy a rapidly fading memory, the holiday rush is officially upon us.  According to the BIGresearch Consumer Intentions and Actions survey conducted for the NRF last month, fully 44% of online consumers started their holiday shopping before the end of October, and another third will be starting their shopping this month. Knowing that it’s all about making the best of the season in a tough year, Josh Greene, Shop.org’s VP of Member Services, recently sent to Shop.org members a summary of the many holiday resources available.  If you haven’t already done so, please…

• Shop.org Webinars – One of Our Best and Next Up

  Artemis Ebneyousef, Content Manager, Shop.org

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:12 am

  More than 1500 Shop.org Members have registered for Shop.org Members Only Webinars since we began the program 16 months ago. Our VP of Content, Larry Joseloff and I have been running this webinar series as an additional member benefit and are excited about all of the great moderators, speakers, and sponsoring companies we have been able to work with. We even have a ‘Call for Topics’ for those of you that want us to submit a topic you would like us to cover in one of our webinars next year. This year we have had EIGHT webinars and have two more planned over the next several weeks.

• Global E-Commerce Summits Hightlights Part 2

  Scott Silverman, Executive Director, Shop.org

  30 Oct 2009 | 6:12 am

  Below are more highlights from the Global E-Commerce Summit, which was held October 26-28 in Monaco and where digital retail executives from more than 20 countries convened to learn, explore and network. Click here for pictures from the event. Kate Terry, EVP Global Ecommerce, Tommy Hilfiger USA. Kate, who has deep e-commerce experience from companies such as Coach, Polo and Kate Spade is in a newly created position, EVP, Global E-Commerce, based in Amsterdam.  This new role combines global e-commerce and marketing for the direct  business, which had been separate prior to Kate joining. …

• Global E-Commerce Summit Day 1 Morning Session

  Scott Silverman, Executive Director, Shop.org

  27 Oct 2009 | 11:05 am

  Today was the first full day of the 2nd annual Global E-Commerce Summit held in the amazing Grimaldi Forum in beautiful Monaco.  Below are highlights from the morning sessions. Click here for pictures from the event. François Momboisse Vice President of EMOTA and Susanne Czech, Secretary General of EMOTA, opened the Summit and shared data on European and French e-commerce: Europe is expecting 12% e-commerce growth in 2009 French e-commerce is up 25% in 2009 Average order value is down 23.5 million online buyers in France, which is up 44% in the last 3 years C2C commerce such as eBay and…

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  Web Marketing with Ed Rivis

• Paging David Watson!

  Ed

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:19 am

  I’m trying to contact a U.K. based software developer and Internet Marketer by the name of David Watson, creator of Website Headline Wizard Software. If you know David and can put me in touch with him, please contact me. Or, if you ARE David Watson then please get in touch a.s.a.p. - I’ve got a business proposition for you! Thanks, Ed.

• My first ever Workshop - delegates speak!

  Ed

  3 Nov 2009 | 4:21 pm

  Last week I ran my first ever live web marketing workshop. I’ve been speaking for other companies at various seminars and live events around the country, and for more than 2 years, but I’ve never put my own event on… until last week that is. Since then, quite a few people have been asking me how my first ever live workshop went. Most people wished me well but I have the sneaky feeling one or two people were secretly wondering if I’d make a right royal mess of it! Well, at the event some of my delegates were given the opportunity to speak openly to the camera that…

• Revealed: My Write a Book in 7 days Secret Weapon.

  Ed

  12 Oct 2009 | 8:14 am

  On Friday I explained the 5-Step process I used to take my second book from concept to publication in less than 7 days of contiguous personal effort and without using a ghost-writer. If you missed that then click here for the full article. However, to quickly recap the first four steps… Mind-map the table of contents and add extra ‘levels’ for sub-headings. Talk through the mind-map and record it all as MP3 audio Send the MP3 audio off for transcription. Choose a title and outsource cover design If you know your subject matter well — and as a business owner I’m…

• Become a published author in less than 7 days…

  Ed

  9 Oct 2009 | 6:34 am

  Do you ever dream of becoming a published author? Apparently many people do, but very few ever achieve it. I think that’s one of the main reasons why authors are so revered and lauded in our society… to many people it seems like an unreachable goal. In fact many times over the last few years — and especially since I became an author — I’ve heard a lot of people say “I could never write a book… I just don’t have enough time/money/knowledge”. The thing is, having just spent less than 7 days in total writing my new book, I now know that…

• My new book PRE-launches at 11 am today

  Ed

  1 Oct 2009 | 1:19 am

  My new book E-Mail Marketing Dynamite pre-launches at 11am today. By ‘pre-launch’ I mean it’s about 3 weeks away from being publicly listed on sites like Amazon but everyone who has signed up here gets an email from me at 11am today with the chance to pre-order a copy of the book for just the cost of postage and packing (meaning you get it FREE) and also given instant access to a private website where you can download the digital version. If you want to grab a free copy of my book then make sure you sign up asap. All my best, Ed Rivis, author of E-Mail Marketing Dynamite and…

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  eCommerce and Entrepreneurship Blog

• Time Management: A Fresh(er) Look at Some Classic Tips

  2 Nov 2009 | 10:15 am

  I came a cross an article in The Wholesaler about time management and thought that I would share some thoughts on a few of the points that Peter Schor listed in his article . First, here’s a link to the online version: The Wholesaler, page 32. Most of his points are pretty obvious, but some of them really stuck out to me. The Never-ending Inbox In the article he states “E-mailing — Block off times to process your e-mail. Twice per day should be sufficient. Avoid the temptation to check e-mail frequently.” In an eCommerce company I know the first thing I thought about…

• A Day in the Life of an Entrepreneur? A Picture Blog on Halloween

  30 Oct 2009 | 4:12 pm

  You have to love a day of the year when it is pretty much a requirement to dress up. However, that day becomes so much better when your place of work cuts back the dress code and lets all of the employees dress up to their hearts content (work appropriate of course). Wearing your Halloween costume to work has become a staple of life at the Gordian Project, this year being no exception. Over half of the office dressed up to celebrate, Zach barbecued, all the Michael Jacksons danced, Vanessa roller skated, and there was no shortage of hot dog jokes. Needless to say some hilarity ensued,…

• Integrating Open Source Software Into a Work Environment

  29 Oct 2009 | 8:14 am

  I am a fan of open source software.  The main characteristic of open source software is that the source code is freely published.  This contributes to the success of the programs in many ways: the code is available for modification making it flexible, users are able to collaborate to correct defects, authors are more likely to stand behind their claims (because the code can be read), oh and it’s typically free.  Linux (Ubuntu) is my main desktop operating system at home and on my personal laptop. But as many open source enthusiasts I use Windows at work, but of course, I…

• Experimenting with Multivariate Testing from A Merchant’s Perspective

  28 Oct 2009 | 8:27 am

  A couple of months ago our awesome Adwords team was able to hook us up with five free hours of assistance from a third party to help train and setup Google Website Optimizer tests. We had mentioned to them that we were interested in trying some tests but did not have much experience in doing so and through that conversation they were able to help get us resources to get started. Looking back (as we are collecting the final data from our first test) having that help was invaluable. With that in mind I wanted to share the steps we took with the third party to get things going before our first…

• Why Human Resources Should Read the Company Blog

  27 Oct 2009 | 10:23 am

  If you’ve spent any time reading though the eCommerce and Entrepreneurship blog, you’ve seen the difficulties the company engages in. These “journal entries” of sorts, are an opportunity for our employees to express what hardships they’ve gone through and what positive and negative outcomes come from their experiences. The blog is a legitimate forum for venting, learning, growing and sharing; aka an HR manager’s best friend. Everyone’s blog entries have enough of their personal stories laced through them that these entries become a useful means for HR…

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  Retail eCommerce Blog

• Google’s Philippine Business Stimulus Package – An initiative to promote online marketing

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:41 am

  Google has stepped in to help Philippine businesses make their presence felt online. The Philippine Business Stimulus Package, consists of Web design package as well as P2000 worth of Google AdWords credits The package also includes tutorials on the basics of marketing, Website maintenance and Google technologies. The whole package has been designed and executed with the help of partner institutions and organizations such as STI, GoNegosyo, the Philippine Marketing Association, CITEM (Center... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Ignore Meta Keywords: Google's Official Announcement

  3 Nov 2009 | 10:14 pm

  Yes, Google is no longer considering Meta keywords as a critical factor in search rankings, though other on-page elements such as the title, description and so on are still vital elements in terms of SEO. Google has stated that they use over 200 factors to determine rankings, but keyword tags are not one of them. Check this video to know more... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• SEO Scams – Be Aware, Stay Clear

  30 Oct 2009 | 5:34 am

  Scam is an attempt to deceive a person or an entity by gaining full confidence, and it is a word that people want to steer clear off. SEO scams have no other meaning than cheating or swindling an online business owner or a website owner by providing dubious SEO services.  In the early days of search engines when AltaVista and Yahoo were ruling the search engine market, SEO was in its infancy but SEO scams were still prevalent but the numbers weren’t so alarming. Once SEO techniques... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Retail-eCommerce.com gets a fresh look

  26 Oct 2009 | 7:04 am

  Hello Visitor, The Retail eCommerce blog is owned by Mobius Knowledge Services, a solution provider for online retailers, comparison shopping engines and other online businesses. Our blog has undergone a major change in terms of its look and feel, but the navigation is the same. If you are a regular visitor to this blog, hope you like the change, and if you are visiting us for the first time, welcome to our blog. You’ll find blog posts/articles pertaining to the following... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Boost your holiday sales – Convert browsers to buyers

  8 Oct 2009 | 2:49 am

  The holiday shopping season is just round the corner, but before you hit that road, you must work on your SEO to boost your natural search traffic and revenue. Lisa Wehr over at practicalecommerce.com has provided a few great tips on how to boost your holiday sales for this shopping season. I am more than happy to share her views with my visitors. According to Lisa, apart from initiating fresh keyword mining, starting pay-per-click campaigns and going in for link building, you must also... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

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  E-Commerce Law

• Eastern District of Missouri Applies Section 230 in Dismissing Civil Conspiracy Claim

  Jonathan Frieden

  22 Oct 2009 | 3:34 pm

  In Cornelius v. Deluca, 2009 WL 2568044 (E.D. Mo. Aug. 18, 2009), the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri granted defendants' Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss on the grounds that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 barred the plaintiffs' civil conspiracy claim.  Plaintiffs, who manufacture nutraceuticals, filed a state court lawsuit against a number of defendants, including the operator of the www.bodybuilding.com website (the "Website"), which arose from the posting of allegedly libelous statements about the plaintiffs and their products on the…

• E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of October 12, 2009

  Jonathan Frieden

  19 Oct 2009 | 2:04 pm

  Yahoo has settled a click fraud suit.Facebook and Twitter IN, MySpace OUT.Each weekend, E-Commerce Law Briefs provides a brief summary and commentary on recent legal news affecting e-commerce businesses.

