Spruce Up Your Storefront to Meet Holiday Shopping Demand: Special eTaildTail Guest Commentary

I have a special Guest Blog Commentary for the eTaildTail community today from our friends at SLI Systems. 

It is great read and helpful for the holidays to increase Webstore conversions.

Happy reading!

- Chip Arndt

Spruce Up Your Storefront to Meet Holiday Shopping Demand

By Geoff Brash, VP of Marketing, SLI Systems

With the holidays just around the corner, below are some tips for how you can deliver the best possible online shopping experience for your customers, and capture your share of online sales.  All of these tips are fairly simple and can be implemented in little to no time, so there’s no time like the present to get started (if you haven’t already!).

1. Create a “gift finder”: A gift finder is a useful tool that helps online shoppers find just the right gifts for the various people on their holiday lists. It’s easy to deploy, and can be promoted throughout your site. Generally, gift finders let people narrow their search by certain criteria, such as price, who the recipient is (kids, friends, co-workers and so on), or gift type. They’re then presented with a list of all the products that match those criteria. To see a good example, check out the gift finder on Vivre (click on “Giving” at the top of the page).

2. Prepare your site for holiday traffic: Make sure your site infrastructure can cope with the onslaught of holiday shoppers – you don’t want the site to perform slowly -- or worse,  crash – when people are trying to buy. This is one area where it might make sense to use hosted ecommerce technology solutions, so your site performance won’t drag during peak traffic times.

3. Make sure your site search results are relevant: The holidays are a great time to gain new customers, but if people can’t find what they’re looking for, they’ll quickly move to one of your competitors – and possibly never come back. Try searching your site yourself. Does your site search deliver results that are relevant? Can it account for spelling errors? Can you provide results for those “long-tail” terms that aren’t as commonly used but have higher conversion rates? If you answered no to any of these questions, you might consider finding a new site search provider – one that can get your site up and running in very little time.

4. Show off holiday specials: Promote holiday merchandise or holiday-related items with on-site banners or other highly visible promotional tools. And be sure to use search terms visitors use on your site in these banners, so your messaging resonates.  You could also place the banners on site search results pages, when you have a captive audience.  If you offer free shipping for holiday purchases, heavily promote that benefit as well.

5. Put keyword data to work: To improve the chance that your products will show up on the first or second page of search engine results, review your site search activity and create landing pages related to the consumers’ likely search terms. Since customers may not be familiar with the brand names of your company’s products, optimize your site for the terms your visitors actually use – those they enter in the search box on your site.

Are you doing anything differently this year than last, or did you try something last year that worked so well you’re going to repeat it this year?

If so, I’d love to hear from you. Please email me at geoff.brash AT sli-systems.com

Holiday Fixes To Your WebSite and SEO Search By Click Z

Friends of eTaildTail at Click Z have some great advice and "quick fix" help tips to optimize your Webstore for the Holidays.

It is a quick read and very helpful to all online merchants.

Here is the beginning of the article:

"It's that time of year again: just after Halloween and just before Thanksgiving. That means your Web site is probably frozen, with no more development possible. Your IT guys are bracing the site and making sure it can handle the traffic the holidays will (hopefully) bring. Usually at this time of year, I remind readers to harness the traffic in Q4 long after it's over or how to turn interactions like customer returns into acquisition opportunities.

Today, however, let's look at quick fixes you still have time to make to your site, even though it's technically locked down. Obviously, we will concentrate only on the easy things. Nothing on this list will change logic or technology on your site that your QA people will fuss over. Given that restriction, we can only address minor issues in this quick-fix list. But added together, these quick fixes could have a major impact on your success this holiday season.

Before the holiday season ramps up, try these fixes:..."

<<<CLICK HERE>>> for full details.

- Chip Arndt

Comparison Shopping Engines Survey Report 2008: CSEs Are Effective Even In Declining Economy

I thought that these recent findings from eTaildTail friends at AffiliateTip.com and e-Consultancy.com on the effectiveness of Consumer/Comparison Shopping Engines ("CSEs") for online merchants was interesting.

CSE marketing channels are still excellent, cost-effective ways to drive traffic to your on-line Web Store front, even in uncertain economic times.

I was surprised how many online merchants actually manage CSE feeds in-house, almost 75%, and also use their own analytic tracking system as opposed to using easy to mange and cost-effective Web-based tools as provided from companies like MerchantAdvantage.

Please read the short article below and then click through to the more comprehensive article on sales that come through CSEs and how to manage your CSEs more effectively.

Here is the article and follow on information:

by Shawn Collins
AffiliateTip.com

November 9, 2008

"The declining economy isn’t pinching everybody. Online retailers are increasingly benefiting from marketing their products on shopping comparison sites as consumers seek bargains, according to research published by E-consultancy and DoubleClick.

Approximately 43% of retailers surveyed say that the proportion of online sales coming through comparison shopping engines (CSEs) has increased in the last 12 months.

Retailers surveyed report 10% of their online sales come through this channel.

