Ecommerce

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  • Optimizing a Page for Search Engines, Part 3: Keywords to Content

    Practical eCommerce
    Jill Kocher
    27 Jan 2012 | 4:44 am

  • Ten of the Most Common Mistakes of Web Marketing

    EcommNews.net
    Peter Brooks
    27 Jan 2012 | 2:33 am
    If you’re planning to freshen up your site, first check your current site against this list of common problems and mistakes and take this chance to fix any before launching your new and improved site. However large or small your business, and regardless of your business type or how well financed, most web sites share common problems. Here are ten of the ones most commonly found. Almost all of these problems start long before a web site goes live. Not … →

  • eCommerce 2012: Expand, Integrate, Refine

    Ecommerce News | Up to Date News & Tips About Ecommerce
    Nick Grant
    19 Jan 2012 | 11:54 am
    January 19, 2012 By the ZippyCart Content Team January is always a great time for merchants to plan their strategy for the coming year, so it makes sense that they would want to gain some insight as to what type of trends could impact their business in 2012. We recently had the opportunity to discuss [...]

  • 5 Mistakes Online Credit Card Users Make

    3dcart Shopping Cart Software Blog
    3dcart Community Manager
    26 Jan 2012 | 1:42 pm
    Below is a guest post from Instabill, an online payment processor specializing in high risk merchant accounts. The e-commerce industry has grown exponentially throughout the years. Statistics show that total e-commerce sales in the United States alone were $165.4 billion. In 2011, the United Kingdom spent a record-breaking £68 billion — a 16% increase from 2010. [...]

  • Content Intent, Part 1

    E-Commerce Times
    David Vranicar
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    As far as exclusive interviews go, you could do a lot worse than getting Herman Cain, and a lot worse than getting him on Nov. 28. That was, after all, the day that a woman unleashed accusations of a 13-year affair with Cain, the third racy allegation levied against Cain in a matter of weeks. And those charges were but part of the Cain saga. There was also the Nov. 15 Libya gaffe, when Cain seemed to forget not only what had happened in Libya, but also whether or not he agreed with Barack Obama's handling of the situation.
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    Exciting Commerce // Unlimited

  • This week on Freaky Friday: Right now freeze everybody!*

    Kai-Thomas Krause
    27 Jan 2012 | 3:00 am
    As promised, here the start of our little Freaky Friday series about change management. And for starters I’d like to give you some fundamental thoughts on change management and why it is so important in ecommerce. And for all you project guerrillas out there: this is a perfect weapon to bust every project if you know how to use it. Change happens always. Read the full feature on ecomPunk.com!

  • A Day in Berlin: Co-Working & Polarising Incubators

    Roman Zenner
    26 Jan 2012 | 4:07 am
    I’ve had the rare fortune of having a day in Berlin to myself, without any meetings or other annoying duties. Just to go my merry ways and let this place talk to me (I’m getting a little bit over-excited, this is what this town does to me).First of all I had breakfast with a good friend of mine who is planning to set up a combined local/online book store with a cool new concept which I will surely write more on as things develop. Afterwards I went on a cliché tour of the co-working scene here in Berlin, starting at the Betahaus and contiuing my work-in-a-coffee-house type of quest in the…

  • Bodymetrics utilizes Kinect to show how outfits fit on users bodies

    Marcel Weiß
    25 Jan 2012 | 10:00 am
    Bodymetrics uses Microsofts Kinect controller to visualize wether an outfit fits your body. Neat concept if only customers would not need to own a Kinect to use it. Venturebeat: "At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the London-based company showed how it lets you scan your body at home using a 3D capture camera from PrimeSense.That gives the system — a computer or, in the future, an Xbox 360 game console — an exact image of what you look like. Then you can try on clothes in a virtual way, standing in front of your web-connected TV set and using hand gesetures to look at…

  • The rise of the tablet and couch commerce

    Kai-Thomas Krause
    24 Jan 2012 | 7:59 am
    These days some interesting surveys about tablet computers made the news. So here I will give you an update of this interesting development. Number of tablets and e-book readers nearly doubles in the US According to the study of Pew Internet the number of tablet and e-book readers doubled over the last holiday gift-giving period. The number of device-owners rose from 10% to 19% for both device types compared 2010 to 2011 holiday season.  Read the full feature on ecomPunk.com!

  • iBooks: Will Apple Inject New Life into the Publishing Industry?

    Jason Soo
    23 Jan 2012 | 4:08 pm
    Apple has been holding back significantly in the publishing area. Although the manufacturer has very attractive hardware with the iPad and the most mature digital sales platform with iTunes, they had still to come out with original ideas for our previously discussed “book” of the future (German link). The competition – especially from Amazon – is far further along this road: With AmazonEncore, AmazonCrossing, Montlake Romance, Thomas & Mercer as well as 47North, Amazon has a complete set of imprints. Some of which have already brought exclusive titles to market. Even more…
 
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    E-Commerce Times

  • No Rest for the E-tailer

    Jaime Brugueras
    28 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    Your online store did record sales this past holiday and you are a happy person at the start of the year. After a few days of rejoicing, it is time to get back to the grind and look at how you can move forward and take your online store to even greater heights. There are a few fallouts of the holiday season that you will need to manage, and then there are some initiatives that you should plan at this time of relative slack. A large amount of valuable data sits on your system. Take this time when there is less buzz in the market to plan for the coming quarter and year.

  • Apple's Cook Steamed Over Labor Practices Report

    Richard Adhikari
    27 Jan 2012 | 5:18 pm
    Since the middle of this week, the buzz about Apple hasn't been so much its record earnings as disclosures of the working conditions its overseas workers endure, as detailed in a recent report, which touched on worker deaths, inhumane working conditions, disregard for workers' health, the use of underage workers, suggestions that Cupertino cares only about cutting costs and maintaining product quality, and allegations of infighting among senior management at Apple over these issues.

  • Facebook Slaps Likejackers With Lawsuit

    Rob Spiegel
    27 Jan 2012 | 5:10 pm
    Facebook and Washington state filed federal lawsuits on Thursday against Adscend Media for "clickjacking," a form of spamming that fools users into visiting advertising sites and divulging personal information. "Likejacking" is similar. Users believe links to spam sites are being sent to them by friends. Facebook and Attorney General Rob McKenna filed similar but separate lawsuits against Adscend, alleging the advertising company has profited by collecting money from clients for every Facebook user misdirected to an advertisement or subscription offer.

  • Real Deal Boosts Intel's Entertainment Cred

    Erika Morphy
    27 Jan 2012 | 11:16 am
    Intel is buying about 190 patents, 170 patent applications, and next-generation video codec software from RealNetworks. The terms of the sale will allow RealNetworks to retain certain rights to continue using the patents in current and future products. In addition to the sale, RealNetworks and Intel signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on the development of the video codec software and related products. RealNetworks will be able to monetize these assets, generating additional capital for investment in new businesses and markets, said President and CEO Thomas Nielsen.

  • Content Intent, Part 1

    David Vranicar
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    As far as exclusive interviews go, you could do a lot worse than getting Herman Cain, and a lot worse than getting him on Nov. 28. That was, after all, the day that a woman unleashed accusations of a 13-year affair with Cain, the third racy allegation levied against Cain in a matter of weeks. And those charges were but part of the Cain saga. There was also the Nov. 15 Libya gaffe, when Cain seemed to forget not only what had happened in Libya, but also whether or not he agreed with Barack Obama's handling of the situation.
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    Shop.org Blog

  • Shop.org Exec Director shares thoughts on digital retail’s ‘critical juncture’

    Margaret Case Little, Director, NRF
    26 Jan 2012 | 4:05 am
    Last week’s Shop.org presence at Retail’s BIG Show – which featured a full track devoted to trendspotting and predictions in the digital retailing space – found the perfect introduction in retail veteran (and current Shop.org Executive Director) Vicki Cantrell. Cantrell shared inspiring and motivational thoughts for the hundreds of digital retailing professionals in the room,  but also focused on the “critical juncture” the digital retail industry is facing today in three main areas: globalization, personalization and organization. Watch the video below…

  • What retailers will do differently for Holiday 2012

    Fiona Swerdlow, Head of Research, Shop.org
    24 Jan 2012 | 7:28 am
    It was a rush of a holiday season: close to half of the retailers we surveyed earlier this month reported year over year online sales growth of 30% or more. Per the 2011 eHoliday Post-Holiday Study, conducted with partner BIGinsight, consumers started shopping online in earnest in November and hardly slowed down thereafter, with more than half of consumers finishing up in the last two weeks of December. Retailers reported generally favorable key performance indicators (KPIs) for the November and December period, compared to the January to October 2011 period leading up. While it’s not…

  • Proof that tablets are here to stay

    Fiona Swerdlow, Head of Research, Shop.org
    20 Jan 2012 | 1:35 am
    As quickly as retailers were asking themselves how to optimize for those tiny little smartphone screens, along came tablet devices with – comparatively speaking – oceans of space to fill. Plus, it turns out, consumers use their tablet and smart phone devices for different purposes and in different ways. Little surprise, then, that designing for tablet devices is a distinct discipline, as mobile veteran Stephen Burke of Resource Interactive explained in the Shop.org First Look Track “Designing with the Tablet Consumer in Mind” session. Given the burgeoning tablet device user base,…

  • How to organize the retail company of the future

    Fiona Swerdlow, Head of Research, Shop.org
    19 Jan 2012 | 5:01 am
    It’s pretty easy to spout adages such as “omnichannel customer” and “cross-channel coordination”, but as any retailer knows, the much harder part is figuring out how the retail organization should be set up to make good on those mantras. Enter a panel of five experienced retail specialists at this week’s Shop.org First Look Track “The Organization of the Future” session: Rob Schmults (Intent Media and panel moderator), Jared Blank (Tommy Hilfiger), Kevin Ertell (OnlineShoes.com), Sally McKenzie (Ecommerce Consulting), and Bob Myers (Sheplers…

  • Get inside their heads: 12 factors that impact whether customers click “buy”

    Fiona Swerdlow, Head of Research, Shop.org
    18 Jan 2012 | 7:25 am
    As I started to take notes, I was a bit startled to hear Amy’s opening question: “If you and I were alone in this room, how would you kill me?” A self-described usability specialist, Eight by Eight’s Amy Africa knows how to get one’s attention – but more importantly, what gets people to buy (and not). In the Shop.org First Look “Neuromarketing and the Influence on Buying Behavior” session at Retail’s BIG Show this week, Amy delved into what makes us tick – as human beings and as shoppers – which in turn are keys for retailers to entice customers to buy. Amy…
 
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    eCommerce and Entrepreneurship Blog

  • Five Optimizations to Keep Customers Coming Back in 2012

    20 Jan 2012 | 5:40 pm
    The start of a new year leads to all of the standard business evaluations. Normally the top of this list is how can I make more money in the upcoming year? Most businesses can get someone to buy a product or service from a website once, but the question is, will they do it again? Here are five tips you can use to optimize and hopefully help your website have a better 2012. 1. Improve your SEO - Search Engine Optimization is a complex order for most people, but here are a couple of things you can do right now to help your SEO. First, make sure you have a Google Webmaster Tools account and are…

  • How to Quit Your Job Without Burning Bridges

    13 Jan 2012 | 4:55 pm
    As we start a new year, many of us will be working on New Year resolutions. For some it will be the same “lose weight” resolution, for others it might be “go back to school”, or “get a better job.” Focusing on the last resolution, many of us want better jobs and fail to go after them. Here at Gordian Project, we rejoice with those whom have left us and embrace the new co-workers who will soon become a part of our work family. However, many of us struggle to understand why people decide to quit their current job, especially in the economy we currently face.

  • The Top Posts from 2011 - eCommerce and Entreprenuership Blog

    28 Dec 2011 | 5:58 pm
    Every year we like to look back on what posts hit home the most for our readers, and this year is no exception. 2011 was a year of ups and downs, with Google’s Panda shift effecting SEO’s, big changes from established social networks and new companies trying to carve themselves a piece of the pie. Our top five blogs reflect many of these ups and downs as well as many other practical pieces of advice for eCommerce marketers. Check them out below and let us know some of the top things you learned this year in the comments. 5. Providing Exceptional Customer Service Arianna starts off…

  • Tips for Winning Over Angry Customers

    21 Dec 2011 | 1:37 pm
    Winning over angry customers has to be the single hardest problem customer service team’s face every day. Thankfully, in our field we do not deal with face to face interactions, so it can often be easier to handle angry customers then in person.  By far the best thing you can do to win over angry customers is to give your “5-star” attitude: Sit up straight, breathe, give your full attention, be extremely patient, and be efficient. When you need some extra tips though, here are a couple great ideas that should help you provide excellent service to rude customers Create a…

  • Google Zeitgeist 2011: A Year In Review

    15 Dec 2011 | 10:39 am
    One of my favorite things about the end of the year is all of the lists that come up to remind us what has happened as we look back. As I posted last year, the Google Zeitgeist is one of my favorite of these recaps. It takes Google's products such as Search, Earth and Google+ to make a video that blends the top news and searches of 2011. Google has a lot of other lists as well that you can see here. Check it out below and leave us a comment to let us know what you think.      
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    Retail Ecommerce Blog - Online Retail Marketing | eCommerce SEO Tips by Mobius

  • How Online Retailers can take advantage of The Latest Adwords Features?

    25 Jan 2012 | 4:32 am
    Apologies for the lapse in posting – we were too caught up in the Cosmic world of Multiple Projects and deadlines, hence the delay.  Every year, Google outdoes itself in terms of delivering quality to its users. This year 2012 is no different. The transition from 2011 to 2012 has seen Google roll out some astounding features for its Adwords users as well as modify some existing features, to helps us reach our target in a cost effective manner as well as help users get what they... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • Don’t play with Google with dirty SEO tricks

    25 Feb 2011 | 2:01 am
    Yes, I mean it!!! Don’t play dirty SEO tricks (AKA black hat techniques) with the big G to capture those sweet top spots. If you do so, then you’ll be nowhere on Google’s search result again. I can substantiate my statement with a recent SEO scam that was published in NY Times. I am sure all of you must be aware of it.  For those who are not aware of the news, here is a glimpse of it… The retail giant JCPenney was identified for implementing black hat SEO techniques that ideally... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • Holiday Season 2010 – Skyrocketing Online Spending!

    11 Nov 2010 | 3:01 am
    With 54% of gift buyers beginning their holiday shopping spree by late October, an average of $142 has been spent online for purchases between October 18 and October 24, as per new survey data. This is an increase of 38% from the $103 average spending between October 3 and October 10. Amazon.com, the world’s largest e-retailer, has been the most sought-after for online purchases, according to the Compete Holiday Insights survey from web analytics provider Compete Inc. About 53% of the 1,002... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • 7 Tips To Save Money On eCommerce Credit Card Processing

    26 Oct 2010 | 8:10 pm
    Source: Getty Images Note: The following is a guest post written by Frank Collins of CreditCardProcessing.net Electric commerce or what many people refer to as eCommerce has grown in numbers and popularity over the past few years.  With almost every American household having access to the Internet, more and more consumers are turning to electronic networks to buy and sell products online. This greatly expands business opportunities and options for consumers, however it also brings... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • Marketing Tactics for the 2010 Holiday Season - Q&A with Lisa Raehsler

    4 Oct 2010 | 1:49 pm
    I am happy to present our first online interview with Lisa Raehsler, a SEM strategy consultant and PPC expert. Lisa is a certified Google Advertising Professional (GAP) who has supervised over 30 pay per click campaigns. This interview is in collaboration with SES, Chicago 2010. Our questions are in context with holiday marketing techniques, and I believe that Lisa’s insightful thoughts will help small and medium online retailers prepare better for the upcoming holiday season. Many... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
 
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    E-Commerce Law

  • Nine Must-Have iPad Apps for Lawyers (Plus One More)

    Jonathan Frieden
    24 Jan 2012 | 1:16 pm
    After months of waffling, I finally purchased an iPad 2 last fall.  I already had a laptop and an iPhone and feared that an iPad might be technology overkill but was hoping that the iPad would let me leave my laptop bag at home while on vacation. The iPad won't ever replace my laptop but it has become a vital part of my practice.  Here are the nine "must-have" iPad apps for attorneys that have changed the way I take notes, prepare for hearings, take and defend depositions, bill, and travel: 1.  Dropbox (Available on App Store, FREE) - Dropbox is a cloud storage service used by more than 25…

  • Leveraging Private Enforcement to Improve Internet Privacy

    Jonathan Frieden
    28 Sep 2011 | 9:00 am
    Our article, entitled "Putting the Genie Back in the Bottle:  Leveraging Private Enforcement to Improve Internet Privacy," leads off the most recent issue of the William Mitchell Law Review.  In the article, we argue that Congress should enact an omnibus Internet privacy statute which balances the needs of Internet users against those of the Internet businesses that drive the e-commerce economy while leveraging a private enforcement scheme to minimize cost and bureaucratic burden. If you get the chance to read the article, please let us know what you think.

  • The Law of Blogging

    Jonathan Frieden
    16 Aug 2011 | 3:07 pm
    At 10 a.m. on Saturday, I'll be appearing on Blueprint for Wealth on Federal News Radio (1500AM and 820AM in the D.C. Metro Area and streaming live at www.federalnewsradio.com) to discuss the law of blogging.  If you get a chance to listen, make sure to leave a comment here letting us know what you thought about the interview.

  • 5,000 BitTorrent Users May Not Proceed Anonymously Nor Quash Subpoenas Seeking Their Identities

    Leigh Murray
    16 Jun 2011 | 4:26 pm
    Over 5,000 John Doe Defendants unsuccessfully sought to quash subpoenas issued to Internet Service Providers ("ISPs") by Plaintiff West Coast Productions to learn the identity of the Defendants known in the Complaint only by their internet protocol ("IP") addresses.  West Coast Productions, Inc. v. Does 1-5829, Civ. Action No. 11-57 (CKK), 2011 WL 2292239 (D.D.C. June 10, 2011).  The District Court for the District of Columbia held that the Defendants failed to show that their privacy interests outweighed the Plaintiff's need to obtain their identifying information to pursue its copyright…

  • Game Over for Winklevosses in Facebook Case

    Charity M. Price
    8 Jun 2011 | 8:02 am
    The social networking saga appears to have finally come to an end in a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirming the decision to enforce the Settlement Agreement between Facebook and the Winklevosses.  The Facebook, Inc. v. Pacific Northwest Software, Inc., 2011WL 1843509 (C.A.9 (Cal.)).   The tone of the decision was one of vexation towards the Winklevosses for the protracted litigation, despite the agreement to release all claims against Facebook.  If you have watched the movie, "The Social Network," you know the genesis of the battle between…
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    Shopify Blog - Company

  • New Store Fridays - January 27, 2012

    Mike Freeman
    27 Jan 2012 | 11:14 am
      Each week we take a look at some of the new online stores that have recently launched on Shopify. It's a great way to get some inspiration for your own ecommerce site. It's also a great place to do some shopping! Would you like to be included in the next New Store Friday? All you need to do is post a link to your awesome store in the comments of our New Store Fridays post on our Facebook page.

  • Featured App: Bizelo eRetail Centralized Inventory Management

    Joey Devilla
    26 Jan 2012 | 12:32 pm
    There's a lot of work involved with running a shop. Inventory comes and goes as products come in from suppliers and go out to customers, orders come and go as customers make them and they get fulfilled, and there's also the matter of picking, packing, labelling and shipping. Bizelo eRetail Centralized Inventory Management (or CIM for short) is an app that helps you get on top of all this work. With it, it's a lot simpler to stay informed about your inventory, know when you're low on stock and what your packing costs are and pack, label and ship orders. It's available in the Shopify App Store…

  • 7 Tips on How to Raise Startup Capital

    Mark Hayes
    25 Jan 2012 | 12:12 pm
      Raising startup capital ain't easy. In fact, many entrepreneurs who decide to fundraise say it's the most intimidating and challenging aspect of starting a business. To help you get started, here are seven quick tips on how to raise startup capital:

  • Improving Shopify SEO: Several New Features!

