We’re listening

One of the features I like best about the new InternetRetailer.com web site is that readers can easily comment on our stories and blog posts. Readers are in fact commenting, and asking good questions, sometimes on the site and sometimes by e-mail to our editors. However you express your opinions, we’re paying attention.

For instance, one reader recently e-mailed us asking how a retailer can determine if offering free shipping during the holidays will pay off. How much will conversion go up, he asked? And will it stay up, or will it fall back to what it was as customers come to expect that they won’t be charged for shipping? It’s an excellent question, and one we’ll attempt to answer in the October issue of Internet Retailer magazine—in time for readers to apply the lessons during this holiday season.

Others have used the Comment box under each story to ask questions that were not answered in the original story. Whenever that happens, we try to find the answer and add it to the story. We also post our own comment pointing out that we’ve responded to the question. In other cases, readers add their own insights to a story, enriching the information we provided. For example, when we wrote a story quoting an e-commerce technology provider as saying it had added mobile commerce features at no charge, a reader pointed out that retailers that choose to use the new m-commerce features are charged additional fees.

We appreciate the feedback and encourage more of our readers to express their views. I can assure you that we’ll be listening.