eTail West in Tweets

Focusing on the omnichannel customer, mobile apps vs. mobile sites, and the real return on investment of social media were just a few of the many topics discussed at eTail West, which took place in Palm Desert, Calif. this week. Here's a look at a few key takeaways — and fun perspectives — via tweets sent during the conference:

@sherylbies: Great instant polling technology shows an overwhelming number of attendees #etailwest are not seeing positive ROI on social investment.

@gallate: #Underarmour big supporter of #twitter for #eretail & customer support. Flash sales sell out in 15 mins! Also #UGC #etailwest

@RyanDGibson: U don't create viral by setting out to create viral. Create great content, engage w/ customers & create conditions for viral. #eTailWest

@dennis_omalley: Curated testimonials to specific audience through emails work. Start small and test. @redbox #etailwest

@HawqTalk: Big data can help your business if you understand you data sets. Knowing which data sets to look at is the 1st step #etailwest

@getnomi: Not all mobile customers want all the same features as on desktop. Focus on what users want to accomplish to get better results #etailwest

@OrderGroove: We actually expect less traffic to our homepage.. goal is to get each customer to the category page where they belong. @Hallmark #etailwest

@megleg1313: Big data = more tracking on websites. How balance more data w/o compromising performance, privacy, data leakage? #bestdatapanel #etailwest

@bpiwonka: Personalization needs to happen throughout path to purchase, not just at individual stages #eTailwest

@MCommerceDaily: @marcecko will not move to dedicated apps unless they come to have a specific reason to do so. For now, mobile web is working. #etailwest

@eTail_Events: You can't teach creativity - look for ppl who use the hell outta social and are nerds about it! -Emery Skofield #etailwest

@MCommerceDaily: @bluehornetemail and @PacSun copresent on email engagement at #etailwest. 56% of emails still read on computer, 37% on mobile, 7% on tablet.

@eTail_Events: @Staples developed #BlackFriday omni-channel experience in a 3 week dev. cycle - 6 technologies - 36 hours of no sleep. #etailwest

@eTail_Events: 12% of customers who came to Fab.com thru desktop made purchase in 7 mo's; nearly 70% made one if coming thru iPad #etailwest