    Alex Commons
    24 Jan 2012 | 12:48 pm
      Search engine optimization is the science - some say art - of convincing Google to show your web page or online store at the top of its results.  If you can master SEO, your store will get lots of traffic and you’ll be flooded with sales.  Best of all, SEO costs you nothing and is automatically built into Shopify. Today we’re proud to announce several features that will make it easier to improve the SEO of your shop without modifying your store’s template files. With a few clicks, you can now change page title tags, the homepage’s meta description and your image alt…

  • How to Write a Press Release for your Ecommerce Store

    Mark Hayes
    23 Jan 2012 | 9:37 am
    If you think your products will sell themselves, you're dreaming. In addition to paid search, SEO, and social media, you might want to consider more traditional forms of marketing and PR as well.  There's a lot of debate whether or not press releases are worthwhile anymore. I've heard good arguments come from both sides, and to be perfectly honest, for most online stores it's hard to say whether the juice will be worth the squeeze.  Companies like Apple can send a release and 2 seconds after it hits the wire there are headlines in every paper and on every TV station in the…
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    Get Elastic Ecommerce Blog

  • Social Networking Stats and Trends From Around the World

    Linda Bustos
    27 Jan 2012 | 2:03 am
    Kicking off our new weekly feature Infographic Friday are our friends at Invesp Consulting, who have compiled some interesting stats and trends on social networking from around the globe.Why does this matter to ecommerce?We have become a social networking culture, and this behavior is permeating every area of our lives. Even solo activities like using search engines is becoming socialized, as is shopping, travel, education and even work. Ecommerce organizations should be paying attention to the conversation about them, and starting their own conversations in the social-sphere. Innovative…

  • 4 Reasons Why Entitlements Are The Future of Digital Content

    David Chiu
    26 Jan 2012 | 2:30 am
    Not long ago, owning content meant holding a physical item – either you had a disc in hand, or you didn’t. Distribution and storage may have changed dramatically with digital formats, but ownership was still mostly defined by the files you had on your local device. Remember how iTunes reminded you to back up often or risk losing everything? The entitlement or right to consume content has always been rooted in possession of the content itself.But this model of ownership is becoming problematic as technology and customer sophistication advance. Better connectivity, cloud services, and…

  • Are Your CPCs Out Of Control? 5 Ways To Rein Them In

    Linda Bustos
    25 Jan 2012 | 2:03 am
    It’s easy to spend too much money on pay-per-click.The infographic below (source) breaks down Google’s top spenders in Google Adwords, but also highlights how CPCs (cost per click) vary across industries.While some of these click prices are not surprising, like for health insurance or wireless Internet deals (high ticket value and/or recurring revenue), others like ‘zumba dance dvd’ are considerably high relative to retail prices. According to Google Shopping, these vids sell between $18 and $90. An average CPC of $5.18, even at the high end of margin, is an alarming…

  • How Bounce Rate Optimization Can Improve Your Search Rankings

    Linda Bustos
    23 Jan 2012 | 2:03 am
    Straight from Google’s Quality Guidelines comes the mantra for the white-hat SEO community: “Build your site for users, not search engines.” And Google means it.The search giant disclosed its latest algorithm update includes page layout as a ranking factor, with a focus on how much above-the-fold real estate is dedicated to visible content vs. advertising or other distracting, useless shiny things (like splash pages).Google states that customer feedback influenced this change, as it’s no surprise that sites with buried content make for a crummy user experience, as do…

  • How Facebook’s New Open Graph Features Impact fCommerce

    Linda Bustos
    19 Jan 2012 | 9:48 pm
    Facebook announced yesterday regarding its developer platform — namely, new features in its Open Graph are now available to all application developers.The new features were no secret, but we can now see them in action from 60 partner applications involved in the Open Graph Beta including Netflix, Hulu, Zynga, Spotify, Washington Post and Kobo.So what’s the big deal?2 New Features for Facebook Open GraphOpen Graph applications use elements of the development platform to provide ‘frictionless sharing’ to Facebookers’ Timelines and Tickers, which will also appear in friends’…
 
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    Ecommerce News

  • Actinic Q4 2011 Survey Shows Marginal Uplift in Sales for UK SME Online Retailers

    16 Jan 2012 | 5:00 pm
    Actinic Q4 2011 Survey Shows Marginal Uplift in Sales for UK SME Online Retailers West Byfleet, Surrey – 17 January 2012 – The sixth quarterly UK online sales survey conducted by ecommerce specialist Actinic shows a slight increase in online retail sales for small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to Q4 2010. The research reports an average of only a 1.5% increase in sales revenue as well as a 1.6% increase in the numbers of orders processed in the three months to 31 December 2011, when compared to the same quarter in 2010. However, there was over a 3%…

  • Actinic Online Enables SMEs To Create Mobile-Optimised Ecommerce Sites

    10 Jan 2012 | 5:00 pm
    Actinic Online Enables SMEs To Create Mobile-Optimised Ecommerce Sites ~Web retailers can now cash in on the fastest growing sales channel~ West Byfleet, Surrey – 11 January 2012 – UK consumers have already spent over £1.3 billion on purchases through mobile devices. That number is set to grow by 55% over the next ten years* and yet 70% of UK online stores aren’t accessible** from smartphones and tablets. To meet the growing demand, UK ecommerce vendor Actinic is ensuring its site owners can cash in with the launch of the Mobile Store: a mobile-optimised version of its hosted ecommerce…

  • Online shoppers to spend nearly £8 billion this Christmas

    17 Nov 2011 | 5:00 pm
    Online shoppers to spend nearly £8 billion this Christmas.  UK consumers are expected to spend almost £8 billion online this Christmas, despite tough economic conditions – a 14 per cent increase on last year, writes Simon Wicks. Research by the online retail membership body IMRG predicts that online shopping sales will hit £7.75 billion over the five weeks from Monday, 28 November – also known as ‘Cyber Monday’. Almost half (£3.72 billion) is expected to be spent in the first two weeks alone. The forecast is based on data from 100 online retailers and reflects the trend seen…

  • Actinic Introduces Web-based Ecommerce Solutions to Enhance Options for the UK SME Market

    9 Oct 2011 | 6:00 pm
    Actinic Introduces Web-based Ecommerce Solutions to Enhance Options for the UK SME Market ~Actinic Online and Actinic Desktop version 11 now available~ West Byfleet, Surrey – 11 October 2011 – UK ecommerce vendor Actinic (www.actinic.co.uk) introduces Actinic Online, a completely new range of web-based ecommerce solutions designed for start-ups and SMEs. In addition, it is announcing version 11 of its desktop ecommerce software.

  • UK SME Online Retailers Experience Slowdown in Sales

    1 Sep 2011 | 3:00 am
    UK SME Online Retailers Experience Slowdown in Sales but Actinic research reports ecommerce still better than High Street retail West Byfleet, Surrey -- 1 September 2011 -- The fifth quarterly UK online sales survey conducted by ecommerce specialist Actinic (www.actinic.co.uk) shows a continued slowdown in online retail growth for small to medium enterprises (SMEs). The research reports both an average 7% increase in sales revenue as well as a 7% increase in the numbers of orders processed in the three months to 30 June 2011, when compared to the same quarter in 2010.
 
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    Practical eCommerce Blog Posts

  • My favorite tools and services

    Jamie Salvatori
    25 Jan 2012 | 9:52 pm
    I use a variety of software in my day-to-day activities running an e-commerce company. Here is a list of my favorites. Hopefully, it’s useful to you as well! Photoshop - If you don’t know how to use any flavor of image editing software, you shouldn’t be in the e-commerce game. As I’ve said in previous posts, you have to know everything about every facet of your business. If you “outsource” every activity in your business to your employees, you’ll be held completely hostage by them. You may not be the best graphic designer, but you should know how to perform basic image editing…

  • Ecommerce Autoresponders: A Definitive List of Significant Benefits

    Hal Licino
    24 Jan 2012 | 9:58 pm
    If you’re like most small to medium sized ecommerce merchants, you could always use more staff. What if there was a full time secretary who you could delegate to send out emails in a predetermined sequence to provide information for prospective customers as well as follow-up missives to purchasers? And what if this secretary would execute their duties on the dot, never miss an email, and cost you either a few dollars a month or maybe even nothing at all? If it seems impossible it’s actually quite possible, and your ecommerce business can access this critical suite of services through the…

  • January Blues

    Richard Stubbings
    24 Jan 2012 | 2:42 am
    It's January and Christmas is over. The huge rush of orders has been picked, packed and dispatched. The first week or two of January is also busy with the customers spending their Christmas money. Then the credit card bills come in, the orders dry up, and the problems start. What separates a good e-commerce business from a not so good one is how you deal with problems. Anyone can pack and send an order, but what you do when the customer complains is key to your continuing success. We would all like to think that there will never be problems, you will never make a mistake, and you will always…

  • Facebook Adds Subscription Option to Profiles; Benefits to Merchants

    Paul Chaney
    4 Jan 2012 | 6:29 pm
    In an attempt at making interaction more asymmetrical (the way Twitter works), Facebook recently added an option called "Subscribe" to user profiles. What this means is that you no longer have to friend someone to receive his or her content. The question is, why would a social network that, for years, has been bent on creating symmetrical connections offer a function that does not include that requirement? Perhaps it's the same reason that Facebook Pages no longer require that someone like the page before being able to interact with comments. Facebook cites its rationale thusly: "If you are…

  • Ten New Years Resolutions for Open Source eCommerce (OSC) Makers

    Kerry Watson
    3 Jan 2012 | 5:02 pm
    I've been an evangelist for users of Open Source eCommerce (OSC) programs for almost a decade now, and for users of other OS programs since I worked at Netscape in the mid-90's. As a user evangelist, my job is to speak up for users when they cannot or will not. I have watched the makers of these programs make the same mistakes over and over, starting out like a shooting star then plummeting to the ground.The line between OSC and commercial programs will be blurred this year like never before, and the OSC makers need to learn from the commercial guys or be wiped out. "OSC makers" include…
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    Practical eCommerce Podcasts

  • Differentiate Your Email Identification

    Practical eCommerce
    27 Jan 2012 | 4:39 pm
    Never repeat what is in the From line again in the subject line. The recipient knows the email is from you; there's no need to repeat it. If you have transactional emails related to an actual order the customer placed, the From line should reflect that to differentiate it from normal promotional messages that the recipients may be receiving from you.

  • Focus on Your ‘From:’ Line

    Practical eCommerce
    26 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm
    Many ecommerce merchants agonize over the subject lines as being the most important element. However, when viewing on a mobile device, it is the "From:" line that gets the most attention. Making sure the From line is a basic representation of your company — and that your recipient will recognize it — can decide whether your message gets read or passed by.

  • Reactivation Emails Bring Repeat Sales

    Practical eCommerce
    25 Jan 2012 | 5:57 pm
    The majority of new customers will not return to your site. A reactivation campaign can pick up from where your transaction confirmation left off with a sequence of focused emails. Keep the emails as relevant as you can, basing the content on their browsed and purchased items. These can often be the highest grossing email campaigns.

  • Balancing Usability with SEO; Expert Explains

    Practical eCommerce
    25 Jan 2012 | 5:23 pm
    Traffic from search engines remains crucial to most ecommerce merchants — in spite of the prominence of social media. But focusing too much on search engine optimization, to the detriment of shoppers, can actually harm a merchant's business. Balancing SEO with usability is our topic today. To explain it, we are joined by Hamlet Batista, a pioneering SEO innovator and the founder of Hamlet Batista Group, an SEO consultancy. He speaks with Practical eCommerce's Kerry Murdock.

  • Making Sites Smartphone Friendly

    Practical eCommerce
    24 Jan 2012 | 3:52 pm
    The simplest way to take advantage of mobile-search crawlers is to detect smartphone browsers on every page and serve them a smartphone version of that page. It’s good for search, and it’s also best practice for smartphone users coming to your site from direct links, email campaigns, banners, and any other marketing channel.
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    The Ecommerce Blog

  • The un-usability of online video

    jestep
    13 Jan 2012 | 12:20 pm
    Just about every news website and blog uses online video as a means of communicating with their audience. Online video started gaining popularity several years ago with the creation of youtube and other video sharing services. Youtube gained immediate and nearly unprecedented popularity. Media companies looked at this inspiring boost in traffic and had to figure out a way to monetize online video. Putting history aside, online video is often used improperly. Companies are hanging on some antiquated TV theory that people want everything delivered in video and not in text. I’ve gotten to…

  • The importance of hardware consistency

    jestep
    19 Dec 2011 | 4:17 pm
    If you look at any of the posts I’ve done regarding server or computer setups, you’ll find some similarities in the way I set things up. After enough testing myself and reviewing other people’s experience I like to stick with certain brands and specific models of hardware when setting things up. For example, I almost always use Tyan or Supermicro motherboards for servers, Dell Optiplex computers for desktops and workstations, CentOS for server operating systems, Areca hard drive controllers, the same brand and model hard drives when possible, etc.. A few months ago we had a…

  • Call your congress-person, oppose the American Firewall

    jestep
    17 Nov 2011 | 10:44 am
    In case you haven’t been paying attention to the US political landscape, there is currently a bill in progress dubbed the great American firewall. It is a thoughtless overreaching nightmare’ish bill that claims to be for preventing copyright infringement. Please read up and understand the implications of what this bill will do. There has never been a more 1984esque bill to be taken up by both houses of congress. It is absolutely ridiculous that our country would go this far just to help the massive media corporations under the veil that they are doing it for the good of the…

  • Who are you sharing your customer data with?

    jestep
    3 May 2011 | 12:46 pm
    I see new products and services from large retailers and large online companies all the time. Sometimes these services can be extremely helpful to the ecommerce website owners. Services such as product reviews, facebook or social media widgets, customer feedback, additional payment methods, etc., can help small websites look more authoritative and help build visitor trust. It’s trust that gets your customers to purchase from you, just as much as the prices you sell your products at, right? The internet and the companies that we routinely see operating on it have become such common names…

  • SEO for small businesses on a budget

    jestep
    11 Feb 2011 | 11:00 am
    Taking a break from usability and operations that I normally address. Seobook.com published an outstanding guideline on setting up and marketing a business online on a budget. The guide is straight to the point and offers a ton of good information about how to jump into SEO, analytics, hosting, and online marketing. What I like most about the article is that they give specific resources and products to make it happen, rather than the blanket, “you need to do this, find a company to do that, buy something like…” that we all suggest, all too often. Additionally, they pretty…
 
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    ComparisonEngines

  • Comprehensive Review of the Current State of eCommerce

    Brian Smith
    8 Jan 2012 | 2:21 pm
    Why is e-commerce such a hot area in venture capital now? from Elizabeth Knopf of Sorced.

  • Reading

    Brian Smith
    22 Dec 2011 | 10:42 am
    While I just started a new book, I found myself spending a lot of time this week on two articles and all the related comments, posts, counter-arguments, etc.: -Marc Andreessen: Predictions for 2012 (and beyond) – From CNET. Yes, I still check out news.com, although not as much as I once did. The article is a follow up to Andreesen’s WSJ article from August about Why Software Is Eating The World. I had a bit of a problem with a statement I thought he was making that because of smartphones “we saw the rise of a whole category of e-commerce category killers in verticals that 5…

  • Alfred in the News

    Brian Smith
    9 Dec 2011 | 12:26 pm
    Alfred, your friendly neighborhood recommendation app, is in the news this morning amid rumors that Groupon is in talks to buy the company behind the service. I like the concept of Alfred because it mirrors parts of my Intelligent Agent. Amid talk of machine learning, Alfred’s Extraction Engine and Serendipity Engine gathers your interests from multiple sources: your inputs, friends’ inputs, facebook data, twitter data, location data, etc. The service then makes smarter recommendations of what to eat and drink, and where to be merry. While the current incarnation focuses on basic…

  • Ecommerce Integration With Facebook

    Brian Smith
    30 Nov 2011 | 12:50 pm
    A couple days ago, Techcrunch had a post with two points people found interesting. Point #1 was the focus of the article: “50% of visitors to ecommerce sites are currently logged in to Facebook.” Point #2 was a soundbite from Facebook: “88% of Internet Retailer Top 200 retail sites are integrated with Facebook.” I threw out Point #1 as normal Techcrunch drivel as the article could have said 50% of visitors to health sites, porn sites, banking sites, news sites, or travel sites are currently logged in to Facebook. We all know visitors to any sites are currently logged…

  • Social Analytics – What I’m learning

    Brian Smith
    29 Nov 2011 | 11:44 am
    Cohort analysis, event timelines, retention & engagement. Metrics which are tracked and optimized religiously by social gaming companies, but not by ecommerce companies. Might be time for etailers to think different. Here’s a post on what matters to social gaming behemoths like Zynga…and will start to matter more for the Sears, Gaps, and JCPs of the world.
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    Groove Commerce eCommerce Blog

  • Developer Toolbox: A Guide for Installing Magento Extensions

    Andrew Hale
    24 Jan 2012 | 4:44 pm
    The Magento platform is one of the most versatile carts on the web today, and one of the driving forces behind its success is its flexibility. Not only are there a wide variety of features included out of the box, but there is an ever-increasing pool of extensions and customizations that can be found to suit the needs of any store. Because extensions are such a large part of the Magento experience, I’d like dive into the process of installing a Magento extension. Disclaimer Before we go any further there are two points that I want to be clear on. Never blindly install an extension on a live…

  • PetDoors.com Launches on Magento Enterprise

    Groove Commerce
    17 Jan 2012 | 3:48 pm
    Patio Pacific has been selling America’s finest pet doors since 1976. Over two years ago, they decided to redesign their ecommerce website, PetDoors.com, and replatform to Magento Enterprise in order to update the look and improve the user experience. After moving efficiently through the design stage, Patio Pacific began experiencing delays in the backend development due to a maxed out development resource. Mid-development, Patio Pacific turned to Groove Commerce to help them cross the finish line. Groove was able to correct issues that existed within product configurations and optimize the…

  • Pinterest for Business

    Sara Corbin
    17 Jan 2012 | 1:10 pm
    Pinterest is a social bookmarking platform that is used to collect images to create categorized and visually stunning online bulletin boards. Pinterest acts as an interactive scrapbook, allowing users to organize and share inspiring imagery and interesting products from across the web in a pinboard-like fashion. Think of Pinterest as a visual version of social networking, as it allows users to follow others, create and share content, tag users and comment on pins. Pinterest launched in March of 2010 as an ‘invite only’ social network, and already has over 4 million users. The site was…

  • Groove Sponsors & Exhibits at the Internet Retailer Web Design and Usability Conference

    Groove Commerce
    13 Jan 2012 | 10:56 am
    The Internet Retailer Web Design and Usability Conference focuses on creating stand-out ecommerce sites that enable e-retailers to attract and retain customers, generate sales and please today’s more demanding consumer. Groove Commerce will again be exhibiting, speaking, and consulting at IRWD February 13-15th 2012. The IRWD Conference is a popular industry tradeshow that allows e-tailers to have one on one consultations with participating agencies. Groove team members were quickly booked to lead over 50 consultations. The consultations will focus on usability best practices, search engine…

  • Google+ Your Business

    Simon Habtemariam
    11 Jan 2012 | 9:35 am
    What does Google+ Your Business equal? It’s probably still too early to tell. But in the days of the Panda Algorithm, quality content is king. Ok, admit it, every once in a while you Google yourself. While going through search engine optimization strategies and hearing about what new practices will make Google’s algorithms twitch, you’re likely to Google your own business, and in a moment of vanity, perhaps you like to see what comes up in the search results when you type in your own name. I probably Google myself once a month. Aside from my responsibilities as an online strategist at…
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    Local Media Watch - BIA/Kelsey

  • AT&T Opens Door to YP Sale

    Charles Laughlin
    27 Jan 2012 | 3:51 pm
    On yesterday’s AT&T earnings call, CEO Randall Stephenson opened the door to the possibility that the telecom giant would sell off its directories business. Here is what Stephenson said on yesterday’s earnings call: “That’s one area that we’re going to obviously take a very hard look at, and while I don’t want to give any indication on M&A activity, it’s one of these areas that we’re going to have to decide, do we keep it, do we restructure it, as we move forward.” The quote is from an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In…

  • Berry Acquires Webvisible Assets

    Charles Laughlin
    26 Jan 2012 | 4:54 pm
    U.S. directory and local search player The Berry Company has scooped up defunct search marketing firm Webvisible’s Geneva platform from a liquidator in the wake of that company’s collapse. “This acquisition will dramatically enhance our presence and capabilities in the digital local search space,” said John Fischer, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of TBC Holdings and Berry. “We plan to take the best of the Geneva technology and create a new platform and leads optimization engine that meets the ever-changing needs of advertisers across a range of…

  • New Vertical Focus: On Demand ‘Maintenance’ Info

    Peter Krasilovsky
    26 Jan 2012 | 4:47 pm
    The focus for vertical sites is likely to shift in coming months. In addition to regular features, such as listings, many vertical sites will also begin to blend personalized or on demand “maintenance” information with various social media features such as scheduling and reviews. We’ve seen it with garden and health sites, and also, increasingly, with car maintenance sites. DriverSide and RepairPal, both launched in 2008, have pioneered the personalized garage approach, which links car owners with auto diagnosis and leads to service providers. A new site, CarCareKiosk, aims…

