Online Marketing

The internet is the new Sunday paper, with two-thirds of Americans now learning about in-store deals online, according to the latest Audience Insight Survey from interclick.

Kenshoo, a provider of digital marketing software, unveiled more preliminary findings of its annual Online Retail Holiday Shopping Report. These findings focus on Cyber Monday and the week leading up to one of the season's busiest days for online shopping.

New research from GroupM Search reveals 86 percent of buyers who purchase in-store use generic terms on search engines to inform their purchase decision. The study also shows that when a shopper conducts a search online and clicks on a link, 90 percent of those clicks are on the organic listings of a search engine results page.

At Shop.org's Annual Summit, digital marketing experts shared hundreds of tips and tactics to help online retailers inch further along in their quest for conversion nirvana. But according to Google’s Industry Director for Retail Todd Pollak, getting digital marketing right is a little more simple.

We all know the power of great marketing, but what about the power of great internet marketing, the resource that's underrated — at least by most business traditionalists — for its value within the marketplace?

With Forrester Research estimating that U.S. online retail sales will grow at a 10 percent annual growth rate from 2010 to 2015, reaching $279 billion, retailers have become laser-focused on creating and maintaining customer loyalty and improving the online shopping experience. However, as the online shopping habits of consumers evolve, so too must retailers’ strategies to ensure the most customized online shopping experience. Here are three strategies that online retailers can implement to improve the customer shopping experience:

An issue for many cross-channel retailers these days is measuring the impact of retargeted online ads. Retargeting your website traffic, particularly those who leave without making a purchase, with online ads is a profitable way to increase revenue. But you must understand the metrics first.

Over the last few years, Home Depot has expanded its retail stores aggressively, adding more than 200 outlets annually. However, the retailer has recently embarked on a $1.1 billion program aimed at improving its web presence while planning to dramatically reduce the number of new store openings to around 10 in 2011.

Antique and collectibles shoppers are now using Skype to communicate in real time with dealers as they shop on RubyLane.com. Company spokesperson Palmer Pekarek said many of Ruby Lane's sellers have enabled Skype in their shops so they can provide answers to questions and develop relationships with shoppers. Both buyer and seller must have Skype to communicate via instant messaging and can also engage in video conversations.

Predictive analytics can allow you to best find who you should be contacting, what should you be offering, when to make the offer and how to make the offer for optimum results.