Shoddy Product Descriptions Hound Walmart
Think you can slap up a mediocre product description and no one will notice? Think again. Gamers have targeted Walmart for ridicule after the e-commerce giant published a shoddy product description of Diablo III. The original description touted the much-anticipated computer game as a "strategy video game" that revolves around an "interesting plot." Come on people. Part of the plot involves killing somebody's zombie wife and then snatching fuzzy boots...read more >>
User-Generated Content’s Role in Merchandising: Part 2
In Part 1 of this article, I talked about the ethics of user-generated content in light of its steadily increasing influence in e-commerce. There are plenty of reasons to seek out authentic reviews other than, well, ethical business practices. Though it comes from consumers, not companies, UGC can be integrated into merchandising both as a complement to brand content and as a tool to inform that content. Product reviews also lend themselves to...read more >>
Content Merchandising Roundup #19
FROM CONTENT PING: Weekly Content Critique: Suit Yourself This week's content critique looks at the underwhelming attempt by Men's Warehouse to convince Millennials it's cool to own a suit. Expedia's Emily Pearce: User Reviews Rule the Roost A behind-the-scenes look at how the travel site Expedia manages the 20,000 user reviews they receive each week. User-Generated Content's Role in Merchandising: Part I How are retailers keeping up with the demand...read more >>
Costco Plans E-Commerce Makeover
Do profitable brick-and-mortar stores need e-commerce? Costco Wholesale thinks so. The country's second-largest retailer has announced plans to overhaul its e-commerce operations, according to a recent report in the Seattle Times. Costco.com already does $2 billion in online sales, but feels like it's falling behind competitors like Amazon and Walmart. "The stakes are very high. The growth of e-tail is far sharper than the growth of retail in general,...read more >>
Content Merchandising Roundup #18
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: Weekly Content Critique: Popdust Style's Pop-Up Fail This week's content critique takes a look at a failed attempt to create a celebrity pop-up store. Curata's Pewan Deshpande: Content Curation Content curation has become an important social tool used by companies to ignite...read more >>
Content Merchandising Roundup #17
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: Weekly Content Critique: Mr. Porter's Take on a Denim Jacket This week's content critique takes a look at the trend of blending editorial content with commerce to create e-commerce sites that rival fashion magazines. E-COMMERCE: Amazon's sales climb 34 Percent in Q1 In...read more >>
Content Merchandising Roundup #16
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: Dell's Damien Cummings: Joining the Swarm Does Dell plan to expand its group buying service Dell Swarm to the United States? How does Dell Swarm fit into the company's broader social media strategy? We recently caught up with Damien Cummings, Dell's online director for...read more >>
Interview with Optify’s Anthony Joseph: Google Gets Social
Since launching in January, Google's awkwardly named Search Plus Your World (SPYW) has begun adding Google+ information to Google search results. This means that if I begin Googling for sunglasses, information from people and brands I follow on Google+ would turn up as part of my search. Personalized search will not only have a huge impact on what products and companies rise to the top of our search results, but also will influence our purchasing...read more >>
Amazon and eBay Pin Hopes on Pinterest
The marketing world has been quick to fall under the spell of picture-perfect Pinterest (it's "Facebook without the whining," coos Copyblogger). Amazon and eBay have also begun to show their love, but in a much more prosaic way. They've added Pinterest share buttons to their product pages. As we've reported, the social media darling of the moment doesn't have the merchandising capabilities to turn pinners into shoppers. But its gorgeous imagery can...read more >>
Content Merchandising Roundup #14
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: Avoid the Telephone Game with Content Blueprinting Companies need to devise an internal system for collecting, sharing, and approving product information. This content blueprinting process is an essential part of producing compelling web copy. Will Amazon Get into the...read more >>