• E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of October 5, 2009

  Jonathan Frieden

  13 Oct 2009 | 6:30 am

  Amazon's new Kindle can wirelessly download books in the United States and more than 100 other countries.AT&T has announced that it will permit iPhone users to use Internet calling services like Skype on its wireless network.Each weekend, E-Commerce Law Briefs provides a brief summary and commentary on recent legal news affecting e-commerce businesses.

• A Dozen iPhone Apps for Lawyers

  Jonathan Frieden

  7 Oct 2009 | 7:12 am

  When the iPhone 3GS was released earlier this year, I broke down and purchased one.  It has turned out to be one of my favorite technology purchases and I've found it incredibly useful for business.   I act as outside general counsel for a number of e-commerce businesses (ranging from small start ups to some of the largest and most established companies in the industry) and my practice entails both counseling and litigation, so I'm often out of the office (or out of town) in court when my clients need to reach me.  My iPhone lets me stay in contact with my clients wherever I am and acts…

• E-Commerce Law Briefs: Week of September 28, 2009

  Jonathan Frieden

  5 Oct 2009 | 7:00 am

  The United States Secret Service is investigating the Facebook poll asking if President Obama should be assassinated.People spend 17 percent of their Internet time on social networking sites, up from 6 percent a year ago.The iPhone may be hurting AT&T's brand.  On an unrelated note, new iPhone apps help track climate change and sex offenders.Each weekend, E-Commerce Law Briefs provides a brief summary and commentary on recent legal news affecting e-commerce businesses.

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  Shopify Blog - Home

• Application Link Icons

  edward

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am

  Thanks to a suggestion from one of our fine developers, application links can now have icons. To set an application link’s icon, click the “Choose an icon” link in the app’s edit screen: A screen then appears, showing the entire Silk icon set from famfamfam. Select one of these by clicking on it. After selecting an icon, it’ll appear right away: Save the changes made to the app, and the icon will appear next to the link in your users’ admins:

• Buyer Contact Email Now Templated

  edward

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am

  To let you work faster when notifying buyers, Shopify now uses a template to prepare the email you send when clicking on “Email Buyer” from an order screen. That means you can set up a form-letter that has the usual stuff and personalize it before it’s sent. To use the new buyer contact form template, first click on it in your shop Admin section’s Email & Notifications section: Then edit the template to include the usual text you use in emails to buyers: Now when you send a buyer an email, ... the templated parts appear already filled in:

• Promote Your Products with Google Product Search Integration

  Jesse

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:30 am

  We are proud to announce that Shopify now integrates with Google Product Search (formerly Google Base). Using this free service is a great way to increase product promotion and discovery. We recommend every eligible Shopify store to opt in to this service for optimal exposure. Google Product Search Google Product Search is part of Google Base, an online database provided by Google into which any user can add almost any type of content, such as products. Google Product Search functions as a comparison shopping engine allowing people to search for products and find results from many different…

• CrossFit

  Daniel

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

• The Golden Dwarf

  Daniel

  29 Oct 2009 | 6:00 am

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  Get Elastic Ecommerce Blog

• Every Second Counts: How Website Performance Impacts Shopper Behavior

  Linda Bustos

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:03 am

  An under-performing site has serious consequences to revenue – online and across channels. Today’s shoppers have high expectations when it comes to buying online. Websites which take too long to load can result in negative brand perception, diminished goodwill and a significant loss in overall sales. In our recent webinar Every Second Counts: How Website Performance Impacts Shopper Behavior, we explored the findings of a new study by Forrester Research on behalf of Akamai which has identified two seconds as the new threshold for acceptable web page response times. The Impact Of Poor…

• Displaying Search Results: Grid View or List View?

  Linda Bustos

  4 Nov 2009 | 3:05 am

  One of the testing ideas covered in the webinar Best Ecommerce Tests — Case Studies & Practical Advice to Raise Conversions Before the Holidays is grid view vs. list view in search results. We know from eye-tracking and search engine behavior studies that, when presented with a list of search results, people often click the first result – paying attention to the top 3 or so. Rarely do folks click to the next page (past the 10th result). Online stores may present search results in list view or grid view (grid view is more common on category result pages). Some e-stores offer both…

• The Importance of Site Performance

  Linda Bustos

  2 Nov 2009 | 3:42 am

  Site Performance: The Need for Speed In a 2006 study on site abandonment (.pdf) conducted by Jupiter Research on behalf of Akamai, 28% of online shoppers claimed they would not wait longer than 4 seconds for a page to load before leaving a site. This equated to 33% of broadband customers and 19% of dialup. Though broadband customers had higher expectations for page load speed, even 45% of dialup users were unwilling to wait more than 6 seconds for a page to load. Online power shoppers who spend more than $1500 online are more likely to demand fast loading pages (55% vs. 40% of shoppers who…

• November Webinar Correction and Update

  Linda Bustos

  2 Nov 2009 | 1:06 am

  My apologies to all our Get Elastic readers, I got a little mixed up about our upcoming webinar this week on site performance Every Second Counts: How Website Performance Impacts Shopper Behavior with Margaret Rivera of Akamai. I had the date correct as November 4, but posted this morning that the webinar would happen tomorrow (Tuesday) when it will in fact happen on Wednesday, 9am PST / 12pm EST. The second correction is regarding the free copy of the research, which has not been confirmed. So make it up to you I’m going to post one heckuva detailed webinar recap on GetElastic.com,…

• Bloggers Digest: October 2009

  Linda Bustos

  30 Oct 2009 | 4:06 am

  If you’re new here, welcome to Get Elastic. Bloggers Digest is our monthly ritual that highlight posts from other blogs that are of value and interest to online retailers and Internet marketers. Miss this month’s webinars? Catch the on-demand replays: Ecommerce best practices for the Telco industry Best Ecommerce Tests — Case Studies & Practical Advice to Raise Conversions Before the Holidays If you’ve just discovered Get Elastic in the last year, check out our Halloween fun posts the Ghoulgle (see the comments for funny captions) and Online Retailers Dressed Up For the…

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  Practical eCommerce Articles

• The PeC Review: MyBuys Personal Recommendations

  Armando Roggio

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:20 pm

  Offering shoppers personalized product recommendations can increase conversion rates and profits while fending off shopping cart abandonment. Onsite product merchandising—the idea of cross-, up-, and down-selling to shoppers—is a potent tool for ecommerce marketers that often takes the form of product recommendations. But personalizing (and optimizing) product recommendations— based on a relationship with your customers—transforms this already effective marketing tactic into a surefire profit maker. Imagine, for example, a 42-year-old man shopping on an apparel site for suits.

• Cart of the Week: AdVantShop.NET

  Kate Monteith

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:41 am

  There are more than 350 online shopping carts. And each week we feature one, interviewing both the cart's developer and a customer. "Cart of the Week" is not a review or an evaluation, but rather an opportunity to learn about a shopping cart from the people who build it and use it. This week, we'll hear from Kamil Kalimullin, chief executive of ITM Company Ltd., a software company based in Ulyanovsk, Russia. The company produces AdVantShop.NET, an ecommerce shopping cart with nearly 500 users. We'll also hear from an AdVantShop.NET user, Suhail Husain, CEO and co-owner of Zebaish Boutique, an…

• Payments-R-Us and Page Mage Introduced; MailChimp Announces New Features

  Kevin Patrick Allen

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:34 pm

  MailChimp, the self-service email marketing firm, has announced new features to its platform. Page Mage, a third-party eBay listing service, has just launched, as has Payments-R-Us.com, an informational site to help merchants choose between thousands of credit card merchant account providers. Email Targeting MailChimp now allows its customers to segment their email marketing lists based on purchase activity (product purchase, amount spent, or product category). Another new feature of MailChimp is email targeting based on subscriber engagement. For example, a MailChimp customer can send a…

• Lessons Learned: Will Seippel of GoAntiques

  Kate Monteith

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:32 pm

  "Lessons Learned" is a series where we ask ecommerce business owners to share their experiences and advice. For this installment, we interviewed William (Will) Seippel, CEO and chairman of WorthPoint, the parent company of GoAntiques, a subscription-based information service for antique dealers based in Dublin, Ohio. According to Seippel, GoAntiques is the oldest antique mall on the Internet. "GoAntiques was in some financial disarray and their owners had planned to close it down at the end of 2008," said Seippel. "I thought I could get GoAntiques profitable and actually improve the quality…

• Quick Query: NearbyNow Retools for the Recession

  Practical eCommerce Staff

  4 Nov 2009 | 6:48 pm

  Running a business is challenging in the best of economic climates, but during a recession it can be especially trying. Scott Dunlap, CEO of NearbyNow, understands that. NearbyNow was founded in 2005 to simplify shopping for consumers who browse online but buy in physical stores. The business was showing solid growth until the recession. That's when Dunlap and his colleagues had to rethink their business model. For this "Quick Query" we talked with Dunlap about the experience. Practical eCommerce: Your business has undergone a lot of change in the past couple of years. Can you talk about what…

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  InternetNews.com Ecommerce News

• Coupon Site Targets Black Friday, Cyber Monday

  RetailMeNot said it's ready to deliver the best "Black Friday" deals to consumers this holiday season.

