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Extol launches UCCnet tool for small suppliers
Description: Extol launches UCCnet tool for small suppliers To help more small retail industry suppliers synchronize their product codes with those of retailers, Extol International launched
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All that sparkles: Amazon and J.C. Penney offer custom diamond rings
Description: All that sparkles: Amazon and J.C. Penney offer custom diamond rings Taking a play from successful online jewelers such as BlueNile.com and Diamond.com, Amazon.com Inc. and J.C.
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QRS Selects Cardonet Technology to Provide Foundation for Retail Industry-Focused Product Information Management Solution
Description: Article from Internet Retailer
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Women make up nearly two-thirds of online apparel and beauty shoppers
Description: Women make up nearly two-thirds of online apparel and beauty shoppers No surprise here: Women dominate visitors to apparel and beauty sites, according to figures from
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Abercrombie & Fitch Co. Improves Sourcing with ecVisions Web-based XpressCommerce Software
Description: Provides National Retailer and Vendors Complete Visibility Through All Stages of Product Lifecycle
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CircuitCity.com prepares a national ad campaign
Description: CircuitCity.com prepares a national ad campaign CircuitCity.com will take to the airways this summer with a new national TV advertising campaign. Details of the campaign are
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Interwoven Announces Availability of MediaBin Asset Server 4.0
Description: Proven Digital Asset Management Software Builds Brand Equity, Speeds the Execution of Marketing Projects, Drives Down Costs, and Simplifies Business Processes for Global Enterprises
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FTC seeks comments on how to enforce CAN-Spam
Description: FTC seeks comments on how to enforce CAN-Spam As consumer ire over spam has risen, consumers definition of spam has gotten broader and broader. The Federal Trade Commission is
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Chrysler builds new web connections to rev up dealer-customer relations
Description: Chrysler builds new web connections to rev up dealer-customer relations DaimlerChrysler wants to get more directly involved in helping dealers drive better relations with
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Documentum Extends Leadership in Content Compliance Solutions with Documentum Compliance Manager
Description: New Product Automates and Controls Compliance Processes Across All Industries
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NLC Products, Inc. Selects IP Synaro Multi-channel Solution From Island Pacific
Description: Article from Internet Retailer
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How to cut call center costs strategically
Description: How to cut call center costs strategically Customer interactions are more expensive to marketers at the call center than when they happen in a self-service format online--perhaps
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How fulfillment figures into customer loyalty
Description: How fulfillment figures into customer loyalty Order fulfillment is an important part of customer loyalty--and that doesnt mean just getting the product to the customer in the
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Coldwater Creeks web sales slip as total sales grow
Description: Coldwater Creeks web sales slip as total sales grow Web-based sales at womens apparel retailer Coldwater Creek Inc. declined 4.4% last year to $148.3 million from $155.1
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Jewelry retailer Blue Nile files for an IPO
Description: Jewelry retailer Blue Nile files for an IPO Seattle-based online jewelry retailer Blue Nile Inc. plans to go public. Blue Nile has filed registration papers with the Securities
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Experian acquires CheetahMail
Description: Acquisition offers catalog, retail and financial marketers the most innovative retention solutions available in the email marketing industry
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The Price is Right
Description: Figuring out the right pricing moveswith a little help from the web
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The Big Production
Description: Moving pictures grab a bigger role on marketers` sites as rich media steps out of the wings
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Rich Media? Rich Indeed!
Description: Not too long ago, the mantra in Internet retailing land was "keep it simple." Web sites, it was reasoned, should not be loaded up with a video and other ambitious graphics because consumers go to sites to shop, not to be entertained or marketed or informed. All the high-content graphics did, the argument went, was slow down the site, frustrate the web shopper and lead to abandonment.
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E-shopping = e-satisfaction = booming sales
Description: In Larry Freed’s opinion, there’s a good reason online sales continue to outperform offline sales: Customers like the online shopping experience.