  • Putting Apple’s Monster Quarter Into Perspective

    Mike Boland
    24 Jan 2012 | 9:36 pm
    As you probably heard, Apple today announced first quarter earnings (it’s first fiscal quarter is Sept-Dec.). And you probably also heard that it was a blowout quarter — beating even the most aggressive analyst estimates. Here are the main bullets, but more importantly I’ve included below a few factoids put together by MG Seigler at TechCrunch which put these numbers into perspective. Some of them are simply mind blowing. The main points: – Revenue: $46.3 billion – Profit: $13.06 billion – Gross margin: 44.7% – Cash or cash equivalents on hand: $97…

  • Shopkick Stats Reveal More Adoption and User Engagement

    Elise Simmons
    24 Jan 2012 | 10:50 am
    Shopkick, the location-based shopping app, announced today that it has over 3 million active users since it launched over a year ago and that over a billion of its in-app deals and offers have been viewed. Shopkick’s app communicates with a patent-pending device in stores, letting customers earn rewards just by strolling into a store with the app open and looking at products. Shopkick’s new location technology, ’shopkick Signal’ enables the app to verify location within feet. Since detection occurs on the user’s mobile device, privacy of presence information…
 
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    Digital Money

  • Reviews and reviewers

    Dave Birch
    27 Jan 2012 | 4:39 am
    You can read this post on the Consult Hyperion "Tomorrow's Transactions" blog. Please point your newsreader at http://www.chyp.com/feeds/blog for all of the posts. These opinions are my own (I think) and presented solely in my capacity as an interested member of the general public [posted with ecto]

  • Bore reporter

    Dave Birch
    24 Jan 2012 | 1:24 pm
    You can read this post on the Consult Hyperion "Tomorrow's Transactions" blog. Please point your newsreader at http://www.chyp.com/feeds/blog for all of the posts. These opinions are my own (I think) and presented solely in my capacity as an interested member of the general public [posted with ecto]

  • Dave Birch, Consult Hyperion

    Dave Birch
    23 Jan 2012 | 1:56 pm
    David G.W. Birch is a Director of Consult Hyperion, the IT management consultancy that specialises in electronic transactions. Here he provides specialist consultancy support to clients around the world, including all of the leading payment brands, major telecommunications providers, governments bodies and international organisations including the OECD. Before helping to found Consult Hyperion in 1986, he spent several years working as a consultant in Europe, the Far East and North America. He graduated from the University of Southampton with a B.Sc (Hons.) in Physics. He has lectured to MBA…

  • I can see clearly now

    Dave Birch
    19 Jan 2012 | 1:33 am
    You can read this post on the Consult Hyperion "Tomorrow's Transactions" blog. Please point your newsreader at http://www.chyp.com/feeds/blog for all of the posts. These opinions are my own (I think) and presented solely in my capacity as an interested member of the general public [posted with ecto]

  • I wonder if this whole mobile thing is going to catch on?

    Dave Birch
    16 Jan 2012 | 2:49 pm
    You can read this post on the Consult Hyperion "Tomorrow's Transactions" blog. Please point your newsreader at http://www.chyp.com/feeds/blog for all of the posts. These opinions are my own (I think) and presented solely in my capacity as an interested member of the general public [posted with ecto]
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    Blue Acorn eCommerce Consulting

  • Exploring the Effectiveness of Holiday-Themed eCommerce

    Amanda Graham
    18 Jan 2012 | 4:08 pm
    The numbers are in, and according to comScore, U.S. online retail sales totaled a record $37.17 billion during the 2011 holiday shopping season, which they consider to be from November 1 to December 31. That’s a 15% increase over last year’s total revenue number, compared to a 4% increase for brick-and-mortar retailers. With [...]Exploring the Effectiveness of Holiday-Themed eCommerce is a post from: Blue Acorn eCommerce Consulting

  • WTF Have We Been?

    Kevin
    29 Jul 2011 | 10:17 am
    If you’ve come to our site this year looking for advice, tips, and experiences from some of the amazing eCommerce initiatives we’ve been working on lately – you’ve been greeted with the sound of crickets chirping. We’ve surpassed the longest period of time ever without a single blog post, and some have even asked [...]WTF Have We Been? is a post from: Blue Acorn eCommerce Consulting

  • Online Privacy Snafus Prompt the Government to Take Action

    Melissa
    19 Nov 2010 | 9:45 am
    From the earliest days of e-commerce, user privacy has been a paramount concern, on both sides of the transaction. Buyers are skittish about sharing their financial and personal data, and sellers are leery of violating regulations that could result in steep fees or even the demise of their business. In response to the recent Internet privacy [...]Online Privacy Snafus Prompt the Government to Take Action is a post from: Blue Acorn eCommerce Consulting

  • Click and Mortar: The Best of Both Worlds

    Melissa
    28 Sep 2010 | 9:25 am
    For years now, there’s been a steady growth of online marketing and eCommerce businesses, leading many to wonder if brick and mortar stores will eventually become obsolete. After all, web-based stores can engage people from the comfort of their own homes, theoretically fulfilling all of their consumer needs with the click of a button. And [...]Click and Mortar: The Best of Both Worlds is a post from: Blue Acorn eCommerce Consulting

  • Facebook Credits: The New Super Cyber Marketplace?

    Melissa
    16 Aug 2010 | 9:00 am
    In just a few short years, Facebook has revolutionized the way people socialize. The website has quickly become a household name, giving hundreds of millions of people a free and easy way to stay connected with friends, family, and colleagues across the world. But something much bigger could be on the horizon for the dot-com [...]Facebook Credits: The New Super Cyber Marketplace? is a post from: Blue Acorn eCommerce Consulting
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    Channel Dollars

  • Monetizing Google Product Search

    Kevin Packler
    12 Jan 2012 | 10:46 pm
    So, it looks like Google has finally found a way to monetize Google Product Search. It’s been discussed for years, ever since Froogle was in beta, how Google would eventually get money out of their free product listings. Retailers have been seeing shifts in traffic for several months now, where clicks are moving away from Google Product Search and over to Google Product Listing Ads. The exact amount of the shift will depend on the product segment and retailers in question, but the trend is undeniable and feeds into Google’s strategy to more aggressively pull in revenue from their…

  • Why SOPA Isn’t A Clean Solution

    Kevin Packler
    12 Jan 2012 | 10:35 pm
    SOPA, or the Stop Online Privacy Act, is another internet focused measure being circulated as federal legislation around internet use continues to heat up. My estimate is that it takes federal government about 10-15 years to catch up with current innovations overall so we are just now seeing a coming wave of laws which will take aim at policing technology and internet use. That kind of latency is not unheard of, and really whenever there is a technological revolution, there will eventually be laws enacted to follow up on those changes. So whether we are talking about driving laws to catch up…

  • Amazon Taxes and the Rumor Mill

    Kevin Packler
    12 Jan 2012 | 9:30 pm
    At the end of 2011, Amazon made a hard push to ensure all of their third-party merchants had provided IRS Form 1099 information. The push was hard enough that Amazon would be deprecate anyone who didn’t complete this (no word if that actually happened). Why now, and what makes it so essential to have this information provided by the end of 2011, or at least before 2012 rolled around? All of Amazon’s work with individual states suggest that by 2014, Amazon expects to have the internet sales tax issue worked out. As Internet Retailer reported, Amazon has cut a deal with another…

  • Reverting Back from Holiday Rate Cards

    Kevin Packler
    28 Dec 2011 | 2:06 pm
    That was a busy holiday season. I imagine everyone will agree we saw about a 15-20% lift year over year for the quarter industry wide, but sometimes the work involved feels like it’s gone up exponentially to achieve those goals. Regardless, when thinking ahead to life outside of Q4, it’s good to keep in mind the end date for holiday rate cards. Shopzilla has already gone back to standard rates, so this should be a prime location for pushing budget to. On the other side of the coin, some engines are not rolling back rates until January 15th, so throttles should be available if…

  • National Online Sales Tax Moving Forward

    Kevin Packler
    30 Oct 2011 | 4:57 am
    Bit by bit, the national sales tax momentum is gaining steam. Dual bills have been introduced in the federal government which is being spurned on by the shoot out between states to establish a revenue stream from booking online sales industry.In the Senate, Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., are pushing a measure very similar to a House bill being pushed by Steve Womack, R-Ark., and Jackie Speier, D-Calif. The structure to both is similar to what many industry experts are looking for: Designating a single rate tax structure for all states Creating a…
 
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    Retail, in the eyes of the everyday customer

  • Perfect Fit

    betterretail
    23 Jan 2012 | 4:18 am
    Retail space is expensive.  At Bon-Ton Stores they stock retail floor with most profitable items and add kiosks so shoppers can purchase their extended inventory online.  Items purchased via the kiosk come with free shipping.  Win win.

  • Be A Storyteller

    betterretail
    16 Jan 2012 | 4:24 am
    Jewelryboxdirect.com sells gold dipped roses.  But they don’t just sell them, they also tell a story.  On every gold dipped rose page is an impossible to miss link– And when visitors click this (as I’m sure 90% do) they’re told a fantastic story– 1. How did we come about doing this (selling the roses) We have operated a retail jewelry store, since 1974 in Minneapolis. In 1994, on a tip from another jeweler, we started to market the all gold rose to our customers in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Within two years, we were selling over 1,000 roses per year! We…

  • One on One

    betterretail
    9 Jan 2012 | 4:33 am
    Shopping online has many advantages, but it also has one disadvantage.  You can’t develop a personal relationship with a product expert online.  I can have a relationship with amazon.com but not a product expert from amazon.com.  This is where crutchfield.com differentiates itself.  On their site is a page that lists Crutchfield ‘advisors’.  Each advisor has a profile page with their phone number, credentials, bio and customer comments.  Once I find an advisor I like, I can be assigned to him/her.  Here is the profile page for Ethan–…

  • Search Results

    betterretail
    2 Jan 2012 | 5:55 am
    Most sites show small product images in site search to maximize how much they can fit on screen.  This makes logical sense.  Some examples– Example 1: http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/CAMOmnifindQueryCmd?storeId=226&catalogId=40000000226&langId=-1&searchCategory=&ip_state=&ip_constrain=&ip_navtype=search&pageSize=24&currentPage=&ip_sortBy=&searchKeywords=camping+tent Example 2: http://www.rei.com/search?query=camping+tent Example 3:…

  • Clever URL

    betterretail
    26 Dec 2011 | 7:31 am
    The other day I noticed this really clever PPC ad link (red box below)– The URL nicely complements ad copy.
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    ColderICE eCommerce Education

  • Don’t We All Know Somebody That Thinks They’re Always Right?

    Expert Blogger
    27 Jan 2012 | 4:08 pm
    ColderICE Friday Newsflash Hey, hey gang! This is your man John again. Here are today’s hot links and as usual the link to the full story story. If you enjoy them, please share!   How to Know When You’re Wrong (and What You Can Do About It) We’ve all met a person who is always right, and we know how annoying they can be because they’re often wrong. There’s little that’s more annoying than arguing with somebody who is clearly mistaken but won’t admit it. Find out:…

  • Think and Grow Rich: The ColderICE Book Club – The 13 Steps Toward Riches by Napoleon Hill

    John Lawson
    27 Jan 2012 | 10:20 am
    The book club had its initial call last night and the environment was electric! We have a great group of folks that were able to make the inaugral meeting on our group call. Several people checked in and said they had to miss this call but were inquiring about a recording. There is a recording being edited so look for it sometime next week. Our next meeting for the Think and Grow Rich ColderICE Book Club is scheduled for February 9th at 8:00 pm est. Mark your calendar and please join us. Its not at all too late! The next call will cover chapters 2, 3, and 4 on Desire, Faith and…

  • Think and Grow Rich Book Club Goes LIVE Tonight: Call-in And Hangout!

    John Lawson
    26 Jan 2012 | 3:59 pm
    As announced earlier this week, we will read and do a few exercises to help reinforce the teachings found in Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. On Thursday evenings (tonight) we will come together on our first group conference call and discuss the book and the exercises. I will help by facilitating the group, but you guys are as responsible for the content of the group study as I am. So do NOT just get on the call the listen, get on the call the interact! Tonight we will have our very first call! Go ahead and download the book and the first excercise below, and read Chapter 1 (or listen to…

  • How Would It Be If Good Ol’ Google Went Bad?

    Expert Blogger
    25 Jan 2012 | 4:20 pm
    ColderICE Wednesday Newsflash Hey there people, this is your boy John again. Here are today’s hot links and as usual the link to the full story story. If you enjoy them, please share! Google Is Facebook Is AOL: What Happens When a Good Google Goes Bad   Two weeks ago, Google announced that they were integrating Google+, their brand new social network, with Google search results, calling the new feature “Search, Plus Your World”. The resulting change to Google search results has frustrated some, angered others, and prompted a new conversation about anti-competitive…

  • Understanding Marketing Automation: Infograph

    John Lawson
    25 Jan 2012 | 9:46 am
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    VideoRetailer.org - Exploring the Intersection of Video and e-Commerce.

  • Top 10 Video Commerce Predictions for 2012 – Part 1

    Justin Foster
    24 Jan 2012 | 2:10 pm
    In this post, I will share a share a summary of the Top 10 Video Commerce Predictions For 2012, as reported in the Liveclicker webinar earlier this month.  To make it easier to consume, I broke this post up into 2 parts, presenting 5 predictions in each.  Here are the first 5 predictions: 1. Videos will get shorter The current median length of a retail video across the Liveclicker client base as of January 1, 2012, is 1:35, and I predict it will progressively get shorter this year.  Why do you ask?  In the recent video commerce research that Liveclicker conducted in over 7,500 retail…

  • Liveclicker Announces Record Growth in 2011

    Jen Fahey
    17 Jan 2012 | 10:14 am
    Video commerce leader doubles revenue run rate; retains 100% of enterprise clients. San Jose, CA – January 17, 2012 Liveclicker, Inc, the leading provider of video commerce solutions for the web’s top brands, today announced record revenue and client acquisition growth in the fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2011. Revenue run rate more than doubled compared to the year prior for the third consecutive year, and brands including Disney, Saks Fifth Avenue, Spanx, Dollar General, Express, TomTom, Eastern Mountain Sports, and L’Oreal joined the company’s growing client roster. As…

  • Meet up with Liveclicker at Retail’s Big Show in New York

    Jen Fahey
    29 Dec 2011 | 5:20 pm
    Are you are attending Retail’s Big Show in New York this January? If you are, you should meet up with Liveclicker! We will be hosting quick 15 minute video commerce strategy sessions all throughout the conference to discuss video commerce initiatives and offer free strategy advice for what your program can do to achieve greater results. As a thank you to people for taking the time out of their busy conference schedules to meet with us, we will be giving out a FREE iPod Shuffle to the first 30 people we meet with. To set up a meeting with Liveclicker at Retail’s Big Show, please…

  • 4 Examples of Winning Video Page Placement

    Ben Kopetti
    21 Dec 2011 | 12:29 pm
    With the news that the 2011 holiday shopping season is breaking all types of records, it’s safe to say that retailers are spending more and more time thinking about how their customers’ user experiences can help increase sales. Video, in increasingly robust numbers, is becoming a huge part of that user experience. In fact, Liveclicker’s video analytics reported a 72% increase in plays for customers with us from December 2010 to December 2011! There is a reason that video page placement was featured as one of the top 10 video commerce lessons in our recent webinar, because if…

  • Online Video Propels Top Retailers to 2011 Holiday Success

    Jen Fahey
    19 Dec 2011 | 7:00 am
    Liveclicker video commerce analytics confirm video’s rapid adoption among leading online retailers. San Jose, CA – December 19, 2011 Liveclicker, Inc., the leading provider of video commerce solutions for the web’s top brands, today announced the results of the retail industry’s most comprehensive revenue analysis ever performed on e-commerce videos live during the holiday shopping season. From a sample of 7,500 videos across 25 leading e-commerce sites, Liveclicker learned: The average retailer saw the number of year-over-year video views increase by 61% in November 2011.
 
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    eBusiness Strategy

  • Will 2012 Be The Year Financial eBusiness Teams Fully Embrace Video?

    Benjamin Ensor
    27 Jan 2012 | 6:51 am
    I love video as a communication media. The combination of sound and moving pictures so much more engaging and more memorable than text. We wrote in our research last year about how we're starting to see video being used more and more by eBusiness teams as an efficient and effective way to educate customers about products, encourage sales and deliver customer service. With the Academy Awards coming up, we thought it would be both fun and helpful to highlight some of the best examples we've seen of online video in retail financial services in the past year. With the help of the rest of…

  • Brands Are Increasingly Selling Direct Online . . . In New Global Markets

    Zia Daniell Wigder
    26 Jan 2012 | 1:08 pm
    Back in 2010, we wrote a report that looked at how and where US online retailers were expanding internationally. Today we published a related report that focuses on brands that have extended their international offerings by launching transactional websites. Establishing A Global Direct Online Sales Footprint looks at the countries where brands are choosing to focus on with their eCommerce offerings, and some of the tactics they've used to keep costs in check. A handful of findings from the report: Brands rarely enter a market by selling direct on their websites. Most brands enabling eCommerce…

  • Raining On Ron Johnson's Parade

    Sucharita Mulpuru
    25 Jan 2012 | 12:26 pm
    Ron Johnson, the new CEO of JCPenney, had a dog-and-pony show in New York this morning to discuss the company's go-forward strategy. The major change: fewer sales and a move toward an everyday low price (EDLP) program. He also mentioned some store redesigns that would create boutiques to make JCPenney more akin to European department stores. There was also an allusion to services (similar to Genius Bar). While that should help to weed out cherry-picking shoppers and improve JCP's assortment and experience (which already has significantly improved before Mr. Johnson thanks to partnerships with…

  • Customer Service Satisfaction Challenges Stereotypes

    Diane Clarkson
    23 Jan 2012 | 6:44 pm
    Data tells a story and sometimes it's a story with an unexpected plot twist. Such is the case with online customer service data we have just published in my report called "Understanding Customer Service Satisfaction To Inform Your 2012 eBusiness Strategy." Online customer service channel usage has shifted dramatically from two years ago. There are also significant differences in satisfaction between channels, particularly among different generations. "Understanding Customer Service Satisfaction To Inform Your 2012 eBusiness Strategy" challenges some long-held assumptions about online customer…

  • Citibank Moves Boldly Into The Tablet Banking Market

    Peter Wannemacher
    20 Jan 2012 | 8:23 am
    Hotcakes, you've got some competition: the phrase "selling like tablets" might soon enter the global lexicon. And it's not all hype - though there is a fair bit of that as well. Tablet users in the US are estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 51%from 2010 to 2015. That's a fast-growing market for firms of all stripes. As such, the tablet as a touchpoint is becoming a critical consideration for eBusiness & Channel strategists. This is especially true for executives at banks, as financial transactions benefit from the immediacy of the mobile channel,…
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    Solid Cactus, Inc

  • Why, When & How To Geo-Target

    Michael McGinley
    26 Jan 2012 | 9:42 am
    It still amazes me when talking to people about Pay-Per-Click that few know how truly versatile PPC campaigns are. They can be modified, paused and activated literally within seconds. They reach searchers on desktop computers, mobile devices and high-tech tablets. They reach English speakers, Spanish speakers, French speakers and more. And they can appear all over the world – from right here in the United States to practically any country around the globe. It’s all up to the advertiser to decide where they’d like to target their efforts. Google AdWords, as a rule, opts all PPC…

  • What’s not to like about free Facebook advertising credits?

    Jeffrey Li
    24 Jan 2012 | 10:36 am
    Recently Facebook launched a new contest called “Boost Your Small Business on Facebook“. It is designed to help small business (like yours) grow by giving away up to $10M in Facebook advertising! To participate, the following criteria must be met: A Facebook Page for your small business Your business must be based in the US Your page will need at least 50 likes 50 likes and you’re in, right? Answer: Not quite. We provide Facebook services for a lot of small business owners like yourself, but only a few were selected by Facebook to be a part of this contest. “Facebook…

  • A Blog is your eCommerce Store’s Best Friend

    Lauren Carey
    19 Jan 2012 | 9:19 am
    Diamonds might be a girl’s best friend, but they really don’t provide any SEO value (unfortunately). But a blog is a totally different story. Far too often, eCommerce store owners discount the benefits that can come from having a quality blog attached to their site. A blog is a great way to give your business some personality, credibility, and an SEO boost on top of that. In fact, there really isn’t an excuse not to have a blog in conjunction with your eCommerce store. Sure, there’s a bit of time and effort involved—but the benefits simply can’t be ignored.

