E-Commerce

Editor’s Note: This is the second of a three-part series on becoming more adept and adapting to the multichannel world. Part one appeared in our February issue, and part three will appear in our September issue. The world of direct marketing is changing quickly. Whole new analytical tools, benchmarks and ratios have become commonplace in measuring success. You must think cross-channel if you’re to be customer-centered. And above all else, if you’re a stand-alone cataloger or retail store operator, the corporate atmosphere is forcing you to rethink your internal culture. The opposite of a multichannel approach is a channel-centric one, where one channel dominates

In the second part of this two-part series extracted from a recent whitepaper on improving conversion rates, this week we offer a summary of the final three steps. The whitepaper, Best Practices for Conversion: The New Engagement Funnel in 7 Steps, comes from the online business optimization software provider Omniture. (For part 1, and steps one through four, click here.) 5. Place effective calls to action. The right call to action can double clickthrough rates and subsequently double the overall conversion rate, the whitepaper notes. This applies to both ads and your Web site. Here are some of the whitepaper’s best practices to follow.

While multichannel merchants shouldn’t overlook the value of customer acquisition, particularly search and affiliate marketing, they should heed the real measure of a campaign’s success — its conversion rate. In a recent whitepaper from the online business optimization software provider Omniture, Best Practices for Conversion: The New Engagement Funnel in 7 Steps, the conversion process is broken down into seven steps, all with one common objective — to increase relevancy. This week in part one of a two-part series chronicling the whitepaper’s seven-step process, we offer up steps one through four. Next week, we’ll examine steps five through seven. 1. Identify conversion

During a Direct Marketing Association seminar last week, marketers alike tried to wrap their arms around just what New York state’s new Internet tax law means for their businesses. Jerry Cerasale, the seminar’s host and senior vice president of government affairs for the DMA, and the organization’s tax counsel, George Isaacson, provided the 85 members in attendance with answers on what this development means for their industry. Here’s a sampling of some of the tips, thoughts and observations gleaned from the event: * “This is very aggressive, nexus-expanding legislation,” Isaacson said, referring to the law which requires out-of-state online retailers to collect sales (or

While nearly 90 percent of the 1,092 respondents surveyed in the latest Ouch Point survey from Opinion Research Corp., an infoUSA company, said they shop online, the marketing channel is still far from perfect. Twenty-four percent of the respondents cited purchased items having no resemblance to their images on the Internet as their biggest online shopping frustration. Here are some more noteworthy findings of the survey. * The inability to speak with a customer service representative at an online store was the second most cited frustration with online shopping (23 percent), followed by learning that items are back-ordered or out of stock after they’re

I suspect many of you are now familiar with The Long Tail strategy first coined by Chris Anderson in 2004. Essentially, the notion suggests “selling less of more.” I view it as the 80/20 rule in reverse, and it’s often the topic of heated discussion between direct marketers and their accountants.
The strategy focuses on the inherent competitive advantage of a B-to-B (or B-to-C, for that matter) catalog company stocking as many items as it can in order to compete with retail stores or “net gnats,” who pick off your best-selling items and sell them online at a discount. A retail store’s space is

Landing pages are the Rodney Dangerfield of most Web sites — they get no respect. Catalogers agonize over what words to use in a paid-search ad. They work the creative department to the point of rebellion to send out another e-mail. They give away prime, expensive space in their catalogs to promote their Web sites. But when it comes time to direct this precious Web traffic, most simply say, “Find a page on the site that will work.” To quote Rodney again, “It ought to be against the law!” Smart catalogers have figured out that they can double profits by creating targeted landing pages

Microsites focus on a specific product or product line. Unlike landing pages, the navigation and visual look are tailored to support that focus. To see the difference, compare www.positivepromotions.com/breast-cancer-awareness/c/4210 to www.positivebca.com. The first link shows an example of a landing page for breast cancer awareness products. The top navigation shows the entire product line the company sells, from health and wellness to imprintable items. Positivebca.com leads to a microsite on the same topic. The color scheme has changed to pink, and the navigation reflects only breast cancer awareness products. When you click on a top navigation link like Walks & Runs, you

PATIENT: Doc, almost all our orders used to come through the call center. Now 75 percent come via our Web site. We’re ready to give up on our catalog and go Web-only. Is that a good idea? CATALOG DOCTOR: To keep your Web business healthy, I advise keeping your catalog. You’ll be surprised how much the catalog drives both sales and profits. It’s probably the primary driver of Web site orders. PATIENT: But how can I know for sure? I need to be able to justify an ongoing investment in the catalog. CATALOG DOCTOR: Let’s look at four different ways to learn how

It’s not so much what you sell online, it’s how safe you can make that transaction. According to a recent national survey of 2,706 consumers conducted by JupiterResearch for eBillme, an online payment solution provider, 81 percent of credit and debit card users value fraud protection as the most important factor when selecting an online payment option. That’s four times more important to respondents than purchase rewards. Listed below are some more highlights from the survey. * 77 percent of credit card users said they’d accept changes in the online checkout payment process if it would enhance security; * when provided a