Some highlights from the report:

• Retailers rate Google Shopping / Base and Shopping.com as the best comparison shopping engines for volume, with 38% saying that Google is “good” and 35% saying that Shopping.com is “good”. Kelkoo and PriceRunner are both rated as being good for volume by 28% of merchants.
• Google Shopping / Base was also rated by merchants as the best CSE for quality of traffic, and for ease of use.
• Just under a third of companies (29%) surveyed said that they used their own tracking tools to track activity in the CSE channel, compared to around a quarter (24%) who use third-party tools and technology and 11% who use CSE tracking. A third (32%) use a combination of these methods.
• The majority of retailers surveyed manage their CSE feeds in-house, while only 13% use specialist feed optimization companies. The same percentage (13%) use agencies for this purpose.

<<<CLICK HERE>>> to read more statictics and relevant information on CSE effectiveness in 2008.

If you are looking for an easy to use and cost-effective tool to manage and analyze data feeds to any CSE or marketing channel, check out MerchantAdvantage; they make data feed management a lot easier and work with 150+ CSEs and marketing channels.

<<<CLICK HERE>>> to read more statictics and relevant information on CSE effectiveness in 2008.

- Chip Arndt

Holiday Marketing Tips for Comparison Shopping Engines

'Tis the season for all online merchants to prepare for Holiday Shopping. 

There is a long to do list to ensure that your Web Storefront is the "best that it can be" so that when a shopper comes to your Web Storefront they purchase a product and feel confident that it will be delivered on time and be of the highest quality. 

I wrote a blog entry in July that referenced in detail all that you can do to make your site as professional as it can be before you start marketing anywhere.  If you would like to read that commentary please <<<CLICK HERE>>> ; it is a quick read and hopefully helpful to increasing sales. 

After you have updated and "cleaned" up your Web Storefront, it is essential that online merchants understand how best to market their Web Storefront on marketing channels as Amazon, NexTag, PriceGrabber, Pronto, Smarter.com, Yahoo Shopping! and 150+ other marketing channels.

SPECIAL NOTE: MerchantAdvantage is the only data feed specialist who works with any marketing channel to increase sales, so please make sure you understand your choices and how they can perform for you before working with a particular channel.  Need more information on your marketing channel options? <<<CLICK HERE>>>.

Okay, now that you are ready to work with one or several consumer shopping engines, comparison shopping engines, shopping destination sites, CSEs, online shopping malls - or whatever you would like to call them - for the Holiday Shopping Season, I highly suggest that you understand the nuances of successful marketing when using these channels.

I read an excellent overview from eTaildTail friends over at Mercent, whose thoughts are summarized very well by eTaildTail friends at Get Elastic titled: Holiday Marketing Tips for Comparison Shopping Engines.

We all work very hard to offer valuable insights to help online merchants increase sales when using CSEs - so I am very happy to link to Get Elastic and get an excellent overview of Mercent's advice.  Please read their advice, as it is very comprehensive and valuable. 

Once you have read these comprehensive insights, you may then want to attend a FREE MerchantAdvantage Webinar with Smarter.com, a very successful CSE, on November 13, and ask your questions to the experts in real time. You can sign up for that FREE Webinar by clicking the title here: 10 Crucial Changes to Marketing Data Feeds to Boost Online Holiday Sales

The above article coupled with this FREE Webinar should cover your bases to ensuring that your Holiday Shopping Season product data feeds are perfect when working with any consumer shopping engine, CSE, marketing channel or online shopping mall.  Attend the Webinar and ask the experts all of your questions.

If you have any further queries, feel free to email me at chip @ eTaildTail.com and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

We are here to help and, if you configure your product catalog feeds properly to all of your marketing channels, you will have more success this Holiday Shopping Season converting shopppers to sales and increasing your  Return on Ad Spend, which is critical during these difficult economic times.

- Chip Arndt

 

10 Crucial Changes to Marketing Data Feeds to Boost Online Holiday Sales

Okay, my company MerchantAdvantage is giving a FREE Webinar on November 13 to help online merchants with their marketing strategies when using consumer shopping engines ("CSEs) for the holidays.  This is a part of MerchantAdvantage's year long, 2008 Webinar series of presentations to help online merchants with their marketing strategies.  When you opt in to see this Webinar you will have access to all of the other ones over the past 10 months.

 

This is a great Webinar for all of you who use CSEs because it is being given by a technical expert at MerchantAdvantage, who specializes in increasing sales performance and return on ad spend when using CSEs and the Director Joanna Estacio at Smarter.com a highly successful CSE.

 

Don't miss out! Here is what they are covering in this 30 minute FREE Webinar.

 

"The holiday season means more sales possibilities, but poor CSE practices could mean wasted marketing dollars if not managed correctly. Drive sales up this holiday season by optimizing your online marketing channel feeds. As part of MerchantAdvantage’s A.M.M.O for 2008 series, this 30 minute complimentary webinar covers:

• 10 mandatory changes for successful optimization and marketing of product catalog feeds
• Advice on how to implement these changes immediately to increase sales
• Case Study: "Up and running in 24hrs. with Smarter.com to maximize the Holiday Shopping Season"

In this webinar, MerchantAdvantage will arm you with the information you need to make smart marketing decisions in the online retail and mobile commerce world during this holiday season to gain sales cost-effectively.

Presenters of this educational Webinar will be friends of eTaildTail, B. Thomas Romeo, Sr. System Administrator at MerchantAdvantage and Joanna Estacio, Director of Sales and Operations at Smarter.com. 