  • Start the year off right

    Donna Werts
    17 Jan 2012 | 8:39 am
    As a business owner, was one of your resolutions to provide better customer service? What are your plans to do so? When do you plan on implementing these strategies? In today’s economy, it is imperative that you go above and beyond for your customers. If you don’t, your competition will. They will then be enjoying your revenue. So here are some tips to help you get 2012 off to a great start! If you list your hours as 9-5, be available from 9-5. The last thing your customer wants, when they are ready to give you money, is to leave a voicemail. Where is your phone number? It should…

  • Do you need a call center?

    Donna Werts
    11 Jan 2012 | 9:28 am
    I am sure some of you think that having a call center’s assistance is out of your budget but have you researched it? Fact is, hiring a call center is less costly than hiring in-house and does give you the appearance of being a bigger company than you are. It also allows you freedom to focus on your business instead of answering the phone. Here are some signs that you should look into signing on with a customer support service like ours: Are you hiding or not placing a toll free number, on your site, to avoid customer calls? If you have a number, is it a regional number? This can make you…
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    Ecommerce Blog

  • Announcing Our New Integration With Constant Contact!

    Chris Iona
    26 Jan 2012 | 6:46 pm
    E-commerce and email marketing are like peanut butter and jelly (or jam, as we call it here in Australia). They taste really good together! We’ve had great integrations with our friends at Mailchimp and iContact for a while now, and the uptake by our clients has been huge. To round out our integration with leading email marketing software for small businesses, we decided to add Constant Contact to the mix, and I’m please to announce that the integration is now live! How Does the Integration Work? The integration is a simple point-click-configure setup that allows you to send both…

  • Featured Integration: Automate Quickbooks With eCC By Webgility

    Mitchell Harper
    23 Jan 2012 | 10:59 pm
    Every so often we profile an integration from our new integrations directory. Today’s integration is eCC by Webgility, which automates a myriad of tasks involving Quickbooks. Developers, if you’d like to be featured here then take a look at our $2M integration fund. Webgility eCC connects with BigCommerce via our API, which enables eCC to access store data seamlessly without doing any manual file import-export. With eCC, you can download orders from your BigCommerce store, automatically process shipping labels and post orders to QuickBooks to create sales receipts, invoices or…

  • 17 BigCommerce Stores Strut Their Stuff

    Mitchell Harper
    22 Jan 2012 | 5:17 pm
    Here are 17 new BigCommerce stores designed by one of our fantastic partners, Madwire Media:                                

  • Announcing Our $2M Integration Fund And Directory

    Mitchell Harper
    17 Jan 2012 | 9:43 pm
    The BigCommerce Integrations Directory at Apps.BigCommerce.com Our biggest engineering focus in the last 12 months has been to shift BigCommerce from a piece of disparate e-commerce software that businesses can use to sell online, to a true platform on which developers can build and integrate with existing software and systems. Think Salesforce. Or Facebook. Or our friends at Mailchimp. Our first milestone was version 2 of the BigCommerce API, which is RESTful and provides CRUD access to most resources such as orders, products, categories, countries, options, etc. Since our new API rolled out…

  • Introducing Our Chief Financial Officer, Robert Alvarez

    robert.alvarez
    12 Jan 2012 | 5:29 pm
    Hello everyone, My name is Robert Alvarez and I’m the Chief Financial Officer here at BigCommerce. When I started, words could not express how excited I was to join such a talented team – one that I can already attest to sharing in Eddie and Mitch’s relentless passion to build a phenomenal product and an awesome culture that’s focused on recruiting and retaining the very best talent across the globe. This is now my fifth venture capital backed startup and I consider myself very fortunate to have been part of some amazing teams which have led to some great outcomes,…
 
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    3dcart Shopping Cart Software Blog

  • 3Dcart Announces eCommerce Template Design Contest!

    3dcart Community Manager
    27 Jan 2012 | 10:31 am
    Hey designers, 3dcart just announced a Template Design Contest on 99designs! In an effort to offer 3dcart clients more design options, we need 20-30 more templates from designers like YOU. Each accepted design receives an award of $250. To get an idea of existing templates: View our free template library here: http://www.3dcart.com/ecommerce-free-templates.html View our premium [...]

  • 5 Mistakes Online Credit Card Users Make

    3dcart Community Manager
    26 Jan 2012 | 1:42 pm
    Below is a guest post from Instabill, an online payment processor specializing in high risk merchant accounts. The e-commerce industry has grown exponentially throughout the years. Statistics show that total e-commerce sales in the United States alone were $165.4 billion. In 2011, the United Kingdom spent a record-breaking £68 billion — a 16% increase from 2010. [...]

  • Who Is The Connected Consumer? She’s Awesome!

    3dcart Community Manager
    24 Jan 2012 | 8:01 am
    The leader of your book club shops online. Your 13-year old middle-schooler shops online (hopefully with your consent). Your grandmother shops online. Online shopping isn’t just for the tech savvy anymore, but just WHO is the new mobile shopper? Just HOW connected are they? A new infographic by Zmags sets out to answer just that and [...]

  • 3 Must-Know Shopping Cart Abandonment Facts

    3dcart Community Manager
    23 Jan 2012 | 6:35 am
    There’s is much to be said about cart abandonment .. and we have! We recently wrote about some interesting facts and figures here, and also in our 3dcart university, as well as posted an interesting infographic here . While there is much to be said, there are 3 facts that every merchant must know to understand cart [...]

  • Color & eCommerce: What Is Your Site Saying?

    3dcart Community Manager
    20 Jan 2012 | 10:23 am
    When it comes to eCommerce design, every decision matters because aspect of your design impacts conversion…even the colors. Offline merchants have been using color tactics for centuries to lure customers in with advertisements or window displays so it makes sense that online merchants use color to influence the consumer too. KISSmetrics published this interesting guide to the affect color [...]
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    The Official LexiConn Blog

  • US Postal Service, A New Year, An Old Failure

    Rob Mangiafico
    23 Jan 2012 | 5:50 pm
    Last year around this time, I wrote a blog post about the 2011 USPS failure. They made a major unannounced change to their rate service that thousands of ecommerce applications depend on for returning shipping rates to customers. It caused major issues and rate problems for many online merchants. Fast forward to 2012, and the USPS has once again caused upheaval for the ecommerce industry. Although less of an impact from last year’s debacle, it still is a major issue for merchants offering First Class shipping options. What did they do this time? This year, they chose to change the name…

  • 4 Key Topics When Planning Your Online Store

    Rich A.
    17 Jan 2012 | 6:52 am
    When you’re starting an online store one of the largest decisions to make is which store software you are going to use.  Before making that decision it’s best to plan ahead to make sure the software you’re selecting will be able to cover all the features you’re looking for. In this post we’re going to highlight 4 key areas that we recommend you review before selecting the software and building your store. Shipping How do want to ship your packages? Determine which shipping carriers you want to use, such as USPS or FedEx.  Take into account international…

  • How We Helped a Client Receive Over 1,000 Orders in Less Than 2 Hours

    Rob Mangiafico
    10 Jan 2012 | 6:19 am
    One of our ecommerce hosting clients contacted us a few weeks ago, excited about an upcoming opportunity. Their company was going to be featured on Good Morning America in the popular segment “Deals and Steals“. We have worked with clients who have appeared on The Today Show and Oprah, so we had a good idea of what to expect. Two Things Were Needed In order to survive (and thrive) under very heavy traffic, we needed to help them with two things: 1. A Dedicated Managed Server to handle the onslaught 2. Utilize a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to off-load images, JavaScript, and css…

  • Our 2012 Business Goal: Be Like Scotty

    Rob Mangiafico
    5 Jan 2012 | 6:45 am
    Which Scotty? I’m referring to the Engineer from the original Star Trek – He always managed to fix things much faster and better than his initial assessment would seem to indicate. (I’m sure he was padding the time/estimate to look better.) Playing off of this (minus the padding), our 2012 goal is: Accurate support that consistently exceeds expectations. I know, not a quantitative goal (we have those internally), but I firmly believe that what sets us apart from other hosts is that we always strive to not only meet our obligations and website statements 100% of the time, but…

  • Top Ecommerce Blog Posts and Articles for December 2011

    Rob Mangiafico
    2 Jan 2012 | 11:21 am
    A new year has begun! Ushered in by Mayor Bloomberg and Lady Gaga (quite the pair). I’m excited for what 2012 has in store. And I have yet to abandon any New Year’s resolutions.  Before we wipe 2011 out entirely, here are a few good reads from last month in the world of ecommerce… TOP PICK: The chance of a lifetime – Seth Godin’s Blog Great end to 2011 post. It’s all about motivation. 5 Ways to Attract More Customer Reviews – Get Elastic Some good tips in this one. SEO Tips for Ecommerce Sites – AboutUs Simple plan for improving your Google…
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    eCommerceCircle

  • Where Does Google Make Their Money?

    Menachem Ani
    24 Jan 2012 | 12:24 pm
    TweetThink you spend a lot of money AdWords? Think again… Here is a breakdown from WordStream of where Google gets its money from.© WordStream, Provider of AdWords solutions.

  • How To Setup Google+ For Your eCommerce Store

    Menachem Ani
    18 Jan 2012 | 10:07 am
    TweetCreate a Google+ PageThe first step to getting set up with Google Plus is to create your Business Page. This is different from a Personal Profile. You can set up a Business Page here: https://plus.google.com/pages/manageAdd The +1 ButtonIn order to facilitate easy sharing of the products and pages on your website, you will want to add the “plus one” button. The code for that can be found here: http://www.google.com/webmasters/+1/button/Add A Google+ Profile BadgeThen ext step is to get customers and site visitors to follow you on Google+. The best way to do this would be to…

  • How To Get The New Google AdWords Communication Ad Extension

    Menachem Ani
    17 Jan 2012 | 4:28 pm
    TweetGoogle recently started testing a new ad extension called the Communication Ad Extension. This allows merchants to collect customer email signups directly in the ad. As of now, this seems to be a beta program with no information published by Google besides for in the AdWords support forums.What is this?The communication ad extension is a new extension that allows AdWords advertisers to collect leads directly from Google search.There are two types of this ad format:1. Communication Ads for Daily Deal sites: This type allows Daily Deal sites to collect email addresses and zip codes of new…

  • Infographic: Amazon vs The World

    Menachem Ani
    17 Jan 2012 | 3:52 pm
    TweetThe folks at CPC Strategy just published a cool infographic on Amazon’s amazing growth. Check it out below.Source: CPC Strategy Blog

  • Eight Shipping Plans For the Holiday Season

    Menachem Ani
    21 Nov 2011 | 4:49 pm
    TweetJimmy Rodriguez is CTO and co-founder of 3DCart, developer of an e-commerce suite for businesses of all sizes. As an authority on e-commerce best practices, Jimmy combines more than 8 years as an e-commerce developer and web programmer with SEO, social marketing and business intelligence. One of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of selling more product is shipping, a feared part of the online purchasing process during the holiday season. It’s easy to fall to become disorganized during the busy holiday season, but it won’t reflect well on your brand and will turn what could…
 
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    Practical eCommerce Blog Posts

  • My favorite tools and services

    Jamie Salvatori
    25 Jan 2012 | 9:52 pm
    I use a variety of software in my day-to-day activities running an e-commerce company. Here is a list of my favorites. Hopefully, it’s useful to you as well! Photoshop - If you don’t know how to use any flavor of image editing software, you shouldn’t be in the e-commerce game. As I’ve said in previous posts, you have to know everything about every facet of your business. If you “outsource” every activity in your business to your employees, you’ll be held completely hostage by them. You may not be the best graphic designer, but you should know how to perform basic image editing…

  • Ecommerce Autoresponders: A Definitive List of Significant Benefits

    Hal Licino
    24 Jan 2012 | 9:58 pm
    If you’re like most small to medium sized ecommerce merchants, you could always use more staff. What if there was a full time secretary who you could delegate to send out emails in a predetermined sequence to provide information for prospective customers as well as follow-up missives to purchasers? And what if this secretary would execute their duties on the dot, never miss an email, and cost you either a few dollars a month or maybe even nothing at all? If it seems impossible it’s actually quite possible, and your ecommerce business can access this critical suite of services through the…

  • January Blues

    Richard Stubbings
    24 Jan 2012 | 2:42 am
    It's January and Christmas is over. The huge rush of orders has been picked, packed and dispatched. The first week or two of January is also busy with the customers spending their Christmas money. Then the credit card bills come in, the orders dry up, and the problems start. What separates a good e-commerce business from a not so good one is how you deal with problems. Anyone can pack and send an order, but what you do when the customer complains is key to your continuing success. We would all like to think that there will never be problems, you will never make a mistake, and you will always…

  • Facebook Adds Subscription Option to Profiles; Benefits to Merchants

    Paul Chaney
    4 Jan 2012 | 6:29 pm
    In an attempt at making interaction more asymmetrical (the way Twitter works), Facebook recently added an option called "Subscribe" to user profiles. What this means is that you no longer have to friend someone to receive his or her content. The question is, why would a social network that, for years, has been bent on creating symmetrical connections offer a function that does not include that requirement? Perhaps it's the same reason that Facebook Pages no longer require that someone like the page before being able to interact with comments. Facebook cites its rationale thusly: "If you are…

  • Ten New Years Resolutions for Open Source eCommerce (OSC) Makers

    Kerry Watson
    3 Jan 2012 | 5:02 pm
    I've been an evangelist for users of Open Source eCommerce (OSC) programs for almost a decade now, and for users of other OS programs since I worked at Netscape in the mid-90's. As a user evangelist, my job is to speak up for users when they cannot or will not. I have watched the makers of these programs make the same mistakes over and over, starting out like a shooting star then plummeting to the ground.The line between OSC and commercial programs will be blurred this year like never before, and the OSC makers need to learn from the commercial guys or be wiped out. "OSC makers" include…
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    Groove Commerce eCommerce Blog

  • Developer Toolbox: A Guide for Installing Magento Extensions

    Andrew Hale
    24 Jan 2012 | 4:44 pm
    The Magento platform is one of the most versatile carts on the web today, and one of the driving forces behind its success is its flexibility. Not only are there a wide variety of features included out of the box, but there is an ever-increasing pool of extensions and customizations that can be found to suit the needs of any store. Because extensions are such a large part of the Magento experience, I’d like dive into the process of installing a Magento extension. Disclaimer Before we go any further there are two points that I want to be clear on. Never blindly install an extension on a live…

  • PetDoors.com Launches on Magento Enterprise

    Groove Commerce
    17 Jan 2012 | 3:48 pm
    Patio Pacific has been selling America’s finest pet doors since 1976. Over two years ago, they decided to redesign their ecommerce website, PetDoors.com, and replatform to Magento Enterprise in order to update the look and improve the user experience. After moving efficiently through the design stage, Patio Pacific began experiencing delays in the backend development due to a maxed out development resource. Mid-development, Patio Pacific turned to Groove Commerce to help them cross the finish line. Groove was able to correct issues that existed within product configurations and optimize the…

  • Pinterest for Business

    Sara Corbin
    17 Jan 2012 | 1:10 pm
    Pinterest is a social bookmarking platform that is used to collect images to create categorized and visually stunning online bulletin boards. Pinterest acts as an interactive scrapbook, allowing users to organize and share inspiring imagery and interesting products from across the web in a pinboard-like fashion. Think of Pinterest as a visual version of social networking, as it allows users to follow others, create and share content, tag users and comment on pins. Pinterest launched in March of 2010 as an ‘invite only’ social network, and already has over 4 million users. The site was…

  • Groove Sponsors & Exhibits at the Internet Retailer Web Design and Usability Conference

    Groove Commerce
    13 Jan 2012 | 10:56 am
    The Internet Retailer Web Design and Usability Conference focuses on creating stand-out ecommerce sites that enable e-retailers to attract and retain customers, generate sales and please today’s more demanding consumer. Groove Commerce will again be exhibiting, speaking, and consulting at IRWD February 13-15th 2012. The IRWD Conference is a popular industry tradeshow that allows e-tailers to have one on one consultations with participating agencies. Groove team members were quickly booked to lead over 50 consultations. The consultations will focus on usability best practices, search engine…

  • Google+ Your Business

    Simon Habtemariam
    11 Jan 2012 | 9:35 am
    What does Google+ Your Business equal? It’s probably still too early to tell. But in the days of the Panda Algorithm, quality content is king. Ok, admit it, every once in a while you Google yourself. While going through search engine optimization strategies and hearing about what new practices will make Google’s algorithms twitch, you’re likely to Google your own business, and in a moment of vanity, perhaps you like to see what comes up in the search results when you type in your own name. I probably Google myself once a month. Aside from my responsibilities as an online strategist at…
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    Demystifying Digital Commerce

  • Valentine’s Day Strategies Beyond DealSpot

    Terry Kim
    19 Jan 2012 | 12:22 pm
    Integrating a Valentine’s Day promotion through DealSpot is not the only way you can reach your players during this valuable holiday. We’ve come up with a few more ways you can ensure all of your players take advantage of a Valentine’s Day flower promotion, even when they aren’t actively playing your game. 1. In-Game Welcome Message In-game welcome messages appear when a player logs into the game and is a great way to notify players about new features and deals. Capture the attention of players as soon as they open your app with a Valentine’s Day-themed welcome message. Encourage…

  • Launch a Valentine’s Campaign With Our New Touchpoint

    Terry Kim
    12 Jan 2012 | 11:35 am
    We’ve already discussed the value of seasonal flower promotions during Valentine’s Day, but now we’d like to introduce a new touchpoint that we’re rolling out just in time for Valentine’s Day! So what is it? It’s called the Bottoms Up Bar, and it’s a touchpoint that looks just like this: The Bottoms Up Bar is a banner that automatically appears at the bottom of the page at a time of your choosing to prominently display an offer to users. It grabs the attention of consumers without distracting from your site content, and the customer can freely scroll up and down on your page…

  • Valentine’s Day: Holiday Spending Sprees Don’t Just Happen In Q4

    Terry Kim
    14 Dec 2011 | 4:52 pm
    For most game developers using offers, Valentine’s Day can generate more offer revenue than Christmas! How’s that possible? Let’s look at the numbers… According to the National Retail Federation, Valentine’s Day is the 3rd biggest holiday in terms of consumer spending. The average person spent $116.21 last year buying chocolates, flowers and other gifts for loved ones, friends and even pets! Plus, the NRF says 1 in 3 people are expected to buy flowers for Valentine’s Day this year, which means developers can profit from ultra-targeted campaigns that are sure to appeal to millions…

  • New Year, New PC: An Exclusive Deal From CNET (powered by TrialPay)

    Terry Kim
    26 Nov 2011 | 10:50 pm
    If you’re one of the millions of shoppers looking to take advantage of the great deals on electronics and buy a computer this holiday season, CNET Download.com’s “New Year, New PC” deal offers the perfect starter pack of software. CNET has partnered with top consumer software publishers to offer an exclusive bundle of 6 products worth $177.88 for just $30! That’s an 83% discount on the leading anti-virus, system care, PDF creator, compression and remote access software. For just $30, you can protect your computer, create and compress documents and stream media content from your…

  • How to Create Effective Holiday Campaigns With TrialPay

    Terry Kim
    16 Nov 2011 | 11:27 am
    With all of the holiday campaigns and promotions going on, it can sometimes be a little challenging to figure out the best way for you to make the most of this busy season. But as we pointed out in our earlier post, the consumer holiday spending spree presents a great opportunity to boost sales—even if you don’t sell holiday products. We’ve looked at the strategies of successful online merchants to narrow down a list of best practices that you can implement today! Direct web placements and in-product notifiers Placing a holiday-themed banner on high-traffic areas of your site can be a…
 
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    Demac Media » Shop Talk – eCommerce Blog

  • eCommerce Trends for 2012

    Brendan Soucie
    27 Jan 2012 | 8:32 am
    Top 5 trends to follow in 2012 I have been paying quite a bit of attention to eCommerce over the past year following latest news, product innovations and trends. 2011 was an exceptional record breaking year, as was 2010, 2009, 2008, 2000…(I think you get the point). Each year eCommerce is growing bigger then the last. Here, in no particular order are, are the top 5 eCommerce trends for 2012. 1. Social Media Integration As the Social Media phenomenon continues to expand through Facebook, Twitter and now Google+, businesses are expanding into this space recognizing that having a social…

  • This week in eCommerce – Jan 2012

    Brendan Soucie
    24 Jan 2012 | 9:26 am
    I would like to start off our return of This week in eCommerce with a very delayed Happy New Years from the team at Demac Media. This is the first post I have done for this week in eCommerce so I thought I would simply sum up the month so far with a few industry news articles. Starting next week I will keep up weekly posts so I am not to far behind on industry news. This post will include articles about upcoming trends and some tips for 2012. 6 Tech Trends to Watch in 2012 Link:http://www.getelastic.com/6-tech-trends-to-watch-in-2012/ It was pretty evident that in 2011, tech trends saw rapid…

  • Is Your Magento EE 1.10.1.1 Admin Product Saving Extremely Slow?

