Online Sales Tax Compliance Education: Essential Free Webinar To Stay Out of Jail

eTaildTail can not emphasize enough that all ecommerce undertsand the myriad of issues related to compliance with online sales tax levies on your online sales.

The online sales tax picture is certainly not clear, as I wrote about a few times, and the waters continue to muddy with Amazon leading the way (and spending lots and lots of money alonmg the way) in trying to ensure that there will never be any online sales' taxes related to online purchases...good luck!

Also, here are are my prior commentaries in regard to online, retail, sales tax issues, if you are interested. I think you will find them helpful if you have any interest to know about "how we got here today" and "where are going."

Will New York Online Sales Tax Legislation Kill E-Commerce?

Online Sales Tax..Yes You Must Pay It...Or Do you?

Now is not the time to ignore the online, sales tax issue because:

1. knowledge is power
2. you might be fined heavily for not compying with state and federal regulations, which are very, very convoluted, and
3. you don't want to penalize yourself by ignoring the inevitable...yes, it is going to happen. 

So, eTaildTail friends at Avalara, experts in the online sales tax arena, are hosting a free Webinar to learn about what you must do, might do, and don't have to do regarding online sales taxes related to online purchases.

Here is Avalara's formal invitation:

"You are invited to attend a webinar on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009: Tips For Helping Online Merchants Achieve Sales Tax Compliance.

Nexus, taxability and exemptions - these seemingly innocent words are more complex than they first appear. With the constantly shifting sales tax rates and jurisdictional boundaries, many e-commerce business owners simply cannot keep track of compliance details. It is compulsory, and without it you risk incurring unnecessary tax and penalties in the event of an audit. However, achieving compliance is a serious drain on your business' time and resources.

By integrating its services directly into accounting and e-commerce applications, Avalara has helped over 20,000 users eliminate the tedious work and complexity of calculating, collecting, reporting on and remitting taxes in multiple jurisdictions. As a leading provider of web-hosted sales tax management services, Avalara brings you this webinar to show how your e-commerce business can dramatically reduce the risk of suffering loss or penalty as you go through a tax audit.

Join us for this 30 minute, free, educational webinar:

Date: Wednesday March 4th, 2009
Time: 12:00 pm to 12:30 pm PST. 
Take-A-Ways: You will learn how easy it can be to achieve end-to-end sales tax compliance for your e-commerce business."

<<<CLICK HERE>>> to register now for this free Avalara Webinar to educate you all about online sales tax obligations that you might not want to ignore.

- Chip Arndt

Insider Edition: The Experts' Guide to Channel Marketing - Pronto.com

Insider Edition: The Experts' Guide to Channel Marketing

Two weeks ago, eTaildTail had a great interview with consumer shopping engine Smarter.com as part of our 2009 ongoing series called: Insider Edition: The Experts' Guide to Channel Marketing.

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:

1. lack of familiarity with a particular marketing channel
2. lack of evidence that a marketing channel increases sales cost effectively, and
3. difficulty of working with a marketing channel

As part of eTaildTail's 2009 effort to educate online retailers as to the many, cost-effective marketing channels available to them to list their product catalog, eTaildTail will interview executives at various CSEs and marketing channels and ask them to help us undertstand their value to growing an online merchant's sales and revenues.

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 Pronto.com and its Client Services Manager, Fred Klein.  All interviews are conducted by Chip Arndt, an author of eTaildTail. 

If you would like to contact Pronto.com and Fred Klein of Pronto you may email me at tips @ merchantadvantage.com and eTaildTail would be glad to accommodate you.

Insider Edition:  The Experts' Guide to Channel Marketing - Pronto.com

Pronto's Secrets to CSE Marketing Success for Online Merchants

1. When was Pronto.com founded and by whom?

Pronto is a wholly owned subsidiary of IAC, Barry Diller’s portfolio of internet companies.  It was started internally as one of IAC’s “emerging businesses” by Dan Marriott and John Foley in 2005.

2. What sets Pronto.com apart from the other shopping engines?

We are proud to differentiate ourselves in a number of ways from our competitors:

1. We are the fastest growing CSE on the web (83% growth YOY).
2. We offer integrated Social Shopping features in order to create more informed buyers and boost customer loyalty.
3. We have a steadily growing number of registered users to whom we send a weekly newsletter featuring their favorite products on sale.
4. Pronto prides itself on world class customer service – our individual merchant’s concerns matter to us and we commit to being responsive to all of them.
5. We offer SKU level bidding rather than the less strategic category level bidding which is common to many competitors.

3. What are the secrets to success for merchants advertising on Pronto.com

1. Merchants should make sure to provide complete data feeds in the format we provide.
2. Within those feeds, they should make sure to follow proper product title structure (also provided), offer big, clean images, and include retail prices and special offer text.
3. Pronto is a CPC-based bid platform, so aggressive SKU-level bidding on the part of merchants will result in greater visibility on the sight which, in turn, will drive more and better traffic their way

4. Who is using Pronto.com and why?

Pronto is proud to say that we have over 19MM unique visitors (approximately 55% of which are female) and registered users numbering in the hundreds of thousands.  Perhaps most importantly though, our users are actively in the market to purchase products while they are visiting our site and are active shoppers and influencers in general.

