E-Commerce

Holiday retail and online sales rose 8.7 percent from 2004, according to SpendingPulse, a division of MasterCard International. And research firm comScore Networks reported that non-travel-related online sales totaled $17.5 billion between Nov. 1 and Dec. 21, making for a 24 percent increase over the corresponding period in 2004. Following are product categories and their percentage sales gains and losses from 2004, according to SpendingPulse: ¥ home furnishings, up 15 percent; ¥ consumer electronics, up 11 percent; ¥ sporting goods, books, music and videos, up 6.4 percent; ¥ apparel, up 5.8 percent; and ¥ jewelry, down 4.6 percent.

You’re flipping through a 500-page catalog for a major player in the janitorial and sanitation (jan/san) supplies market sector when you happen upon a section displaying waste containers. The catalog carries a host of well-known brands — including wastebaskets, can liners and other products made by United Receptacle. What you may not realize is that the other company’s catalog that you’re viewing actually features page layouts, photos and graphic designs produced not by that catalog, but by manufacturer and distributor United Receptacle. In addition to producing its own catalog each year to showcase its full product line, United Receptacle also helps many of

About a third of online consumers said rising energy costs will change the way they shop for Q4 holidays, according to a new study from The Conference Board, a research and business membership organization, and TNS, a custom research firm. Of that 35 percent reporting a change in shopping habits: * 53 percent of modest earners (annual incomes of less than $35,000) and 60 percent of affluent earners (with incomes of $70,000 or more) say they will shop less in brick-and-mortar stores and more online to help defray rising energy costs on their budgets. * 47 percent of those ramping up their online buying

From this article, you’ll learn how to determine the efficiency of your online advertising efforts and how to calculate the maximum cost per click for those campaigns. The basic economics of online marketing are simple: Determine the advertising efficiency needed to make your profitability goals, then buy all the inventory you can get your hands on. But how do you determine the advertising efficiency needed to achieve your profitability goals? This article offers some practical formulas and advice. Defining Online Advertising Efficiency Ad efficiency comes down to a cost vs. benefit ratio: “What did I spend on advertising?” vs. “What did I get in

The ongoing threats of spam, identity theft and data security breaches hang heavily in the air at the close of 2005. Headlines detailing these dangers have made sure your customers are more aware than ever of the perils of buying online. In fact, 48 percent of Americans avoid making purchases on the Internet because they’re afraid their financial information may be stolen, according to a survey conducted earlier this year by the Cyber Security Industry Alliance. So what’s a responsible online merchant to do? Following are tips to not only ensure your Web site adequately handles customers’ data, but also make it undeniably

As a cataloger, you’re used to fielding customers’ questions when they call your contact center, but how do you address the growing number of customers who make their purchases online? Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg, authors of “Call to Action: Secret Formulas to Improve Online Results” (Wizard Academy Press, 2005. $25.95), say there are four basic rules to follow in providing great online customer service. 1. Provide simple Web site navigation that makes it easy for online visitors to find what they’re looking for quickly, write the Eisenbergs. Examples include a search box on every page, and links to related products on individual product pages. 2. Your

Big changes are afoot online. It’s still early, but I see two trends that will impact online marketing: 1) the sharing of content and 2) the sharing of applications. These two trends haven’t fully arrived, and so they don’t have well-established names yet. But their early glimmers are visible today in the growth of really simple syndication (RSS) and the growing popularity of Web service application programming interfaces (APIs). These trends — let’s call them “open content” and “open apps” — are coming fast. During the next few years they’ll revolutionize the Web, and in doing so, revolutionize online marketing. This article

“Data, data everywhere” could be the cry of the merchant who selects a Web Analytics solution without understanding the commitment it requires from technical, marketing, merchandising and other staff. The same lament might come from selecting a solution that’s not optimized for e-commerce or for a user’s special needs related to Web site optimization. In the long run, it’s better to have realistic expectations of what you want to use a Web Analytics solution for. Like many companies, Gardener’s Supply tried several Web Analytics solutions before settling on its current application: Omniture. But the merchant’s experience taught it to be realistic about how

Sitting in packed sessions at trade shows devoted to the discussion of affiliate marketing, one gets the sense that the catalogers in the room are either experts or novices in this growing channel. This special report is meant to serve both groups: It’ll explore what you should know before you start an affiliate program, as well as strategies to make your existing program better. Affiliate marketing is the process by which third parties, often Web sites, advocate your products or services in exchange for a commission. A commission is paid every time the affiliate sends a sale to you, or in exchange for

Thumbnails are out. Collections are in. That was the mantra offered by Ken Burke, president and CEO of MarketLive, an e-commerce development and technology company, during his talk “Innovate or Stagnate” held during the New England Mail Order Association’s fall conference in Groton, Conn., last week Collection selling for an apparel merchant would include offering entire outfits on one screen on your Web site, similar to what you do in your catalog, said Burke. He suggested that catalogers try sorting merchandise in new and innovative ways. For example, let customers shop by: ¥ activity (sport or hobby); ¥ event (work apparel or evening wear); ¥ theme (movies from the