E-Commerce

Overstock.com now offers 24-hour flash sales starting at 10 a.m. MST, seven days a week. To power these flash sales, Overstock.com is searching its website for the most popular products in such categories as furniture, area rugs, bedding and electronics, then discounting them for a limited time up to 50 percent. The Daily Deals page shows a running countdown so that consumers know how long the flash sale will last (unless the product sells out first), and provides a sneak peek of upcoming deals. 

Amazon.com has the best price on products in its assortment about 80 percent of the time. However, the new "Amazon Holiday Pricing Insights" analysis from pricing technology provider 360pi shows that Amazon does have weak spots, and that retailers can compete with the online giant, especially if they can beat Amazon on other nonprice purchase factors. For example, once Home Depot decided to be price competitive on Oct. 26, it was instantly and dynamically able to beat Amazon prices on power drills. 

With the holiday shopping season approaching, you can expect many shoppers to do last-minute online gift buying, require immediate deliveries, and, of course, there are all those pesky post-holiday returns and exchanges. Will your website be able to deal with this annual shopping frenzy? By putting a little effort in planning ahead of the frenzy and by following a few e-commerce pre-holiday tips highlighted below, you can ensure that your customer's experience is both positive and cheerful for the holiday buying season.

Like death and taxes, annual rate hikes from shipping carriers are a certainty. The only positive thing about them is that they occur after the holiday shopping season. This week, the other shoe dropped from the U.S. Postal Service as it announced rate hikes for Priority Mail and other shipping services. In September, the USPS asked for permission to raise market-dominant prices above the limit allowed (called an exigent request) as part of an emergency measure which it called necessary unless it received relief from Congress. On Wednesday, the Postal Service submitted rates for competitive products, which has no such limitation.

Shareable content, enhanced product images, live chat and improved search capabilities are among the key changes introduced Tuesday morning to the Toysrus.com and Babiesrus.com websites. The sites are said to have a fresh design and layout, revamped navigation, and new features to help everyone from deal seekers to last-minute shoppers easily discover savings and information about the company's offerings. In addition, the sites have introduced social shopping functionality, which allows visitors to organize their most-wanted items in shareable toy and baby boards, while also viewing the most popular and trending products on the sites.

E-commerce and mobile commerce offer retailers the advantages of lower operational costs, a 24/7 sales platform and an expansive customer reach. Although online transactions are subject to many of the same legal principles applicable to physical transactions, they also raise certain new legal issues, particularly contract and data privacy issues.

The discount chain's latest online offerings have a distinct Amazon.com feel, from recurring deliveries for diapers to on-demand streaming video to free shipping and discounts for its members. All emulate similar offers from Amazon. Target's headquarters is also taking on some perks more typical of West Coast technology companies than a Midwestern retailer. That includes vintage arcade games, a boccie ball sand pit and a red basketball court stamped with the retailer's bull's-eye logo in the new common area. And next year, the company plans to spend more on technology than it does on building and upgrading its stores.

Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce company, broke its one-day sales record by more than 80 percent as it heads toward an initial public offering that may be valued higher than Facebook. Taobao and Tmall, Alibaba's two main platforms, topped 35 billion yuan ($5.75 billion) in the 24-hour period, surpassing last year's sales of 19.1 billion yuan, the company said on its official Twitter account. Yesterday was China's Singles' Day, a local twist on Valentine's Day, and e-commerce firms marked the occasion by flooding the internet with promotions, fueling demand on China's biggest online shopping day.

Holiday decorations have already been on display at retail stores for weeks, spreading the holiday cheer over longer than just November and December. Accounting for approximately 20 percent to 40 percent of retailers’ annual sales, it's no wonder they're making an effort to extend the holiday revenue spirit. In the run-up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, retailers have few options to increase sales volume and revenue without conducting a major overhaul of their digital marketing strategy. They must think strategically about leveraging assets they already have, as well as after the festivities are over.

Chances are you're spending a lot of time, money and effort driving traffic to your online store. More and more, online retailers are realizing that the way to stand out from the crowd, and increase the return on investment of their reach and acquisition initiatives, is to optimize their site so that they're giving visitors exactly the experience they're looking for.