• eBay, Skype Founders Settle Fight

  The ownership brawl over the VoIP player's peer-to-peer technology finally draws to an end -- who's left standing?

• Google Brings Enterprise Search to E-Tailers

  Commerce Search product aims to improve customer experience, boost sales conversion rates.

• Apple Claims 100,000 Apps, Google Analyzes Them

  Apple continues to lead in bragging rights for smartphone apps, while Google expands its free Web analytics for mobile developers.

• Google Friend Connect Gets Personal

  The Internet giant fosters community -- and more opportunities to make cash -- with a significant upgrade to its social Web service.

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  Actinic Ecommerce News

• Customers, Who Wants Them?

  28 Oct 2009 | 9:41 am

  The customer is always right, but are they the right customer? asks Chris Barling.

• What You Need To Know About Protecting Your Intellectual Property

  26 Oct 2009 | 2:32 pm

  How to protect your vital intellectual assets against theft.

• Good Neighbors Can Make a Difference At The Local Level, Says Yahoo

  16 Oct 2009 | 4:13 pm

  Yahoo Neighbours could help small businesses - if it ever sees the light of day.

• Digg For Victory: Improve Your Social Networking To Get Real Results

  16 Oct 2009 | 4:11 pm

  Practical tips to help you get more sales via social networking.

• Do Product Reviews "Pay"?

  13 Oct 2009 | 8:57 am

  Customer reviews can be bad as well as good. Should businesses use them?

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  eMarketer Articles

• The Changing Mobile Social Ad Space

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pm

  Justin Siegel Co-Founder and CEO MocoSpace

• Bloggers and (Personal) Brand-Building

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pm

  Gaining visibility as thought leaders

• eMarketer Cuts Through the Mobile Penetration Hype

  4 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pm

  Users versus subscriptions

• Online Reaches Parity for Used-Car Shopping

  4 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pm

  Click, click, vroom

• Gen Y Holds Tight to E-Mail and Texting

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pm

  Critical for communication

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  Practical eCommerce Podcasts

• Cynthia Snyder of Yonder Star Christmas Shop

  Practical eCommerce

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:36 pm

  Cynthia Snyder is the founder of Yonder Star Christmas Shop, a Pennsylvania-based online seller of Christmas Nativity scenes. Snyder launched the business in 2000 using a Yahoo! shopping cart. She joins Practical eCommerce's Kerry Murdock to discuss the business's history and its current operations.

• Help Non-Profits and They Help You

  Practical eCommerce

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:26 pm

  Things are tight for everyone right now, including non-profits. For a donation, many local groups, especially team sports, will help you with time-consuming projects such as taking inventory, washing windows, or cleaning company vehicles. If they don’t ask, you can suggest it. It is a great solution for both organizations because everyone wins.

• AdVantShop .NET User Suhail Husain of Zebaish Boutique

  Practical eCommerce

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:11 pm

  Suhail Husain is the CEO and co-owner of Zebaish Boutique, a Fort Worth, Tex.-based store that sells traditional Indian and Pakistani styles of casual and dress clothing for women, men and children. In this "Cart of the Week" supplement, Husain talks about why he chose AdVantShop .NET shopping cart, and how the company has overcome the challenges of marketing Asian clothing in the U.S.

• Include Expert Testimonials

  Practical eCommerce

  5 Nov 2009 | 2:28 pm

  Customer testimonials and user-generated product reviews are great to provide reassurance for your online store. But, also try to go one step further by posting any ‘expert’ testimonials or product reviews. An example might be, ‘The head groundsman at Wimbledon recommends this lawn mower…’ and include actual quotes from the expert.

• Will Seippel of GoAntiques

  Practical eCommerce

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:45 pm

  William (Will) Seippel is CEO and chairman of WorthPoint, the parent company of GoAntiques, a subscription-based information service for antique dealers. In this "Lessons Learned" supplement, Seippel talks about his educational and business backgrounds, and explains how he came to purchase GoAntiques.

• 
  ComparisonEngines

• Become Launches Holiday Section

  Brian Smith

  4 Nov 2009 | 12:48 pm

  Looks like Become gave it’s developers Sunday off and launched its holiday section on Monday. Holiday features of Become include: -Holiday gift guides -Black Friday deals -Free shipping offers -Holiday shopping tips Really happy to see one of the shopping engines talking about Black Friday! The shopping tips section isn’t really about the holidays, but still should be highlighted. Become has a ton of buying guide content. Some of it is there for the search engines, but I also found a lot of valuable information.

• Anyone Attending Pubcon Vegas?

  Brian Smith

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:15 am

  Still debating if I should go to Pubcon. If there are enough data feed lovers attending, I’d make the quick trip. Comment or email me (brian at comparisonengines dot com).

• Holiday Shopping Begins!

  Brian Smith

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:04 am

  Kudos to Yahoo! Shopping to be the first of the major shopping engines to start holiday merchandising! I consider November 1 to be the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Halloween out. Holidays in. Yahoo! Shopping has a number of great features (new and old) that help consumers make smart buying decisions. I got lost in a sea of buying guides, most popular products lists, expert research, lots of coupons, and more. Will cover in an upcoming post.

• CIT Files for Bankruptcy

  Brian Smith

  1 Nov 2009 | 11:30 pm

  Over the summer I wrote about CIT’s potential bankruptcy. While a bailout helped it survive the last quarter, CIT officially filed for Chapter 11 protection today. CIT is an essential part of the small business world. As we look to the holiday shopping season, if merchants or their supply chain can’t get credit, it’s just going to get ugly out there. CIT’s spin says that the pre-packaged bankruptcy will make everything ok, but I’m not buying the story. And unfortunately, if small businesses look for new lenders, that’s probably not going to be so easy, as…

• Last Minute Webinar Notice for Yahoo! Store Owners

  Brian Smith

  21 Oct 2009 | 8:56 am

  If you use Yahoo! Store and want some introductory info about data feeds, reviews, and email marketing, Fast Pivot is running a webinar which starts at 10am PT today. SingleFeed, PowerReviews, and Top Right will be presenting. Basic, but good foundational information. If you use Yahoo! as your ecommerce platform, sign up now. Oh, and by the way, Yahoo! has been running some foundational webinars to get their merchants ready for the holidays.

• 
  Groove Commerce eCommerce Blog

• Design 1, 2, 3: Better Form To Increase Magazine Subscriptions

  Recently, larger-than-life magazine house Condé Nast has nixed several publications and laid off staffers. Their Vogue September 2009 issue’s ad content was down 50% from last year. That equates to a lot of money lost. It’s a continual trend that print publications ad pages and subscriptions are tanking. And now ...

• The Newly Redesigned JoS. A. Bank eCommerce Website - My Personal Review

  Maryland-based JoS. A. Bank recently launched a redesign of their eCommerce website - JosBank.com. Given the fact that JoS. A. Bank is a Maryland company and the fact that I’m a big fan of their clothes (and sales), I decided to take a look at their recently redesigned website ...

• Going Global With Your eCommerce Site

  I was watching Squawk Box this morning with guest host Ted Leonsis, Vice Chairman Emeritus of AOL, and he threw out a figure on worldwide internet users and its effect on the global economy.  While I wasn't quick enough to write down the exact figures, the point was that North ...

• Baltimore’s Kooper’s Tavern Harnessing Social Media to Help Others Chow Down

  While many businesses are still chomping at the bit to understand social media, one local Baltimore company has proved you can taste success through developing a social following. Kooper’s Tavern out of Fells Point began its “Chowhound Burger Wagon” service this summer and slowly but surely has developed a loyal ...

• Usable: Do you want to hire a statistic or an expert?

  95% of all statistics are made up. The saying above is a tongue and cheek reference to a very real phenomenon: people’s willingness to fudge the truth in order to prove their point. If I’m arguing for something and say, it’s proven that 32% of people don’t like xyz, it’s harder ...

• 
  Palmer Web Marketing

• Getting Personal with your Customers

  Justin Palmer

  1 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pm

  Most online transactions are fast, efficient, and completely lacking human contact. Why not shock your customers once in a while with a truly personal online experience? Below are 13 ways to get personal (in a good way) with your customers. Shock your first time customers by calling them within a day of their order. Ask them for feedback and thank them for their support. Post online profiles of everyone at the company, but ditch the boring executive bios. Instead post profiles from the rank and file, the people who actually interact with your customers on a daily basis. The profiles will…

• Breaking the Cycle of Website Redesigns

  Justin Palmer

  27 Sep 2009 | 6:13 pm

  Website redesigns are expensive, time-consuming, and hugely popular. Why? Because unlike website optimization, they’re tangible and exciting. You clearly see the end result. In my observation, companies redesign their website’s quite frequently, typically following a predictable pattern: The Website Redesign Cycle Company creates website Company grows tired of website, and realizes it doesn’t meet all of their needs Company redesigns website, addresses some of the weaknesses, but damages features that worked perfectly, annoying customers accustomed to the old site Repeat…

• What Offline Can Teach Online

  Justin Palmer

  14 Sep 2009 | 10:20 am

  In the early days, online retail built itself upon the foundation of convenience and value. It was easier to buy online, and many times cheaper. With the astonishing growth of e-commerce, and the unique combination of an always on store with relatively low overhead, some online store owners would assume they’ve got a leg up on their offline counterparts. On the contrary, I would argue we can learn much from the offline world. After all, with hundreds of years of experience, traditional retailers are in many ways much more polished than their online counterparts. Here’s 7 pointers…

• 6 Lessons from 1600% Growth

  Justin Palmer

  7 Sep 2009 | 10:33 am

  For the last several years, I’ve had the privilege of directing the e-commerce site for C28, an online Christian clothing store. In the last 3 1/2 years, we’ve been fortunate to experience a 1600% increase in sales. I’ve recently been reflecting on lessons I’ve learned through this exciting but tumultuous experience. What follows is a list of 6 lessons I’ve learned, often the hard way. I hope these lessons are helpful to your business as well. Lesson #1: Serve your Customers Offensively All businesses give lip service to good customer service, and yet few are…

