Retail Online Integration November 2010
50 Best Tips of 2010
We're excited to offer you Retail Online Integration's 50 best tips of 2010. Our editorial staff reviewed every word published in our print publication, e-newsletter (The ROI Report) and website over the past year. From there, we've extracted the best money-making and cost-saving pointers. Enjoy.
A Starter's Guide to Creating Your Company Blog
Q: "Can you offer any general advice on integrating a blogging arm into your company's social media strategy?"
— Jim Schweitzer, copywriter, The Sportsman's Guide
Bluefly Lets Consumers Scan for Content and Coupons With 
Camera Phones
Bluefly, an online retailer of designer fashion and accessories, has incorporated quick response (QR) code technology into its recently launched television advertising campaign, Closet Confessions. The campaign, which launched on Bravo Media's various platforms in September, is a series of 45-second spots that feature celebrities giving tours of their closets and sharing stories about their…
Check it Out
"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…
Creating a SEO Dynasty
For an online retailer, there's no greater accomplishment than being in the No. 1 spot on Google for a lucrative keyword or keyword phrase like "computer," "flights to Las Vegas" or "used cars." These listings can be worth tens of millions of dollars.
How to Set Sail on the Seas 
of Social Media
Social media is as easy to control as the ocean. Some days are so calm you wonder if the world has taken a day off. Others are filled with activity that sends customers and prospects clicking to your site. And some days bring hurricane-force winds that threaten the foundation of your business.
Living Direct Saves Time and Money Through Vendor Network
Living Direct, an online retailer of home appliances, cookware, outdoor patio furniture, electronics and more, sought to integrate third-party technologies 
— namely ratings and reviews — onto its e-commerce platform quickly and 
cost effectively.
Nine West Uses Clickable Video to Acquire, Engage Shoppers
To unveil its new fall line of fashion footwear — and capture the surge of consumers gravitating towards online video — women's fashion footwear, handbags and accessories cross-channel retailer Nine West launched a clickable online video campaign. For the campaign, Nine West partnered with ConciseClick, a provider of online clickable video, and debuted the technology in late August.
QR Codes Are Big in Texas
One subject kept coming up repeatedly at session after session and on the trade show floor: quick response (QR) codes, those relatively boring 2-D codes that are suddenly very sexy and popular in the retail space.
Respect the Shopper!
The advent of new technologies has forever changed the way consumers shop. Today, consumers routinely research, purchase, ship and return products across all 
channels. They're using mobile devices, phones, websites, email, stores and catalogs in whichever combination is the most convenient for them.
Your Multichannel Contact Strategy Chart
Patient: "Doc, although we've got a good handle on our big-picture strategies, we keep getting off track in our execution. Our channel teams drift from what's said in our meetings; our timing is thrown off; our promos aren't all coordinated among our channels; our customers get hit with messages from all channels at once, then have a gap with no messages at all; and so on. Do you have any prescription to help us get and stay on track?"
