Discovery Communications grew web sales 34% in 2006. But more important, the online retailer is continuing down an ambitious path of updating its e-commerce site with more alternative payments and tying its online merchandising plan more closely to Discovery’s popular TV programming says Kelly Day, senior vice president of e-commerce, Discovery Interactive.
Discovery Interactive is a unit of Discovery Commerce that consolidated Discovery’s e-commerce operations with the company’s online content group. Discovery Commerce is the retail and licensing arm of cable TV network Discovery Communications Inc., No. 195 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.
DiscoveryStore.com’s proprietary products -- including the Grow Toys line that help with a baby’s development such as a motor skills toy called Ann B. Dextrous and an auditory skills toy dubbed Phil Harmonic -- contributed to Discovery’s strong year. The company also logged more online sales from videos tied to such popular Discovery shows as MythBusters and Meerkat Manor, Day says.
Discovery introduced the Bill Me Later electronic invoicing system from I4 Commerce in 2006 and a new back-end commerce hub to add more drop-ship items, Day says. “It’s a great way to inexpensively add more products to a web site,” she says.
The company also redesigned its web site and added a new taxonomy and page structure for shopping categories. Discovery partnered with Questus for redesign and other technology services.
For 2007, Discovery plans to implement PayPal and to explore other alternative payment methods, Day says. An extensive shopping cart and check-out redesign are on the docket for this summer, but no vendor has been chosen yet.
Kelly Day will speak at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition, June 4-7 in San Jose, in a session titled Beyond Credit Cards: E-Checks, PayPal, Google Checkout & Much More.
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