ROI0611
A Trip Down Memory Lane … Via the Social Media Highway
Ever stumble upon a box of old family photographs tucked away in a closet or attic and end up spending hours reminiscing as you flip through the images? I know I have. While entertaining, the experience often leaves you unfulfilled because you're unable to share those memories with others. Well, at least until now. A startup business from e-commerce veteran Jim Simon is helping consumers to relive and save their cherished memories.
Best Practices for Using Groupon
"I'm currently thinking about using Groupon to promote my local retail business. Are there any best practices around it that I should follow?"
Cracking the (QR) Code
As we reach the midpoint of 2011, it's clear that mobile has become a formidable marketing channel and will continue to blaze its trail into retail. Nielsen predicts that by the third quarter of 2011 smartphones will be the dominant mobile device in the U.S., overtaking feature phones. At some point we may stop referring to these handheld computers as phones and come up with a more accurate name that conveys the multidimensional communications and connectivity they provide.
Cross-Channel Retailers to Watch
While our ranking of the fastest-growing cross-channel retailers features some of the biggest players in the industry, Retail Online Integration is well aware that there are thousands of other private retailers out there making their own strides. As a result, our staff selected five exceptional private retailers to highlight.
Data (In)Security
I often check the clickthough rates of our daily e-newsletter of aggregated and orignal content, ROI Report, to gauge what our audience of cross-channel retailers are interested in and concerned about. Lately, the clickthrough rates for articles about hackers and scammers targeting retailers and shoppers are through the roof
Eagle Anime Cuts Costs With POS Solution
With nearly 80 percent of its sales occurring at conventions across the country, Eagle Anime needed a POS solution that could connect its front-end sales with its back-end inventory management. The Japanese animation products retailer was using a client server POS and inventory management solution, but its inability to manage inventory in real time was hampering the growth of the company.
How the iPad 2 Will Change Customer Engagement
As consumers clamor to adopt emerging mobile technology, covering a constantly evolving line of smartphones and tablets, retailers are rushing to integrate mobile commerce into their sales and merchandising strategies.
How to Get Uncommonly Loyal Customers
A report by Forrester Research titled Customer Experience Boosts Revenue shows a strong correlation between customer experience and three keys to loyal behavior: intent to buy again, reluctance to switch and likelihood to recommend. The fundamental idea here is that as a customer's relationship with a company deepens and extends, profits increase — and not just by a little.
Ice.com Credits Facebook Credits for New Facebook Fans, Customers
Jewelry e-tailer Ice.com generated more than 25,000 new fans and many new customers at a record-low cost of acquisition thanks to a Facebook Credits campaign orchestrated by Ifeelgoods, a provider of a digital goods incentive system.
Location-Based Services and the Indelible Importance of Awesomeness
The growth of the web over the last decade-and-a-half has been a mixed blessing for brick-and-mortar retailers. While it's created a vast array of new customer touchpoints, it's also introduced the pernicious problem of maintaining those touchpoints across channels.
Removing the Confusion Surrounding State ‘Amazon Laws’
State legislatures continue to experiment with novel nexus legal theories in their persistent drive to compel use tax collection by retailers located beyond their borders. The most recent state efforts are aimed directly at online retailers through passage of so-called "Amazon laws."
Tablevogue Leverages “Today” Show Appearance Into New Customers
For a startup business, the value of an appearance or mention on a national morning show like "Today" is priceless. The free publicity and exposure a brand is provided can translate into immediate — and substantial — sales gains. Such was the good fortune for Tablevogue, a cross-channel retailer of stylish slipcovers for folding tables commonly used when entertaining (e.g., birthday and holiday parties, business events).
The 100 Fastest Growing Retailers 2010-2011
We know that you're all interested in how your competition is doing, and since we hadn't seen a true ranking of cross-channel retailers year-over-year after a lot of research, we decided this year to roll up our sleeves, polish up our Excel spreadsheets and do it ourselves!
Using Creative to Power the 1-2 Punch of Mail and Web
The most substantial fallout from postage increases, higher costs for paper and printing, and a weakened economy is the reduced use of mail in cross-channel marketing campaigns.
