Boston Proper Billion-Dollar Opportunity

Such tactics of trusting experienced e-commerce partners and listening to and responding to customers' thoughts appear to be working for Boston Proper. Internet sales accounted for 45 percent of overall sales last year, having grown 75 percent.

When asked what other catalogers should beware of when shopping for e-commerce partners and solutions, Hartzell advises, "Keep it simple. There are technology people out there who will sell you products that will take you off your focus. They'll sell you all the bells and whistles, but our customers generally don't want all of that. They want to get onto our site, shop easily and go on their way. As we said, they're busy women."