Technology

One of the downsides in consumers’ collective shift to spending more time online is the loss of a “personal touch” — that inimitable quality that comes from dealing with someone face to face. Nowhere is this more apparent than when shopping online.

Recognizing the need to stay current in the e-commerce market and better serve web-savvy shoppers, BedBathStore.com, an online retailer of bed and bath décor products (e.g., bedspreads, curtains, draperies, bed linens, pillows, bath accessories, etc.) decided to create online videos for its entire catalog of children’s products in September 2009.

OneStopPlus.com, a Redcats USA brand and the world’s first and only online plus-size fashion mall, takes its philosophy of innovation, selection and convenience to the next level with the launch of its iPad application and mobile site. Recognizing that fashion enthusiasts want fast and easy access to its website, OneStopPlus.com customers can now search for the latest styles and trends from over 100 brands and purchase directly from their mobile devices.

Netshoes, a leading Brazilian sports retailer, has selected software company Baynote's recommendation technology to deliver customers a more adaptive online shopping experience. Within one month of deploying Baynote's Collective Intelligence Platform, Netshoes’ conversion rate increased 30 percent and its average order value rose 10 percent.

Burberry, which has been staking out its claim as one of the most tech-savvy luxury brands around, has taken the wraps off a new ad campaign that allows users to get their digital hands on the clothing and accessories — zooming, dragging and rotating the motion-responsive images in an innovative way. Users can select and control their perspective on the new campaign, showcasing the autumn/winter collection — making the cast members move, for example, to see how a certain handbag or boots look in action.

The Golf Warehouse announces the recent launch of its iPad application, which provides golfers with easy and mobile access to the premier online golf superstore: TGW.com. Customers can experience and enjoy the visual richness of a true catalog combined with the ability to browse and buy TGW products anytime, anywhere — even on the golf course!

In high traffic stores such as Tim Hortons, improving service time can increase its capacity to serve more customers. Over time, the tendency will be for customers to develop a preference for the store location with better speed of service, thereby increasing overall sales.

"Five years from now, we'll be more focused on our delivery business, with a higher mix of technology, and sell more private-label products," Ron Sargent, Staples' chairman/CEO, told investors attending the 26th Sanford Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference. "There will be more services in our mix, because there is not a lot of inventory and the margins are great.” The company will continue to expand its technology offerings. "We're already the third-largest reseller of computers, behind Best Buy and Walmart, but the problem with computers is that the more you sell, the more you lose — you price them low and promote them heavily."

Do you know which keywords are driving phone calls to your business? Are the pay-per-click (PPC) keywords “red shoes” making the phone ring? Or perhaps calls are coming from searches initiated with “black pumps” or “wedge sandals”? Whether you’re spending $600 a month on PPC or six figures, it’s imperative to know how your online marketing efforts affect your offline sales conversions.

In today's retail/direct/online environment, it's logical and essential to have a holistic approach to making any investment decisions. Too often people look at only one problem, tool or solution at a time. In today's market, that narrow focus puts integrated retailers at a serious competitive disadvantage.