February 2010 Cover story: Sweating the details of web site design
With sales harder to come by in the past year, online retailers took a closer look at how consumers interacted with their sites. And in many cases that close look led them to make relatively small changes that paid off with big results. This story will look at the several ways retailers can determine the pain points of their sites, whether by sifting through analytics data or just listening to customer feedback. And it will report on the steps that several retailers took to improve their site design in ways that helped them maintain sales during a tough period.

Search marketing: The growing role of search engines in comparison shopping
As they battle for search engine dominance, Google and Microsoft’s Bing are enhancing their offerings for retailers. Google is adding images to search ads for retailers that feed data into its new Product Search section, and offering those ads on a cost-per-acquisition—not cost-per-click—basis. Bing, meanwhile, is including not just images but reviews and price comparisons in search results for some products, plus wooing retailers with an aggressive Cashback program. This story will report on what the search engines are doing, what experts predict will be coming next, what it takes for online retailers to participate, how consumers are responding to these new product presentations and whether the search engines’ initiatives are making traditional comparison shopping sites less important.

Mobile commerce: How retailers are using mobile commerce to sell in stores
Mobile phones are handy, and that means retailers can use mobile as a way to reach consumers when they’re not in front of their PCs, including when they’re in stores. Retailers can allow consumers to compare prices and read reviews. K&L Wines provides access to web-based reference information on wines to help the
in-store shopper, while Aveda provides examples of various beauty styles and the products that they require. This story will look at who’s doing what, and what’s working. It will also look at the obstacles, including poor mobile reception in some stores.

Social media: Facing up to the ROI challenge of Facebook
350 million people use Facebook, a staggering number for a site that’s only been around a few years. Its growing role in the daily lives of so many consumers has drawn retailers to Facebook, and to other social networks that many consumers visit every day, notably Twitter. Some retailers have started selling directly through Facebook, while many have created pages on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks to engage, and in some cases amuse, loyal customers. It may be an opportunity too big to pass up, but these initiatives take money. This story will look at how retailers can make money through their social media efforts. It will examine how many staffers are required to keep social network pages fresh and appealing, how those Facebook and Twitter pages lead to sales and the technology required to sell directly through a network like Facebook. It will also answer the question: is this a fad, or are social networks going to be a big part of online retail in the future?

Merchandising online: Category merchandising—finding the perfect mix
Category pages are crucial waystations between the home page and pages featuring specific products. But how do online retailers decide what to put on a category page? How many items? What mix? How do they balance featuring best-sellers versus items that have high margins or that the retailer is having trouble moving? Do retailers just go with their gut, or is their technology that can help make these decisions? This story will report on how retailers of various types of goods make their decisions, what tools they use and how the category page is changing with changes in online shopping behavior.

Online display advertising: can retailers target consumers ready to buy?
Web display advertising is becoming increasingly sophisticated—or so say advertising networks and technology providers. They claim they can present ads based on the individual web user’s activity, so that advertisers can reach just the right kind of consumers. And some services incorporate offline data to make ads more targeted. Some ads now have buy buttons built in so that consumers can buy right from a banner ad. And other technologies alter the content of ads based on the individual or factors such as geography and time of day. But it may not be as easy as vendors say. Critics say these technologies are based on cookies, which don’t always correctly identify the consumer or her interests. And government regulators are concerned about whether behavioral targeting threatens the privacy of consumers. This story will examine the opportunities for retailers in targeted online display advertising, what it costs, whether it pays off in more sales and how to benefit from behavioral targeting without setting off privacy alarms.

Personalization: New ways to personalize the online shopping trip
Every click can be tracked on the web, and that allows retailers to collect a lot of data about their customers. And new services are arising that aggregate data across web sites, and factor in data acquired offline to create an even more complete view of each shopper. E-retailers are continually fine-tuning how they use that data to present personalized offers to return visitors—and even to consumers they’ve never seen before. This story will look at some of the latest innovations in personalization, how they work, what they cost and whether they are paying off in more sales.

E-commerce technology: What cloud computing means for online retailers
It’s a hot catch phrase among technology vendors, but what exactly is cloud computing? And what does it mean for online retailers? How does it differ from software as a service? Vendors say it provides an effective way for retailers to rent extra capacity for peak periods. How does that work? This story will define cloud computing, give examples of how retailers are using it, and explain what web retailers need to consider when contemplating shifting services from their tangible data centers to the ephemeral cloud. That includes who is responsible for data and performance when cloud vendors play a role in operating e-commerce sites.

Fulfillment: Amazon offers same-day delivery—does it make sense for other
e-retailers?
Amazon.com has raised the bar again in fulfillment, this time offering same-day delivery in several major cities, with more to come. A few other retailers also offer that convenience is limited areas, such as luxury goods retailers promising to deliver the same day in Manhattan. What does it take to make this offer? Will it prove to be a meaningful draw for many consumers? And if a retailer can’t offer same-day delivery, is it worth it to invest in a better fulfillment operation to get more items to more customers the next day? This story will look at what Amazon and others are doing, what it takes to speed up delivery and the early results in terms of boosting customer loyalty. It will also look at the long-range implications of Amazon raising the bar, and whether online retailers need more widely distributed fulfillment centers to keep pace.

Site design: Why valuable online real estate goes unused
The web sites of Amazon.com and some other e-commerce sites fill up the entire screen on a PC. But that’s the exception. Many online retailers are still putting content only in the center of the screen, leaving blank areas on the right and left. Filling up the entire screen requires changing the site’s screen resolution—and many retailers have chosen not to do it. Is it because of the expense and effort, or because they’re afraid many of their customers will not be able to see all the contents of the wider site? This story will look at how many consumers can see wide-screen sites. It will also report on what is required to update an e-commerce site so that it uses the entire available real estate on modern computer monitors, what online retailers do with the added space and whether the benefits justify the expense.

Corporate strategy: The credit crisis facing web retailers
Banks have sharply cut back their lending, especially to small and midsized companies. That means many online retailers are having trouble obtaining the capital they need to operate. And with credit card companies cutting credit limits for many cardholders, small e-retailers that have relied on plastic as their funding source are searching for new ways to stay in business. What are the options for smaller online retailers? How do lenders rate the prospects of web retailers, and how does that affect their ability to get loans and the interest they’re charged? This story will relate the experiences of web retailers in seeking credit during this credit crunch, and what experts say about the prospects for the credit spigot opening up in the near term.

Survey: Retailers’ plans for improving web site design
With e-commerce sales rebounding, a growing number of online retailers are planning to redesign their web sites in 2010. This exclusive Internet Retailer survey looks at what features retailers are planning to improve, what their key goals are as they plan a redesign and whether they will rely on their own personnel or go outside for expertise. The survey also looks at web retailers’ plans for an emerging arena of retail: building mobile web sites or mobile apps that can sell to consumers through their mobile phones.