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Vons.com tries to win back customers with candy and roses
Description: Vons.com tries to win back customers with candy and roses After five months out of commission, Vons.com is trying to woo back customers with free roses and chocolates delivered
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Its the human touch without the human
Description: Its the human touch without the human While product research, order entry, order history, and order status were some of the first customer service functions to be automated
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Marketing is no longer an online/offline decision, Bombay learns
Description: Merchants can never get too comfortable with the way they run their marketing campaigns, particularly if they operate in a multi-channel environment. Campaigns targeting customers through one channel may be surprisingly more or less effective in a different channel.
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Napster Teams With IBM to Deploy Next-Generation Media Delivery System
Description: `Super Peer` System Helps Universities, ISPs and Enterprises Conserve Bandwidth
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Todays affiliates: Lots of tenure, lots of links
Description: A large portion of affiliate marketing companies represent 40 or more sites, according to the AFFSTAT 2004 Report by consultant Shawn Collins, a regular survey of affiliate marketing companies. Even then, most sites arenít making a lot of money from their affiliate relationships. Only 11% of those who knew their income or would reveal it take in more than $5,000 a month in gross revenue. Other interesting findings from the survey of more 140 affiliate marketing companies of all sizes:
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Seeing is believing: How e-retailers are boosting conversion rates with automated demonstrations of web sites
Description: Web sites are designed by technology developers--and the prospect of working on a web site often attracts the smartest of technologists. But it`s one of the truths of the Internet that tech developers don`t often come into contact with real users of web sites. They look at moving through a site as a logical progression from cyber point A to cyber point Z and design sites that other developers quickly grasp. But the reality is that even the most sophisticated users sometimes can`t make out how to call up a product description, choose a size, check availability, place in shopping cart, then return to shopping to buy something else. And the problem of befuddled users at web sites becomes even more acute as the market moves beyond the enthusiastic, early adopters to mainstream users whose mission is to find what they want, buy it and move on. Thus many users look for online guidance. But a guide is often difficult to find and many users just don`t know where to turn. "The web is complex, it`s new and the user has total control, which is a wonderful thing," says JC Stites, CEO and founder of Autodemo LLC, which creates flash demonstrations of web sites. But total control often separates users from others who might help them figure out a way around an obstacle, Stites points out. "As you sit in your bubble in front of your computer and click away, you`re not seeing how anybody else is doing it," he says. "You`re not getting a broader understanding of how anybody is navigating the particular site you`re on." That insight into the isolation of the web user, coupled with a background in software-demonstration CDs, led Stites to establish Autodemo in 1998. In 2001, Autodemo landed its first client who wanted to escort customers around its web site: Amazon.com Inc. Amazon, which has invested millions in improving the shopping experience at its site, saw the opportunity right away. Amazon had recently established its one-click ordering process. It saw the ease of checking out with only one click as a competitive advantage, but also saw that, because no other web site was offering that sort of checkout, customers might not understand how to use it or what a great convenience it offered. "They saw right away a need related to one-click ordering," Stites says. Amazon found almost immediate success with the Autodemo. Almost 5,500 customers a day click on the demo. Amazon and Autodemo solicit feedback from users and 91% say they find the demonstration useful, 87% say it increases their likelihood of using the one-click feature. But more importantly, to Autodemo, is that 87% say they would view online demonstrations of other topics. "Customer feedback has been extremely favorable," says Jessica Scheibach, group program manager at Amazon. Think strategically Creating an Autodemo demonstration typically costs about $10,000, Stites says, and most retail sites are good examples of the kind of site that can benefit from Autodemo. "You have to think strategically about why people come to your site," he says. "It makes sense to create a demo if your goal is to convert browsers to buyers or if you host a lot of people who have never been to your site before." Autdeomo reports that a major customer, who paid $10,000 for a demo, gets 150,000 clicks a month on the demo. "In the first year, this client paid less than a penny a click to increase conversions, enhance usability and reduce call center costs," Stites says. The demo is still in use 30 months later. But not only is the demo a good way to