Microsoft Bing Pays Consumers up to 50% To Use Online Shopping

Yes...the headline is true and Microsoft's Bing Cashback program will pay up to 50% of the purchase price. So, as I understand it when you purchase a pair of shoes for $100 you get $50 back! 

That is one heck of ratio to pay for traffic, but I guess when you have that much cash on hand and are going after Google, this is one way to do it.

Want to learn more about this incredible program?  Well, I turned to a comprehensive article written by Boaz Berkowitz at Seeking Alpha.  Here is part of it and then a link to the whole story.

Note: Microsoft began this program last year after they bought the online shopping comparsion engine JellyFish an incorporated their "cash-back" tool into Live Cash Back - now Bing Cashback; for August this porgram has been ramped up to a whole new level.

- Chip Arndt

By: Boaz Berkowitz

Seeking Alpha

August 10, 2009

"Starting today, Microsoft (MSFT) plans to actually pay users to search via Bing. Yes, you read that correctly - they will PAY you, in cash, to use Bing rather than some other search engine such as Yahoo (YHOO), or more likely Google (GOOG). How will they do this? When you shop online through the Bing search engine, Microsoft will refund you a portion of your purchase price at its own expense. Okay, they have actually been doing this for a while, but starting today they will double that amount to up to 50% of your purchase price. That’s worth taking notice.

In practice, this concept isn’t entirely new. Many e-commerce sites have affiliate programs which will pay a third party site (like Bing) for referring customers to them. Microsoft’s search engine has taken advantage of this by combining its search engine capabilities with various affiliate programs. When a buyer searches for an item on Bing and then purchases it, Microsoft gets paid a commission for the referral.

There are many sites that do this, but Microsoft is the only one that refunds 100% of this commission back to its users. For more on this, read my last article on Microsoft’s Bing.com (formerly Live.com) here. As you can see from the article, Microsoft has dabbled with paying users out of pocket to shop via Bing in the past. Previously, they have offered similar promotional discounts to specific stores like eBay (EBAY). In that instance, users received up to 30-35% cashback for making their eBay purchases through Bing. But with this promotion, they will double the cashback on ALL affiliate stores, up to 50%!

Want to save 50% at FTD Flowers (FTD) or 50% at Footlocker (FL)? You can, but only if you buy their items through Bing. For a full list of stores..."

Click here to continue reading...

FitBase Provides Valuable Information For Ecommerce Merchants

Many of our ecommerce clients at MerchantAdvantage have asked for additonal information to our white papers and client-side Webinars to make better business and online marketing decisons.  We all know that there’s a lot of information out there – google search, MSN search, Yahoo! search, blogs, industry websites, white papers, even newsletters -- which MerchantAdvantage also sends out each month. 

Okay, all of this is good. After all, knowledge IS power.  But what about too much knowledge?  Having so much information that it is all white noise?  The real question is where do we find the "right" information easily that we can act on today.  Albeit, how do we make heads or tails of the abundance of data available to anyone with an internet connection?

Well, friends of eTaildTail at FitForCommerce have pondered those questions – and have come up with a great answer: FitBase.  

In addition to their core eCommerce consultancy business, they have launched an online knowledge base of all things eCommerce. Now before you become skeptical of "another" site claiming to be the "one-stop-shop" for ecommerce related informaton -- I hear what you’re probably saying now: "...just what we need Chip – MORE information!"  

Okay, point taken. 

However, FitBase provides information in an organized, structured and intuitive manner, with apples-to-apples comparisons, benchmarking data on 1,000s of eCommerce features, and easy to follow, categorized "Best Practices" advice and resources in one place.  This even includes surveys, statistics and provider and solution details for vendors in over 30 different categories.   And, it is all presented in an easy-to-use solution finder interface that finds information and resources that most likely to fit your business ecommerce needs.

There’s only one thing to say. Phew. 

And I am glad to point you in their direction. It has been a great help to me, so check it out here and I believe it will help you too.

Enjoy.

- Chip Arndt

US Online Sales Up 1st Q 2009 Over 2008...But....

The following report is a "mixed bag" for e-commerce merchants.  The great news is that e-commerce is here to stay and is growing in a "tough" economy.  The so-so news is that Web-only, e-commerce merchants did not see the same rise in sales as multichannel retailers (i.e. those retails that had a brick and mortar and online presence), although 31% of Web-only, e-commerce merchants did see a rise in revenues in this very difficult economy.

I am still positive on the overall growth of e-commerce for both mulitchannel and Web-only retailers into 2009 and 2010 because I see ongoing innovations of smart phone devices as helping increase online sales of all types and more and more people like to shop online.

Happy reading.

- Chip Arndt

US Online Sales Up

In dark days, e-commerce shines.

"Most US economic indicators were down in Q1 2009, but online sales were an exception.

According to a survey by Forrester Research and Shop.org, US online retail sales rose an average of 11% in the first three months of 2009. Of the 80 companies studied, 58% saw online sales increases compared with the same quarter last year.

Looking further into the findings, 44% of the e-tailers reported increases of over 10%, 14% showed increases up to 10% and 13% reported flat sales.