5. What are some of the challenges you are seeing in the retail sector during the current economic downturn, and what are you doing to overcome them?

A retailer is always challenged to differentiate itself on price, product offering, reach and style, but this challenge becomes all the more intense during an economic downturn like the one we are witnessing today.  Like the retailers they frequent, consumers are faced with similar challenges and are also looking to spend efficiently. 

Our recent integration of “retail price” into our system allows us to highlight savings that our merchant partners offer to our 19 million unique visitors.  This information serves as a call to action in which Pronto brings together merchants that want to differentiate themselves and consumers who are, understandably, cost conscious.

Bonus Q: How do I get to work with Pronto.com as an ecommerce merchant?

It’s simple . . . any interested merchants should feel free to reach out to either Craig Motz (cmotz@pronto.com) or Lee Breslouer (lee@pronto.com), both members of our Merchant Sales team.  We require only a $50 minimum spend and you can cancel at any time. And let them know eTaildTail sent you our way!

Chip: Thank you so much Fred for your time and insights on how online merchants can benefit by working with Pronto.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.

- Chip Arndt

Report: Online Retail Could Reach $156B in 2009...Even in Down Economy

Ecommerce and mobile commerce ("mcommerce") are here to stay and certainly are the wave of the future for shopping in the USA, Europe, South America, and AustralAsia. 

Even in a down economy ecommerce is up over 2007 by 18% and for 2009 is predicted to be 11% in the USA, not bad!

Don't believe me? Then check out this report from Forrester Research, one of the most respected and trusted research companies in the world:

by Rachel Metz

Online retail sales will likely keep climbing in 2009, even in recession

"According to projections from Forrester Research (nasdaq: FORR - news - people ), U.S. online retail sales are expected to rise 11 percent to $156 billion this year, excluding revenue from travel. However, that will mark a slowdown in the overall growth rate, which was 13 percent in 2008, when online retail sales totaled $141 billion, Forrester says..."

<<<CLICK HERE>>> for full article and all data.

It is time to take advantage of these trends and eTaildTail and MerchantAdvantage are here to help you. Give us a shout and we will help grow your online retail sales.

- Chip Arndt 

Online Marketing Options and Helpful Advice From MerchantAdvantage CEO

SPECIAL COMMENTARY

Online Marketing Options and Helpful Advice Going Into 2009

by Michael Lambert, CEO of MerchantAdvantage

It would seem that with all the articles, blogs, webinars, seminars and trade magazines available that all merchants would be completely in the know and up to date on, well, everything. But instead merchants feel they are under-knowledged in terms of what to do.

All of these information dissemination techniques lack the one thing that everyone thinks they want: One Simple Answer.

My belief is that if there was one simple answer, then there would be virtually no way to separate from the pack.  There would be little or no value in going the extra mile, showing up in an unexpected place, or providing special pricing or service.  The truth, for me, is that the difficulty of certain situations is the true opportunity to stand out and be recognized.  But there truly is a great deal to consider when it comes to online marketing.

SEO - Should an online retailer care, or invest heavily in Search Engine Optimization?  Search Engine Optimization allows merchants to leverage their efforts in terms of creating valuable content for their consumers. If a merchants content is well created, and there is interest in that content, then SEO can attract consumers from Google and other search sites.

But at what point does scrutinizing over text and such become an over expensive advertising campaign generating a great deal of interest in non-consumers generating much more work than sales?  The essence of SEO is to be to the point and be as specific as possible about the product, but in a way that matches how consumers look for you products instead of what researchers might type into the search engines.

SEM - Search Engine Marketing is the practice of purchasing space within the search engines to attract those interested in you based on selected keywords that might be typed into the search engine.  By paying for each click that occurs, it once again makes sense to focus a specifically and accurately as possible on words that would be typed by a perspective purchaser. The success of such a campaign might be measured by how much you pay in clicks vs how much you sold directly or indirectly from those clicks. These efforts are somewhat cluttered as many other marketing efforts for which you may compete with your SEM efforts.

CSE - A huge number of online shoppers constantly search for the best places to shop. They often do so using Consumer Shopping Engines (CSEs....better than Comparison Shopping Engines, I think).  Once again you pay for this traffic, so if it doesn’t convert than you’re paying for nothing. How can a merchant keep up with all that is necessary to  perform well in such channels? Click and Purchase tracking, and more importantly the analysis that goes with it, is without question the key to successful CSE marketing.

Enhanced Site Search - Buy providing a better user experience, many merchants find their conversions are greatly enhanced. Providing an easier and more feature rich site search tends to convert lookers to buyers, but with so many other factors in constant flux, this can be difficult to measure.  So finding a site search tool that also increasing some other aspect of marketing would likely yield the best result. An example of enahnced site search can be found with SLI Systems, with whom I recently gave a free Webinar with explaning the many benefits of enhanced site search.