Webinar Details: <<CLICK HERE>>> to sign up for this free Webinar. 
Date: Thursday, November 13, 2008
Time: 2:00 PM-2:30 PM Eastern / 11:00 AM-11:30 AM Pacific

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON TUESDAY NOVEMBER 4TH.

- Chip Arndt

Shopping.com Improves Its Consumer Shopping Engine To Help Online Merchants Reach More Customers

eTaildTail strives to keep online merchants up to date on changes and upgrades at all consumer shopping engines, affectionately known as CSEs, or comparison shopping engines.

Yesterday, Shopping.com announced some improvements and enhancements to their comparison shopping engine navigation features that should help online merchants better reach customers and customers better reach online merchant listings.

All online merchants, please incorporate these important changes to improve performance when using the Shopping.com CSE.

I hope this information helps. Please read Shopping.com's helpful advice, understand it, and make adjustments accordingly.

If you are a MerchantAdvantage client, please consult with your technical representative and they will help you leverage this new feature immediately.

 

From Shopping.com Merchant Support Team:
October 28, 2008

"In an effort to improve the end-user experience, we are starting to require that merchants supply product condition in its own separate field. 

The Condition field should hold only the key words "New," "Used," or "Refurbished." This information is not currently visible on product listings, but will be used to focus the search process. The special projects mentioned above will ensure that functionality will be built into the user interface of Shopping.com so that we will make use of this information in a much more viable fashion.

The indication of product condition on top of stock description will help your conversion to sale by reducing cart abandonment due to the consumer having too little information, pre-checkout.

When you make use of the stock description as well as product condition fields in your feed, you ensure that the consumer has the highest amount of information needed to intelligently make a purchase."

Happy Halloween Week!

- Chip Arndt

Consumer Spending and What Online Merchants Can Expect This Holiday Shopping Season

eTaildTail sometimes relies on its friends, in the ecommerce and mobile commerce industries, to provide expert commentary on the ins-and-outs of the ecommerce and mcommerce industries, as these friends often have excellent analysis for us all. 

Yesterday, eTaildTail friend at Get Elastic, Linda Bustos, posted an excellent analysis and roundup of Holiday 2008 Consumer Trends with numerous references to other industry experts, statistics, and trend analysis which, collectively, surmized what we can all expect from the Holiday Shopping Season for 2008.

I post some of Linda's commentary here followed by a hyper link to Get Elastic's excellent overview.  It is a thorough read which gives us all insights on what to expect this holiday shopping season -- and much of it is good news, despite a difficult economy.

Bottom line: no one really knows what to expect but all of us do expect people to still shop online as it is easier, cost-effective, and all of us still like to buy people presents.  Some research suggests that online Holiday Shopping for 2008 will increase 12% from the 2007 Holiday Shopping Season.Not bad!

From Get Elastic
by Linda Bustos

October 27, 2008

How Will the Uncertain Economy Affect Consumer Spending this Holiday Season?

"Today’s post is a roundup of recent consumer research and forecasts on how much consumers expect to spend, what they’re looking for and where they plan to get it. It’s interesting but not surprising how some results really vary and even contradict each other (e.g. gift cards are hot, gift cards are not).

This research can’t make decisions for you but it might help you think through your customer segments (and personas) and consider how different types of consumers (what motivates them in a tough economy) experience your site/email offers and messaging.

For example, if you are Musician’s Friend and your customer typically buys music supplies for themselves — if gift givers love to give apparel and gift cards, you might market to your existing customer pushing those items along with an incentive like a gift card rebate to use for themselves in the new year.

Will shoppers spend more or less this year? ..."

<<<CLICK HERE>>> to read full analysis. 

I could not have written this analysis any better than eTaildTail friends at Get Elastic, so please read their summary in full of what to expect over the next 60 days for the Holiday Shopping season. 

It is an excellent and very thorough read and prepares online merchants for the Holiday Shopping Season to increase their return in ad spend when using comparison shopping sites and better understand other marketing efforts to drive traffic to their Web Storefront.

Have a wonderful Halloween Week!

- Chip Arndt

Shopzilla Cost-Per-Click Rate Increases for The Holiday Shopping Season

eTaildTail strives to inform online merchants of relevant information to help grow their online business everyday.

Last week, eTaildTail friends at Shopzilla let us know that they are implementing new Cost-Per-Click rate increases of 25% across the board for online merchants using Shopzilla's comparison shopping engine for the Holiday Shopping Season.  These rate increases are effective from November 20-December 31, 2008. (see below)

These increases are a bit hefty, so please ensure that you adjust your marketing and SKU level bidding strategies, as they are appropriate per marketing channel, accordingly.

As I have said many times before, it is useful and cost-effective for online merchants to have a Web-Based application that helps them:

• Set-up, optimize, and feed their product catalog from one application to any marketing channel
• Monitor and adjust SKU level bidding to maximize return on ad spend
• Analyze the performance of marketing strategies using comparison shopping engines, and
• Adjust marketing feeds immediately

Here is the cost-per-click news from Shopzilla:

"Dear Valued Shopzilla Merchant,

In advance of the 2008 holiday season, we are writing to communicate a seasonal adjustment to our cost-per-click rates. From November 20 through December 31, 2008, we will increase the cost per lead by 25% in all categories. This adjustment reflects the increased conversion to sale that occurs during the holiday shopping season.

