E-Commerce

Nearly half of consumers believe detailed product information is a critical factor of an e-commerce website in driving them to make a purchase, according to Stibo Systems, the independent market leader in master data management.

Consumers generally go to a website with an agenda. That agenda could be to comparison shop, research, make a purchase, among other things. However, it's quite common for consumers to get frustrated with certain website issues and seek what they want elsewhere. A new whitepaper from Peppers & Rogers Group and iPerceptions titled Ten Tips for Making Websites Stickier offers new insights and 10 ways to help you keep consumers glued to your website.

Many online marketplaces and e-commerce companies have set up pages on their websites to instruct users on how to help victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan through direct donations to charitable organizations or by donating a portion of sales.

Hallmark's website handled five times the normal number of visitors during the most recent holiday season, which includes Valentine's Day. Even with this surge in traffic, visitors experienced a 370 percent improvement in website response times, raising Hallmark.com's customer conversion rate 30 percent over the previous year and helping Hallmark more than double its online sales during this period.

Apparel and accessories brand Kate Spade has launched a new version of its flagship website that underscores just how important content has become to the brand.

With a website design that was over nine years old, Cabela's decided it was time for a change. The site had navigation limitations, as well as limited price and promotional price functionality. These limitations were making it difficult for Cabela's to adapt its business needs to its website, negatively influencing the overall customer experience.

In part one of this series appearing in yesterday's ROI Report, I discussed best practices around four retail trends heavily discussed at this week's INNOVATE 2011, the Retail Innovation and Marketing Conference sponsored by the National Retail Federation. Here are four more:

Amazon said it's severing ties with affiliates in Illinois, citing a law signed that imposes taxes on consumers who make online purchases. The affiliates — websites that send customers to Amazon through links — will no longer be paid for sales that result from the referrals, Seattle-based Amazon said in an email.

A group called Alliance for Main Street Fairness argues that by failing to collect sales taxes, online retailers like Amazon have an unfair advantage over brick-and-mortar stores that's costing jobs, killing businesses and contributing to state budget deficits.

Once simply a counterpart to brick-and-mortar retail, e-commerce has quickly become an independent force in fashion — one that shows no signs of curbing its exponential growth. In just a few years, e-commerce has become an integral retail component for monolithic brands, department stores and fledgling designers alike.