E-Commerce

Problem: SeaBear, a direct seller of smoked salmon and other specialty seafood, sought to upgrade its outdated e-commerce site to jump-start online sales. Solution: Completely redesigned its site. Results: Web-placed sales have nearly doubled compared to the old site, representing 40 percent of the company’s overall sales.

Having come a long way from its modest beginning as a chain of floral shops in metropolitan New York, 1-800-Flowers.com usually has set trends, not followed them.

This year's economic retreat actually stands to help Gaiam, a product and information services company with a heavy emphasis on sustainability, position itself for greater growth in the near future.

Think you can't make any real money marketing on social networks? Think they're really only branding tools? Think again.

Historians eventually will look on last year as the beginning of the end for retail stores (aka fixed asset distribution) as we know them. Holiday ’08 retail sales dipped 5.5 percent to 8 percent from the previous year, the most dramatic decline in decades. Few, if any, retailers projected such drama.

Catalog requests or inquiries generated from the Internet are like diamonds in the rough. But how long it takes to fulfill these requests determines their true value to your company. Fulfillment time has a direct bearing on order conversion rates, and best practice says prospective buyers should receive the catalogs they requested online within 14 calendar days.Catalog requests or inquiries generated from the Internet are like diamonds in the rough. But how long it takes to fulfill these requests determines their true value to your company. Fulfillment time has a direct bearing on order conversion rates, and best practice says prospective buyers should receive the catalogs they requested online within 14 calendar days.

Wine gifts and accessories multichannel retailer Wine Enthusiast never overlooks the power of the customer’s voice — no matter the channel. Well aware of the effectiveness of online customer review programs, the Mount Kisco, N.Y.-based company, which has mailed catalogs for its entire 30-year existence, introduced customer ratings and reviews in its Holiday 2007 catalog and has reaped the benefits ever since.

The 71-year-old story of Kent, Wash.-based Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), which sells camping and hiking equipment through catalogs, stores and the Web to customers who have the option to join its co-op, has taken a deliberate turn into the modern age.

Lifetime value (LTV) is the value of all purchases a given customer has made to date, plus the value of purchases that customer is likely to make (discounted for present value) over time. LTV helps determine how much you can afford to invest in new buyers looking beyond their initial purchases.Lifetime value (LTV) is the value of all purchases a given customer has made to date, plus the value of purchases that customer is likely to make (discounted for present value) over time. LTV helps determine how much you can afford to invest in new buyers looking beyond their initial purchases.

Catalog Success recently took two of its longest-standing columnists to task. Strategy scribe Stephen R. Lett and Catalog Doctor Susan J. McIntyre have spent the better part of their careers producing or helping clients produce print catalogs. But do catalogs have a future in this integrated selling environment?