These changes will automatically take effect on November 20 and end on December 31. You will not need to make changes to your account before or after this period.

We are committed to helping you maximize your sales during the 2008 Holiday season. If you have any questions, please contact your Shopzilla Account Manager."

If any online merchant needs help managing their Shopzilla feed, or 150+ other marketing channels, MerchantAdvantage, which I am a Co-Founder of, is the only application in the marketplace that allows online merchants to do all of the named functions above and:

• Allows a merchant to feed to 150+ marketing channels for one price
• Charges ONLY a flat per month rate with no long-term contracts
• Supports unlimited SKUs
• Supports unlimited storefronts
• Does NOT charge revenue share
• Does NOT charge transaction fees
• Does NOT charge listing fees
• Does NOT charge set-up fees
• Immediately sets up an online merchant to utilize 4 FREE comparison shopping engines
• Supports SKU level bidding
• Allows online merchants to analyze and react to their marketing campaigns in real time, and 
• Provides free, weekly educational Webinars to maximize their channel marketing efforts 

So if you are interested to learn more about how to maximize your marketing strategy, just go to MerchantAdvantage and ask for a free online demonstration and see what MerchantAdvantage is doing for Callaway Golf, ProFlowers, Birkenstock and hundreds of other US and European clients to maximize their return on ad spend.

The Holidays are upon us and, yes, you can make money in this "recessionary economy" with intelligent marketing strategies, as people are still shopping online.

In addition, if you want to learn more on how to make money during the Holiday Shopping Season, check out this free Webinar MerchantAdvantage and buySAFE gave last week -- it is definately a "treat" and not a "trick"....promise.  Full slides and audio! 

How to Gain Customers and Customer Loyalty During the Holidays

Happy Halloween Week!

-- Chip Arndt

Survey Says: Site Search, SEO and Email Marketing are Key for E-tailing Success

eTaildTail and MerchantAdvantage are proud to offer insights from our friends in the ecommerce and mobile commerce industries to help online merchants improve their online maketing efforts and increase sales and return on ad spend.

This week, Geoff Brash of SLI Systems, the industry leader in intelligent storefront site search solutions, provides an insightful look into those technologies that help online merchants most effectively.

The study, and Geoff's subsequent commentary, covers what technologies online merchants found the most important to implement today to improve onsite conversions and build trust in the marketplace of their storefront and brand.

Thank you Geoff for participating in the eTaildTail community and helping us all learn a little bit more on how to be effective etailers!

Guest Commentary from Geoff Brash, SLI Systems:

"Are you giving top priority – and adequate resources – to making the most of site search, SEO, and e-mail marketing? 

We recently polled more than 300 U.S. retailers about what e-commerce technologies matter the most when promoting their online businesses, and these three e-commerce technologies scored the highest among several others, including user-generated content, static and dynamic ads, social media and more.  In fact, 90% of the survey participants said that search is a “critical,” “very important” or “important” factor in the success of their business. 

Those surveyed also said that the effectiveness of site search and SEO will continue to get better over the next three years.  Meanwhile, 40% of the retailer respondents are testing out new online tools as a way to strengthen their marketing efforts, by starting company blogs and podcasts. 

Almost the same number (38%) said that user-generated content – for example, ratings and reviews – is also gaining in popularity.  Have you incorporated any of these innovative approaches into your marketing efforts? 

What have your experiences been?

There are many more interesting findings from our survey, including the fact that about 90% of the retailers who tracked results said that after adding site search, sales increased or conversion rates improved.   

With the holiday season just around the corner, now is the perfect time to incorporate some of these important technologies if you’re not already.

If you’re interested in seeing the full results of our survey, please visit www.sli-systems.com."

Thank you Geoff and onward we charge to make our online storefronts the most productive that they can be for the Holiday shopping season -- even in a touch economy.

-- Chip Arndt

NexTag Says: "Economic Woes Won't Spook Smart Halloween Shoppers"

Is the following synopsis, by the highly successful comparison shopping site NexTag, a "Trick or Treat"?

Some analysts are "bearish" and see this announcement about Halloween Shopping as a "trick", especially when one considers that the USA is experiencing some hard financial times - even with the biggest one day gain of the New York Stock Exchange in history registered today.

But, if it means anything, I see NexTag's synopsis as a "treat"!!!

I do believe that we will see an overall decrease in all retail shopping 4Q 2008, due to general tough economic times and Americans deciding to live more within their means, but this does not mean that online shopping will see a decline from last year.

Actually, I see more and more people going online to shop because:

1. of several assumptions based on my prior post titled: Credit Crunch Sends Shoppers Online for Cheaper Holiday Presents
2. Americans find shopping online cost-effective and easy
3. consumers are becoming more and more comfortable with online shopping and with mobile commerce ("mcommerce"), and
4. month-to-month growth rate of 15-35 year olds shopping online is growing faster than ever before

So here is NexTag's analysis, which is a "little" bias as they want people to shop with them, but I believe it is accurate, especially when I see statistics on shopping across over 150 other comparison shopping engines ("CSEs").

