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 >>
When Your Hero Image Isn’t
A hero image is your webpage's lead and the hook that should sink into your reader to make them want more. Whether it's the lifestyle image in your site's header or the main image of a product description, your hero image should tell the reader why you're both there, why the page exists, and what the logical next step is. But what happens if your artfully shot, aspirational hero is just muddying your message? Get Elastic has a comprehensive guide...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 >>
Internet Shopping On the Rise in 2012
It's only April, but the early signs show online sales in 2012 blowing the roof off of previous years. The recent Deloitte Retail & Consumer Spending Survey tells us that 47 percent of consumers will be buying more online this year. That's an increase of 38 percent from last year and 33 percent from 2010. Over half of those surveyed said that Internet shopping often provides better deals and lower prices than those found in brick and mortar stores....read more >>
Social Sharing Drives Online Sales
Online shoppers rely on their social networks for product recommendations. A new study from social commerce provider Sociable Labs found 75 percent of consumers who read online comments about products from Facebook friends end up clicking through to look at the product page. Of those that click through, conversion rates can reach 50 percent, according to the study. For more findings, check out the infographic below. This "high-velocity frictionless...read more >>
Remembrance of Carts Past: Email Reminders Can Bring Back Lost Shoppers
We've talked before about the perils of targeting potential customers too effectively or being a little too on-point with reminders. A post from AdAge today seems to agree with John Battelle: Carefully considered reminders and observation can reap major dividends. This means there's some hope in redeeming the bane of the e-commerce world: the abandoned shopping cart. An abandoned cart is the epitome of lost possibility and failed efforts and can...read more >>
F-Commerce Tries Different Bait for Elusive Customers
E-commerce on Facebook, usually IDed by the slightly tawdry term F-commerce, is a tricky beast. Gamestop, Nordstrom, and J.C. Penney, among other major brands, have all opened and closed Facebook storefronts over the last year after being disappointed by the number of Facebook-based conversions. Most failed Facebook proprietors make the mistake of trying to artlessly wedge their existing e-commerce approach into their pages without acknowledging...read more >>
CNET Content Solutions Overview
When CBS purchased CNET in 2008, the website had already established itself as a well-known brand for technology news and reviews. CNET Content Solutions (then known as CNET Channel) was part of the $1.8 billion deal. Syndication forms only a small part of CNET Content Solutions (CCS) and the company is relatively new to the syndication landscape. While CCS offers sales automation and after-market merchandising, most of the division's resources...read more >>
WebCollage Overview
WebCollage currently hosts and distributes content from approximately 1,000 manufacturing clients, making it available to more than 200 e-commerce sites. The New York-based company's technology roots run deep: WebCollage scored its first major round of venture capital funding in 2000 based on software that allowed companies to syndicate web-based applications. This technology know-how has allowed WebCollage to develop a highly automated approach...read more >>
SellPoint Overview
SellPoint, Inc. creates and syndicates product tours featuring 360-degree images, video, animation, and product specs. Formed in 2000, SellPoint started out as Tentoe, Inc., the name a reflection of the company's California surfer ethos. Tentoe began by working with manufacturers interested in syndicating catalogue information (features, specs, images, and descriptions) to e-commerce sites. The company also created a product content portal that...read more >>