Mobile Devices are Great but at Least Dust the Desktop
July 29, 2012
Today’s internet savvy individuals are texting, tweeting and Facebooking from the driveway to the grocery store. Mobile electronics are winning the popularity contest according to Hostway’s article,“Tablets Account for 4 in 10 Mobile e-Commerce Searches.” Are the people starting to forget there was internet before the mobile device?
If what the British Retail Consortium (BRC), says is true, many a neglected desktop and laptop sit being blanketed in dust. The BRC released a study that reflected the use of mobile electronics, like tablets and smartphones was increasing in the home. Mobile devices are even being used while watching television.
The factoids from the new research show:
“Some 40 per cent of online shopping searches that take place on a mobile device are carried out using a tablet. Interestingly, the sector which is experiencing the biggest increase in mobile e-commerce searches is food and drink, which is up by 163 per cent year-on-year. Smart consumers are increasingly using new devices to price check before purchasing their groceries.”
Apparently, there is now an ‘M’ (mobile) generation, as today’s youth often texts away while walking, driving, watching a movie or eating. Phones and tablets are nice, but seriously… staring at those tiny buttons most the day cannot be good for the eyes.
Mobile devices are great, but at least dust off the desktop every now and then. Our beloved leader, the addled goose, is too old to type on an iPad.
Jennifer Shockley, July 29, 2012
New Oracle Solution Could Be Online Retail Game Changer
July 23, 2012
CMS Wire recently reported on a new solution called Oracle Commerce in the article, “Oracle Combines ATG, Endeca Products Into Oracle Commerce.”
According to the article, this new solution is a combination of two of Oracle’s products, Oracle ATG Commerce and Oracle Endeca. This single solution, known as Commerce, uses a data integration model to centrally manage customer engagement strategies by providing a personalized user experience.
The article states:
“Oracle Commerce provides pre-built components for quick launches of websites via a site creation wizard, which allows for integration of channels. A cross-channel strategy can be centrally managed, and granular control is offered over guided navigation, search, merchandising, content-targeting and personalization. The company said that Commerce can utilize existing customer experience technology that a business might have, integrating such tools as analytics, CRM or a recommendations engine.”
Commerce brings the best of ATG and Endeca, including Oracle’s Web Commerce Customer Service, Live Help On Demand, and Recommendation on Demand. With all of these added features Commerce could very well be a game changer for online retail. Endeca has tried a number of business segments over the last decade. Perhaps this one will allow the firm to boost its revenues in a significant manner?
Jasmine Ashton, July 23, 2012
Sponsored by IKANOW
Comparison Shopping Engines Online List
June 26, 2012
Every quarter, CPC Strategy magically determines the very “best” comparison shopping engine (CSE) available online.
This determination is based on traffic, revenue, conversion rate, and other factors deemed valuable to online shoppers and merchants. A recent article on Search Engine Watch titled, “The 10 Best Shopping Engines” tells us more about the shopping engines and details each of the top ten and how the CSEs help consumers find deals on products.
The site lists Nextag, Pricegrabber, Shopping.com, and Amazon Product Ads among the leaders. The article comments on each of the ten, including this description of Google Product Search:
“Google Product Search, which is transitioning to become Google Shopping, is a free CSE which generates the most traffic and conversions. Merchants can manually upload feeds or use an FTP to upload in bulk. Google is consistently the best performing CSE. While Google Product Search is a free CSE as of this writing, it will transition to paid by October 15.”
Merchants use such data to tailor their marketing budget and gain more sales on specific sites. We are left to wonder, however, is it really possible to quantify what is “best” in the online shopping world? With so many varying factors and tailored searches and sites, the consumer may be better off to use their own discretion.
Andrea Hayden, June 26, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Hurdles and all, Amazon Stays on Track
June 21, 2012
Amazon is making leaps and bounds on the fast track and the article How Amazon Saves a Ton of Money, gives a glance at their running history. The ecommerce titan claims their evolving and the only certainty is the focus will remain on their customers.
How does one achieve 152 million active customers and enough warehouse space to completely fill 313 football fields? According to Amazon, you focus relentlessly on the customer. Happy consumers generate more traffic, which attracts more sellers. The more sellers the better product selection which enables lower cost structure and pricing. Since 2002 their customers remain happy enough to increase average sales volume by 5 billion per year.
