IRCE 2008 Session Descriptions

One of the great things about the Internet is that it makes possible marketing, merchandising and business practices that would have been impossible—or at least cost prohibitive—in traditional retailing venues. Often, all a retailer needs is an idea and a staff or freelance developer to realize applications that are wow-inducing and lead to more sales. This session will feature retailers who had an idea for a service or who faced a problem for which there was no solution in the market, and who created their own solution. Our first speaker represents Blue Nile. The online jeweler faced the challenge of helping shoppers sort through thousands of gemstones, each with half a dozen or more features on which to base a decision and each of which could be placed in hundreds of settings. With no off-the-shelf site search technology available, Blue Nile developed its own search technology which has helped catapult Blue Nile into one of the most admired online brands. Next will be Tim Reiland, chairman and CEO of online sheet music and instructional material retailer MusicNotes.com, which in-house created an innovative application that allows shoppers to sample sheet music before buying it, giving musicians not only a preview of the music but an idea if the music is within their abilities. Both will discuss what technology it took to create the application, how the companies determined that it was within their staff's ability, how they had to sell others in the company on the idea and what benefits they have derived, including ROI, from the innovations.