• The Internet Marketing Toolbox

  Justin Palmer

  23 Aug 2009 | 6:41 pm

  For those not mechanically inclined, looking through a toolbox can be overwhelming. It’s frustrating when something is broken, but you’re not sure which tool to use. Such is the problem for many online business’ when gazing into the vast array of tools available in internet marketing. As with any tool, the internet marketing tactics are best when used for their intended purpose. Despite what any consultant says, there is no one web marketing tactic that works for everyone, in all situations. Below is a guide to help you choose the proper tools for your unique marketing…

• 
  Comparison Shopping Engine Strategies

• Comparison Shopping Holiday Rate Increase Round Up

  Mark Vandegrift

  30 Oct 2009 | 11:09 am

  'Tis the season for comparison shopping rate increases. We have a whitepaper available for download with a review of the changes engines have made this year as well as details on what rate changes engines will be making this holiday season. We've consolidated a snapshot the rate change info onto a single page of the ChannelAdvisor Strategy and Support Center. We'll continue to update as we get more information, particularly in the UK where we only have confirmation in a few cases.2009 Comparison Shopping Holiday Rate Changes

• Part II/II - m-commerce strategies - next gen CSEs hit the mobile scene

  scot wingo

  29 Oct 2009 | 10:07 pm

  This is part II of a II part series that I call 'm-commerce strategies for retailers'.  The two parts are: Part I -  m-commerce backgrounder that lives here Part II - Next gen m-commerce CSEs (you are here) There have been many CSEs on the mobile platforms that pretty much replicate the desktop web experience on the smartphone platforms.  The use case is you are out shopping and you can use the CSE to see what's available on the web vs. your local store.  There are some that attempt to do local as well, but in my experience nobody does that very well because of the inventory system…

• Part I/II - m-commerce strategies for retailers - m-commerce backgrounder

  scot wingo

  27 Oct 2009 | 9:30 pm

  This is part I of a II part series that I call 'm-commerce strategies for retailers'.  The two parts are: Part I -  m-commerce backgrounder Part II - Next gen m-commerce CSEs At shop.org this year and in many other conversations with retailers, m-commerce has become a hot topic.  The success of the iPhone and it's application platform have capture the minds of consumers and retailers a-like.  Google's Android system is nascent, but with a slew of new manufacturers and networks coming on board, set to be a solid challenger to the iPhone.  Thus there will be a world with three + smartphone…

• Sears Testing Integration with Shop.com

  Mark Vandegrift

  18 Oct 2009 | 9:11 pm

  Last month on sister blog Amazon Strategies, initial insight into what Sears is planning in terms of marketplace expansion was revealed. It appears that Sears has continued to move forward, at least on the CPC side, as they are currently beta testing an integration with Shop.com. In the current configuration, third party retailer offers appears in results next to products sold by Sears Holding's brands. From running a few queries, tt appears the third party offers are listed after the native listings unless the Sears offerings relevance is extremely poor. Sears brands are always perched atop…

• Shopzilla EU Sites Mirror Bizrate Designs

  Mark Vandegrift

  12 Oct 2009 | 8:17 am

  Shopzilla UK, DE and FR have changed their designs to directly mirror that of the Bizrate sites. The Shopzilla US site does not appear to have changed at all and is still quite different from the Bizrate US home page.The changes suggest that perhaps the burden of maintaining two different sites is more trouble than it's worth for Shopzilla in Europe. Similar layouts would certainly make site maintenance easier, as well as standardize the display advertising inventory. Though the layouts are the same, the order of categories and other content is not identical between the Shopzilla and Bizrate…

• 
  Kelsey Group Blogs

• Angie’s List Adds First ‘National’ Vertical: Classic and Custom Cars

  Peter Krasilovsky

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:17 am

  Following the success of eBay Motors with special classic and custom car restoration verticals, other sites have pitched their own tents to get a piece of the $2 billion annual business, including AutoTrader and The New York Times.  Now comes Angie’s List. Angie’s List, based in Indianapolis and boasting over one million members, actually has some street cred in the auto world by sponsoring the Indy 500. It says the classic/custom car restoration category is worth $2 billion a year.  “Custom and classic car owners will go to the ends of the Earth to find the one…

• Happy Droid Day (and recommended reading)

  Mike Boland

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:14 am

  November 6th has been highly anticipated within gadget geek circles over the past few weeks, as the public release of Motorola’s Droid. It is made by Motorola, runs on Verizon’s network, and is the first to be powered by the newest release (2.0) of Google’s Android operating system. And by the way, it looks pretty sleek. I haven’t touched one yet but plan to get my hands on it soon. Meanwhile, I’d recommend TechCrunch’s review which calibrates itself to a familiar point of reference: the iPhone. Speaking of which, there has been the requisite load of…

• Village Voice Rebrands National Network; Focuses on Cross Media

  Peter Krasilovsky

  5 Nov 2009 | 11:43 am

  Village Voice Media, the large media company that includes 14 alternative weeklies, is rebranding its national network, which represents 50 alt weekly titles, as the name shifts from Ruxton Media to Voice Media Group. As part of the rebranding, It is also refocusing national advertisers on its cross media appeal, which delivers  entertainment-centric young urbanites via its  print properties,  100 online destination sites and verticals, email and txt messages. It also provides advertisers with local reps that can appear at fairs, special events etc. Village Voice Media COO and…

• The Angry Plumber: ‘Don’t Misappropriate My Online Listing!’

  Peter Krasilovsky

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:33 am

  A flurry of business lead services have cropped up, each a variation on the model that has been successfully developed by ServiceMagic and others. They basically provide a directory, information, leads and marketing services. One of the new crop of lead services is HelpHive in Seattle, which recently launched and was profiled here. It provides a basic directory. It also provides several tiers of SMB services (including customizeable home pages, leads, SEO, multiple ways of contacting businesses, and free video). HelpHive, however, has inadvertently brewed some controversy by putting in a…

• MSN’s Cyrus Krohn: The New Local Focus

  Peter Krasilovsky

  4 Nov 2009 | 3:30 pm

  Microsoft’s MSN has been a good hodgepodge that gets 100 million users a month. But it hasn’t had a serious redo for 10 years. So the question posed to a new team brought in to redo the site was: How do you make the site stand out and really help users? Site leader Scott Moore and Cyrus Krohn, a top lieutenant, had previously worked together at Yahoo and even teamed on a business plan for a local news product. Reunited by Microsoft, they looked over their options and one thing always stood out: local. “Our research shows that local is the No. 1 unmet need, regardless of…

• 
  Check Out Blog

• Most Improved Player of the Year?

  2 Nov 2009 | 2:06 am

  Every year the National Basketball Association honors only six individual players with annual awards.  Along with the Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, and the Rookie of the Year, the NBA awards the Most Improved Player Award (formerly known as the Comeback Player of the Year).  As the name implies, the award is given to the player that has made the largest single season improvement in play.  For example, in the 2007-2008 season Hedo Turkoglu scored and rebounded well above his career average to earn the honor…and then the next season helped to lead his…

• Windows 7 at Walmart

  16 Oct 2009 | 2:50 am

  Next week is a big week at Walmart.  Lots going on across the electronics area.  Straight Talk is launching in our wireless area, Transformers 2 releases, and on October 22nd Windows 7 will launch.Product will begin setting in stores starting Monday.  There is a street date on all software and computers that have Windows 7 so we cannot sell the product until Thursday, October 22nd.  We will have a lot of activity in the stores Thursday, October 22nd.  If you are an early adopter, many of our stores are open 24 hours so you can come in at midnight to buy a new laptop…

• Straight Talk = Straight-Forward Savings

  13 Oct 2009 | 10:33 am

  One of my favorite quotes is by Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin: “A penny saved is a penny earned.”  I have always felt like that quote embodies the benefits of being a coupon-clipping, sale-savvy, disciplined shopper.   Now that I work in retail, I also interpret that quote as a responsibility for assisting our customers in “saving pennies.”  As evidenced by many of the posts on this blog, “saving people money so they can live better” is top-of-mind for the buyers at Walmart.  Not only are we committed to bringing in…

• Early Holiday Shopping- Asus Disney Netpal PC

  12 Oct 2009 | 8:22 am

  I know parents like to get a jump on holiday season shopping. My brother and sister in-law start now and want to be done by Thanksgiving. For me I like the time of the season and enjoy the shopping with the rush of parking, shoppers, Décor and all in the stores.  Enough of that, let me get back to the subject of the blog. This year walmart.com has partnered with Asus and Disney to offer the Netpal PC Designed for kids aged 6-12, the Disney Netpal by ASUS is durable, with a reinforced mechanical design, and offers a truly magical and engaging computing experience with a unique…

• Early Holiday Season at Sam’s Club

  8 Oct 2009 | 10:30 am

  The holidays are coming, which means it is an exciting time to be in retail.  (Unfortunately, that also means the bad weather is coming…  I know people like the fall/winter, but I’d prefer the warm weather all year long.)  At Sam’s Club, lots of the seasonal merchandise is already out in the clubs.  If you see me out in the clubs, it would be hard for you to know if I was looking at the items professionally or personally.Professionally, I’m looking at the packaging performance.  Did the packaging protect the product during distribution? …

• 
  Digital Money Forum

• Viking expedition

  Dave Birch

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:35 am

  [Dave Birch] I was in Copenhagen recently, so naturally I went along to the national museum to see their notes and coins exhibition (galleries 141 to 146, if you're interested). It was really good, and I particularly enjoyed the display of Swedish copper money from the 17th century. Sweden had lots of copper, so that's what it used for coins. But copper isn't worth very much, so the coins were huge -- the one thaler "coin" was a block of copper weighing a couple of kilograms. While pottering around between the 10th century Islamic coins found in Viking treasure hoards, the short-lived…

