Online Marketing

In December, American Apparel achieved the highest sales month for its online business in the company's history, besting December 2011's sales by 59 percent. The company, which both manufactures and distributes merchandise and operates retail stores, had moved its multisite e-commerce operations to Oracle's ATG Web Commerce in October. American Apparel is using the platform, a component of Oracle Commerce, to operate multiple integrated e-commerce sites for different customer groups and geographic regions. The retailer is using the solution to present customers with personalized content and customized search options, helping to accelerate selections by presenting items that the shopper prefers.

Soma Intimates' bra makeover videos are a multipurpose marketing tool that helps women find the best fitting, most comfortable product while enabling the brand to engage consumers via another online touchpoint (in addition to its website, third-party syndicated sites, video forums and social networking sites). As an added bonus, Soma Intimates also benefits from happy customers sharing the video with friends, which has lead to a virally driven uplift in sales.

Today's retailers have many digital marketing options that can not only boost sales during the holidays but also build valuable relationships with consumers that last year-round. Here are four digital marketing efforts that retailers can implement immediately for this year's holiday shopping season and repurpose throughout the year:

According to the National Retail Federation, more than half of U.S. consumers will shop online this holiday season, up nearly 50 percent from last year. With that increase, the industry's leading trade group projects total holiday sales to reach upwards of $96 billion. Depending on how prepared you are, this either represents a huge opportunity or the potential for millions of dollars in lost revenue. Chances are that you've already been planning for the holiday surge for months, but if the holidays snuck up on you this year, here are five actionable tips you can leverage now to make sure you get a slice of the holiday shopping pie:  

Looking to get ahead of the expected holiday crowds, online retailers are ramping up their efforts to attract eager shoppers with free shipping deals and other exclusive online promotions. According to Shop.org's eHoliday survey conducted by BIGinsight, six in 10 (61.6 percent) online retailers will start their online holiday marketing promotions by Halloween, up from 52.9 percent in 2011. Thirty-eight percent will begin marketing their online promotions by mid-November or later.

Trying to finally master the internet the way it has theme parks or animated films, the Walt Disney Company has redesigned its website, Disney.com, for the third time in five years. The new site, introduced this month and promoted as "cleaner, simpler, more elegant," is one way Robert A. Iger, Disney's chief executive, hopes to turn around the company's gaming, mobile and internet division after 15 consecutive quarters of losses — some $977 million in total.

The stats, from a DBD Media survey of 50 e-commerce retailers, revealed that 73 percent of businesses are inflating traffic in their reports, while 67 percent haven't integrated social media tracking. Here are some stats from the survey, while the findings from our Online Measurement and Strategy report shed some light on the barriers to effective use of Google Analytics.

According to a study conducted by Martini Media, luxury brands have been gradually dropping TV from their multichannel marketing mix in favor of digital media. But will the move pay off in the end? Digital darling Burberry seems to think so, quickly taking the throne of luxury online marketing by creating entirely new levels of customer engagement.

After years thinking of online advertising as qualitatively different from regular advertising, could it be that it often works similarly to print advertising? Possibly, if the results of a new study are to be believed. Analytics firm RapidBlue has determined that Google AdWords campaigns tend to increase visits to retail stores. The company, which places sensors in shops to anonymously monitor customer behavior, studied about 4,800 shoppers in Helsinki. The study showed AdWords campaigns increase "both brick-and-mortar retail [visits] and visitor dwell times by double-digit figures," the firm says.

Tommy Bahama, known for its beach-themed clothes and accessories, is launching a global e-commerce platform as it tries to boost its fledgling international expansion.