E-Commerce

Move ahead of your competition this holiday season with the strategic insights offered in "The Ultimate Guide To Optimizing Your Website Traffic," a new e-book from Monetate, the next generation platform for website testing, targeting and personalization.

British department store Debenhams launched an augmented reality pop-up store service where shoppers can try on outfits near the U.K.’s tourist attractions. Shoppers with an iPhone or iPad 2 can use their device to scan the scene around five famous landmarks to find the store’s selection of party dresses — and once located, they can virtually try them on a picture of themselves, share and even order.

O.co announced that it will offer a free 60-day trial for Club O, its exclusive customer rewards program. The free trial includes free shipping on all products, 5 percent back in Club O Rewards Dollars for every purchase, and access to exclusive shopping events. Anytime during the 60-day trial customers can choose to opt out of the membership.

Amazon’s delivery locker system, which was first tested last month in Seattle, has been activated in New York City. Instead of having a package delivered to your home or business address, people who live near to a locker location can choose to send it there and then collect it at a convenient time using a unique code.

With national retail sales expected to increase only slightly throughout the entire holiday season, just 10 days will make or break the period for retailers, according to ShopperTrak. The week before Christmas will be especially important this year, as five of the top sales and foot traffic days will occur between Dec. 18 and Dec. 24.

In an effort to help merchants both achieve and maintain payment card industry (PCI) compliance, technologies for cardholder data security have become more prevalent. Merchants should view PCI compliance as an ongoing business requirement with continuously evolving needs and mandated changes, not just a one-time, stand-alone IT issue.

It's not breaking news that great customer service is key for any retailer. In fact, a recent study from STELLAService found that 10.7 percent of online consumers will spend more for a great customer service experience. A session from Retail Online Integration's Retail Marketing Virtual Conference & Expo titled At Your Service: Current E-Commerce Customer Service Trends for Retailers features a roundtable discussion with retail industry leaders on best practices surrounding customer service. Will Freund, senior director of operations at Gilt Groupe; John Ernsberger,  co-founder and vice president of sales at STELLAService; and John Rote, director of operations and customer experience at Bonobos, led the panel discussion. 

Launched at the height of the flash-sale craze in 2009, ideeli grew faster than it planned for. Sounds like a good problem to have, right? Well, sort of. The retailer’s rapid growth left its in-house customer service team unable to provide the high level of service that it believed its members deserved.

Frustrated at getting blank results pages from product keyword searches on retailers’ websites? Think it would be easier to pick out what you’re looking for from a lineup of images rather than describing it via text. Well, it appears you’re in luck.

Lowe's announced the launch of MyLowe's, an integrated online experience that will help customers manage their biggest asset — their homes. It will revolutionize the customer experience with home improvement, allowing all purchases, in-store and online, to be tracked automatically and stored on their customer profile online.