    Allan MacGregor
    20 Jan 2012 | 10:50 am
    We recently upgraded one of our sites from Magento EE 1.9.1.1 to Magento EE 1.10.1.1. For the most part the upgrade was painless and much needed as it fixed several outstanding bugs. Any developer that has upgraded Magento knows that more often than not you can expect small issues either with the data or with the custom code running on the store. In this particular case we started getting complaints from the catalog merchandising team about the speed on the backend, specifically the saving time once a product was created or updated.  On average it was taking 2 to 3 min to save each product.

  • Ecommerce Toronto Meetup # 10 – Online and Offline Returns

    Brendan Soucie
    18 Jan 2012 | 10:10 am
    It has been just over a month since our last eCommerce Toronto meet up , but with the holiday season in the books, retailers and etailers are now handling customer returns. The topics of discussions included: Customer Returns Biggest time of the year for returns Apparel is big for returns – Women’s fashion – 10-20% Buying, wearing, returning – Canadian mentality Online vs In-Store Returns Packaging up returns and sending it back to merchant for a refund Returns Customer is always right Put up a big enough stink, they’ll take it Difference between physical and online returns, face to…

  • Demac Media Partners with Shop.ca

    Matthew Bertulli
    11 Jan 2012 | 8:25 am
    The Canadian eCommerce ‘Channel’ has always fallen a bit short. This is mainly because most online shopping options for customers are from USA based merchants, leaving customers with those not-so-friendly cross border shipping/duty bills when they purchase.  SHOP.CA is filling a serious hole by giving the consumer a one stop shop for all their favourite brands distributed by respected Canadian retail merchants. At Demac, we’re committed to being at the core of eCommerce in Canada.  Working with SHOP.CA and our great Canadian based merchants is bringing us one significant…
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    Amy Africa's Qlog

  • The #1 thing you need to measure that nobody ever tells you about…

    Amy
    13 Jan 2012 | 10:20 am
    Last week I wrote about my inability to put together a piece of IKEA furniture. Turns out that, based on the post, many readers had strong opinions about my intelligence (or lack thereof.) According to exactly 38 emails, I am about as “skillful as a surgeon with the tremors. “  (And that was one of the nicer of the comments I received.  You’ve got to love those Southerners.) What does that mean? NOTHING.  NADA.  ZIP. ZERO. I got over 567 emails from that post. So 7% of the people who wrote think I am three French fries short of a Happy Meal. Or, to put a more positive spin on it,…

  • Exit Strategies (or why I could never get a job at IKEA)

    Amy
    4 Jan 2012 | 11:17 am
    There’s a comedian who tells a story about getting lost in a forest which he had apparently mistaken for an IKEA.  “I thought the instructions just hadn’t been stapled on to the trees yet.” Most people, especially those who know the difference between a Phillips and a whatever-one-of-those-other-screwdrivers is called, don’t really think this joke is all that funny. I, however, find it hilarious. I put together a piece of IKEA furniture once. Well, technically that’s a lie. I bought a piece of IKEA furniture once. It never really got put together. I carefully opened the box.  I…

  • 17 Proven Tips for Improving Your Abandoned Cart Email Program…

    Amy
    13 Sep 2011 | 8:01 am
    Focus on “outside the envelope”  There’s a reason this is first.  If your email isn’t opened, it’s not going to convert and it can’t get opened if it’s not delivered.   Outside of the envelope things that make a difference:  the “to” address, the “from” address, the subject line (you have 24-35 characters for traditional, 12-16 for mobile) and the format.. Use a series of emails, not just one.  There’s not a day that goes by that someone doesn’t tell me that they have an abandoned cart program, when they only have ONE email.  One email does NOT make a…

  • Do You Keep Hoping For the Best?

    Amy
    29 Aug 2011 | 2:47 pm
    Yesterday, I spent $624.17 in a bookstore.  The old school bricks-and-mortar kind where you can actually touch and feel the books. If I had bought the same books on Amazon, I would have gotten them for under $400.00.  ($363.20 to be exact.) I read everything on my Kindle, my iPad, my Tablet, my Droid, my iPhone, sometimes even my BlackBerry but unless the publisher isn’t selling an ebook version or it’s a cookbook, I rarely buy “paper” books any more.   Except for the tiny terrorists.   They get REAL turn-the-page books. However, this post isn’t about how much I overspent or…

  • Are you a race horse or a rocking horse?

    Amy
    1 Aug 2011 | 2:09 pm
    Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress. —Alfred A. Montapert Lately, I’ve read far too many #measure reports (I really should set up an analytics firm that understands the difference between theory and practice) and seen far too many project lists (the perfect cure for insomnia) that are packed with a whole lot of nothing. I’ve already written about How To Axe 90% of Your Project list so today I thought I’d share a list of some of the things that you might find worth concentrating on for the Fall. INSTIGATED CHAT:   Late…
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    Brand Labs Blog

  • Volusion Snapshot App is Now Available for Android

    Kevin
    26 Jan 2012 | 8:15 pm
    In late December we offered our very own holiday gift to the entire Volusion community: Volusion Snapshot – a revenue tracking iPhone app (available for FREE in the app store).  People seem pretty happy about it, if the reviews are any indication…       “If you use Volusion and you have a pulse, you’ll love this app!” “… a must have for any Volusion store owner” “Great app! Love it!”   … so we’ve got that going on, but we would never forget our Android-using Volusion brethren.  Today, their day has come!

  • How To Send 1,226,964 Emails Without Spamming

    Kevin
    16 Jan 2012 | 1:46 pm
    Anecdotal evidence shows that AutoResponderMax delivers a 7% – 17% conversion rate. Okay.  That was kind of an abrupt lead in, but we wanted to make sure you got the message in case you’re one of those people who only reads the first paragraph of anything.  Anyhoo, now that we’ve got that out of the way… AutoResponderMax is the autoresponder that Brand Labs created specifically for Volusion.  It’s a fully automated, multi-featured direct marketing machine and so far, it’s enabled our clients to send over one million emails directly to their customers. …

  • Gallery of Seasonal Volusion Store Headers

    Kevin
    13 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm
    There are plenty of great ways to distinguish yourself from your competition.  Some are expensive and time-intensive and some are completely affordable and just call for a bit of creativity.  Today, we’d like to talk about an idea that falls squarely into the second group. One of our longtime clients, Hot Dog Collars,  has a completely adorable site.  Seriously.  First of all, it’s pretty much devoted to dog collars, so that’s pretty cute already.  Second, its mascot is a delightful, google-eyed cartoon dog that our in-house illustration team created just for them. …

  • Sunshine Systems’ New Volusion Store Can Get You Ready For 4/20

    Kevin
    11 Jan 2012 | 1:46 pm
    … like, if you had to grow some tomatoes before April 20th or if you have an aquarium that needs to be really well lit before May.  Basically, if you have anything that needs to be really well lit, Sunshine Systems can hook you up. They offer a wide variety of lighting for everything from hobby LED systems to that special something that your average basement gardener might need to make their secret basement tomatoes big, green and sticky… you know… if they’re growing the sticky, green kind of tomatoes. In addition to designing and building Sunshine Systems’ new…

  • Our Customers Totally Like Us

    Kevin
    9 Jan 2012 | 8:36 am
       
 
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    Fortune3 Blog

  • Online Marketing in Ecommerce 2012: Survey and Case Study Result

    Pablo
    24 Jan 2012 | 6:54 pm
    We know most ecommerce businesses, at least start-up ecommerce business, heavily rely on online marketing to really get off the ground. When someone starts an ecommerce, someone always ask, “well how are you going to promote it?” It’s always, “…well, I’ll do some seo, etc.” In late December 2011 and early Jan 2012, Fortune3 did a survey of around 270 ecommerce merchants on online marketing for ecommerce in 2012. We asked the following questions and got the following responses: 1. Where Will Your Primary Online Marketing Focus be in 2012? A: Out of 270 respondents, more than…

  • 4 Things To Do While Building an Ecommerce Website

    Rafael Solorzano
    20 Jan 2012 | 10:13 am
    Starting a new business is always an exciting venture. We know that starting a business requires a lot of work, especially those that understand that starting and running a successful business is all about sacrifice at first until the ship starts going on cruise control. There are some critical steps to understand and do before launching your ecommerce website. I know you’re eager to get started but take some time and do the following as you’re preparing your ecommerce website. You can do these steps simultaneously as you start building your website. 1. Competitive Research: Analyze your…

  • How to Start Branding Your Ecommerce Business

    Pablo
    18 Jan 2012 | 3:09 pm
    If you aren’t thinking about branding your current ecommerce business, then you’re not really thinking long-term of the advantages that branding has in really having an edge over your competitors. The biggest brands in the world STILL spend millions of dollars each year in branding strategies. Why? Because they know the value of BRANDING. OK, so what is branding? Your brand is a message and also a promise to your customers. Your brand is who you are, what your company stands for, why you may be different from your competitors, who you are perceived to be! Your brand is everything. It can…

  • Build an Online Store: 5 Things to Keep in Mind

    Pablo
    16 Jan 2012 | 1:27 pm
    There are a few factors that are crucial to build an online store. The success of your ecommerce business depends on a few factors but like any business in the world, it can fail. However, if you do the right research and know your niche, you can start a successful web business to make a living and hopefully one day grow your website not to just be another website online, but a large retailer that made its name into a brand. As the web continues to grow around the world, there is a great opportunity to still jump into a market online and have a web presence. The web it’s so unique in the…

  • How to Improve Your Website in 2012

    Pablo
    13 Jan 2012 | 3:05 pm
    It’s too often when a company is so concerned about running their web business that the one thing they forget about or put off is actually the very thing that makes the business…the WEBSITE. While you may have built a great website 5 years ago…guess what? Yes…it’s outdated. When was the last time you read your website? Looked at your most popular products? Made sure all font, color scheme, etc is the same? Entreprenuer.com has a piece about 7 ways to whip your website into shape. We’ll list these 7 factors that can really help you get back on track with your website for this new…
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    sumoheavy.com

  • Things We Like: The Friday Five for January 27, 2012

    John Suder
    27 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    Things We Like: The Friday Five for January 27, 2012 The GMail Logo Was Designed the Night Before It Launched According to a post on Quora from former Google designer Kevin Fox, Googler Dennis Hwang was up late the night before Gmail launched, working on the email service’s logo. via The Atlantic Forgotten Bookmarks A used/rare bookseller shares the weird things he finds within his books. Forgotten Bookmarks Tae Kwon Do Finger Guy Don’t mess with this dude.   Control+Alt+Delete Coffee Cups A three finger salute to coffee breaks! Available from ThinkGeek Pizza + Beer =…

  • Things We Like: The Friday Five for January 20, 2012

    John Suder
    20 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    Things We Like: The Friday Five for January 20, 2012 Every Presentation Ever: Communication FAIL   The World in a Drop of Water German Photographer Marcus Reugels captures mindblowing photos of water droplets refracting an image of a planet behind them, making them each appear to contain a teeny tiny world. (via Geekologie)   Movies Reimagined for a Different Time and Place Graphic designer Peter Stults reimagines and remixes classic movies and movie stars.(via Behance)   Hide Your Identity Specs Wear these to hide your identity from the press and the paparazzi.From Ideas Man…

  • Link Roundup: Thursday, January 19, 2012

    John Suder
    18 Jan 2012 | 11:09 am
    Link Roundup: Thursday, January 19, 2012A roundup of ecommerce, retail and design news you may have missed: [ECOM] Hackers Steal User Names and E-Mails from Zappos and 6PM.com Hackers broke into the data servers of online retailer Zappos and affiliate site 6PM.com, stealing sensitive user data, the companies announced. No credit card information was stolen. Zappos sent an email to all customers to reset their passwords. [RETAIL] Retail Sales Growth Expected To Slow In 2012 Retail sales are expected to climb 3.4% in 2012 to $2.53 trillion, cooling from growth of nearly 5% last year, the…

  • Things We Like: The Friday Five for January 13, 2012

    John Suder
    13 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    Things We Like: The Friday Five for January 13, 2012 The Restart Page A collection of classic restart dialogue boxes (and they actually work!). A tribute to the most significant operating systems that have been a part of our geek lives. The Restart Page   The Milhaus Shirt Bauhuas design meets Milhouse geek. The Milhaus Shirt by Patt Whelan/Immense Decay Roommate Reminders Designer Nathan Godding creates these typography-based posters as a reminder for his fellow roommate cable-watchers to contribute their share each month. Roommate Reminders via Design.org    NASA’s 1976…

  • Inc.com Profiles SUMO Heavy. We’ve Come a Long Way…

    John Suder
    11 Jan 2012 | 2:45 pm
    Inc.com Profiles SUMO Heavy. We’ve Come a Long Way…SUMO Heavy Industries was featured in an Inc.com profile “11 Businesses You Can Start in Your Pajamas” that briefly interviews its subjects on how they got their start running businesses from their homes. (Check out the full article here or skip to the good part.) Photo: Jessica, Bob and Bart watching cat videos on YouTube hard at work. We’ve come a long way in the (almost) two years we’ve been in business. We’ve got great clients, an awesome, growing team and we enjoy the hell out of what we do. Here’s…
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    Vendable

  • eBay Free Auction-Style Listing – January 26th and 27th

    crystalwells-miller
    26 Jan 2012 | 11:09 am
    eBay is offering free auction-style listings January 26th and January 27th. The offer is for both eBay Store subscribers and non-eBay Store subscribers. You can list up to 50,000 items (boy, would that clear out a warehouse!). This promotion is in addition to the 50 free listings normally provided. You can use those at another time. For more details and exclusions.click here Happy Selling!!

  • Twitter: What Next – Part 2

    crystalwells-miller
    23 Jan 2012 | 11:16 am
    Part one can be found here Hey Tweeters! Now that your profile is filled out and you’ve done a search to find some good peeps to follow, I thought we’d get in the game with some tips for getting started. My guess is, you’ve filled out your profile and then left it alone. Am I right? Not to worry. Most people do that. Most people sign up for Twitter and then never open it again. Or at least, not for a while. But not to worry! We’re going to fix that right now. First, some vocabulary. You may have noticed that Twitter sort of has its own language of sorts. There are some shortcuts that…

  • Vendio & Equaship Webcast – How to save up to 79% on Ground Shipping

    crystalwells-miller
    13 Jan 2012 | 12:12 pm
    Yesterday, we had a great webcast session with EquaShip that answered all the below questions: • What is EquaShip and How does it work? • How can EquaShip offer such low shipping rates? • When should you use EquaShip for your packages? • Built-in “real” insurance for merchants • Real savings examples from current merchants • How EquaShip works for your Vendio Profiles • How EquaShip works with your Vendio Post Sale This recorded session answers these questions and much more!! It is a great way for sellers to save a great deal of money on shipping. Enjoy the Video and Happy…

  • Why Twitter? Polish off those fingertips!

    crystalwells-miller
    5 Jan 2012 | 10:17 am
    So you’re doing great, your business is growing, and you’ve got customers. Fantastic! But why aren’t you using Twitter? Maybe you’ve signed up for an account, gotten a few followers, had a few convos, and then gotten busy. Maybe you’ve signed up for an account and decided it was totally pointless and never touched it again. It’s time to polish off those fingertips and try again, people! I know, I know. You don’t want to. It takes more time. It’s frustrating. You have no idea what anyone’s talking about. I get it! But there’s a really good reason why you NEED to get to it.

  • Introducing the winner of our Blogging Contest

    crystalwells-miller
    14 Dec 2011 | 10:19 am
    Good News Readers! We have selected the Winner of our Blogging Contest. And the winner is……Jessica Kupferman. Congratulations goes out to Jessica (who likes to be called Jess) who will now be a frequent blogger for Vendable. To read more about Jess, check out her impressive BIO. We had a lot of great entries and want to thank all those who entered!   Below is her winning entry (and you can see why we were unanimous in our decision to select Jess as our winner). The Winning Entry:   Vendio – The New Kid at School As a “web tech” type gal, I get the opportunity to help…
 
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    Ecommerce News | Up to Date News & Tips About Ecommerce

  • eCommerce 2012: Expand, Integrate, Refine

    Nick Grant
    19 Jan 2012 | 11:54 am
    January 19, 2012 By the ZippyCart Content Team January is always a great time for merchants to plan their strategy for the coming year, so it makes sense that they would want to gain some insight as to what type of trends could impact their business in 2012. We recently had the opportunity to discuss [...]

  • Attention Business Owners: 3 Inventory Sourcing Techniques You Should Know

    Guest Author
    17 Jan 2012 | 11:01 am
    January 17, 2012 By Andrey Zavyalov, Wrightimc.com When you decide to start an online business, you start with one question, “What should I sell?” The next question then becomes, “Where do I get the products to sell?” When you’re making that decision, how you plan to manage your inventory should be a primary consideration. The [...]

  • Drunken Debauchery Benefits Retailers’ Ecommerce Solutions

    Andrea Ruge
    6 Jan 2012 | 11:05 am
    January 6, 2012 By the ZippyCart Content Team There are several activities people engage in while drunk that are generally looked down upon like drunk driving, dialing or texting. However, ecommerce retailers are loving a new activity that is swiftly gaining popularity: drunk online shopping. According to a recent study in the UK, many respondents [...]

  • Why You Should Always Include a URL

    Guest Author
    5 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am
    January 5, 2012 By Myron.com The Internet is king these days, and fewer companies can come up with good enough reasons not to offer their products online. The few companies that haven’t adopted online shopping are more likely to lose business as the interest in shopping electronically grows. Borders Bookstores, America’s second largest book selling [...]

  • New Steve Jobs Action Figure: Creepy or Collectible?

    Andrea Ruge
    4 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am
    January 4, 2012 By the ZippyCart Content Team Only 3 short months after the highly publicized death of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Chinese company In Icon has created an extremely realistic looking action figure of the late technology mogul. The 12-inch “Collectible Figure” will be available this February for $99.99- a price quite a bit [...]
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    eCommerce Blog

  • Shop Translated Struts New Custom Homepage Banner Image Map

    Jonathan Poston
    27 Jan 2012 | 9:09 am
    Shop Translated, a Yahoo! Store focusing on “translating” modern fashion trends for plus-sized women, recently up-styled their store. FastPivot’s development team assisted in the development of enhanced functionality, stream-lined interface and behind-the-scenes management systems. The site was widened overall, a new background was added, an enhanced footer was integrated. and the cart was wrapped to [...]

  • Yahoo! Stores May Lose Some Functionality for 30-40 Minutes During January 23-24 Update

    Jonathan Poston
    23 Jan 2012 | 5:34 pm
    Via Yahoo! Merchant Solutions: On Monday, January 23, at 7:30 p.m. PT, until Tuesday, January 24, at 6:30 a.m. PT, Yahoo! Merchant Solutions will be releasing several feature enhancements for your store. While we do this work, you may experience a 30 to 40-minute period during which shoppers may be unable to use coupons or [...]

  • When Facebook Fails, A Reminder to Diversify

    Jonathan Poston
    19 Jan 2012 | 10:08 am
    Here’s the scenario: You’ve spent countless time building your Facebook Page, because you know social media is the marketing of the future. In fact, to really make social media work you’ve got to be there posting and interacting everyday. And you’ve even added Facebook link icons to all your webpages, product pages, blogs, etc. etc. [...]

  • FastPivot Team Given Paid Day Off to Serve Community for MLK Day

    Jonathan Poston
    19 Jan 2012 | 8:26 am
    FastPivot’s team members had a chance to take a paid day off this past Monday to volunteer in honor of  Martin Luther King Day, and check out the good many of them did in their communities: Jennifer Boos, Project Manager: Volunteered with the Bent Creek Community Trail Improvement Project (Trash Cleanup) Her story: Living in [...]