In the survey, about 70% of both consumer brand manufacturers and multichannel retailers reported online sales increases. However...." <<<CLICK HERE>>> to continue reading; it is a good read.

Shopzilla Reduces "Minimum Rates" For Certain Products, Effective April 28, 2009

eTaildTail friends at Shopzilla have notified us of a "decrease" in minimum rates pricing, effective April 28, 2009, for certain electronic products.

Hope this information helps.

- Chip Arndt

 

"Dear Valued Shopzilla Merchant,

As part of Shopzilla's continued focus on merchant performance, we are decreasing minimum rates in our Electronics, Computers and Office Supplies categories effective April 28, 2009. A new rate card can be viewed by visiting the following link:

https://merchant.shopzilla.com/oa/resources/us/updated_rate_card.pdf

We hope these changes will allow you to increase your product sales by optimizing your campaign and deepening your participation in our merchant listings program. To take advantage of these changes, please log in to the bidding tool via the Shopzilla Business Services site. We will not automatically place or change bids on your behalf.

We are committed to helping you maximize sales while meeting your performance objectives. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Sales, Shopzilla"

How Consumer Shopping Engines (CSEs) Can Perform For You

Hello eTaildTail community and thanks for reading.  Every now and again I like to bring back some good blog entries that are still relevant to online merchants in their efforts to increase their ad spend when using consumer shopping engines ("CSEs").

A reader of eTaildTail commented on this entry from 2007 yesterday and I think the information is still very relevant today especialy in these tough economic times.

Check out PriceGrabber and how they are working with you convert leads into sales economically.

Also, the following entry fits nicely into eTaildTail's ongoing series called: The Expert's Guide to Channel Marketing. Check it out and I hope the following is helpful.

- Chip Arndt

PriceGrabber Storefront Account: Commission Based Solution/Pay Per Performance vs. Pay Per Click Options For Online Merchants

I  talked about this a few weeks ago, but several folks have asked me:

"Chip, what do you mean that shopping comparison sites are changing their pricing models and we should call them to find out their various options?"

Basically, all shopping comparison sites have two constituencies to please:

1. the consumer with an awesome shopping experience using great navigational methods, reviews, and other "bells and whistles" to make it easy for shoppers to find products easily at they price they want

AND

2. online merchants who are trying to reach those customers/shoppers/consumers in the most cost effective way possible.

Everyone involved realizes that there is a cost to do business, they all just want the cost to be reasonable so everyone can make a "fair" profit.

With the advent of many new shopping destination sites, with unique pricing models popping up each day, often offering better value for the consumer and online merchant -- from a price point of view --traditional shopping comparison sites have responded to online merchants' demand for choice in how they pay for a an ultimate sale.

And since online merchants are one of the constituencies shopping destination sites have to service, they are accomodating them with choice.  Those choices are: "pay per click/lead", flat fees, and/or a commission based structure.

I have found that there are very few shopping comparison sites today that only offer one method of payment, and if they offer only method you can bet that they are introducing the others as I type this blog entry and/or are introducing SKU level bidding options for the pay per click offerings to make that payment method more affordable.

Here is a message from PriceGrabber, one of the best and largest shopping comparison sites -- in terms of customers, eyeballs, and online merchants -- so every online retailer in the eTaildTail community can stay in the know.  The is reposted from October, as I thought it was important for everyone to know their options going into 2008.

From PriceGrabber -- 

"The Storefront account is commission based (as opposed to cost-per click) and was designed for individual sellers who may not have a site of their own. It is free to list on Storefronts; you only pay the $1 + 5.75 percent commission when an item you are listing sells. Once you register you will be assigned a new Storefront account manager who can be easily reached during working hours by phone, fax, email or instant message.

With a Storefront account PriceGrabber users will be able to contact you through our Question & Answer forum but will not be able to contact you directly before making a purchase. We do this to protect our buyers, and ourselves, from potential fraud that can occur when transactions take place outside of our control.

Merchant accounts are for those interested in volume sales. They use datafeeds to list products, are assigned an account manager, pay a setup fee to integrate a datafeed and are charged a CPC (charge per click) amount for each qualified buyer referred to their Website....

<<<CLICK HERE>>> to continue reading the rest of the article on eTaildTail. If you would like to work with PriceGrabber let them know eTaildTail sent you their way, or have MerchantAdvantage or me put you in contact with them directly; we would be glad to assist.

eTaildTail Named A Top Resource For Ecommerce News

 eTaildTail stives to be your source for and gateway to ecommerce and mcommerce news, information, resources, companies, and people to help grow your online business. 

We also know that we are not your only gateway to that information and that other resources provide you with excellent and pertinent information that you need right now.  If you are in involved in ecommerce or mcommerce in any way, I found a great site that lists many of those "top resources" in one place. 

May I recommend book marking this site for for future reference - and yes, it is free and they don't ask for you to sign up for anything.

The site is called "AllTop" and I happy that eTaildTail was named one of their top resources!  eTaildTail looks forward to continuing to educate and thanks you all for making our job fun by providing us with questions and insights from around the globe everyday.

Check AllTop out <<<HERE>>>; it will prove useful to you all as you grow your online business into the future.

- Chip Arndt

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