PowerReviews

Here's a checklist of some of the most important things you should do with your website to get ready for the upcoming holiday season

Welcome to Retail Online Integration's annual Resource Guide. This special section offers all the crucial details, company information, contact numbers and addresses of product and service providers to the cross-channel retail industry.

"The smartest thing those wunderkinds at our beloved Postal Service can do is nurture the direct mail industry. Imagine what would happen if the USPS actually offered discounts for online 
marketers to give direct mail a chance?" From "PRC Denies Exigent Postage Rate Increase … Big !@#$ Deal," by Jim Gilbert, CEO of multidiscipline direct…

Part two of this series examines what impact social media will have on retail going forward. In particular, opportunities to bridge online and offline customer experiences in order to seamlessly integrate multiple touchpoints and selling channels are identified.

Social commerce has shifted into high gear. E-commerce continues to grow at increasingly rapid rates and experts predict that online sales could grow to as much as 30 percent of total retail sales over the next few decades.

The e-tailing group and PowerReviews released the findings of the 2010 Social Shopping Study, which surveyed over 1,000 consumers who shop at least 4 times per year and spend $250 or more annually shopping online, to assess their motivations and preferences regarding online product research and customer reviews. The study focused on two key areas: how, when and why consumers are conducting online product research as well as their behaviors and expectations related to customer reviews.

Like most every other marketer these days, Sierra Trading Post strives to make each interaction with consumers - no matter the channel - a positive one. This includes its e-commerce site, where the discount apparel and home furnishings retailer has recently launched a Q&A tool from PowerReviews, a provider of customer reviews and social commerce solutions, designed to aid perplexed consumers.

Green Mountain Coffee has made social media a key element in its web endeavors, and on Oct. 7, its director of consumer direct, Ken Crites, explained the Waterbury, Vt.-based company’s approach during the Hudson Valley Direct Marketing Association’s fall luncheon in Greenwich, Conn.

Wine gifts and accessories multichannel retailer Wine Enthusiast never overlooks the power of the customer’s voice — no matter the channel. Well aware of the effectiveness of online customer review programs, the Mount Kisco, N.Y.-based company, which has mailed catalogs for its entire 30-year existence, introduced customer ratings and reviews in its Holiday 2007 catalog and has reaped the benefits ever since.