Ecometry Corp./Blue Martini Software

When evaluating future technology acquisitions, make services-oriented architecture a key selection criteria. A new breed of software application has emerged over the last few years that has changed the dynamics of online product search within multichannel marketers' Web sites. Advanced search engines are becoming "must haves" on catalogers' lists of next-generation e-commerce features. Advanced search technologies differ from traditional, structured search approaches that rely on simple keywords and description indexes. Today's better Web sites allow for searches that automatically categorize results sets by navigable counts of relevant subsets of data. For example, a customer's search for "denim" may

Three experts offer key pointers on Web site hosting, e-loyalty programs and advanced search engines. These days, catalogers reach more customers via the Web than ever before, and a growing number of them now receive a majority of their orders online. So in this technology focus, we've grouped together three articles to help marketers 1) better manage their e-commerce businesses, 2) use the Web and e-mail to keep customers loyal and 3) revamp their sites with advanced search capabilities. 1. Might it be wise to switch to a hosted software solution to better manage your e-commerce business? Some

By Bill Spaide Need a seamless interface from e-commerce through order management to physical fulfillment? Here's how to get it. Online retail sales continue their year-over-year surge. Web consumers' expectations for the range of services and ease of online shopping also are increasing. As a result, Web and fulfillment technology solutions available to direct commerce marketers have undergone several changes during the last few years. What's been happening, why, and how can you take advantage of these noted trends to improve your multichannel sales and customer service efforts? In this article, I'll look at how converged software solutions