  • Google Goes Black to Protest Sopa and Pipa; What Are You Doing?

    Jonathan Poston
    18 Jan 2012 | 9:07 am
    Go to Google.com today and instead of seeing the familiar “Google” type in the middle of the page, you’ll see Google has a large obstructing black rectangle over it’s name. For Google, going “black” is to protest the #Pipa and #Sopa bills going through congress right now. They both could inflict serious blows to internet [...]
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    CPC Strategy - Your Comparison Shopping Management Solution

  • A Crash Course in Pinterest for eCommerce Professionals AND Four Quick Tips to Get You Started

    Nii A. Ahene
    27 Jan 2012 | 11:27 am
    One of the hottest emerging social media websites gaining momentum in 2012 is Pinterest, a social bookmarking site where members collect photos and link to products they love, creating their own pinboards and following the pinboards of other people whom they find interesting. According to the e-commerce marketing tracking firm, Hitwise, Pinterest has a demographic base of 58 to 70 percent women, averaging between the ages of 25 and 44 and is already attracting more than 11 million online visitors a week.     Pinterest In Action   So how does it work Users of Pinterest create…

  • Search Revenue Grew 22 percent for Advertisers During the 2011 Holiday Shopping Season

    Nii A. Ahene
    27 Jan 2012 | 9:18 am
    According to a recent study published by Kenshoo, search advertisers saw revenue growth to the tune of 22 percent during the 2011 Holiday Shopping Season compared to the previous year. Much of this increase was due to increased paid search budgets and customer demand during the holiday season. The research, collected during November and December of 2011, also suggested a significant increase in the use of mobile devices for online shopping. Over 14 percent of all the studied clicks were made on a mobile device (8 percent on tablets and 6 percent on phones). It is also interesting to note that…

  • Impression Share Metrics Coming to Adwords Search and Display Networks

    Nii A. Ahene
    26 Jan 2012 | 11:50 am
    Google has listened to its customers and will revamp its Google AdWords by bringing new support to its advertisers by offering Impression Rate Metrics services to the AdGroup level. Impression Rate Metrics will be available to advertisers beginning January 30, 2012. Google’s intent on offering this updated service was to assist businesses in managing its advertising budgets. Advertisers that use the AdGroup level will now be able to see their Impression Share, Lost Impression Share (Rank), and Exact Match Impression Share. Impression Share is the estimated amount of impressions received,…

  • Seven Must Have Facebook Applications to Help Increase Engagement on eCommerce Facebook Fan Pages

    Nii A. Ahene
    26 Jan 2012 | 9:01 am
    If you’re like many other online retailers you have probably dipped your toe into the Facebook ecosystem by setting up a Facebook fan page but haven’t done much since then. Although the majority of Facebook users spend most of their time pursuing friends and fun, an increasing number of applications have been developed to harness the business opportunities presented by the thriving social network. Here are a few of the top-rated apps that can help you realize the eCommerce potential of your business’ Facebook page. 1. Pagemodo Welcome Page Pagemodo has developed an impressive lineup of…

  • Google+ License and Registration Please

    CPC_Andrew
    25 Jan 2012 | 4:55 pm
      Internet IDs are scary. Why I think we will all have an Internet ID within the next 5 years: 1. Google+ Search Plus Your World & Google+ soft marketing strategies will pick up new Google+ users and record more consumer behavior. 2. Changes to Google privacy settings – Everything on the Internet is becoming more centralized. 3. SOPA, PIPA 4. Barack Obama’s announcement of the creation of a special task force to battle piracy in China I will go anywhere in the world to open new markets for American products.  And I will not stand by when our competitors don’t play by…
 
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    Website Conversion Blog

  • Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate Set To Rise in 2012

    Charles Nicholls @Webconversion
    17 Jan 2012 | 7:41 am
    In 2011, the shopping cart abandonment rate continued its rise, reaching a new all-time high of 72% by the end of the year. In this blog, I’ll try to answer why the shopping cart abandonment rate has risen, despite a focus on conversion optimization by many ecommerce sites. I’ll also explain why I predict that the shopping cart abandonment rate will continue to rise in 2012. Everything is more exaggerated over the holiday period: Retailers offer a dazzling array of new products, coupled with equally dazzling promotions, while trying to manage the constant problem of out-of-stocks. And…
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    DoublePlus

  • Happy New Year, I’ve Missed You!

    Susan Petracco
    2 Jan 2012 | 10:30 am
    Image via Wikipedia Well, readers, how many of you do I have left? I just got home from teaching a Zumba class, and patting myself on the back for accomplishing one of my New Year’s resolutions for last year, while at the same time knowing my plans to write the first post that has been published here since August 2011. Sheesh! Well, it’s a new year and time for new commitments, but also for looking back at last year to see what was accomplished. I wrote my list of resolutions on this blog last year as a way to keep myself accountable, and since most of them pertained to my…

  • Viral Marketing for B2B Stores

    Susan Petracco
    1 Aug 2011 | 9:30 am
    One of the problems in the B2B space is that your products are sold based on customer need, not desire, beauty, or trends. It’s much easier to get customers talking about fashion or entertainment than about, well, ID cards. Retailer IDWholesaler.com wanted to break through that barrier, and get people talking about their products and build great inbound links at the same time. So they decided to focus on a subset of their business – the lanyards people often use to wear their work ID badges – and combine it with the artists who design custom lanyards in a viral contest that…

  • What Your Customer Service Email Says About Your Business

    Susan Petracco
    21 Jul 2011 | 10:50 am
    Customer Service Emails As e-commerce businesses, we have a variety of reasons to email our customers. These emails include order confirmations, shipping notifications, customer service response emails, marketing emails, and much more. In this post, I want to focus primarily on customer service emails. Shoppers have come to expect the human touch almost as much online as they do when they visit a store in person at their local mall. <!–more–>Given this expectation, let’s discuss how you can optimize customer service emails to create a stronger relationship with your…

  • ROI Metrics vs. How You Feel

    Peter Petracco
    13 Jul 2011 | 11:13 am
    Which is a Better measurement for Success in Today’s Online World? Mark Twain was famed for many things, but the one phrase of his I like the best always has been, “there are lies, damn lies and then statistics”. A good statistician can probably make numbers say just about anything they want them to. In this modern Internet era, the concept of Return on Investment (ROI) metrics has taken on a life of its own. Moreover, as retailers, we’re faced with the esoteric goal of judging whether a particular investment is paying off in the manner we would hope. Expectations can be…

  • How Bad Experiences Outweigh Good Ones

    Susan Petracco
    1 Jul 2011 | 4:30 pm
    We’re a community of “glass is half empty” kind of shoppers. Image by Getty Images via @daylife I was watching an old rerun of “The Big Bang Theory” Friday night, where Sheldon described himself as being a person of infinite patience, having once waited for two-and-a-half hours on the customer support line with Hewlitt Packard just to complain about their customer support. That’s our collective voice in a nutshell. As social media has continued to grow, the venues people have for making their voices heard is much wider than before. And people like to…
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    Ecommerce Blog

  • How SOPA can affect an ecommerce store

    19 Jan 2012 | 4:18 am
    People are in the support of anti-SOPA movement. Until, this anti-Piracy bill passes, I erge people to support continue. It may affect to almost all forms of online sources such as your website, blog, ecommerce store, social networks, forums, portals etc. People are thinking that they are getting restricted. It does not mean that they can not share their photos, music, video and other forms of content but it can be censored by the SOPA and PIPA.Let's take an example, I own an E-commerce website that provide goods and services to the users in United States then, this Ecommerce website should…

  • Social Search Engines and Ecommerce Store

    12 Jan 2012 | 6:54 am
    Personalized Search Engine – a new era of Search Engine begins: Recently, Google has transformed its search engine to social search engine or personalized search engine or an integration of the Google+ into Search engine. Search result has now being influenced by the interest of people, their preferences, photos and posts shared in their Google+ page or profile when they have signed-in. Therefore, it is now being logical the previous statement made by Google when they have released the encrypt version and blocked all organic (signed-in) search queries from Google Analytics and said…

  • Shopping Cart Abandonment - How to avoid this

    9 Jan 2012 | 6:50 am
    When I was exploring the web to find out the infographics and resources on Shopping cart abandonment, my search was ended with this excellent infographics, which basically focus on checkout page of an ecommerce site that how you can improve this page so that it will help you  (as an online ecommerce store owner) to decrease a shopping cart abandonment rate and what you can Do's and Don't.Here is the infographics:source:http://bit.ly/upeuNo

  • Top 10 Blog Posts on Ecommerce in 2011

    30 Dec 2011 | 5:59 am
    I remembered those days when I have published first blog post [Ecommerce - Most Cost effective and efficient Small Business Solutions] in the middle of January and since then, I have never looked back to find out news and information about Ecommerce and the use of various ways of Search Engine Optimization for promotion.Thanks to all the readers of this blog who have participated in the one or another way to this blog.Today, I want to share with you some of the best blog posts on Ecommerce and SEO of the year 2011,Global:20 ways to get reviews from customers5 Holiday Marketing Ideas to Boost…

  • Increase traffic to your store with Google Product Search

    15 Dec 2011 | 6:00 am
    Online retailers, merchants, sellers, ecommerce store owners - attention please!Do you have thousands of products in your stores? Are you worrying astir to sell them across the web? I am sure; many of you have been disappointed through poor online marketing and SEO activities, and even if they have been worked, it assists you to just getting traffic for limited products only. Numerous products are still impending in your stores, which have no visits at all.  So, what will be the solution? How to get traffic and sales for those products will be the main concerns for the sellers.Yes, you…
 
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    NFC Mobile Payment Industry News Blog

  • Green Dot Launches Prepaid MasterCard Tailored for Older Americans

    John B. Frank
    27 Jan 2012 | 11:27 am
    Image via CrunchBase January 26, 2012 08:30 AM Eastern Time  Green Dot Will Launch AARP Foundation Prepaid MasterCard® Card Targeted to the Needs of Older Americans and Those Receiving Federal Benefits Such as Social Security MONROVIA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Green Dot Corporation (NYSE: GDOT), a provider of widely distributed, low-cost banking and payment solutions to a broad base of U.S. consumers, is working with AARP Foundation and MasterCard to launch the first prepaid card tailored to older Americans. The AARP Foundation Prepaid MasterCard from Green Dot (the “Card”) is…

  • Debit or Credit? Javelin says Consumers Face Conflicting Messages About Payment Choice

    John B. Frank
    27 Jan 2012 | 11:25 am
    Image via Wikipedia Javelin’s 2011 Consumer Payments Behavior Report Examines How Financial Institutions Lost the Initial Public Relations Battle Related to the Durbin Amendment SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Javelin Strategy & Research’s latest report examines how recent debit card regulations have transformed market incentives for payments, creating a confusing environment for consumers. For years, banks and merchants have actively encouraged debit card use, and 73% of consumers report that they are satisfied with the debit card option. Now, debit card issuers are facing a…

  • New, Free GoPayment Credit Card Reader Now Available

    John B. Frank
    27 Jan 2012 | 11:24 am
    Maximize Sales on the Go While Protecting Customer Card Data MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Intuit Inc.’s (NASDAQ:INTU) newly designed GoPayment card reader is now available for free at GoPayment.com. The GoPayment card reader increases the accuracy of each card swipe and offers best-in-class, end-to-end encryption to protect a customer’s sensitive card data. Intuit redesigned the card reader based on customer feedback asking for a professional, easy-to-use way to process payments wherever they are.Designed for small businesses and anyone who sells products or…

  • Mobile Payments Going Mainstream at CARTES in North America

    John B. Frank
    27 Jan 2012 | 11:21 am
    Image via Wikipedia Two-day long tracks on mobile payments; more than 80 speakers and a sold-out roster of 100 exhibitors CARTES in North America 2012 LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Just what combination of technology convergence, business partnerships and consumer acceptance points will finally drive the widespread adoption of global mobile payments is at the center of the agenda at the CARTES in North Americaexpo & conference, March 5-7, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nev. “As we continue to focus on innovation and developing technologies like NFC, we’ll be able to further enhance the…

  • Shazam Offers 1% PIN Debit Rate through Adaptive Payments

    John B. Frank
    25 Jan 2012 | 11:41 am
    Discount rate of 1% for PIN debit transactions for all merchants that use Pentagon offered DES MOINES, Iowa and FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., Jan. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The SHAZAM network today announced that it has launched the Adaptive Payments Pentagon mobile point-of-sale (POS) payments application. Pentagon is a mobile payments platform, which allows merchants to accept PIN debit, signature debit and credit transactions using iPhone® and Android® mobile phone and tablet devices. SHAZAM will roll out Pentagon to its nearly 1,500 community financial institutions…
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    OXID Community Forum

  • Rechenfehler bei Bestellungen mit unterschiedlichen Mwst. von 10% und 20%

    daluga
    28 Jan 2012 | 5:33 am
    Wenn ein artikel mit mwst. 10% und einen Haken bei allen negativen Nachlässen hat, und dieser zusammen mit einem 20% Artikel gekauft wird, dann stimmt vorerst alles. Jetzt hat man aber noch einen Rabatt nur mit Benutzereinschränkung oder einen Gutschein dann passiert folgender Vorgang: Die Berechnung für den Kunden ist immer richtig und auch die Berechnung für mich wenn ich in den Admin Bestellungen gehe. Sobald ich nun im Admin Bestellungen irgendeine Änderung vornehme z.B. Bezahlt am... und speichere, so wird nun eine neue Berechnung durchgeführt wobei die MwSt. 10% und 20% wie auch…

  • Popup / Backend / Kategoriebeschreibung kürzen

    Kaiser3
    28 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    Hallo, wenn man einem Titel die Kategorien zuordnen möchte, sind etwas längere Short-Descriptions im Popup hinderlich. Ich möchte gerne den Text der Artikelbeschreibung im Popup kürzen. Habe versucht dies im admin/tpl/popups/article_extend.tpl zu machen. Ich weiß aber nicht, ob das richtig ist, dass an dieser Stelle zu kürzen und wo ich da eingreifen muss z.B. mit "Truncate". Gruß, Norbert

  • Translating the database part

    yrjom
    27 Jan 2012 | 6:50 pm
    Hello, I am following Vikram Vaswani's guide and translating OXID to my language. Translating the language files and most of the table (using the title_1 etc method) seems quite understandable. But what I am confused about is how to handle the VIEW's. Should I touch those at all? And why there are many versions, for example the oxv_oxactions table: It has fields for multiple languages, but then there are those language spesific oxv_oxactions_de and oxv_oxactions_en tables that seem identical, only not including those TITLE_2 type of fileds. I'd be very grateful for any explanation on how to…

  • I can not setup thousand separator by Japanese currency

    hodota
    27 Jan 2012 | 1:31 pm
    Hello, If possible please let me know, thanks. I set up Japanese currency, [name]@[rate]@[decimal separator]@[thousand separator]@[symbol]@[decimal precision] JPY@1.0@ @ ,@ 円@ 2 I think that this is correct, however it can not display "thousand separator" that 12345,67890円 I would like to display thoussand separator looks like 123,456円 because, Japanese currency not use "decimal separator". My OXID is 4.5.6_40808 and PHP Version 5.3.3-7+squeeze3 at Debian Yours, Kazu Hodota

  • Umfrage zum Thema Spendensammlungen im Internet

    csimon
    27 Jan 2012 | 12:47 pm
    Hi, ich mal wieder ;) ich dachte das oxid forum ist ein guter platz, um ein bisschen hilfe für eine Freundin von mir an der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg zu organisieren. Konkret geht es auch um ein eCommerce nahestehendes Thema, nämlich Spendensammlungen im Netz. http://www.online-spenden-umfrage.de.vu/ Die Umfrage ist kurz und ich hoffe es nehmen einige Teil :)
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    The Ecommerce Authority

  • Tips from the Top: More Ways to Beat Your Competition with Pricing

    Lauren
    26 Jan 2012 | 5:04 am
    In our most recent Tips from the Top column, we discussed general pricing strategies for your online business. Today we’ll take an in-depth look at “deal of the day” pricing options, best practices when using coupons and various ways to help you develop a successful growth strategy. In part two of our Q&A, Cris Angelini, our Director of Revenue Development answers more of your questions about how to beat your competition with pricing. When should I use “Deal of the Day”? You should use the “Deal of the Day” feature as you would with any promotion.  Because “Deal of the…

  • 5 Free Ways to Make Customers Fall in Love with You

    Lauren
    24 Jan 2012 | 5:43 am
    Customer loyalty is your golden ticket to ecommerce success. Check out today’s episode to find five free and easy ways to satisfy your customers and keep them coming back for more. I think that Lady Gaga said it best when she sang, “love, love, love, I want your love.” While most people assume she’s talking about her “bad romance,” she personally told me that she’s referring to your online business, namely how you want (and need) customer love. To get started, check out today’s episode to learn five free and ways to cast a love spell over your entire customer base. Happy…

  • Say What? The Biggest Ecommerce Blunders of All Time

    Lauren
    20 Jan 2012 | 5:34 am
    When it comes to making mistakes, these disasters truly take the cake. Continue reading to learn valuable lessons that will help you avoid epic fails like these. “SAY WHAT?” If that’s not your reaction when reading these epic blunders, it’s time to enroll in PR 101. Check out these big ecommerce fails, and, more importantly, learn from their mega mistakes. 1. Best Buy becomes the “Grinch Who Stole Christmas” Some businesses believe in “under promising and over delivering,” but when it came to Best Buy last year, they delivered quite the opposite. During the major holiday rush,…

  • 3 Social Media Alternatives for Your Online Business

    Lauren
    19 Jan 2012 | 7:19 am
    Trying to ramp up your social media efforts, but not getting the results you want? Maybe you’re not using the right platform. Although Facebook, Twitter and Google+ have stolen the spotlight, that doesn’t necessarily make them right for your online business. To give you more options, check out these three powerful platforms that are making a splash in 2012. Why knows? Maybe they’re your golden ticket to social media success.   Pinterest As one of the top ten most visited social networks of 2011, Pinterest is quickly on the rise to social media superstardom. This image-based tool…

  • The Most Powerful Marketing Tool You’re Not Using Well

    Lauren
    18 Jan 2012 | 4:42 am
    There’s a powerful online marketing technique that is proven to drive traffic and sales to your online store. Sadly, you’re probably not using it to its full potential. Read further to learn what it is and how you’re messing it up.    What if I told you there’s a marketing tool that will make $43.52 for every dollar you spend? According to the Direct Marketers Association, it exists. And what if I said that this communication channel is used by 90% of users every single day? According to DoubleClick, it’s real. So what is this magical marketing tool, anyway? Believe it or not,…
 
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    DoublePlus

  • Happy New Year, I’ve Missed You!