Economic Woes Won't Spook Smart Halloween Shoppers
NexTag offers users the tools they need to save this holiday season.

From NexTag, October 13, 2008

The economic outlook may be grim for many Americans, but that doesn't mean Americans will skimp when it comes to costumes, candy and decorations this Halloween.

The latest report from the National Retail Federation shows that despite a slowing economy, Americans will be celebrating the holiday this year in greater numbers than ever before (64.5%, up from the previous year's high of 58.7%). Average spending is also on the rise at $66.54 per person, an increase of more than $20 in the past seven years alone. And it's not just parents and children who are getting into the spirit of the season, seniors, singles and even pets will be donning costumes and strutting their stuff.

However, while shoppers are spending more they're also spending smarter. Increasing numbers are turning to the internet, and specifically to price comparison shopping to find the best deals. NexTag offers consumers the information they need to find the best value for their money as well as access to hundreds of quality sellers.

It's Trick-or-Treat Time: By far the most popular Halloween activity...

<<<CLICK HERE>> to read full article, it is a good read!

-- Chip Arndt

Credit Crunch Sends Shoppers Online for Cheaper Holiday Presents

It is nice to look at the cup half full, even in gloomy economic times. 

Or maybe it is just smart business to see that the collective world repsonse to the recent credit crunch market collapse, the stock market recovery today worldwide, and America's endless desire to consume may actually drive more shoppers to the internet to look for bargains and products for the Holidays.  We still "need" presents!

I don't believe that the online Holiday shopping season will be as robust as we have seen in the past, and it definately will not grow significantly beyond 5-7% over last year's performance, but online and mobile shopping will maintain itself and ecommerce merchants should be able to have an "okay" Holiday shopping season as:

1. people are used to shopping on line more and more
2. people are looking for bargains to save money and doing it online is easier, and
3. Americans are addicted to consumption

So here is the silver lining for the Holiday Shopping Season and how ecommerce merchants can prepare, as reported by eTaildTail friends at Tech Central.ie.

October 13, 2008

E-retailers Urged to Prepare For Christmas
Credit crunch sending shoppers online for cheaper presents

Businesses are being urged to ensure that their online stores are up-to-date and competitive as a growing number of shoppers turn to the internet for bargains.

A recent survey for ISP Eclipse Internet found that, with the credit crunch biting down, 54 per cent of respondents will be spending less this year on presents, and one in 10 are expected to buy more online thanks to lower prices and greater variety.

Around one in five now buy more than half of all Christmas presents online, jumping to nearly a third for 25 to 44 year-olds.

"The rising importance of online shopping has been accelerated by the current climate of economic uncertainty, with people looking to reduce the cost of Christmas without compromising too much on the overall event," said Mark Thomas, head of sales and marketing at Eclipse Internet.

Price and convenience are the two biggest factors driving shoppers off the high street and onto their PCs, according to the survey....

<<<CLICK HERE>>> to read full story

-- Chip Arndt

Gain Customers and Customer Loyalty During the Holidays: MerchantAdvantage and buySAFE Webinar

Hi eTaildTail community. I hope you can attend this free webinar on:

"Gaining Customers and Customer Loyalty During the Holidays."

Webinar Details: <<<CLICK HERE>>> to register
Date: Thursday, October 16, 2008
Time: 2:00 PM-2:30 PM Eastern / 11:00 AM-11:30 AM Pacific

Even during difficult economic times, consumers still shop online.

In fact, that will probably be the place they will shop most in an effort to save money rather than going to the “brick and mortar” stores.

Therefore, it is important to reach these customers cost-effectively and then build long-term relationships with them so that you maximize the ROI on your marketing spend.

During this 45 minute Webinar, buySAFE and MerchantAdvantage will provide precise steps any online retailer can take to reach and convert those consumers that are most likely to become a repeat customer during the Holiday season and beyond.

Online shopping, whether on a laptop or mobile device, continues to be the preferred way to reach new customers, build your brand, and gain customer loyalty.

As part of MerchantAdvantage’s A.M.M.O for 2008 series, October’s Webinar with co-host buySAFE will:

1. Show online retailers how to stay ahead of the competition by identifying, targeting and converting the most valuable Internet shoppers
2. Outline 4 phases using the "right" marketing channels to reach high-value shoppers during the Holidays to increase sales
3. Show online retailers how they can present their e-commerce products in front of millions of shoppers
4. Prove and show how any online retailer can afford to implement alternative, multi-channel marketing methods
5. Highlight a Case Study by buySAFE: "How buySAFE Increases Sales, Order Size , and Profitability"

Join us for this insightful 45 minute MerchantAdvantage Webinar presented by:

Chip Arndt, EVP & Co-founder of MerchantAdvantage with guest Tim Woda, Vice President, Business Development & Sales of buySAFE.

This Webinar will arm you with information you need to make smart, cost-effective marketing decisions in the online retail and mobile commerce world for the Holidays -- even during very diffiicult market conditions.

We look forward to seeing you online!

Webinar Details: <<<CLICK HERE>>> to register
Date: Thursday, October 16, 2008
Time: 2:00 PM-2:30 PM Eastern / 11:00 AM-11:30 AM Pacific

Have a great weekend!

