February 2012
Pinterest is Proving the Power of Social Commerce
Pinterest is a fashionable topic these days--predictions about the new social site are gaining ground amid pronouncements about Facebook's Timeline feature/Newsfeed/IPO/negative effect on high school students' performance and gossip about the iPad 3. Though the site has no hint of commerce in its design, it has quickly become a... read more »
The Thin Line Between Stalking and Good Service
John Battelle, cofounder of the Web 2.0 Summit and founder of online ad provider Federated Media Publishing, is familiar with the possibilities of online banner ads. Even so, he was surprised when he opened his own blog this week and found himself squarely in the crosshairs of a pair of precisely targeted banner ads. A top ad pointed... read more »
A Sea Change in Consumer Feedback
Even the most informative product page can't completely sideline the much-feared customer review. When waffling on decisions to buy, that extra slew of information from other shoppers--people like you and me--is an enticing resource to turn to for help. Whether or not I love everything about my personal collection of Cuisinart products,... read more »
Increasing Sales with Customer Incentives
Fact: Consumers love a good deal. So why not offer incentives to gain traction on your shiny new e-commerce videos? A recent article by Grant Crowell of Video Commerce talks about how online retailers can increase sales, grow their customer base, and build brand loyalty by offering incentives in exchange for watching e-commerce... read more »
Weekly Ping: Content Merchandising Roundup #8
Below is a summary of the week's most interesting content merchandising-related posts from Content Ping as well as from other blogs and news sites. Happy reading. FROM CONTENT PING: Product Marketing vs. Merchandising: Part One Be smart about where your points of sale are. Will consumers be tempted to hit the buy button, or might... read more »
Weekly Content Critique: Against Nudity
If we accept the rule of double negative elimination, I am for nudity. Because I'm most certainly against AgainstNudity.com, a clothing retailer of the H&M variety. This type of retailer focuses on clothing design rather than brand names; the nymphet shirt is a fine example. (Note: My objection is not to the aesthetic-over-brand... read more »
Product Marketing vs. Merchandising: Part Two
I recently lambasted poor Pinterest as an awful place for product merchandising. I am back to make amends... kind of. I'm at least back to explain myself. In the first part of this series, I mentioned that Pinterest, Twitter, and many other sites do not make good places for a buy button because they are not primed to convert on... read more »
Retailers Defriend F-Commerce
Facebook commerce is not for everyone. A recent report by Bloomberg notes that four major retailers (Gap, J.C. Penney, Nordstrom, and Gamestop) have closed their Facebook storefronts over the past year. Analysts believe the brands gave F-commerce the heave-ho because their millions of Facebook fans simply weren't interested in shopping... read more »
Consumers Satisfied with E-Commerce
I woke up today and asked myself: "How is e-commerce doing?" Lucky for me (and you), the American Customer Satisfaction Index released their annual e-commerce report today. The report, which rates 225 companies in 47 industries in the U.S., is based on a 100-point scale measured by customer evaluations of products and services.... read more »
Product Marketing vs. Merchandising: Part One
Quick, where's the nearest place to purchase a new pressure cooker for my lamb shanks? Actually, that's a trick question. The answer is one click in front of you (open a new tab, and voilà, pressure cooker!). Or, possibly, it's in your pocket in the form of a smartphone. The way we use technology these days, it seems that the mall... read more »