    Susan Petracco
    2 Jan 2012 | 10:30 am
    Image via Wikipedia Well, readers, how many of you do I have left? I just got home from teaching a Zumba class, and patting myself on the back for accomplishing one of my New Year’s resolutions for last year, while at the same time knowing my plans to write the first post that has been published here since August 2011. Sheesh! Well, it’s a new year and time for new commitments, but also for looking back at last year to see what was accomplished. I wrote my list of resolutions on this blog last year as a way to keep myself accountable, and since most of them pertained to my…

  • Viral Marketing for B2B Stores

    Susan Petracco
    1 Aug 2011 | 9:30 am
    One of the problems in the B2B space is that your products are sold based on customer need, not desire, beauty, or trends. It’s much easier to get customers talking about fashion or entertainment than about, well, ID cards. Retailer IDWholesaler.com wanted to break through that barrier, and get people talking about their products and build great inbound links at the same time. So they decided to focus on a subset of their business – the lanyards people often use to wear their work ID badges – and combine it with the artists who design custom lanyards in a viral contest that…

  • What Your Customer Service Email Says About Your Business

    Susan Petracco
    21 Jul 2011 | 10:50 am
    Customer Service Emails As e-commerce businesses, we have a variety of reasons to email our customers. These emails include order confirmations, shipping notifications, customer service response emails, marketing emails, and much more. In this post, I want to focus primarily on customer service emails. Shoppers have come to expect the human touch almost as much online as they do when they visit a store in person at their local mall. <!–more–>Given this expectation, let’s discuss how you can optimize customer service emails to create a stronger relationship with your…

  • ROI Metrics vs. How You Feel

    Peter Petracco
    13 Jul 2011 | 11:13 am
    Which is a Better measurement for Success in Today’s Online World? Mark Twain was famed for many things, but the one phrase of his I like the best always has been, “there are lies, damn lies and then statistics”. A good statistician can probably make numbers say just about anything they want them to. In this modern Internet era, the concept of Return on Investment (ROI) metrics has taken on a life of its own. Moreover, as retailers, we’re faced with the esoteric goal of judging whether a particular investment is paying off in the manner we would hope. Expectations can be…

  • How Bad Experiences Outweigh Good Ones

    Susan Petracco
    1 Jul 2011 | 4:30 pm
    We’re a community of “glass is half empty” kind of shoppers. Image by Getty Images via @daylife I was watching an old rerun of “The Big Bang Theory” Friday night, where Sheldon described himself as being a person of infinite patience, having once waited for two-and-a-half hours on the customer support line with Hewlitt Packard just to complain about their customer support. That’s our collective voice in a nutshell. As social media has continued to grow, the venues people have for making their voices heard is much wider than before. And people like to…
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    Look At BigCommerce

  • BigCommerce Review Video

    Jon Commerce
    12 Jan 2012 | 2:13 am
    Just a quick post to let you guys know I’ve created a video that walks people through my BigCommerce Review page… The video does not actually “review” BigCommerce, but rather, and quite simply, walks a person through the BigCommerce review page on this site. Now why would I do that? Well, for those people looking for a BigCommerce Review video, they’ll naturally go to YouTube and search for content there. If that’s the case, I’m hoping to attract those people over to this site. It’s really made for those newbie guys, who want to start an online…

  • Enough is Enough. Start Your Online Store Today

    Jon Commerce
    5 Jan 2012 | 12:25 am
    The new years is a time when I hear a lot of people (usually close friends of mine) talk about how to start your online store as one of their new years resolutions. This comes right after the “I have to loose a few kilos” resolution. I can understand why so many people want to start their own business. There’s lots of great benefits in doing so; among them being financial freedom, being close with your family and having a sense of achievement. So those who want to start a business have no problem figuring out the reasons why to start it, usually the how to start a business…

  • E-Commerce Theme: Top 10 Tips to Look Out For

    Jon Commerce
    11 Dec 2011 | 7:48 pm
    Your e-commerce site must integrate informational and marketing features for it to be effective. Choosing and adopting an attractive e-commerce theme would be of help. It would not only create an aesthetic feel for the Website; a good e-commerce theme could be significant in organising the content and functionality of your online store. Logically, your e-commerce Website must have all the important parts that should come together to make sure it would work. How could you make sure your online site would be fully functional? What business strategy, marketing, and other basic components should…

  • Online Ecommerce: 5 Things On Your To-Do List

    Jon Commerce
    27 Nov 2011 | 10:45 pm
    Electronic commerce, online ecommerce or ecommerce as it is more commonly known, is the use of the Internet to conduct business such as shopping in online stores, selling items and even selling your service on the World Wide Web to practically anyone who has an Internet connection. The biggest advantage of online ecommerce is that you do not have to go out of your comfort zone in order to purchase goods or services. Before anyone starts setting up an online ecommerce business, they need to have five fundamental facts ready at hand and acknowledged. These facts include deciding the types of…

  • Don’t Miss The eBusiness Wave

    Jon Commerce
    14 Nov 2011 | 5:11 pm
    When people think of ebusiness, they automatically think of ecommerce. This should not be the case. It is important to understand that both ecommerce and ebusiness are different and unique concepts, eventhough they are closely related. Ecommerce essentially refers to the selling of goods and services over the Internet, whereas ebusiness refers to the use of Internet technology within the business being conducted. In essence, if a company is using the Internet to conduct or help succeed in the business, then the business is a part of ebusiness. To clarify, some examples of ebusiness are email,…
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    Shipwire» Shipwire Blog: Grow Your Global Business

  • CES 2012 Wrap-Up

    dimitri
    16 Jan 2012 | 4:29 am
    This week saw the wrap-up of the largest Consumer Electronics Show ever. The 2012 edition included 153,000 attendees, 3,100 exhibitors launching some 20,000 new products on more than 1.8 million square feet of space. Many of the products launched were great and we really enjoyed seeing some of the new technologies that came from all over the world. There really were too many products to count and while we were on the floor seeing exhibitors and clients during all opening hours of the show, we were unable to see every single booth and certainly didn’t get to play around with each of the…

  • CES 2012: What to expect

    dimitri
    3 Jan 2012 | 7:07 pm
    The world’s largest electronics show, CES 2012, is almost upon us and as always Shipwire will be in attendance. We’ve decided to share some of what we know based on past experience so that you can be better prepared and know what not to miss at this year’s expo, along with a few things that we’d like to see at this year’s CES. Hot Trends to be on the lookout for Fuel cells.  It seems that fuel cells are coming to power portable electronics, with companies like SiGNa set to exhibit fuel cell-based chargers for various devices. AppleInsider also recently reported…

  • Oh no, the product arrived damaged…

    Nate
    29 Dec 2011 | 8:17 pm
    Ace Ventura Movie - "Special delivery" scene During the week following Christmas and New Year, warehouses everywhere start getting returns.   Returns happen!  Now is a good time to review your  returns policy and how it will impact your buyers thoughts of you, and you bottom line. Every year we see damaged product returns.  It’s expected that some products will get damaged.  Why does it happen? What happens behind the scenes? One of my favorite movie scenes is the opening scene of Ace Venture Pet Detective.   Ace, dressed like a parcel courier, is going to steal back a…

  • Shipping to Canada can be a headache, eh?

    Nate
    23 Dec 2011 | 1:05 pm
        You’d think shipping to a country right next door to us would be as easy as crossing the border, but many US merchants shipping to Canada for the first time end up with a less than pleasant experience. Even big merchants like Zappos have decided to discontinue their offerings to Canada after numerous unhappy Canadian customers. Ah, if only they had decided to outsource this to the pros, like Shipwire!     Top complaints from merchants about shipping to the “Great White North”:   1. Brokerage fees – sometimes comparable to the miscellaneous fees from…

  • Shipwire Holiday Celebration Wine

    Nate
    5 Dec 2011 | 4:43 pm
    Dolcetto @ 2011 Shipwire Holiday Dinner One of the benefits of living in California is we’re really close to wine country.  The reality is we are in the middle of wine “counties”.  We’re surrounded! To the West we have Santa Cruz, Bonny Doon put it on the map.  To our South, we get Paso Robles and the surrounding wine area.  To the East, go past Sacramento and you will find all the tasting rooms on Hwy 49 and Placer County.  A couple hours drive North are the amazing tasting rooms of Napa County that overshadows, for no really good reason (imho), Sonoma and Mendocino…
 
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    Red Ink Diary

  • Corporate Values

    Henrietta
    22 Jan 2012 | 1:07 pm
    Two corporations contrasted. First the dog eat dog world of ex-Bain CEO John Donahoe’s eBay. I read with interest Ina Steiner’s article on eBay’s fourth quarter 2011 report in EcommerceBytes. Several points in that article should make both the micro-seller still trying to sell on eBay and the would be investor pay attention. “eBay’s growth in the [...]

  • The MoneyGram Scam

    Henrietta
    17 Jan 2012 | 1:21 am
    An old scam is making the rounds in Canada dressed in a brand new disguise, blackening the reputation of MoneyGram as it goes. The scam is aimed at the “make money from home” market, a sector rapidly increasing as unemployed or underemployed families struggle financially. It will only be a matter of time before it crosses [...]

  • Definitive Guide to USPS 2012 Rate Increase

    Henrietta
    11 Jan 2012 | 8:34 pm
    Postal rate increases for 2012 are coming January 22nd. See my post about the new 2012 Priority rates here. This year the increase is not going to be all bad news for online sellers because USPS is doing some good things with both the Regional Rate Priority service they introduced in 2011 and discounts for shippers [...]

  • Fifty One Weeks of Opportunity

    Henrietta
    6 Jan 2012 | 4:53 pm
    The first week of 2012 has gone. We have fifty one weeks of opportunity ahead of us, what are you going to do with them? I have been feeling a little overwhelmed. It seems like the whole process of online selling has become so complex. It really isn’t fun any more. Every day I get email [...]
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    Miva Merchant Ecommerce Blog

  • Store Spotlight: Tate’s Bake Shop

    atalbott@mivamerchant.com
    27 Jan 2012 | 1:22 pm
    Valentine’s Day, a holiday synonymous with love, romance, and sweet treats is only weeks away.  Since the age of eleven, Kathleen King, Founder and President of Tate’s Bake Shop, this week’s Store Spotlight, has been a professional baker specializing in cookies, brownies, pies, and more. From a small brick-and-mortar bake shop in Southampton, New York that grew into a thriving Mecca for cookie connoisseurs, Kathleen King’s passion for baking has made Tate’s Bake Shop a nationally recognized name and the subject of features in many magazines and newspapers,  including…

  • How To Add Pinterest “Pin It” Buttons To Your Miva Merchant Product Pages

    atalbott@mivamerchant.com
    25 Jan 2012 | 5:15 pm
    Special thanks to Steve Fronek of Ten23Media and Rainebrooke for letting us share information from his recent blog post on this topic.  Are you using Pinterest to help market your ecommerce business online? Just a few months ago, that question would have likely drawn blank looks from most ecommerce store owners.  As the first month of the new year draws to a close, however it is clear that thanks to a growing user base, Pinterest is growing, and marketers are taking notice. I was unfamiliar with Pinterest until recently—I had heard of it, but I didn’t really understand what it…

  • Social Media + Google Analytics = Network Your Way To Success!

    atalbott@mivamerchant.com
    23 Jan 2012 | 1:05 pm
    Today’s blog post comes to us from Miva Merchant Account Manager, Kimberly Hodel In the past, we’ve shown you how to add Facebook Like and Send buttons to your Miva Merchant store, and just recently, we spotlighted a blog post from 2010 about how to make a custom Twitter feed for your website. Well, today, we’re here to take it one step further! Now that we’ve shown you how to use social media in conjunction with your store, the next thing you want to do is track those visitors. You want to know how your efforts are paying off, and if you’ve gone viral yet, right?  We thought…

  • Store Spotlight: Discount Flies Online Fly Shop

    atalbott@mivamerchant.com
    20 Jan 2012 | 5:50 pm
    Ask any fly fisherman, and they’ll probably tell you that they prefer certain types of flies over others. Thanks to this week’s Store Spotlight, Discountflies Online Fly Shop, finding quality flies of all types and in bulk quantities is a quick and simple process.  Founded in 1999, Discountflies sells fly fishing flies and gear, and provides a comprehensive fly hatch chart for major rivers in the United States.  “When we began our company in 1999, we needed a shopping cart that we could modify to our customer’s needs,” says Discountflies Online Fly Shop President, Mike…

  • SOPA And PIPA And Ecommerce

    atalbott@mivamerchant.com
    18 Jan 2012 | 12:19 pm
    Today is the official SOPA and PIPA protest day, and several websites, including Wikipedia and Google, have either gone dark or blacked out their logos in protest of two pieces of pending legislation aimed to stop the sale and distribution of copyrighted pirated music, movies, and physical goods.  I knew that this was coming, of course, but it didn’t really hit home until I woke up this morning, and Wikipedia was gone, replaced by a black screen and a message. Craigslist, while not blacked out, had a similar message, as did Google and Amazon. The names of these bills make them sound…
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    About.com Online Business / Hosting

  • Nominations Open for the 2012 Readers Choice Awards: Online Business

    18 Jan 2012 | 5:28 am
    Nominations open today for the 2012 About.com Readers' Choice Awards. Nominate your favorite service providers. Nomination period ends February 15, 2012. Voting begins February 22 through March 21, 2012. Winners will be announced March 30th, 2012....Read Full Post

  • What Will Happen to Online Work?

    14 Jan 2012 | 4:25 am
    Online work has exploded over the past few few years. But is it sustainable? Gary Swart, CEO of oDesk (the worlds largest online work marketplace) recently responded to that question. He discusses what the future of online work is, and what oDesk does to help grow it.  He also discusses how to hire online talent....Read Full Post

  • How to Hire Online Talent

    9 Jan 2012 | 3:27 pm
    Just completed a Q&A with Gary Swart, CEO of oDesk. They connect workers and companies in need of new talent. Different than a traditional outsourcing portal, oDesk offers a true virtual workplace. Learn how to hire online talent....Read Full Post

  • Review: Content Marketing for Dummies

    3 Jan 2012 | 6:19 am
    I just completed Content Marketing for Dummies by fellow guide, Susan Gunelius. She discusses the concept behind marketing with content and the nuts and bolts of how to do it. One of the best books I've read on content marketing....Read Full Post

  • What is Content Marketing?

    2 Jan 2012 | 2:35 pm
    Everyone loves a free way to create more sales. Have you considered content marketing? What is content marketing? In terms of money, its free. But it will take time. Quite a bit to get started, and less as time goes on. Learn how to use content marketing....Read Full Post
 
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    Building Keystones

  • Buy Products or Get Rewards?

    Elan Sherbill
    25 Jan 2012 | 3:54 pm
    While traditional models of selling games online is alive and well with veterans of the B2C sector, we have also witnessed the rise of alternative, social approaches to online marketing strategies. In this post, we take a look at the online video game industry and analyze two different marketing strategies utilized by B2C companies. Our goal is to see how these different strategies can be applied to other e-commerce verticals. When I think about the major social video game companies producing massively multiplayer online (MMO) games, I think about Electronic Arts, Activsion Blizzard, and…

  • Revenue Recognition in Software Delivery

    Craig Vodnik
    18 Jan 2012 | 4:59 pm
    Revenue recognition for software products can be a complex topic, but following these few simple guidelines will make consulting with your accountant a more pleasurable experience. It’s all about accounting A fundamental principle of revenue recognition states that money is considered revenue only if a product or service has been fully and completely delivered. Immediate Delivery NitroPDF produces and sells software that creates and edits PDF files. A customer can submit payment and have the product fully delivered instantaneously. According to the AICPA Statement of Position (SOP) No. 97-2…

  • 2011 – A Digital E-commerce Retrospective

    Elan Sherbill
    29 Dec 2011 | 6:32 pm
    Another year come and gone and the e-commerce world continues to expand. 2011 saw the untimely and much mourned death of Steve Jobs, a new congressional bill called SOPA stirred up vigorous debate about the future of the internet, Netflix spent the year running around like a chicken with its head cut off and of course, you can’t step anywhere anymore with hearing about the rise of mobile and cloud computing. Here at Building Keystones, we want to end the year with a look at some of our top posts and reflect on the eclectic e-commerce tips and tricks we spent our year investigating: Yes!

  • Email Marketing Update: A Practical Guide For 2012

    Caitlin Marco
    22 Dec 2011 | 9:54 pm
    The continued triumph of email over the past twelve months is forcing us to revisit our email marketing strategies for 2012. In this post, we highlight the top trends in email marketing and what they mean for your email program. Email is Dead. Not! Despite the hullabaloo last year about how Mark Zuckerberg supposedly declared the death of email (he never really did), setting up email campaigns is still one of the more mature strategies in online marketing. But as advancements in technology progress, we continue developing new ways to view email. More importantly, as online marketing trends…

  • E-commerce Fraud Prevention: An Overview

    Craig Vodnik
    15 Dec 2011 | 1:40 pm
    Fraud prevention has always been an important part of the strategy of any e-business, but simply preventing as much fraud as possibly may be detrimental to your bottom line and your customers’ satisfaction. We all know the obvious cost of fraud: A payment is processed, the product is delivered and the charge is disputed. However, maximizing accepted orders is just as important as minimizing fraud. If you only have your eye on minimizing fraud you may be leaving a lot of money on the table. There are also other hidden costs to anti-fraud such as the cost of anti-fraud employees, the cost…
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    Peripheral-Visions

  • HP LaserJet 1010 Review

    Joe
    25 Jan 2012 | 8:05 am
    The HP LaserJet 1010 is a monochrome laser jet printer intended for a small office, business, or home office that needs a fast but compact printer. The HP LaserJet 1010 has a monthly duty cycle of up to 5,000 pages, making it capable of handling the workload of a small office or business while still [...]

  • Benefits for our GSA Customers

    Joe
    21 Dec 2011 | 8:01 am
    At The Supplies Guys, we have a lot of perks for government costumers, but the one that stands out from the rest is the VIP treatment all government costumers get. We believe that government costumers deserve the very best, so when it comes time to buy GSA supplies, The Supplies Guys have you covered with [...]

  • Xerox ColorQube 8570 and 8870 Compatibles

    Joe
    7 Dec 2011 | 3:01 pm
    Supplies Guys New Product – Xerox ColorQube 8570 Compatible Ink and Xerox ColorQube 8870 Compatible Ink Do you own a Xerox ColorQube 8570 or the ColorQube 8870? If so, the Supplies Guys are the first to offer a compatible ink sticks for both these printers. With savings of $188 and $178 over OEM prices, these [...]

  • The Supplies Guys On-Site Search

    Joe
    18 Nov 2011 | 2:23 pm
    The Supplies Guys launched a new on-site search engine today, November 18, 2011. The new on-site search not only brings a nicer look to the Supplies Guys site, but also brings a lot more functionality for our customers. We want to help you find what you need quicker. With the introduction of our new multifaceted [...]

  • Ten Reasons Why you Should Upgrade to the iPhone 4s

    Joe
    8 Nov 2011 | 3:40 pm
    So many iPhone 4 users are wondering, is it worth upgrading to the iPhone 4s? Ten Reasons to Upgrade to the iPhone 4s: 1. More powerful of a Phone The iPhone 4s comes with a dual-core processor enabling the iPhone 4s to take on more challenging tasks with ease. Allows for the ability for higher [...]
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    Financial Freedom Ideas

  • Keyword Research Tips – Use Google Adwords To Find Related Keywords

    Tomaz
    15 Jan 2012 | 8:25 am
    Keyword research is critical for building the blueprint of your site and it’s critical that you choose the keywords that have some demand and not too much supply if you want to get good traffic to your site. But how to do that is often explained very differently and also very confusingly. So let’s simplify this is as much as possible. I’ll be using the SBI’s Brainstormer (the alternative is Wordtracker) and Google Adwords to show you how to build a keyword list in 4 easy steps. 1.    Determine your main theme (site concept) keyword What is the key keyword of your…

  • 3 Reasons Why Google Panda Updates Torched So Many Websites In 2011 – And How To Strike Back

    Tomaz
    10 Dec 2011 | 5:04 am
    It is human nature to believe that current trends, especially favorable ones that help us, will continue forever. John Mauldin, from his book Endgame. The above quote from the book Endgame is written in the context of the recent global financial crisis where one of the fundamental root causes of the crisis was the belief that real estate prices will increase forever. Sure, it sounds stupid when you read that right now but when you’re “in the game” and you’re benefiting from such rising prices (by trading stocks, capitalising from increases in real estate, etc.), your…

  • SBI Conference in Anguilla 2011

    Tomaz
    25 Nov 2011 | 8:27 am
    The SBI Conference in Anguilla was my fourth SBI conference and it was a blast. Anguilla is a somewhat deserted place – it caters to people who want to get away from hustle and bustle. It also caters to people who look for luxury vacations. So there’s not much to do on Anguilla – and that’s why it was so cool to be there. We simply stayed around the pool (or in it) with a few drinks and had some great laughs, or we went together to a restaurant and spent the evening chatting about life as an online business owner, how we hate Pandas or how to A/B split test which rum punch…

  • Optimizing For High Paying Adsense Keywords Doesn’t Work

    Tomaz
    23 Oct 2011 | 4:28 am
    If you’re optimizing your pages for high paying Google Adsense keywords, you may have to rethink your strategy. Here’s just a quick intro to this topic for those unfamiliar with it… Let’s say you’re building a site about tennis and you run the keyword tennis through the Adwords tool to see which keywords pay more per click than others. In the example above you see that “atp tour tennis” keyword pays roughly 3 times as much per click as the keyword “andy murray tennis”. So you assume that if you wrote a page about “atp tour…

  • Start An Online Home Business With Site Build It! – And I’ll Mentor You

    Tomaz
    20 Oct 2011 | 9:38 am
    If you’re thinking about starting an online business – meaning working from home – then consider my offer if you choose Site Build It! (SBI!). My offer to you regarding Site Build It is the same as I give it to my friends when I show them how I live and work with my home based online business. I offer to help them out if they buy through my link. If you decide to buy SBI through my affiliate link, I will: 1. Help you out especially in the beginning phase when you have to decide for the right niche and keywords. I believe I now have enough experience (I’ve made some…
 
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    EcommNews.net

  • Ten of the Most Common Mistakes of Web Marketing

    Peter Brooks
    27 Jan 2012 | 2:33 am
    If you’re planning to freshen up your site, first check your current site against this list of common problems and mistakes and take this chance to fix any before launching your new and improved site. However large or small your business, and regardless of your business type or how well financed, most web sites share common problems. Here are ten of the ones most commonly found. Almost all of these problems start long before a web site goes live. Not … →

  • Shelving SOPA and Pausing PIPA. One Day At a Time.