• Jeff Slawsky, Slawsky & Associates

  Dave Birch

  4 Nov 2009 | 2:33 am

  [Dave Birch] Jeff Slawsky has spent thirty years in the US financial services industry and wrote the book on developing and managing a successful payment cards business. Literally: it's called "Developing and Managing a Successful Payment Cards Business" and he wrote it with Forum friend Samee Zafar back in 2005. In this podcast, Jeff reflects on the seismic shifts in the US payment card business and speculates about the longer-term impact on regulatory, social and business changes in the American market. Listen here in either [Podcast MPEG4] or [Sound-only MP3] format. You can download this…

• For all you utter bankers

  Dave Birch

  29 Oct 2009 | 3:15 pm

  [Dave Birch] Wow, that was excellent fun. Nothing really to do with electronic payments, but I've been playing a fantastic new card game called "Crunch: The Game for Utter Bankers" with the kids and some friends. Crunch is a satirical card game for 2 to 4 players that places you at the head of the boardroom as a CEO of a global bank juggling the conflicting demands of your ailing bank and your future retirement fund. An average game sees you bribing your way out of government investigations, fending off aggressive takeovers and forcing debt onto the unsuspecting public. Meanwhile, reward your…

• The price of everything

  Dave Birch

  27 Oct 2009 | 12:33 pm

  [Dave Birch] I've just read a couple of pieces about pricing: the Chicago Fed's Letter 266a (September 2009) "Payments Pricing: Who Bears the Cost?" and the SPEED piece by the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Finland, Pentii Hakkarainen, "The future of retail banking: more competition needed". Pentii says that one challenge (to retail banks) is the "dependence of banks on cross-subsidisation, especially of payment services". I agree and I'm not sure that the magnitude of the cross-subsidy from efficient e-payment methods that (because of SEPA) are going to deliver less margin to the least…

• Karin Huber, Mobilkom

  Dave Birch

  23 Oct 2009 | 9:02 am

  [Dave Birch] Karin Huber is a Senior Product Manager at Mobilkom Austria and is responsible for marketing mobile payments. Vienna is one of the very few places in the world where real customers are walking into real shops and buying real NFC handsets, which makes Karin's experience almost unique. In this podcast, she explains some of Mobilkoms thinking -- in particular, why they decided to obtain their own banking licence rather than partner with a retail bank -- and some of their very innovative products. Listen here in either [Podcast MPEG4] or [Sound-only MP3] format. You can download this…

• 
  Blue Acorn eCommerce Consulting

• Attract the Right Traffic with Content Syndication

  Melissa

  26 Oct 2009 | 8:30 am

  When it comes to building credibility, attracting new customers, and keeping them coming back for more, relevant and high-quality content is critical. As an added bonus, your content also serves an important role in boosting your site’s organic rankings, making it more likely that potential customers will find you in online search results. To really maximize [...]Post from: Blue Acorn eCommerce Consulting

• Preparing for the Holiday Rush

  Melissa

  14 Oct 2009 | 6:55 am

  For consumers, the passing of Labor Day signals the transition from swimsuits to sweaters. But for e-tailers, it marks the ramp-up for the biggest online shopping season of the year: the Christmas frenzy. The gap between web and brick-and-mortar purchases continues to shrink, most notably during the holidays. To help you get the maximum traffic—and, [...]Post from: Blue Acorn eCommerce Consulting

• PR: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

  Robyn

  28 Sep 2009 | 7:30 am

  Recently, I’ve been getting questions from people regarding PR. Unfortunately, many businesses confuse PR with marketing. They are different, but they do work in tandem. Or, in some cases, PR might be part of an overall marketing strategy. Another common misconception: many people think ”press releases” when it comes to PR, but that’s just one teeny-tiny part [...]Post from: Blue Acorn eCommerce Consulting

• Bing! Bingo or Bust? Tips on Naming Products and Services

  Robyn

  10 Sep 2009 | 6:35 am

  According to BusinessWeek, Microsoft took a total of six months to settle on the name “Bing” for its new “decision” engine (formerly known as “Live Search”). For six weeks, a team of eight brainstormed more than 2000 names. Then lawyers and linguists danced their way through the list and eliminated names that were being used [...]Post from: Blue Acorn eCommerce Consulting

• Pssst: Pass it On!

  Melissa

  1 Sep 2009 | 7:11 am

  In today’s competitive marketplace, word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most effective tools in any online business’ arsenal. Referrals can go a long way toward building customer loyalty and drawing in new clientele. Smart companies know that by perfecting the art of word-of-mouth marketing (or “WOMM”), they’ll make themselves more appealing and accessible to potential [...]Post from: Blue Acorn eCommerce Consulting

• 
  Channel Dollars

• Shopping.com and PayPal

  Kevin Packler

  26 Oct 2009 | 10:41 pm

  As all Shopping.com users should know by now, Shopping.com is changing over to PayPal as their payment processor. This has nothing to do with B2C transactions or a return to the Shopping Cart model. This does have everything to do with how Shopping.com takes payments from merchants. Since both companies are owned by eBay, I can only assume someone in the accounting and cost cutting department took a look at the big picture in early 2009, and realized the company was giving away a lot of money to card processors (yes, gas stations all over the country are accutely aware of this). I bring this…

• MSN Cashback Jellyfish Bing Thing

  Kevin Packler

  28 Jul 2009 | 7:42 pm

  So it’s been a while since my last post. I have been figuring out what to do with my site layout while I investigate new hosting, upgrading to a newer Wordpress version, and redesigning the site in general. The problem with doing a lot of things at once, or finding how to undertake these things, is that a small block can turn into a major damn in the river. So, perhaps the best way to unblock the river is to begin with a trickle of thought - So what is happening with MSN Shopping, um, I mean JellyFish, I mean Cashback, no…I actually mean Bing Cashback? Of coarse some people still…

• Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition 2009

  Kevin Packler

  15 Jun 2009 | 11:49 am

  If anyone would like to talk shop this week in Boston at IRCE, then let me know. I will be at the Mercent booth #645. Feel free to stop by and talk about CSEs, Amazon, or the Red Sox.

• New Shopping.com Feed Format

  Kevin Packler

  9 Apr 2009 | 9:29 am

  The new Shopping.com datafeed format is one of the most innovative I have seen, rivaling GoogleBase for feed format champion of the CSE world. To explain why this matters and what makes the product feed format interesting, take a look at my post on the Mercent Blog: Evolution of the Data Feed Format: New Shopping.com Data Feed Specs

• How To Win the Buy Box on Amazon

  Kevin Packler

  31 Mar 2009 | 7:26 pm

  It seems like there are a lot of questions around how to sell on Amazon, especially since Amazon is one of the few growing online marketplaces right now. Amazon is a complex system which can’t be fully covered in one post, and indeed there are entire sites devoted to Amazon. However, in a single post we can get some traction around the buy box. What is the Amazon Buy Box? The Amazon Buy Box is the way Amazon compares like products. Instead of a product listing page with rows of matching results as you would see on a typical CSE, Amazon creates a master product page which incorporates…

• 
  e-commerce Blog

• Commerce Server 2009 Code Name "R2" October CTP is Now Available for Download

  Lynnette McL

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:22 am

  The Microsoft Commerce Server 2009 code name “R2” October Community Technology Preview (CTP) is now available on the Download Center . This is the fourth pre-release build of the next version of Commerce Server. We invite you to install this pre-release...(read more)

• TechEd EMEA: Commerce Server Session November 10th, 2009

  Lynnette McL

  23 Oct 2009 | 7:14 pm

  If you are planning to attend the upcoming TechEd EMEA 2009 in Berlin, November 9-13, 2009 stop by our kiosk in the technical learning center (TLC) and say hello! We are also holding a session on building custom e-commerce solutions with Commerce Server...(read more)

• Commerce Server MVP Renewal - Ravi Kanth

  Lynnette McL

  15 Oct 2009 | 3:03 pm

  We are pleased to announce the Commerce Server Most Valuable Professional (MVP) renewal for Ravi Kanth , Technical Architect at Accenture, India. In addition to his active participation in the Forums, Ravi continues to share his knowledge and experience...(read more)

• SharePoint 2010 Conference - Breakout Session Wednesday October 21st, 2009

  Lynnette McL

  9 Oct 2009 | 1:30 pm

  The Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Conference October 19-22nd in Las Vegas will be the first and the best conference to get in depth training on SharePoint 2010, from upgrade and migration to the business value of new platform features and functionality. If...(read more)

• Commerce Server 2009 Evaluation VPC (September 2009 version) is Available for Download

  Lynnette McL

  25 Sep 2009 | 12:05 pm

  The Commerce Server 2009 Evaluation VPC (September 2009 version) is now available for download. This VPC has Commerce Server 2009 and Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007 (MOSS) fully installed and configured (Core Systems, Multi-Channel Commerce...(read more)

• 
  Retail, in the eyes of the everyday customer

• A Special Retailer

  betterretail

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:15 am

  I caught this video via Seth who caught it via David: As a customer these are the experiences we crave.

• Email Practices Top Retailers Shop.Org

  betterretail

  3 Nov 2009 | 3:59 am

  Hat tip to Jason Billingsley for sharing and Loren McDonald for creating.  Presentation below…

• Steal Of The Day

  betterretail

  3 Nov 2009 | 3:41 am

  What I like about this execution is that eBags lists how many other people are looking at the 15 remaining bags– 653.