With all their focus on the consumer, Amazon lacks in some areas:
“On a 102-degree day, 15 workers in an Amazon warehouse collapsed from the heat, six of whom needed to be rushed to the emergency room.”
“Despite a $5 billion cash reserve, Amazon donates nothing to charities — if an employee wants to deduct a donation from his or her paycheck, they have to pay an additional 6% fee.”
“Amazon buys books at up to 45% off the cover price causing small book publishers to lose over $3 per transaction.”
Facebook, Microsoft and EBay may have happier employees but when it comes to keeping customers happy, Amazon left them at the starting line. The sited article gave a binocular view of Amazon’s race towards success and some of the hurdles their leaping.
Jennifer Shockley, June 21, 2012
The Good. The Bad. The Amazon.
June 20, 2012
Any successful business tends to have a little corruption and Amazon is no exception. They try to balance out the good with the bad and recently Amazon offered an improvised service for their small business customers according to Amazon Web Services Blog: Amazon RDS MySQL Now Starting at Just $19 a Month. However, some pricing info sends very different signals.
The good…Amazon prioritizes customer service beyond all else. Amazon’s eCommerce makes locating, ordering or returning products simple. Contacting a live person at Amazon can be tricky according to How To Contact Amazon Customer Support, but the article provides 4 quick steps to ease the problems.
The bad… is how they treat some of their independent sellers. A fine example can be read in the article Amazon’s markup of digital delivery to indie authors is ~1/29,000% where the independent author pays 30% plus additional fee’s in order to sell their books.
According to the author:
“So for every $9.99 book I sell I, the author, pay 30% to Amazon for the right to sell on Amazon AND $2.58 for them to deliver the DIGITAL GOOD to your device. It is free for the reader, but the author, not amazon, pays for delivery. The file itself is under their suggested 50MB cap Amazon says to keep it under at 18.1MB. I’m confused. Amazon stores a ton of the Internet on S3/EC2; they should have the storage and delivery down.”
Amazon takes great care to see to their customer needs, but they could stand a little improvement with their independent sellers. Their fees are a little pricy in comparison to other providers. So there you have it, the good, the bad, the Amazon.
Jennifer Shockley, June 20, 2012
Competition in E-Commerce: What Draws Consumers to Your Brand?
June 3, 2012
Globally, online shopping is on the rise but does your website have what it takes to bring in the traffic? The more content you have online, the more consumers you’ll attract according to the article, eCommerce on the Rise: Is your Brand Visible to Consumers?
It boils down to convenience, pricing and availability aka ease of access as:
“Increasingly, consumers are spending their money online. For many it’s about finding the best price, ordering an item not available locally, or shopping from the comfort of home. Above all it’s about convenience and immediacy. Is your product or service available online and able to be found when consumers are searching for it?”
“Global e-shoppers spend on average 22% (us average: 23%) of their annual outgoings on goods and services online.”
It seems the traditional Sunday sales papers have become fodder for the recycling bin as consumers find better deals online. Even department stores that run weekly sales often have better pricing via their websites. Not to mention, scrolling through organized product lists and images is far more convenient then strolling around for hours gazing at shelves.
If you want to compete with the e-commerce businesses of today, you have to get the consumers attention… and keep it. Reputation is earned, and you can earn it by developing and utilizing a strategic marketing plan. The traditional advertising techniques no longer make an impact, so what can firms do? We suggest implementing Augmentext to bring the consumers business back to you.
Jennifer Shockley, June 3, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Price Comparison Search Tool Provides Enlightenment
June 2, 2012
There’s a new search tool that’s providing enlightenment with comparative shopping, according to Search tool Centzy helps compare prices at local firms. Confucius say, ‘always compare pricing and you will find best deal.’ Well, maybe not Confucius, but those are wise words none the less
The company is Centzy and they are catering to consumers in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Their delivering a new online search tool that may help consumers get more bang when giving local businesses their buck. They provide smart shoppers with business comparisons based on prices, reviews, store hours, and proximity to a user’s work or home.
Centzy gives the following input along with a little promotion:
“Ever have the nagging feeling that you’re getting ripped-off on your dry-cleaning or oil change? Know instantly with Centzy, the only one-click tool for comparing prices of local businesses you already use.”