help shoppers use a site and capture more sales, it`s also a way to improve customer service while reducing costs, Stites says. "Retailers must identify the pain points of a site," he says. "A lot of call center issues and returns problems can be addressed this way." For instance, he notes, a retailer who e-mails order confirmations could include a link in the e-mail to a demonstration of how to track an order online. Or in e-mails that welcome customers who register, a retailer could include a demo on using the site and the benefits of various features of the site. In addition, demos could be used throughout a site to help shoppers along and forestall calls to customer service. "They`re not just for showing people around," Stites says. "They`re also for offering customers a helping hand. A retailer could have 30 of these. When someone appears to be having a problem on a page, a message could pop up with something like, `Have you thought of doing this?`" But just offering the demo is not good enough, Stites notes. Customers must have a good reason to click on the demo link. "The title must be correct and the content needs to be compelling," he says. Small footprints In spite of the high degree of content that demos contain, bandwidth is not an issue, Stites says. "We create files with very small footprints," he says. "It`s a real craft and you have to understand the nuances to be able to build demos that way." In addition, it`s a real craft to make sure the demos provide enough information but not so much that people will grasp the concept and move on while the narrator is still talking. For instance, he says, writers make sure there are no extraneous words in the script. "Our writers will take a sentence that is eight words long and tune it so the customer isn`t tempted to click the button before the end of the sentence," he says. Today, Autodemo provides site demos for a coterie of well-known brands, including Nordstrom.com, eBay, Yahoo, NYTimes.com, Bank of America, Forbes.com, FedEx and HotJobs.com. The Autodemo company was an outgrowth of Stites` background as a multimedia producer for high-tech clients. He realized he could use his experience in educating consumers about how to use technology to develop a business that demonstrated how to use certain types of software. The company went on to create software demos for such major technology developers as Microsoft Corp., Citrix Systems, 3M Corp., Intel Corp. and others. From that, the company branched into Autodemo for web sites. "We recognized that the solution that we had created for software companies to demonstrate their product was a really good fit for web companies also," Stites says. "We saw that it could improve usability and reduce customer service costs." Today, Autodemo specializes in web site and software demos only and has created 500+ demos for more than 100 clients. It`s been profitable since 1999, when the company created 22 demos for Microsoft Windows 2000. Keep it simple The company has learned a lot since its founding, Stites says. "Those projects were very elaborate," Stites says. They incorporated original music and creative treatment and employed a large navigation hierarchy, he recounts. "We quickly found it was too difficult for users," he says. "The interface took a lot of commitment from the user to learn." Today, the user interface is simplified to the point where all a shopper at Amazon, for instance, need do is click a "Click here to learn about searching, browsing, and shopping at Amazon.com" link. It launches the demo screen, detects the user`s Internet connection, displays a message that says "This demo includes audio" to cue users to turn their speakers on, then starts the demo. The shopper can control the demo with a small dashboard, but the demo proceeds automatically. "It`s a really efficient way of opening a user`s eyes and visually expressing the value of a web site to a potential customer," Stites says. A large part of Autodemo`s success is the result of the fact that users don`t need high bandwidth Internet access to view the demos. "The fact that Flash has allowed for this kind of communication even with a dial-up connection has opened up great possibilities," Stites says. "It`s created a new way to interact with customers."
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Metamorphosis
Description: How the web turns the call center into the contact center
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The reality of rich media: It`s not necessarily a bandwidth hog
Description: Broadband penetration is up in U.S. households is up and so is marketers’ use of rich media. Now about representing about 11% of all online ad spending, rich and streaming media will account for some 39% of online ad spending by 2008, according to Jupiter Research.
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i2 Broadens FreightMatrix Offering to Include Hosted Sourcing Applications
Description: Michaels Stores, Inc., Leggett & Platt experience success using i2 logistics optimization solutions
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No ones lonely at Valentines Day-related retail web sites
Description: No one’s lonely at Valentine’s Day-related retail sites
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While hardly trying, eBay moves into the neighborhood
Description: Groups of entrepreneurs are planning to open hundreds of competing stores where consumers can drop off their cast-offs for sale on eBay.