• Catalog Love

  betterretail

  29 Oct 2009 | 2:14 pm

  Wow, Eddie Bauer really likes Heather, or the current resident…

• Overstock.com Sponsored Links

  betterretail

  27 Oct 2009 | 4:17 am

  I’m hoping my smart readers can help me out here.  Why does Overstock.com carry Sponsored Links?  Is it a good revenue stream? Do you think this is a good strategy? A screenshot:

• 
  Rekon

• Monk, Hitchcock, Magritte

  howdy@reckon.ws (C/W)

  26 Oct 2009 | 12:44 am

  Reckon

• Dolly

  howdy@reckon.ws (C/W)

  25 Oct 2009 | 11:57 pm

  Reckon

• Dolly Parton [Flickr]

  Reckon

  25 Oct 2009 | 8:44 pm

  Reckon posted a photo: reckon.ws

• Dolly Parton [Flickr]

  Reckon

  25 Oct 2009 | 8:44 pm

  Reckon posted a photo: reckon.ws

• Monk, Hitchcock, Magritte [Flickr]

  Reckon

  25 Oct 2009 | 8:43 pm

  Reckon posted a photo: reckon.ws

• 
  Save Millions: E-Commerce Best Practices

• Do you trust your financial statements? Reconciliation tools for Online Retailers

  23 Oct 2009 | 3:04 pm

  Do you trust your financial statements? Does your cash account in Quickbooks match your bank statement? Would you like to reconcile costs with sales on an order/product levels and see how profitable your business really is?Practically every company I work with desperately needs real time accurate financial data to make best pricing and marketing decisions and Quickbooks wasn`t simply designed to

• Retailers and Shippers: Friends or Foes

  3 Aug 2009 | 4:32 pm

  It sounds counterintuitive, but reducing your shipping costs is in the shippers’ best interest. Lower shipping costs allow you reduce prices, your sales increase and so does your shipping volume. As a result, by giving you better discounts carriers increase their sales and total margins.Shipping contracts negotiation is never a zero sum game. It is a great opportunity to understand the other

• Dude, Where`s my margin? (part 2)

  3 Aug 2009 | 4:32 pm

  In the first part we looked at a P&L statement and identified biggest cost saving opportunities. Now is the time to look into Cost of Goods Sold and share some of our best practices making it accurate.Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) - 59 % of salesWhen was the last time (if ever) you compared vendor invoices against the costs in your system? Were your expected costs close to the invoiced amounts? Or,

• Shipping cost reduction strategies: consolidate or shop around

  3 Aug 2009 | 4:32 pm

  There are two most commonly used strategies to reduce shipping cost: negotiate volume discounts or shop around each time for the best price. While both strategies produce results consolidation is better one for rapidly growing online retailers.Strategy 1. ConsolidationDo an assessment of your current shipping agreements. Are you shipping on your account? Using vendor`s accounts? Working with a

• Purchase Orders: small details are important

  3 Aug 2009 | 4:31 pm

  Purchase order is a basic component of the retail order flow yet flawless communication between you and your manufacturers is essential to reduce errors and be able to properly reconcile costs with your sales data.The format used to raise PO’s should be carefully reviewed; you could save a lot of steps in re-confirming the details of your order each time to the supplier. Let us look at two

• 
  Retailer Daily

• ‘The Daily Wrap’: Nordstrom, Organized Retail Crime, Target

  daniel@watershed-publishing.com

  6 Nov 2009 | 1:05 pm

  “The Daily Wrap” offers a roundup of the day’s biggest retail industry headlines. Following are some news items you may be interested in checking out.

• Official Unemployment Hits Double Digits

  daniel@watershed-publishing.com

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:38 pm

  After months of speculation, the official U.S. unemployment rate has surpassed 10%. The unemployment rate jumped from 9.8% to 10.2% in October 2009, as the economy shed 190,000 non-farm payroll jobs. The retail sector was among the hardest hit with 40,000 job losses.

• GGP Has Down Q3

  daniel@watershed-publishing.com

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:16 am

  General Growth Properties, Inc. (GGP) which filed for bankruptcy, along with 158 regional shopping centers it owns, in April 2009, reported declines in most financial areas of its retail/other segment for Q3 fiscal 2009 (ended September 30, 2009).

• Starbucks Continues Upward Trend

  daniel@watershed-publishing.com

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:44 am

  Coffee retailer Starbucks Corporation, which financially struggled since reporting its first-ever fiscal loss in August 2008 through a disappointing Q2 2009, continued its trend of general improvement started in Q3 into Q4. This allowed Starbucks to post increases in quarterly and annual operating income and margin, as well as net earnings, although revenues still took a hit.

• Dollar Tree Sprouts Quarterly Increases

  daniel@watershed-publishing.com

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am

  Dollar store retailer Dollar Tree, Inc. released select advance figures from its upcoming Q3 fiscal 2009 earnings release that suggest it is seeing a significant lift in financial performance.

• 
  ColderICE eCommerce Video Blog

• An Interesting Look At the ‘Pulse’ of America

  John

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:28 pm

  Share this article... More »  Economy and Government Spending Top Concerns COLUMBUS, OH – (MARKET WIRE) – 10/23/09 – A majority of Americans (55.5%) think the #1 issue that the President and Congress should be focusing their attention on is the economy, according to the latest American Pulse™ Survey of over 5,015 participants. Following not so closely behind is: Healthcare Reform (18.3%), Terrorism (6.4%), Social Security (5.8%) and Afghanistan (5%). 81.9% of Americans say the U.S. Government is spending too much. Of those who agree, 76.9% say the high level of…

• Press Release: Win $1000 in the Bidtopia “The Big Deal” Contest

  John

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:17 am

  Share this article... More »Win $1000 in store credit. Video Contest (full details HERE) Share your story! Post a video on YouTube about an item you won on Bidtopia! Some examples could be showing a great bargain, most unique and unusual item, or how the item you purchased was used in a unique way. Be creative and witty! Show how much money you can save with Bidtopia. Previous unusual uses include a customer who purchased coffin rods and used them to hang curtains and a customer who purchased foam beds and attached them to his walls to soundproof a home recording studio. Blog…

• You’ve Got Mail - Is Facebook The NEW AOL?

  John

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:28 am

  Share this article... More » Hard to believe that just 15 years ago AOL ruled the world of the internet huh? Nope, there was no rumors of this Google thingy and Yahoo was just a bunch of links. However AOL was the place where you went to market to users, on AOL internet marketing ruled. You wanted to get your brand on the internet, then you simply HAD to have a www.AOL.com/MyWidget address back in the day. You wanted to tap into the gigantic user base of AOL registrants? You would create an app using their proprietary platform…sound familiar? Want more similarity? OK…My…

• Rating The New eBay Ads: I LOVE This New eBay Commercial!

  John

  5 Nov 2009 | 9:43 am

  Share this article... More »I was watching TV tonight without the TiVo…I know, hard to believe, but it happens like once every full moon. Ok, but anyway this new eBay commerce with the two Michaels came on and I loved it. The entire family laughed and it was actually refreshing. LinkedTube Please Rate My Video with 5-Stars DSR’s This commercial just WORKS! And the tag line, which I did not like when I read it in print, came off well too. Instead of the "Come to think of it, eBay" feeling like eBay was an after though.  What I kind of got was come to think…

• 100 Business Education Videos for Your Business & Enlightenment

  John

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:43 pm

  Share this article... More »I believe that YouTube is a killer tool for education as well as entertainment. YouTube is a great resource for business school students (which I still consider myself) and those who are already working in the business world. The blog at Online Colleges has complied a list of 100 business videos  These videos will teach you all you need to know to stay current in the latest trends in marketing, management, business education, and more. Literally watching these will teach you more than 95% of the people you do business with, for and AGAINST.

• 
  THINKBIGBEBIG ENTREPRENEURS

• Proable Reality

  Timothy Bosworth

  5 Nov 2009 | 9:06 am

  I once heard a joke that went something like this: “A young boy comes home from school and says to his dad.  “Dad will you help me with my homework.”  The dad says.  “Of course son, what is it?”  The young boy says.  “I’ve got to find out what probable reality is?”  The dad scratches his [...]

• How to create your on “Flash Forward”

  Timothy Bosworth

  3 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am

  If your not familiar with Flash Forward the premise is simple: A mysterious event causes everyone on the planet to simultaneously lose consciousness for 137 seconds, during which people see what appear to be visions of their lives approximately six months in the future – a global “flashforward”. A team of Los Angeles FBI agents, led [...]

• (ACYE) African & Caribbean Young Enterprise

  Timothy Bosworth

  2 Nov 2009 | 10:01 am

  Just a quick note to say that I will be speaking at the (ACYE) African & Caribbean Young Enterprise. The  (ACYE) aims to encourage, support, inspire and empower more sustainable young black business.  For more information visit (ACYE)

• Inbox2

  Timothy Bosworth

  28 Oct 2009 | 2:42 am

  Do you have lots of different email account?  Do you find it hard trying to manage them all?  Well worry not.  Inbox2 is here to help.  Inbox2 is an application collects all your mail (messages and content) and micro blogging updates from friends and contacts into a single activity stream. The activity stream can be sorted [...]

• How to profile your customers?

  Timothy Bosworth

  26 Oct 2009 | 10:21 am

  Check out your customers profile and find out which groups of people are most engaged with your content. For an explanation of these groups (Creators, Critics, etc.), see a presentation (8 slides) or read Chapter 3 of Groundswell. Bars indicate the percentage of the selected demographic that are in each Social Technographics group. The white [...]

• 
  The Forrester Blog For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

• This Year, US Online Holiday Retail Sales Will Be Up 8%

  Brendan McGowan

  2 Nov 2009 | 5:56 am

    By Sucharita Mulpuru   Today, Forrester releases its 2009 US Online Holiday Retail Forecast, a deep dive into our projections for the crucial retail months of November and December.   We project online retail sales to reach $44.7 billion during November and December, a year-over-year increase of 8% -- evidence of the online space’s proven status as the retail industry’s growth engine. We expect this growth to be driven by the increasing number of online holiday buyers and by the large retailers gaining market share from their smaller counterparts.   The Index of…

• Globalization among the top 50 US online retailers

  Zia Daniell Wigder

  22 Oct 2009 | 1:10 pm

  By Zia Daniell WigderThe past week has seen two significant online retailers make announcements about their global plans: last week Gap indicated its intention to expand into Canada and the UK and yesterday Buy.com launched sites for Canada, the UK, France and Germany, with Italy and Spain to come. One-third of the top 50 already global. Both online retailers mentioned above rank in the top 50 on the Internet Retailer list (Gap at #25 and Buy.com at #33). They join a growing number of retailers with international operations in the top 50: according to a webtrack we did last year, some 34% of…

• Take The Conversation Offline At Forrester’s Chicago Tweetup

  Carrie Johnson

  20 Oct 2009 | 6:18 pm

  Are you attending Forrester's Consumer Forum 2009? Do you live in the Chicago area? Do you ever wonder who you are talking to on Twitter? On October 26, the night before Forrester’s Consumer Forum, Forrester will be hosting an Chicago Tweetup. Tweetups are low-key social events where Twitterers can network and meet the people they tweet with. Anyone can attend; it is an informal atmosphere that allows casual conversations. The Forrester Chicago Tweetup is for anyone who's attending the Forum or lives in the Chicago area. There is no charge for attending the Tweetup, so come meet and…

• Calling All Online Retailers! We Want To Hear From You!