“The cheapest yoga class, top-rated oil change or a dry cleaner that stays open late. Centzy simplifies your daily life by providing accurate prices, reviews, hours, and best-value ratings all in one place so you can make smart decisions. Compare, choose, and carry on—all with a few clicks.”
Currently this site just covers specific industries, but the possibilities are endless. Customizable price comparison search tools may become the next web designer Zen. Smart shoppers everywhere would be logging on and searching for price enlightenment.
Jennifer Shockley June 2, 2012
Sponsored by www.highgainblog.com
PayPal Clobbers Google Checkout
June 2, 2012
A recent study from performance management group New Relic reveals what’s happening in the world of online payment gateways. VentureBeat examines the results in “PayPal Handles 60% of Web Transactions, Leaves Google in the Dust.” The infographic that accompanies this piece is worth a look.
Though Google’s was found to be the fastest payment gateway, PayPal is trouncing it with 60% of Web’s transactions. That is quite a surprise to us, since we experience interesting situations with PayPal. Some are of the unpleasant interesting variety.
Perhaps we should switch to Google? Regarding that fifth place contender, writer Jon Koetsier reports:
“Google does win, however, in the speed category. Google Checkout’s average payment processing time was a blistering .26 seconds. In less than a third of a second, New Relic spokesman John Essex said, Google has to “collect and transfer your payment information – name, address, card number, purchase details, etc. – to the financial institution”, and then, of course, query Visa or MasterCard to see if you are a good credit risk, get a response, and return it to the website’s e-commerce engine. PayPal’s performance was only mediocre, but hardly pokey, averaging just under one and a half seconds.”
Average time across the board was 3-4 seconds, but some outliers clocked around a lethargic 90 seconds. As the article points out, speed is key in online purchases; no one likes waiting to check out.
Cynthia Murrell, June 2, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
SLI Systems Introduces a Quick View Function
May 30, 2012
The SLI Systems blog recently reported on a new window function for retail websites in the article, “Quick View Windows Evolve to Satisfy Curious Shoppers.”
According to the article, Quick View window is still a rare feature on many online retail sites, however it is gaining popularity. The way it works is Quick View buttons will appear once a shopper hovers over an item on search or category pages. They hover over product images on search or category pages. When they click, a pop-up windows appears that displays more details about that product.
The article states:
“The Quick View window is designed to improve the online shopping experience by making it faster for customers to shop. Anything to reduce the number of clicks to get an item into the cart is generally a good thing. If a Quick View window can satisfy a curious shopper, it will save them a full page load of the product detail page and the click of a back button and another page load to return to their search results. This can save a bunch of time and actually foster more curiosity in customers.”
Some shoppers find the process to be quite cumbersome, since they have to hover over a product for the button to appear, but retailers have tried a variety of different solutions to aid these issues. One solution has been to place the Quick View button below the product image so that it is always visible.
Regardless of the different approaches, adding a quick view button to any online retail website is bound to ensure more informed customers and higher sales.
Jasmine Ashton, May 30, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Ecommerce Search Race Is On
May 15, 2012
As more people begin to shop online, the e-commerce search engine race intensifies.
According to Reuters article, “EBay, Wal-Mart Search for Revved-Up Search Engines,” both EBay and Wal-Mart are developing new Web search engines to better compete against online giant Amazon. The article reveals that patience runs low with online shoppers, who will switch to a competitor’s site or a physical store if they don’t immediately find what they are looking for. New shopping search technology will focus on a customer’s history and related terms.
“‘Amazon is on version 8.0 of search,’ said Scot Wingo, chief executive of ChannelAdvisor, which helps merchants sell more online. ‘EBay is at 2.0, but they are thinking about how they make this huge leap to 3.0.’
The stakes are high because e-commerce is a huge, fast-growing market, putting billions of dollars in sales up for grabs. U.S. retail spending online grew 13 percent to $161.5 billion last year, according to comScore. Physical retail sales are much larger, but the sector is struggling to grow and losing share to online operators.”
The race will continue until someone can deliver a high-quality shopping search experience for consumers. Until then, we believe Google and Amazon will continue to reign.
Andrea Hayden, May 15, 2012
Sponsored by IKANOW
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