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Old Meets New
Description: A new president brings an Internet background to a 50-year-old catalog
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Rhapsody`s downloads are up 14% month-to-month
Description: Rhapsody`s downloads are up 14% month-to-month Music fans at RealNeworks Inc.s Rhapsody Internet jukebox service downloaded 14% more songs in February than they did in January,
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Tag Youre It
Description: All eyes are on Wal-Mart as it approaches January dead line for tracking of merchandise via RFID tags
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RightNow Locator 3.3 Hones Clicks-to-Bricks XML Mapping of Nearby Stores, Service Centers and Product Availability
Description: XML Support Enables Real-Time Dynamic Updates of Location-Specific Info
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Atomz Sales Surge as Companies Embrace On-Demand Web Site Solutions
Description: More Than 50 Customers Signed or Upgraded in Q4`03 and Q1`04
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I`m just browsing` may take on new meaning in stores
Description: Shopkeepers beware: that device shoppers are holding may not be just a cell phone; it may be a web browser that they’re using to check store prices against offers at their favorite online merchants. Although retailers have become accustomed to the growth of multi-channel comparison shopping, much of it on home or work computers, they’ll soon have to deal with comparison shopping within the four walls of their stores.
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Nothing but up
Description: Fourth quarter online retail sales reached $17.2 billion, 25.1% over fourth quarter 2002, the Commerce Department reported last month. The Q4 numbers brought full-year online retail sales to $54.9 billion, up 26.2% from $43.5 billion in 2002.
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AOL, Yahoo, EarthLink and Microsoft sue hundreds under CAN-Spam
Description: AOL, Yahoo, EarthLink and Microsoft sue hundreds under CAN-Spam Taking time out as fierce competitors to battle spam, four leading Internet service providers coordinated the
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The best things in life are free--at least, music fans think they are
Description: It’s been a long, slow slog as legitimate music sites have tried to build a case for why consumers should pay for online music. And while Apple Computer Inc.’s iPod.com and Roxio Inc.’s Napster.com have hosted a significant number of enthusiastic music buyers, anybody who thinks the battle to get consumers to pay got a rude wake-up call last month. A Harris Interactive survey of 2,306 adult Americans reported that 75% agree with the statement: “downloading music for personal use is an innocent act and should not be prohibited.”
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The Missing Metric
Description: Whether a web site is successful depends on the definition of success
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Aerosoles out to cut ` WISMO` calls by 15% with automation
Description: Aerosoles out to cut ` WISMO` calls by 15% with automation WISMO is more than just a funny acronym at womens footwear multi-channel retailer Aerosoles. Its its own cost center
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Three easy pieces
Description: As online retailing continues to evolve—it is, after all, an industry that is only 9 years old—merchants continue to find ways to boost sales. Some improve search, others find new cross-selling opportunities and still others adopt new marketing strategies.
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SPONSORED SUPPLEMENT: Web analytics: The key to profitable online retailing
Description: The evolution of web analytics is providing a more sophisticated and detailed view of whats rightand wrongwith a retailers site.
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The Information Age
Description: The new web site content: Its about sales and stickiness
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Broadband access continues its upward march, comScore reports
Description: Broadband access continues its upward march, comScore reports Researchers are reporting differing penetration of broadband Internet access among U.S. consumers, but one fact
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Amazon finds that apparel fits its retail strategy
Description: Amazon finds that apparel fits its retail strategy Amazon.com Inc. is becoming one of the major apparel retailing sites, the company announced today. Amazon says that since the
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BizRate.com Selects LiquidPixels` Dynamic Imaging To Further Enrich its Industry-Leading Shopping Experience
Description: LiquidPixels Enables BizRate.com to Deliver 30 Million Dynamic Online Product Images for Consumers Shopping at Over 40,000 Stores
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Family Dollar Selects OutStarts Product Family to Enhance Employee Performance and Reduce Training Costs
Description: Article from Internet Retailer
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Barnes & Noble starts rolling out wi-fi Internet access
Description: Barnes & Noble starts rolling out wi-fi Internet access Bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc. is installing wireless Internet access in stores across the U.S., joining Borders Books &
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