  Kate van Geldern

  16 Oct 2009 | 8:23 am

  [Posted by Patti Freeman Evans] Forrester just kicked-off our 2009 Retail Executive Survey, and we want your input. This survey looks at online retailers' organizations and topics relevant to the challenges currently facing their roles including:   ·     eBusiness technology decisions ·     Globalization ·     Social media and mobile trends ·     Online customer service ·     Online merchandizing tactics ·     And more! The survey takes just about 15 minutes to complete…

• Experience The Data At Forrester's Consumer Forum 2009

  Carrie Johnson

  13 Oct 2009 | 10:54 am

  We're hoping that you're getting as excited as we are about the upcoming Consumer Forum on October 27th and 28th in Chicago. Many attendees come back from the event raving about and asking for more information on our extensive consumer data that we highlight at the event and in our research. Here are some opportunities at the event to get more information on our data. Forrester’s Consumer Forum Theater Presentations highlight Forrester’s extensive data capabilities. Forrester analysts will share highlights from our global benchmark survey data, as well as our forecast data,…

• 
  The Interspire Blog

• Are you a talented Linux systems administrator? Come join our Austin team!

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Calling all talented Linux system administrators!Have you ever wanted to flex your sys admin muscle and take control of the systems powering an entire company? If you answered YES! then we have the perfect job for you... Here's why:Interspire is a leader in the ecommerce, knowledge management and email marketing spaces, with over 40,000 clients and growing. We develop software that businesses and organizations of all sizes rely on every day, including NASA, Virgin, Yale, Kraft, MediaTemple, SoftLayer and more. Here at Interspire you'll enjoy:The opportunity to build, install and support a…

• Interspire Shopping Cart Hosted (BigCommerce) Pricing Integrated With Interspire.com

  3 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Since launching BigCommerce (the hosted version of Interspire Shopping Cart) in August the response has been incredible. As I've discussed in a previous post, both Interspire Shopping Cart and BigCommerce are being developed side-by-side and share over 95% of the same code, so we came to the conclusion that it makes sense to offer pricing for both products from our web site as well.Up until today you had to visit BigCommerce.com to see BigCommerce pricing and compare plans, but I'm happy to tell you that we've just integrated the BigCommerce pricing tightly into the Interspire website as…

• Access to Our Internal Bug Tracking and Project Management Software is Now Public

  27 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Hi everyone. It's been a long time coming but today I'm happy to announce that our bug tracking and agile project management software, codenamed Track (powered by Jira and Greenhopper from fellow Aussies, Atlassian) is now live at http://track.interspire.com and is accessible for browsing by anyone.We've been using Track internally for the last few months to aid in our switch from an adhoc to agile development methodology and so far things have gone well. We're not all the way there yet, but we've made excellent progress on:Daily stand ups for each development teamImproved project planning…

• Join us for the BigCommerce launch party on Nov 11th in Austin, Texas

  25 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm

  As you probably know by now, we've launched a hosted version of our ecommerce software called BigCommerce. Well, we're having a special launch event for web designers, developers and agencies in Austin, Texas and we'd really like it if you could attend. You'll get to meet the Interspire team, see a demo of BigCommerce, learn more about our reseller program, network with like-minded individuals and most importantly have a great time. Oh, and there's complimentary food and drink too. The launch event is on Nov 11th from 5pm-7pm at Union Park in Austin, Texas. It costs nothing to attend but…

• Introducing BigCommerce.com - Hosted Ecommerce from Interspire

  28 Sep 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Please note: This is a reprint of our Interspire Insider Monthly newsletter. Go to Interspire.com | Contact UsYou are subscribed as %%emailaddress%% Interspire Insider Monthly by Mitchell Harper, Interspire Co-Founder - 29th September 2009  IntroductionHi everyone. Welcome to the October 2009 issue of our newsletter - it's a few days early but we've got some exciting new to share with you. If you've visited our website in the last few days I'm sure you've seen the banners for BigCommerce, our new hosted ecommerce offering which is of course powered by Interspire Shopping Cart.

• 
  Ecommerce-Marketing

• The next generation of search

  admin

  29 Oct 2009 | 2:05 am

  Google announced a new service called Social Search which shows search results from sites owned by the searchers online friends. Currently an opt-in service but widely expected to go live over the next few months it cements the need for brands to have a Twitter account, Facebook page & a decent blog. Data on a person’s social circle is pulled from their contacts in Gmail, the people they follow on Twitter, the blogs they read on Google Reader. Google has a help centre article explaining more about how it works. All the information that appears as part of Google Social Search is…

• Ecommerce & The Mobile Web

  admin

  30 Aug 2009 | 5:05 am

  In the last post, we discussed the advantages and techniques of becoming Multiple Web Browser Compatible in order to expand your business. As if designing your site to work on the many different web browsers out there wasn’t difficult enough, modern technology has thrown yet another curveball, in the form of mobile internet. Millions of people now use their mobile phones or PDA to surf the internet, retrieve email and even check their social networks. Some use these methods exclusively, and some use it in addition to a conventional computers. However, because of their sheer numbers, it’s…

• Multiple Web Browser Compatibility

  admin

  17 Aug 2009 | 8:18 am

  As online users are now using more different types of internet browsers than ever before, it is more important than ever that your ecommerce site performs consistently throughout all browsers. The good news is that the vast majority of online shoppers – over 80% – use either Internet Explorer or Firefox. The bad news is that there are over 100 different browsers and countless flavors of the Internet Explorer & Firefox. The common argument used to avoid dealing with compatibility issues is that as the percentage of people using for example Chrome is relatively low, around the 3%…

• Green Ecommerce

  admin

  11 Aug 2009 | 12:39 am

  Every day issues like environment and global warming are discussed. No surprise that shoppers are trying to make a contribution to the sustainability environmental movement in several ways. Consumers prefer to purchase energy-efficient products and appliances as well as locally-made items. More and more shoppers choose products in recyclable packaging or buy at farmer’s market. Ebay recently introduced the Ebay Green Team as a result of record number of customers choosing to buy items that could be classified as “used”, “organic”, “refurbished”, “vintage”, “sustainable”…

• How To Deal With Customer Reviews

  admin

  3 Aug 2009 | 3:52 am

  Online review portals continuously grow in popularity among users. Whether someone is looking for a new camera, shoes or a doctor: More and more users consult portals before buying. Ecommerce retailers are skeptical though, because they fear criticism of their offers and services. Despite previous fears that consumers posting honest and unfiltered material could damage sales, it has been having the opposite effect in most cases. In fact, visitors who clicked on the highest customer-rated reviews were more likely to purchase. Therefore online retailers should strengthen their presence on such…

• 
  The Return on Investment (ROI) Blog by BigCommerce

• [Video] How to Reduce Your Visitor Bounce Rate

  Mitchell Harper

  4 Nov 2009 | 8:21 pm

  The bounce rate is one of the most important metrics you can track for new visitors to your website. You might have heard the term “bounce rate” in the context of email marketing but that’s not what I’m talking about. When it comes to tracking visitor quality of your online store, the bounce rate is a measure of how many people leave your website and never come back after viewing just one page. In this video I’ll explain how you can track your visitor bounce rate, how you can see the bounce rate of your competitors and some strategies you can use to reduce your…

• Partners: join us for the BigCommerce launch party on Nov 11th in Austin, Texas

  Mitchell Harper

  26 Oct 2009 | 6:41 pm

  Between 5pm and 7pm on November 11th we’re having a special launch event for current and potential BigCommerce partners – web designers, developers and agencies in Austin, Texas and we’d really like it if you could attend. You’ll get to meet the team, see a demo of BigCommerce, learn more about our reseller program, network with like-minded individuals and most importantly have a great time. Oh, and there’s complimentary food and drink too. The launch event is on Nov 11th from 5pm-7pm at Union Park in Austin, Texas. It costs nothing to attend but spaces are…

• [Video] 5 Tips to Increase Your Online Sales Using Twitter

  Mitchell Harper

  22 Oct 2009 | 7:59 pm

  Depending on what you sell, Twitter can be a good way to reach potential customers and improve relationships with existing ones. If you’re a one man show then it makes sense to spend 5 minutes a day on Twitter finding conversations which are happening about your online brand, jumping in to address any questions if appropriate. In this video I’ll share with you 5 simple strategies you can use to increase your online sales using Twitter. Now, keep in mind that Twitter is generally better at building good will with potential customers so you might not see an immediate boost in sales,…

• [Video] How to Drive Traffic to Your Online Store by Becoming a Guest Blogger

  Mitchell Harper

  22 Oct 2009 | 4:38 pm

  If you’re on a limited marketing budget for your online store then one excellent way to drive targeted traffic to your website is to become a guest blogger on blogs related to what you sell. In this video I’ll teach you how it’s done, and if you can dedicate just a few hours each week to writing a few posts you’ll be amazed at how much free traffic it can bring! This video is the part of our new YouTube guru channel, BigCommerceDotCom. Check it out and make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss future videos.