- Chip Arndt

MerchantAdvantage Helps Increase The Return on CSE Spending

It is always nice when the marketplace takes notice of our hard work at MerchantAdvantage to help ecommerce merchants work cost-effectively with over 150 consumer shopping engines and comparison shopping engines ("CSE"), including Amazon, buySAFE, eBay, Cooking.com, Greenzer, HGTV, Like.com, PriceGrabber, Pronto. Shop.com, Shopzilla, Smarter.com, and a myriad of other CSEs.

Today, BizReport reported on the importance of using a robust analytic tool to:

• measure how marketing campaigns are working across CSEs, and
• gauge and calculate return on ad spend ("ROAS") when using these marketing channels. 

In the article, BizReport highlighted MerchantAdvantage, and our "Chanalytics" reporting tool, as an important element to providing essential, easy to understand metrics for an ecommerce merchant.  These metrics are provided in a user friendly report which empowers a merchant to be proactive in adjusting marketing campaigns using CSEs to increase ROAS quickly and easily. 

The "Chanalytics" product is available to any ecommerce merchant, as a stand alone product, to measure and compare all marketing campaigns in one user-friendly interface.

"Chanalytics" is also incorporated into other MerchantAdvantage tool-based products that help ecommerce merchants feed their product catalog data to over 150 CSEs or marketing channels seamlessly.

In addition to the free white paper report on "Chanalytics", identified by BizReport, MerchantAdvantage also offers several other helpful resources free. <<<CLICK HERE>>> to access that library of information.

I hope these additional reports and resources prove helpful to all ecommerce merchants to grow sales going into the holiday shopping months.

<<<CLICK HERE>>> to access that library of information.

- Chip Arndt

BizReport
by Kristina Knight
October 3, 2008

How to Increase the Return on CSE Spending

"Consumer shopping engines (CSE) are becoming much more integral to ecommerce but many etailers are still unsure how to ensure the best return on their spending. While nothing beats the tried and true "try it and adjust" philosophy, here are two ways to increase the ROI of CSE spending from the start.

First, don't go it alone. Marketers can spend all day tracking down the metrics of a campaign. Instead of doing this yourself, consider using an analytics program, like Chanalytics from MerchantAdvantage, to offer technical support. Chanalytics regularly feeds the data merchants need as they need it; it can also process any technical issues that face the marketer before those issues become huge, time consuming matters. Managing the CSE channel from the beginning can free up time so that etailers can focus on selling more products.

Second, don't stop reviewing the information sent from feeds and the responses received directly from consumers. Consumers feelings can change in an instant. Most want a simple shopping experience, fast shipping and a good product;..."

<<<CLICK HERE>>> to read full article by Kristina Knight and BizReport.

Will Consumers Be Shopping Online in a "Challenging" Retail Holiday Season?

Experts way in on this very precarious topic for all of us in the ecommerce and mobile commerce (mcommerce) industry for the holiday season.

Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, which is owned by the great investor Warren Buffet, shares their valuable insights with us.  The article is an excellent overview of where we are and what to expect for online retail shopping during the Holiday shopping season. 

It is not as bleak as you might think, although it is not as optimisitic as I had hoped either.  We are definately in tough economic times but people are still shopping online more and more.

Here are some excerpts from the article and links to the whole article.  I suggesting reading it all; it's excellent and easy to digest.

Business Wire, October 1, 2008

Consumers Will Be Online in a Challenging Retail Holiday Season

"To understand consumers’ online research and spending plans this holiday season, Burst Media surveyed over 3,000 Internet users ages 18 and older in late August 2008 about their expected use of the Web for the upcoming holiday season.

With economic woes pervasive in news headlines, Burst fielded the survey again between September 21- 23, 2008 (n=1,247) to ascertain whether there had been a change in consumers’ planned holiday spending in the four weeks from the first survey. The number of consumers who plan to spend less this holiday season has increased since late August. While we cannot correlate this change with the economic climate, September data shows a significant shift from our earlier reading.

Among Important Demographic Segments – Moms, Men, and Higher Income Households – Spending Will..."

<<<CLICK HERE>>> to read full article.

-- Chip Arndt

Mobile..."IZE" Your E-Commerce Storefront

Many ecommerce merchants have asked MerchantAdvantage about the benefits of having your ecommerce storefront accessible on mobile devices.  MerchantAdvantage believes that every ecommerce merchant should list their products on mobile devices because of:

• the advent of improved mobile interfaces and devices to accomodate shopping
• trends in consumer behaviour patterns, and
• flat pricing by mobile technology providers to surf the Web.

Apple's iPhone led the way to providing a user friendly shopping experience on a small mobile device.  This included being able to locate products, compare prices of products, and buy products.  Because Apple's iPhone appealed primarily to a 15-35 year old demographic, this led to a pattern of increased usage by "younger" people to "mobile shop." An article from USA Today, titled Shop By Phone Gets New Meaning, confirmed these findings.  And here is another article, First Data's McCarthy Examines MCommerce Trends, from industry experts Mobile Banker, August 2008, which speaks to why they believe that "...everything is in place...finally..." for mobile commerce to explode in 2009.