WEB 2.0 - By providing feedback mechanisms such as product evaluations and consumer reviews, news and rss feeds etc... a retailer stays in touch with their consumers and the consumers needs.  This doesn’t always directly translate into profit, but almost always aids in online retailers success, depending on the focus of the online retailer.

So, I think we’re back to the original point, which is that when there is so much information, and so many options, how is a merchant to know which options are best for them? Are all of these marketing efforts needed? 

What’s the one simple answer to this?

In an article that I released through linked in a few months ago I lashed out at retailers complaining that CSEs were really too difficult, and they should be  made easier. In short, I said that with all of the tools and support information available to retailers by the CSEs themselves as well as third party tools (such as MerchantAdvantage), merchants wishing to succeed should take full advantage of such support.

So, for those of you wishing for a simple answer to the questions presented, namely do I need all of these marketing techniques, here’s just one simple answer:  To whatever degree you wish for success, the answer is - YES.

NOTE: Everyone wants a simple path that leads to their goals. But more often the simple path leads to a less desirable destination.

- Michael Lambert, CEO of MerchantAdvantage
(a Web-based tool, marketing company)

5 E-tail Strategies for A Tough Economy from Get Elastic

eTaildTail friends at Get Elastic, namely Linda Bustos, had some great advice for all ecommerce merchants last week, which can really help in these tough economic times.

I love to work with smart people in the ecommerce space and glean their advice and wisdom. The below piece is very helpful.

Enjoy!

- Chip Arndt

5 E-tail Strategies for A Tough Economy

by Linda Bustos, Get Elastic

"In addition to comparison shopping, the Internet offers shoppers more ways to save money than offline shopping. The following are just 5 examples of what I’ve noticed in e-tail.

Despite economic uncertainty, ecommerce is expected to grow 11% in 2009, according to Forrester Research.

Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru said the majority of the 2009 growth in online spending will come at the expense of physical stores. She expects more consumer dollars to be spent online because it’s easier for people to comparison shop and to find what they’re looking for...."

<<<CLICK HERE>>> to read full article and see how any ecommerce merchant can implement 5 winning marketing strategies immediately in this difficult economy.

Consumer Shopping Engine JellyFish and SmackShopping Closed

Some clients have emailed me asking about the consumer shopping engine, JellyFish.com, which is no longer, and what happened to them.  They also asked about refunds owed to them, which, according to the email below, is available until May 15, 2009.

First, here is an email that was sent to registered users of JellyFish at the beginning of February 2009, who used the "SmackShopping" feature of JellyFish.

"Dear SmackShopping User, Thank you for using SmackShopping and participating in the SmackShopping community over the past few years. Regrettably, we are closing down the site effective February 16, 2009. SmackShows, chats and other interactive SmackShopping services will be discontinued at this point. However, you will be able to redeem any coins you have accrued for 90 days (until May 15, 2009).

At the end of 90 days the site will be brought down completely. Please do not reply to this email, but if you have any questions, please contact us at questions@smackshopping.com.

Sincerely - Smack Shopping Team"

eTaildTail wrote about Microsoft acquiring the discount online shopping service, Jellyfish, in 2007, after just two years in business.  Microsoft bought JellyFish for about $30 million - most likely a combination of cash and Microsoft stock - and we now know Microsoft bought JellyFish for its "cash back" feature, which is now incorporated into Microsoft's "Live Cash Back" consumer shopping engine. 

Creators and serial entrepreneurs Brian Wiegand and Mark McGuire created JellyFish and the unique aspects of their consumer shopping engine were a cash-back component and "daily smackshopping". 

The "cash-back" feature acted as a discounting mechanism wherebye the online merchant decided how much they wanted to "discount" a product and they could change the percentage of the discount at their discretion.  The customer would then receive that percentage discount as actual cash back against the purchase price either as a credit in their JellyFish account or direct cash payment to the customer. SmackShopping was a fun way to remind online shoppers of daily specials.

So while JellyFish is a consumer engine is no longer, "the cash-back" feature which made JellyFish so successful is alive and well at Live Cash Back, a Microsoft consumer shopping engine.

Second, so what has happened to the creators and successful, serial entrepreneurs Brian Wiegand and Mark McGuire who started JellyFish? 

Well, they are at it again and will launch a home-product, oriented consumer shopping engine called Alice.com, set to launch this March.  From what I could find, Alice.com will be an open, online retail platform for consumer packaged goods, focused primarily on linking manufacturers of essential household stuff like tooth brushes, toilet paper, trash bags etc. to end consumers directly.

I love entrepreneurs and wish Brian and Mark the best of luck!

I hope this update helps all of you who might still have questions about the closure of JellyFish, SmackShopping (a JellyFish feature), and the transfer and integration of "Cash Back", another JellyFish invented feature, into Microsoft's Live Cash Back consumer shopping engine.

- Chip Arndt

Smart People

"When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it.  Yet, at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it, but all that had gone before."

Jacob A. Riis
19th Century, Danish-American, muckraker journalist, photographer and social reformer