• [Video] How to Write and Execute a Profitable Marketing Plan

  Mitchell Harper

  22 Oct 2009 | 4:32 pm

  If you’re just starting out selling online then of course your most valuable asset is your customer list. But if you’re currently at zero customers then how can you grow your list to thousands or even hundreds of thousands of customers? The key is to start with a solid marketing plan. Depending on your budget there are different marketing strategies you can use to drive people to your online store. If you’re on a limited budget then Google AdWords and a solid email marketing strategy to repeat buyers is a good start. If you’ve got a larger marketing budget you can…

• 
  Elias Interactive » Blog

• A Balance To Be Kept

  Lee Taylor

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:42 pm

  Let’s face it, there are more and more freelancers and small technology businesses sprouting up these days (incredible). For all of us, time management hits close to home as the freedom that we have becomes a blessing and a curse at the same time. I reflect on this after just taking an entire day off this week (my teammates were worried about my general sanity and workload, and forced me to do it ). I planned it out with my teammates, communicated expectations with clients, and ensured deliverables were delegated in a way so that this decision would still allow me to be responsible.

• RSS Feed Design Example

  Josh Colter

  5 Nov 2009 | 1:03 pm

  I am always trying to figure out how we can improve. Earlier this week our team released this site’s new design. Content has been and will continue to be a major focus for Elias as we serve our customers and the Magento community. Our blog is the primary delivery mechanism for this content and thus the number of people who subscribe to receive regular updates via RSS is valuable to us. Today I found Jason Cohen’s blog, which provides a great example of inviting the reader to opt-in via RSS feed or email. Take a look: This invitation is located in the upper left hand corner of…

• SVN: Magento Best Practice

  Lee Taylor

  3 Nov 2009 | 11:09 pm

  Who: Anyone who works with Magento (especially clients who are running a store) and could benefit from a more in-depth understanding of Magento best practices. What: SVN and Magento (a sweet relationship) Why: Because whether you are a client or a developer, your life can be made easier by using SVN and reaping its benefits Quick Summary: High-level explanation of SVN Who should use SVN Why it should be used Specific things to watch out for with Magento Bonus: optional tools 1. A high-level explanation SVN “SVN” (aka “Subversion”) changes and improves the development process. It is an…

• Is your ecommerce platform stable?

  Eric Clark

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:27 am

  Let’s face it, some platforms seem like a house of cards. One wrong move and everything goes down. Watch this video to see what happens when someone makes one wrong move with a forklift. Too bad these guys don’t have SVN for disaster recovery.

• Create a Competitive Advantage with Content

  Josh Colter

  2 Nov 2009 | 4:36 pm

  Exceptional marketing is a formidable barrier to entry. At least that’s what Dharmesh Shan thinks. And given the success of his company, Hubspot, it might be smart to listen to him. Here is one of Mr. Shan’s thoughts on how to execute exceptional marketing: Create content that kicks butt. It’s really simple. If you produce things that are useful/interesting to your target customers — you win. You win by drawing people in to your business not because you had the largest marketing budget, but because you created something of value. The kind of stuff that people tweet about, link…

• 
  3dCart Blog

• Get A New Look and Save $$

  Robert Muise

  22 Oct 2009 | 12:39 pm

  Our designers have been hard at work designing new premium shopping cart templates and we’re proud to introduce our new selection. View our new selection, and for a limited time, save $25.00 off of any prebuilt template. Use coupon code 25off to get $25.00 off your purchase and give one of our e-commerce consultants a call at 1-800-828-6650 for assistance in picking out a template and creating a world class online store.

• Be Notified When Someone Mentions You On Twitter

  Robert Muise

  28 Aug 2009 | 12:13 pm

  As a companion post to yesterday’s tip of how to get instant notifications when you have a new order is today’s tip on how to get notified when someone mentions you on twitter. The best desktop application for serious twitter users is Tweetdeck, which allows you to setup columns for multiple searches. We’ll have a post on how you can use that to leverage twitter posts to increase your revenue and to keep your fingers on the pulse of your customer base. A lot of online store owners don’t  have the time to monitor Twitter or higher someone to work full time to handle…

• Instant Mobile Order Notifications. iPhones and more!

  Robert Muise

  27 Aug 2009 | 7:20 am

  With just a few quick steps, you can get your new order notifications sent directly to your phone. Every phone provider assigns an email address to your phone. Any mail sent to this address will be sent to your phone as if it were an SMS/Text message. To find out what address format you have, look up your carrier on the list at the end of this article. Once you have this information, you would login to your 3dCart admin panel and go to Settings>General>Store Settings. Here you will scroll down to the  “Send order alert to email address“”. Since you can have multiple…

• Thread conversations in Outlook, just like Gmail

  Robert Muise

  26 Aug 2009 | 8:53 am

  One of the problems with being an office worker is that you’re restricted from using the software of your choice. In the office, we use Outlook. After hours, I’m devoted to using Gmail. The way it threads messages is something I’ve loved since I was in the initial beta round. Sadly, Outlook doesn’t have a way to do this with a click of the button… But there is a way to do so! To mimic Gmail  threads we need a way for Outlook to group by subject, but ignore the FW: and RE:. Luckily, it has just such a feature. It s called Conversation, and it’s an optional…

• LiveSearch Cashback is now Bing Cashback

  Robert Muise

  24 Aug 2009 | 8:36 am

  Reward Your Customers with Cash Back on Purchases Bing cashback is a new program that combines the power of Bing with a comparison-shopping engine to bring consumers some of the best deals on the web. The program rewards consumers with a cash back rebate for a purchase, and gives advertisers the opportunity to sell on a cost-per-acquisition (CPA) basis. Bing cashback offers: Direct customer rewards on selected items, with cash back on every transaction. You can establish the amount of cash back you want to reward customers. Additionally, you have direct control on how your products are listed…

• 
  ClickBank Pirate

• 29 Oct 2009 | 8:59 pm

  Ben

  29 Oct 2009 | 8:59 pm

• Get Traffic that CONVERT to $$$$

  Ben

  27 Oct 2009 | 8:40 pm

• Social Media Revolution

  Ben

  24 Oct 2009 | 9:13 am

• Life is About Choices and the Decisions We Make

  Ben

  11 Oct 2009 | 10:46 am

  Life is like a road. There are long and short roads; smooth and rocky roads; crooked and straight paths. In our life many roads would come our way as we journey through life. There are roads that lead to a life of single blessedness, marriage, and religious vocation. There are also roads that lead to fame and fortune on one hand, or isolation and poverty on the other. There are roads to happiness as there are roads to sadness, roads towards victory and jubilation, and roads leading to defeat and disappointment.Just like any road, there are corners, detours, and crossroads in life. Perhaps the…

• Need To Expose Your Product To Thousands Of Potential Customers?

  Ben

  7 Oct 2009 | 1:14 pm

  Do you have an innovative and exciting online product? If you're sitting on something that you think could become an online cash cow, but are unsure of how to market it, you're in a situation that every entrepreneur has seen before. Whether you're unsure of how to approach the market, worried about a suitable price, or just curious about whether anyone will actually buy your product, picking a marketing strategy and running advertising can be a stressful and difficult experience. However, by using some simple tools and strategies for online advertising, you can expose your product to…

• 
  The Official LexiConn Blog

• Are You Using Your robots.txt File Effectively For Your Ecommerce Store?

  Rob Mangiafico

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:25 am

  One of the tools at any website’s disposal is the use of a robots.txt file. This is especially true for an ecommerce website, as this little text file can help guide search engines to the correct content to index. We’ll look at what a robots.txt file is, why it’s important, and how to use it to your advantage for your ecommerce website. What is a robots.txt file? A robots.txt file is a simple plain text file that is placed in the “root” folder of your website.  Probably the best resource for all things related to the robots.txt file is The Web Robots Pages…

• ShopSite 10 Service Pack 1 (SP1) – What You Need to Know

  Rob Mangiafico

  3 Nov 2009 | 2:26 pm

  The latest version of ShopSite, version 10 Service Pack 1 (SP1), is due out soon. We’re actually in the middle of beta testing the new version. And from what we’ve seen so far, it’s a great release chock full of new features. Click for the Full List of New features Once SP1 is officially released (which we’ll announce on Twitter, Facebook, our homepage, newsletter, etc…), we’ll be offering this upgrade, which is free for any hosted client currently running version 10. If your store is quite busy this time of year, and you do not want to risk any issues, you…

• Ecommerce Stores Should Be More Like Brick and Mortar Shops

  Rob Mangiafico

  3 Nov 2009 | 5:01 am

  Retail Apple Store With the barrier to entry so low for an online ecommerce store, many merchants just throw together a website with little thought and planning. Would they do this if they were looking to open a brick and mortar store in the mall? Of course not! It costs a lot more, and requires some detailed plans and research to launch (and keep running) a physical location. Opening an online store should be no different. And here’s why… Location, Location, Location The location of a physical store is key to its success. Looking at which mall to use, where in the mall is the…

• Top LexiConn Tweets – Oct. 18 – 31

  Rob Mangiafico

  31 Oct 2009 | 6:09 am

  Here are a few select twitter “tweets” from the past two weeks that we liked… RT @jimconnolly Start with gold http://retwt.me/13dfW (me: solid marketing advice) #marketing Straightforward marketing advice. … RT @ecommerce: Headsmacking Tip: Rank for Brand Promo Code Searches http://ow.ly/vbGB Don’t let other websites come up in searches for your coupons and promotions. … RT @remarkablogger: RT @chrisgarrett: 13 reasons your business needs a blog http://bit.ly/3UDKqL Good list of reasons for having  blog. What’s your excuse? … RT @commerce_e: 6…

• WordPress Plugins in Use – All in One SEO Pack

  Rob Mangiafico

  29 Oct 2009 | 7:15 am

  Even though WordPress out-of-the-box does a great job at optimizing any blog for SEO (Search Engine Optimization), there are a number of plugins that can help tweak and squeeze every last ounce of SEO help you can find. The one that we use, and seems to be one of the most well-rounded is All in One SEO Pack. What does Google have to say about WordPress and SEO? Probably the best source of information about what Google thinks of WordPress and how it indexes a WordPress blog is this 45 minute video presentation given by Matt Cutts of Google. In a nutshell, Matt explains that WordPress is…