Top 5 Tips For Ensuring Successful E-commerce Development

July 28, 2010 · Posted by Cam Stevenson · 0 Comments· 0 Links to this post

In the lull before starting full development on the next iteration of CommerceLive, I thought it would be useful to share some observations I've gathered over the course of the development process. I'm also going to tie this in with my observations from the Internet Retailer conference last month (cleverly covering off a request from our Marketing folks). My general, high level starting assertion is that the e-commerce domain is far more complicated (in all respects) than any other technology area (I'm comparing it to other areas that I've been deeply involved in over the course of my car...

Big Brands Notice Social Gaming

July 27, 2010 · Posted by Wanda Cadigan · 1 Comment· 0 Links to this post

When you think about the online gaming community, you may think about the traditional demographic of young males playing Xbox or PlayStation. However there is a new growing segment that is making big brands take notice – the ‘casual’ player. Social gaming is the fastest-growing segment in the video game business right now, its growth spurred on no doubt by popularity of social networking sites. Even as retail video game sales have declined over the past year, a growing number of people have been playing, and spending money on, social and casual games on the Internet and mobile phones.  Whil...

What is User Experience?

July 26, 2010 · Posted by Caroline Zenss · 0 Comments· 0 Links to this post

You may think that I get that question quite often. As a matter of fact, I can't remember the last time it was brought up by anyone in my work environment. Wikipedia states that "User eXperience (UX) refers to the interaction of a person with a system, including their actions and perceptions, i.e., what the person wants to do, what they actually do and their feelings about using a product, a service, (…) or a combination of them." Let's try to see how this definition would translate into e-commerce. Does User Experience cover features or look & feel ? Is it the satisfaction ...

Fashion Magazines Offer Advertisers New Ways to Reach Readers

July 23, 2010 · Posted by Melany Gallant · 0 Comments· 0 Links to this post

Some fashion magazines are using multi-media and mobile technologies to create additional opportunities to help advertisers reach consumers via Web and mobile platforms. According to a recent article by Lauren Indvik at Mashable.com, fashion magazines lost nearly a quarter of their ad pages in 2009. In response, some fashion magazines are looking to use Web and mobile offerings to update their business model, making it more relevant to how advertisers want to reach consumers. Indvik provides some great examples of how some leading fashion magazines are embracing digital offerings to attrac...

Social Tools Influence Online Purchases

July 16, 2010 · Posted by Antonella Pannizzo · 0 Comments· 0 Links to this post

Social tools have become an important part of a retailer’s online strategy. It’s an exciting new way to engage customers. For the consumer it’s a way to share their online experiences. The Facebook ‘Like’ button has proven to be a popular tool with sites like Levis, who were one of the first to implement the button to their product pages. A recent eMarketer  post "Online Merchants Love Facebook’s 'Like’ ", states:   35% of online marketers responsible for social marketing or ecommerce have already implemented Facebook’s “like” plug-in, and another third plan to do so. Researc...

Ready for Back-to-School?

July 8, 2010 · Posted by Wanda Cadigan · 0 Comments· 0 Links to this post

After the July 4th long weekend, many retailers turn their thoughts to the Back-to-School season. And Back-to-School is big business. According to a NRF study, last year’s Back-to-School holiday spending total was $47.5 billion, second only to Winter Holiday spending category. Over at the Google Retail Blog they have posted some interesting statistics on when consumers begin their Back-to-School shopping research.  Approximately 50% of those who research Back-to-School purchases will do so in the time period between now and the end of July.        Furthermore the Google Retail blog h...

Enhancing Search with Ratings & Reviews

July 6, 2010 · Posted by Wanda Cadigan · 0 Comments· 0 Links to this post

User generated ratings and reviews are extremely important in e-commerce. Empowering consumers to make more informed choices by providing access to others feedback is generally accepted as a very good business practice. And now businesses can extend the value of that user generated content beyond the confines of their own sites, via integration with search engines. Back in April, Bazaarvoice partnered with Google to enable its 800 customers to display ratings & reviews from their websites in Google search results (both natural and PPC). Now Bing has announced that it’s getting in on th...

The Evolution of Loyalty Programs

July 2, 2010 · Posted by Antonella Pannizzo · 0 Comments· 0 Links to this post

The rapid adoption of location based services such as Foursquare, Gowalla, etc, provides indication that both users and businesses see the potential benefits of such services, specifically around loyalty.A new site launched recently called Topguest, gives you real reward points from some of your favorite travel reward programs. Topguest works with sites like Foursquare, Google Latitude, Google Buzz, Gowalla, Loopt, Brightkite and Yelp to reward your geo–check in. For instance, if you check in to a hotel, rent a car or board a plane you can earn points from their respective loyalty programs....

Ratings & Reviews: Harnessing the “Amazon Effect”

June 23, 2010 · Posted by Melany Gallant · 0 Comments· 0 Links to this post

Offering a ratings and review system on your e-commerce site can be an effective way to get your customers to champion your brand. It also offers you the opportunity to actively engage those customers in dialogue about what they like, and what they dislike, about your products and services. For SEO purposes, ratings and reviews also keep your web content fresh and can help generate conversions. Over on SmashingMagazine.com, Rung András discusses (with some great examples) how adding user feedback to your e-commerce site is an effective way to facilitate customer engagement, build brand loya...

IRCE 2010 - Renewed Energy in Retail

June 21, 2010 · Posted by Donna Remillard · 0 Comments· 0 Links to this post

I remember thinking at IRCE last year, that despite the economic climate, retailers were generally upbeat, especially when it came to e-Commerce.  Comparison really puts things in perspective for you … this year felt like full steam ahead, everything looks great! The show boasted: 6400 Attendees 175 Speakers 418 Exhibitors While every keynote and session I attended revealed informative and thought provoking insight, a few themes continuously popped to the forefront throughout the show: ContentThere was lots of talk about ‘Connected Content’ this year.  Whether it’s on-site or o...

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