Just this week, Practical E-Commerce wrote an article on new open source mobile commerce platforms referencing Nielson's, which stated that 9 million Americans have already made a purchase from a mobile device and that 50% of the 250 million odd mobile handset users in the USA are willing to make a purchase. Can you feel the trend?

While the mobile shopping experience is far from perfect, youth today expect to be able to "do it all" from their mobile device including buying anything at any time they want. And the marketplace is catching up because this is the demographic whom all companies and ecommerce merchants must reach to drive sales and increase brand exposure into the future.

Soon after the iPhone release in 2007, every major mobile device company upgraded their interfaces to compete with Apple to ensure that customers can virtually do whatever they want using their mobile devices.  The most recent announcement came from T-Mobile and Google. For November 2008, T-Mobile and Google are launching a new 3G/JavaFX mobile device to compete directly with Apple.  This new mobile device's shopping experience will be powered by Amazon and offer consumers a complete shopping experience from one of the best and largest e-retailers in the USA. Information on this new launch can be found by <<<CLICKING HERE>>>.

T-Mobile and Google had a soft launch of the product in New York two weeks ago and are launching their new offering first in Europe, where adoption of such technologies is quicker than the USA.  Introduction of the new "Google/T-Mobile Andoid, JavaFX Phone" will reach the USA 1st quarter 2009. MerchantAdvantage believes that all ecommerce merchants should realize that mobile shopping is becoming a part of our culture and stay ahead of this trend so they can be more competitive.

These mobile shopping experiences include the ability to instantly buy a gift or product, compare prices while shopping at one store or anywhere where they want, download coupons, take a picture of a product - share it with a friend - and then purchase it, and receive special offers from companies they like shopping from and trust. 

Further evidence of the proliferation of mobile shopping is evidenceed by wireless carriers building out the national infrastructure for mobile commerce and their continued flat pricing to surf the Web.  Internet Retailer reports that, by the end of 2009, 51.9% of merchants expect to operate their own m-commerce site for users of wireless devices and 57.1% also expect to design and maintain pages on social networks that give shoppers options to download digital coupons, upload videos, and participate in blogs or forums.  These m-commerce sites would be in addtion to working with shopping portals as Amazon, which also can get an ecommerce merchants products in front of consumers.

“We are seeing a fundamental shift in how retailers are deploying new web technology and that trend is going to accelerate over the next year,” says Evan Gerber, principal consultant, user experience, with Molecular Inc., an e-commerce consulting and web design firm.

“Web shopping isn’t about creating the best desktop experience on a hard-wired personal computer any more. The retailers that make best use of emerging technologies such as mobile commerce and social networking are the ones that will build the best brand recognition and create the most diverse means for shoppers to complete a transaction.”

The whole concept of mobile shopping is intuitive but the execution can be complicated. For instance:

1. How does an ecommerce merchant list/feed their products to Amazon easily so there products can subsequently get listed on the new T-Mobile/Google mobile device?
2. How does an e-commerce merchant list their product catalog into other supported mobile shopping networks and syndicated comparison shopping engines to ensure that a consumer can find their products and brand on any mobile device?
3. How does an ecommerce merchant create their own user-friendly, mobile Web Store that a consumer can go to directly and navigate through easily, and finally...
4. How does an ecommerce merchant update their product catalog and inventory management across all of these channels when a sale on a mobile device occurs?

There are answers to help ecommerce merchants "Mobile...IZE" their ecommerce storefront and excellent companies to initiate an mcommerce (mobile commerce) strategy.

MerchantAdvantage is one company that helps by:

1. supporting mobile shopping technologies that set up mobile commerce storefronts
2. supporting Amazon, and
3. feeding product catalog feeds, cost-effectively to over 150 comparison shopping engines, coupon sites, and other maketing channels that support both online ecommerce and mobile commerce

mShopper and mPoria are examples of excellent companies, whom MerchantAdvantage works with, to set up a mobile storefront in less than 24 hours from a clean data feed.  MerchantAdvantage also is glad to put any ecommerce merchant in touch with a myriad of other companies to accomplish all that an ecommerce merchant needs to leverage the growing mobile commerce space and we recommend that you start today to stay competitive.

While I disagree with Bill Mirabito below who says that "mobile technology is not ready for actual transactions/mobile checkout", because I find it is and getting better every month, I do encourage all readers of this post to check out the following Webinar hosted by eTaildTail friends at ElasticPath.

The Webinar is free and will give you valuable insights into the best use of mobile shopping technology for the holidays.  And, when you are done with the Webinar, give me a call and I would me more than happy to go into further details of how MerchantAdvantage and our many mobile strategic relationships can help you reach customers this holiday season via their mobile devices.

Holiday Wish List for Mobile Commerce: Free Webinar: October 23rd, 2008 @ 9am PT/12pm ET

Guest Panelist: Bill Mirabito, Founder & Principal Consultant, B2C Partners

<<<CLICK HERE>>> to register for this free Webinar from our friends at ElasticPath.

Retailers love growing store traffic and improving the brand experience, but mobile devices are rarely part of the equation. Present-day technology isn’t ready for mobile checkout. However, today’s cell phones can be used by in-store consumers as an effective “kiosk on the hip.” In this session, Bill Mirabito will outline how mobile technology can help retailers drive cross-channel sales this holiday season.