    Catriona Brook
    23 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm
    The Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act have been indefinitely shelved.  This surprising turn of events comes barely a week after the general public were made aware of the SOPA and PIPA bills. How is it possible that such a major bill can be shelved a mere week after it has become public knowledge?  Is this proof of the true power of the Internet? For anyone who has missed the basic points, some background details: PIPA … →

  • Black Hat SEO. Avoid It Like The (Internet) Plague!

    Peter Brooks
    23 Jan 2012 | 1:15 pm
    The worst thing you can do when starting a new eCommerce business is to play dirty SEO tricks (AKA black hat techniques) with Google to grab those preeminent top spots. If you choose to do so, then you will never be found on Google again. This has been demonstrated many times but one of the most noteworthy cases was that of an SEO scam that was published in NY Times in February 2011. In case you missed this particular article, … →

  • BigCommerce Opens Platform to Developers With New RESTful API

    Peter Brooks
    8 Nov 2011 | 4:02 am
    BigCommerce, the world’s fastest growing e-commerce platform with 20,000 clients has opened up its platform to global developers via its new RESTful API. The API allows third party developers complete access to the BigCommerce platform by making orders, products, customers, photos, etc available for both retrieving and updating programatically. Eddie Machaalani, co-Founder of BigCommerce, said it was another big step towards the Australian company creating the world’s first true e-commerce platform: “BigCommerce is already the easiest to use and fastest … →

  • Get Ahead Faster: 8 Brilliant (and Slightly Badass) Ways to Do It

    Peter Brooks
    28 Oct 2011 | 3:30 pm
    1. Tell people how much you rock Don’t wait for other people to do this for you. Don’t rely on your boss, your colleagues or your amazing work to promote your skills. They all can do, and probably will do, but first off you have to do it yourself. Don’t let your achievements and contributions just be taken for granted, let others know why your work is special. Be subtle about it though; list it amongst other peoples achievements when … →
 
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    EcommNews.net

  • Ten of the Most Common Mistakes of Web Marketing

    Peter Brooks
    27 Jan 2012 | 2:33 am
    If you’re planning to freshen up your site, first check your current site against this list of common problems and mistakes and take this chance to fix any before launching your new and improved site. However large or small your business, and regardless of your business type or how well financed, most web sites share common problems. Here are ten of the ones most commonly found. Almost all of these problems start long before a web site goes live. Not … →

  • Shelving SOPA and Pausing PIPA. One Day At a Time.

    Catriona Brook
    23 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pm
    The Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act have been indefinitely shelved.  This surprising turn of events comes barely a week after the general public were made aware of the SOPA and PIPA bills. How is it possible that such a major bill can be shelved a mere week after it has become public knowledge?  Is this proof of the true power of the Internet? For anyone who has missed the basic points, some background details: PIPA … →

  • Black Hat SEO. Avoid It Like The (Internet) Plague!

    Peter Brooks
    23 Jan 2012 | 1:15 pm
    The worst thing you can do when starting a new eCommerce business is to play dirty SEO tricks (AKA black hat techniques) with Google to grab those preeminent top spots. If you choose to do so, then you will never be found on Google again. This has been demonstrated many times but one of the most noteworthy cases was that of an SEO scam that was published in NY Times in February 2011. In case you missed this particular article, … →

  • BigCommerce Opens Platform to Developers With New RESTful API

    Peter Brooks
    8 Nov 2011 | 4:02 am
    BigCommerce, the world’s fastest growing e-commerce platform with 20,000 clients has opened up its platform to global developers via its new RESTful API. The API allows third party developers complete access to the BigCommerce platform by making orders, products, customers, photos, etc available for both retrieving and updating programatically. Eddie Machaalani, co-Founder of BigCommerce, said it was another big step towards the Australian company creating the world’s first true e-commerce platform: “BigCommerce is already the easiest to use and fastest … →

  • Get Ahead Faster: 8 Brilliant (and Slightly Badass) Ways to Do It

    Peter Brooks
    28 Oct 2011 | 3:30 pm
    1. Tell people how much you rock Don’t wait for other people to do this for you. Don’t rely on your boss, your colleagues or your amazing work to promote your skills. They all can do, and probably will do, but first off you have to do it yourself. Don’t let your achievements and contributions just be taken for granted, let others know why your work is special. Be subtle about it though; list it amongst other peoples achievements when … →
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    Aaron Shapiro

  • Kodak was the Next Company to be Sunk by the Internet

    Aaron Shapiro
    19 Jan 2012 | 3:33 pm
    In early November, as part of the promotion of my book about how businesses need to evolve to survive in the digital age, I asked, “Is Kodak the next company to get sunk by the Internet?” Turns out, the answer is a resounding yes—and I don’t even think a Chapter 11 reorganization and the $950 million in financing from Citigroup will keep it breathing. It’s easy to say that Eastman Kodak’s problem is twofold: smartphones encroaching on the camera business and the decimation of the analog film market. But its problem is bigger than that. To adjust to the changes wrought on its…

  • 2011 Was The Year that Show Beat Tell

    Aaron Shapiro
    22 Dec 2011 | 2:28 pm
    Looking back at 2011, I see a year where pragmatism replaced hype, where show beat tell, where consumers, the tech community and the marketing industry stepped away from preconceived notions and toward a new reality, where actions spoke louder than words. Groupon had been the darlings of all things money. Consumers loved the deals. The business community was in awe. The Wall Street Journal covered its IPO with an exclamation point in its headline: “Groupon IPO Launches!” But hysteria breeds lots of attention and copycats. Soon, a number of Groupon’s unhappy clients came to light and…

  • RIM’s Only Road Back: Building An iPhone Killer

    mgore
    8 Dec 2011 | 1:12 pm
    Once upon a time, Research in Motion was the world’s leading smartphone company. Armies of executives were loyal to their “crackberries.” It had a stock price that wouldn’t quit. Fast forward a few years and its failed tablet has caused RIM to miss its third-quarter revenue target. It’s been weighed down by lengthy network outages. Legions of people are ditching BBMs for iMessages and abandoning Blackberry keyboards for Android keyboards. Speculation over RIM’s demise hits the press daily, and I’m sure many news outlets already have drafted its obituary. But…

  • Former Borders Employees Hit the Streets to Sell “Users Not Customers”

    mgore
    2 Dec 2011 | 5:09 pm
    A handful of Employees who lost their jobs when Borders Bookstores went out of business hit the streets of New York to communicate to businesses that it’s time to adapt to the digital age or else risk the same fate as their former employer. From Tuesday, November 1 to Thursday, November 3, a group of former Borders employees operated a mobile bookstore at multiple locations throughout Manhattan to emphasize the importance of the lessons taught in my book, the only one they’re selling, Users Not Customers: Who Really Determines the Success of Your Business.

  • 3 Proven Strategies To Keep The Internet From Killing Your Productivity

    mgore
    18 Nov 2011 | 11:46 am
    There’s a good chance you’re reading this article during your workday as a distraction from whatever it is you’re supposed to be focusing on at work right now. Whatever you were working on, which you still need to finish up, is likely open in another window.  “It’s just a few minute break. No big deal.” But I’m guessing this isn’t the first article you’ve read, and when you’re done skimming this, another one might catch your eye, over there on the right. Or you’ll get an IM from a co-worker asking for restaurant recommendations in Atlanta, where they’re…
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    iMark Interactive

  • How to Enhance a Website to be Suitable for Online Shopping

    Guest Author
    27 Jan 2012 | 3:35 pm
    This is a guest post by Glen. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here. Online shopping has become a fad since the Internet has reached the homes of many people. The reason why it is popular is because of these three things: convenience, cost effectiveness, and the wide variety of [...]

  • 5 Time Keeping Apps To Increase Efficiency: A Must have For Small Business Owner

    Guest Author
    26 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    This is a guest post by Michael Evans. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here. Do you remember the old saying – Time is Money. This rings true when you are at the helm of a small business. Being a small business owner means you will have to be exceptional at [...]

  • The Ramifications of Not Following the Online Trends in the Middle East

    GBell
    25 Jan 2012 | 5:17 pm
    As Egypt celebrates the one year mark of the start of their uprising, others in the Middle East and around the world are thinking about the ramifications about not paying attention to the Arab Spring and the uptick in online users in and around the Middle East.  In the beginning of 2010, there were a [...]

  • Credit Card Processing Savings for Small Business Owners

    Guest Author
    25 Jan 2012 | 8:08 am
    This is a guest post by Eric Stauffer. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here. Speak with most small business owners about their merchant service account and they probably will not have great things to say. This is understandable because the industry as a whole is ripe with excess fees, [...]

  • Our All New Business Spotlight

    GBell
    19 Jan 2012 | 9:52 pm
    This is a new section that we are going to be developing over the next few months.  We have been asked by many to spotlight great businesses and websites for both consumers and businesses.  This is where our spotlights will reside.  Each spotlight will be an article about a great business or website and possibly [...]
 
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    ecommerce.shopatron.com

  • The Best of…

    20 Jan 2012 | 11:30 am
    Don’t you love “Best of” albums? Instead of buying all of a band’s albums, each with two or three great songs on it, you can get all the greats in one place.

  • Online Paid Search Affecting In-Store Sales?

    10 Jan 2012 | 11:26 am
    Planning your online marketing strategy for the coming year? You may want to drop by the conventional marketing department and demand some of their budget. 

  • Mobile Brings “No Boundaries” Shopping Power to Merchants, Too

    6 Jan 2012 | 11:06 am
    The data is pretty clear, mobile is the best vehicle for providing a “no boundaries” shopping environment to customers. Reporting from Shopatron client sites shows traffic from mobile devices nearly doubled in 2011, going from 6.5% of visits at the beginning of the year to 12.2% by mid December.

  • All alone in the office?

    28 Dec 2011 | 12:32 pm
    With the Christmas rush mostly over, now is a great time to take a deep breath and give yourself a chance to think strategically again. To help you with this, we’ve got a great webinar that will give you a head start thinking about next year (plus a bonus prediction below that was not included in the webinar, so read on!).

  • Holiday shoppers are the real gifts that (can) keep giving

    19 Dec 2011 | 11:01 am
    Aside from outlining some great retail strategies to boost holiday sales, Michael Koploy, ERP Analyst for Retail Software Advice, brought up another, sometimes overlooked point in his recent blog post—the holidays are also an opportunity to acquire new, loyal customers.
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    ecommerce.shopatron.com

  • The Best of…

    20 Jan 2012 | 11:30 am
    Don’t you love “Best of” albums? Instead of buying all of a band’s albums, each with two or three great songs on it, you can get all the greats in one place.

  • Online Paid Search Affecting In-Store Sales?

    10 Jan 2012 | 11:26 am
    Planning your online marketing strategy for the coming year? You may want to drop by the conventional marketing department and demand some of their budget. 

  • Mobile Brings “No Boundaries” Shopping Power to Merchants, Too

    6 Jan 2012 | 11:06 am
    The data is pretty clear, mobile is the best vehicle for providing a “no boundaries” shopping environment to customers. Reporting from Shopatron client sites shows traffic from mobile devices nearly doubled in 2011, going from 6.5% of visits at the beginning of the year to 12.2% by mid December.

  • All alone in the office?

    28 Dec 2011 | 12:32 pm
    With the Christmas rush mostly over, now is a great time to take a deep breath and give yourself a chance to think strategically again. To help you with this, we’ve got a great webinar that will give you a head start thinking about next year (plus a bonus prediction below that was not included in the webinar, so read on!).

  • Holiday shoppers are the real gifts that (can) keep giving

    19 Dec 2011 | 11:01 am
    Aside from outlining some great retail strategies to boost holiday sales, Michael Koploy, ERP Analyst for Retail Software Advice, brought up another, sometimes overlooked point in his recent blog post—the holidays are also an opportunity to acquire new, loyal customers.
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    Socialize.sg - New Media Marketing and Customer engagement in Singapore

  • Apple iTV – a Window into Apple’s Endgame .

    Joel
    17 Jan 2012 | 6:37 am
      The Strategy is taking shape. In a previous post, Steve Jobs and the Apple Core Competency – Delivering Happiness to individuals, we spoke about how Apple devices seek to be interfaces for life. I find it strange that commentators seem to delight in dragging Apple products down to a level of technological breakthroughs. I suppose they have to in order to create a platform for discussion. Screen size, speed, OS are all fair game. However, the fact is, taking an Apple product out of the context of the Apple Ecosystem is missing the point. You might say that you arent comparing Apples…

  • Leadership = Content

    Joel
    16 Jan 2012 | 7:21 pm
    I am tempted to just leave this post blank and leave the title because it really does say all it needs to say. Content Creation is at the heart of ANY successful attempt to be an influence any group of  human beings on the internet. As sites like 9gag.com, thechive.com and of course, youtube  are platforms of discourse where originality is celebrated and  the ability to  effectively combine information from different sources to  make new cultural discourse that is relevant and popular grants the creator bragging rights. TO be successful n this economy,  one has to lead, in order to…

  • All I wanna say is that they dont really care about us.

    Joel
    13 Jan 2012 | 4:53 am
    I have been reading various Social media/E-commerce  ‘How-To’ posts for businesses. Many of them seem to begin with having to ‘Attract’ customers to you  by advertisements, word of mouth, or viral campaigns. I guess the idea is that  all one has to do is to interrupt their daily activities by placing an ad  and they will all fall in line ready to buy whatever is placed before them. Well, the sad news is that it wont work. To borrow a line from Michael Jackson,  “All I wanna say is that they dont really care about us” I think that should be the starting…

  • The Platform – The Internet as a soapbox changing our world.

    Joel
    12 Jan 2012 | 3:39 am
    As I keep having conversations about how the socialization of the internet is shaping our future, one thing is getting increasingly clear. Its all about the platform. It used to be a soapbox on a sidewalk. As the speaker, one  would attempt to pull out all stops, banners, loudspeakers, colours and even sideshow acts to draw the crowd. As a passerby, one had the choice of staying to listen, or walking away. People stayed for different reasons, some with rotten eggs ready, some to pass the time, some because they had vested interest in the proceedings, some because they believed… The…

  • Gen-Y, Convergence and its implications on a New Media Economy

    Joel
    10 Jan 2012 | 2:12 am
    Convergence  is my  personal favourite buzzword of the Newer, Shinier, Flatter world. As Gen Y comes of age, they see the world very differently from the previous generations. There was a time, not so long ago when the great institutions of the world were  defined by a scarcity of information.  This scarcity gave rise to class systems based on know, and know-nots . Institutions such as Medicine, Law, Science, Mathematics, astronomy each developed its own traditions, and erected barriers-to-entry to prevent the plebians and indeed, even members from OTHER disciplines from entering the…
 
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    dotCommerce Blog

  • Power to the marketing people! Vote for new features you want in dotMailer

    Cliff Guy
    24 Jan 2012 | 7:51 am
    Here’s something you might not have known… In the dotMailer Support Centre forum you can post suggestions for new features and enhancements to dotMailer, and cast your votes for suggestions already posted. Power to the marketing people Our development team keep a close eye on the suggestions and votes posted, and incorporate lots of your ideas into our roadmap. You can even see in the forum which user suggestions have been taken into our development plan and which have been done. So if you want to be a part of how dotMailer grows and develops and get more of the features you want,…

  • This weekend I got to alpha test dotMailer’s new ‘drag & drop’ database query tool

    Cliff Guy
    23 Jan 2012 | 7:14 am
    Almost a year ago to the week, I posted a blog on here entitled ‘I think I just saved myself half a day of work’ (yes I was younger then but my memory’s still good) I’d just put together my very first campaign using dotMailer’s brand new beta release of our drag & drop EasyEditor, and I was feeling a glow. Everyone who’s used our drag & drop EasyEditor since its beta release last year will recognise that glowing feeling. It’s just so nice… and quick… and easy to use. The big query So a year on, and a group of our Developers have…

  • A round up of 6 new features and functions released in dotMailer this month

    Cliff Guy
    20 Jan 2012 | 9:47 am
    Phew! It’s been a busy time here at dotMailer. This month alone we’ve released 6 new features to dotMailer, all developed to make our email marketing platform even easier and more practical for time-strapped email marketers. So for the seriously time-strapped out there, here’s a 6-second, at-a-glance guide to the new features we’ve rolled out in January 2012. Re-subscribe your unsubscribed contacts Three new API methods New reporting features and functions In-app Google Analytics reporting New Social Sharing features Important changes deployed to dotMailer white label…

  • New to dotMailer – how to re-subscribe your unsubscribed contacts

    Cliff Guy
    20 Jan 2012 | 8:57 am
    As email marketers, we are all actively engaged in actively engaging with our email contacts! That’s why we’ve made some changes to dotMailer’s Contacts functionality, so now a contact who has previously unsubscribed from your list, can re-subscribe themselves. They can do this simply by submitting a contact form on your website or on Facebook – as long as the form is generated in the Contacts section of dotMailer.                 How does the re-subscribe process work? Once a contact has submitted the signup form they will be…

  • Three new API methods created for dotMailer

    Cliff Guy
    20 Jan 2012 | 6:34 am
    More new releases deployed for dotMailer this month – we’ve created three new API methods to make it even easier to integrate dotMailer with your other back office systems and apps. The methods are: GetCurrentAccountInfo ListCampaignPageViews ListCampaignSocialBookmarkViews You can find out more visit the dotMailer API documentation section of our website.  
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    Acting on Analytics: The Official Mineful Blog

  • I didn’t know we could do this… this is amazing

    jaime
    26 Jan 2012 | 9:17 am
    Jose and I have been separated since we got back from Dallas at the beginning of December. Today was our first day at our new office (which is in the same building as our old office). We were talking product road map, go-to-market strategy, and our current clients; you know typical stuff, until he made me aware of an amazing feature set in Mineful. How can that happen? How can the CEO of a company not know that we have implemented a very important and beneficial feature? I’ll tell you how. We are working with a mobile app that directly sells a service. To work with us, we’ve had…

  • What Sears needs to do to compete

    jaime
    23 Jan 2012 | 8:44 am
    An iconic brand in the retail arena, Sears has been observing a drop in retail sales in a large number of stores that it has. Towards the end of year 2011, it announced the closing of 120 locations that saw a drop in sales by 5.2% in the 8 weeks ending on Dec 25th. This is after closing 171 stores in the US since 2005 when Sears and Kmart merged. The retail chain has been seeing 18 quarters of reducing sales. Sears obviously needs to take a hard look at their retail strategy and make some pertinent and hard changes. According to this article, the belief is that the new retail strategy needs…

  • Top 5 Changes in e-Commerce in 2011

    jaime
    18 Jan 2012 | 1:49 pm
    The speed at which technology and eCommerce are changing makes it hard to keep track. But if you have to stay with the times, change we must. The Coremetrics retail data from IBM tells us that online sales were up 16.4 percent on Christmas day this year. Some of the most significant changes that 2011 has seen in eCommerce are: 1. mCommerce Mobile commerce has been around for a while. But mobile commerce seems to have exploded in 2011. During the Thanksgiving holidays, the proportion of online sessions that were initiated from a mobile device was 18.3 percent of the total online sessions. This…

  • Presenting the New Mineful

    jaime
    11 Jan 2012 | 6:13 am
    If there is one thing I love, it’s getting inside a brand new car. The scent, the lights, the gadgets, and of course turning the engine on for the first time. It’s exhilarating! With our newly release, I hope that it will bring you just as much delight as taking the new car for a spin. I’m very excited to welcome you to the new Mineful. Go ahead, turn it on. Let us know how it feels. So, what’s new? More ways to connect your data We’ve added the ability to upload data from two e-commerce platforms, Shopify and Yahoo. By leveraging the API these platforms provide,…

  • Calculating Customer Lifetime Value

    jaime
    4 Jan 2012 | 4:01 pm
    Customer lifetime revenue is the total amount of revenue that a customer is likely to get in for the company. The computation of the customer lifetime revenue is relatively easy: Customer lifetime revenue = average purchase amount x purchase frequency in a year x number of years customer is expected to stay or in exponential form with a yearly discount rate CLR = Total Revenue per client * (r/(1+d)) where r is the retention rate and d is the discount rate. It is also important to keep in mind that if your product has serviced the customer well, there is a likely chance that the estimated…
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