Insider Edition: The Experts' Guide to Channel Marketing - Smarter.com
etaildTail knows that using consumer shopping engines ("CSE"s) can help online retailers increase sales at a price they can afford, although many ecommerce merchants still are hesitant to work with CSEs for a myriad of reasons.
The most notable three reasons are:
- lack of familiarity with a particular marketing channel
- lack of evidence that a marketing channel increases sales cost effectively, and
- difficulty of working with a marketing channel
As part of eTaildTail's ongoing effort to educate online retailers and raise awareness as to the many, cost-effective marketing channels available to them to list their product catalog, for the next few months eTaildTail will interview a particular marketing channel asking them directly their value to growing an online merchant's sales. In turn that marketing channel will provide candid answers as to their value. This series of Q&A's with marketing channels will be referred to as:
"Insider Edition: The Experts' Guide to Channel Marketing"
eTaildTail hopes that these online Q&A sessions give you, the online merchant, pertinent information as to a particular marketing channel and the potential benefits of working with them. And, if you decide to work them then great, please let them know that eTaildTail sent you their way.
So let's get started with an interview with Smarter.com and its Senior Account Manager, Joanna Estacio. All interviews are conducted by Chip Arndt, an author of eTaildTail.
If you would like to contact Smarter.com and Ms. Estacio you may email me at tips @ merchantadvantage.com and eTaildTail would be glad to accommodate you.
Insider Edition: The Experts' Guide to Channel Marketing
Smarter Ecommerce Shopping and Listing with Smarter.com
Interview with Joanna Estacio, Senior Account Manager at Smarter.com by Chip Arndt, eTaildTail author.
YES!!!...that is Joanna in the picture. Lakers??? ...mmm...Go Celtics!!! LOL
1. When was Smarter.com founded and by whom?
Smarter.com was founded by two former GoTo.com / Overture services execs. Initially starting with our sister site, CouponMountain – we branched off into comparison shopping in 2004 with Smarter.
2. What sets Smarter.com apart from the other shopping engines?
Because of our background in coupons, we take pride in integrating coupons and deals at the product level here at Smarter. Often times, you’re just about ready to purchase – you find yourself trying to find a sweeter deal by looking for a free shipping coupon or a $ off coupon; basically we eliminate that step by listing it alongside our products.
Also, we post video products reviews for a healthy amount of products on the Smarter.com site! The great thing about this is that our users have the ability to see others and hear from those who have personally purchased the product.
3. What are the secrets to success for merchants advertising on Smarter.com?
The key to doing well on Smarter is always sending us the latest feed you have! We update a couple of times throughout the day to make sure that our users are seeing the latest price, stock, and deal information. Additionally, being active in bidding is always key as well. Sometimes, for a very minimal increase in CPC you go from being position #17 to position #2!
4. Who is using Smarter.com and why?
A healthy portion of our users are retained users, this is something we pride ourselves on as this tells us consumers look to us for the following:
- Great pricing on products
- A wide selection of products if you’re not quite sure what you’re looking for
- As a source of reputable online retailers (we only list merchants who have a proven history of selling in the online space)
In short, our users are looking for the perfect item at a great price from a trusted online retailer!
5. What are some of the trends you are seeing in the online retail sector during the current economic downturn, and what are you doing to address them?
If anything, with the current economic conditions we see that more and more people are turning to the Internet to shop! The Internet provides a great opportunity for buyers to compare pricing from the convenience of home, with the same selection they would see at any store.
We at Smarter, try to make this experience as pleasant as possible by adding coupons to our listings, highlighting items that are of great value on our homepage or on our blogs, and listing both a sale and suggested retail price among other things so that consumers understand the true value and convenience in shopping online.
Chip: Thank you so much Joanna for your time and insights on how online merchants can benefit by working with Smarter.com
If you want to keep up with all entries as they relate to Insider Edition: The Experts' Guide to Channel Marketing, please click on "Experts' Guide to Channel Marketing" under categories on the left hand side of the eTaildTail blog.
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