In this webinar, you will learn how to:

• Engage in-store consumers and get them to register their device
• Deliver enhanced product information to consumers in the aisle
• Direct shoppers to alternate store locations with available inventory
• Create wish lists in store and share gift registries for holiday shopping
• Personalize recommendations and promotions for cross-channel consumers

<<<CLICK HERE>>> to register for this free Webinar from our friends at ElasticPath.

- Chip Arndt

"Free Shipping" For The Holidays: Not So Fast

The economy is "bust", the "bailouts" are upon us, and who cares who fault it is. So what do e-commerce merchants do for the Holiday Season to get sales?

In the past "Free Shipping" worked wonders, but now e-commerce merchants have to think twice about absorbing this cost, as margins on products sold shrink.

I am no expert so I instead turn to friends of eTaildTail who are experts. 

Here is some great advice for e-commerce merchants who willl battle with the dilemma of how to "entice" customers withoiut providing free shipping and get away with it, during the holiday shopping season.

This is an important read!

-- Chip Arndt

From: Natalia Zumeda, Advertising Age

No Such Thing as Free Shipping?

Facing Rising Costs, Online Retailers Likely to Attach Strings to Holiday Promos

"Retailers counting on online shopping to buoy sales in a tight economy are wrestling with a big problem: free shipping.

Shipping discounts, which have become a mainstay of the holiday season, are being carefully analyzed by retailers as they weigh the benefits against the mounting costs. Transportation costs have skyrocketed in the last year, with diesel prices rising 50% year over year. In response, fuel surcharges applied by UPS and FedEx have more than doubled to 10.5% for ground packages and 34.5% for air packages..."

<<CLICK HERE>>> to read full article.

Microsoft Shopping, Live Search Cashback, JellyFish, Live Search Updates and Ciao.com Purchase Too

Microsoft is doing its best to gain market share in the area of comparison shopping engines and online shopping.  I personally think they are doing a great job.  The marketplace will see some great benefits for both the consumer and the online e-commerce merchant in months ahead; I think the marketplace is rooting for Microsoft.  Do we really want our whole online world to be Google?

In the past 12 months Microsoft has:

1. acquired Jellyfish.com in 2007, a unique online comparison shopping portal that combines "smack daddy" daily specials with cash back options that the e-commerce merchant passes on to the shopper
2. utilized the "cashback mechanism" of JellyFish.com for their larger Microsoft shopping portal
3. Microsoft now has two shopping engines; MSN Shopping and Live Search Cashback.  Live Search Cashback offers up to 40% cash back to consumers on any purchase -- an amazing and bold move and one that really benefits the consumers and the online e-commerce merchant; Microsoft pays 100% of the cash back refund to consumers on behalf of the merchant
4. bought Ciao.com, one of the most dominant comparison shopping engines in all of Europe, with a new subsidiary in the USA (www.Ciao.com), to solidify market share and product shopping awareness globally.

Commenting on MSN Shopping, Mark Deruyter, program manager lead at Microsoft Corp.’s MSN Shopping, stated: “We have great content on MSN Shopping and we wanted users to be more engaged and to reward them.” A new animated web page will feature changeable “storefronts” that can be adapted to fit seasonal shopping and specific categories, such as jewelry, Deruyter told conference attendees.

The home page will include a spinning wheel with a range of credit points enabling frequent shopper program members to “spin to win” up to 50 credits each day. Credits can be redeemed for discounts. “We’re trying to get the customer to come back,” Deruyter said.

Commenting on Live Search Cashback, Jennifer Stark, MSN Product Specialist, added: “Consumers and Advertisers are getting more of an economic value from Live Search Cashback.  It is a win-win situation for everyone.”

I am sure Microsoft has big plans ahead to take Google head on in search and by fortifying online shopping, which also serves up many ad campaigns, this just may be their first major, successful move -- "knight takes pawn D5" - Google, your move.

For all e-commerce merchants reading this please note that you should definately work with Microsoft's: Live Search Cashback, MSN Shopping, and Live Search as listing your products with them is FREE.

So, any sales leads you get are also FREE.  So why not list your products with them and get some possible sales leads and definately get some good SEO for your Webstore? 

Need to reach them?  Contact MerchantAdvantage and we can get you there.

-- Chip Arndt

PS If you want to work with all of Microsoft's comparison shopping engines quickly, cost-effectively, and seamlessly, including Ciao.com in the USA or Europe, check out MerchantAdvantage. For only $145 a month, and no other fees, MerchantAdvantage can list, optimize, and analyze your product catalog feeds to any and all Microsoft related shopping sites and 150+ other comparison shopping engines.  Where else can you market to possibly over 20 million unique visitors per month for $145 a month?  Check us out.

And don't forget....

and

AOL Shopping and New Gift Card Program Powered by Gifts.com

I always like to see comparison shopping engines try to provide more value to both the consumer and online merchants when listing products with a comparison shopping engine.  Over the past six months, heading into the 2008 holiday shopping season, comparison shopping engines have been doing their best to take advantage of the ongoing growth and ease of online shopping.

Since July 2008, AOL has done an excellent job of working with