E-Commerce

The End of Full-Price Retailing?
October 28, 2011

An ominous bell is tolling for daily-deal sites. Groupon may be growing like kudzu, but it's losing money as more daily-deal sites like LivingSocial enter the marketplace. But don’t count out daily salemails yet. Daily-deal sites are recalibrating by offering a cache of products that drill down to a particular neighborhood, drum up repeat business and calculate metrics. What’s the real deal? Business owners can now design the right daily salemail to fit their brand experience.

Sears’ Local E-Commerce Move Trying to Change Consumer Behavior
October 28, 2011

On Oct. 26, Sears made its local-only e-commerce move that would limit its displays to products sold by and available at the most local store. It would also display nonadvertised local sale items plus a preview of items slated to go on sale the following week.

Macy’s Launches mBLOG for Fashion, Beauty and Home Content
October 27, 2011

Macy’s has launched a new online destination, called mBLOG, for fashion, beauty, home and lifestyle news and trends. Each day of the week is dedicated to a specific topic, and embedded e-commerce enables readers to purchase featured merchandise directly from macys.com.

Target Website Crashes Again
October 26, 2011

Target confirmed that its website crashed for the second time in six weeks on Oct. 25, going down at approximately 12:50 p.m. EDT and then coming back up two hours later. Target.com also crashed on Sept. 13, after the retailer’s online introduction of its new line of Missoni apparel and items.

Dressing Your Website for the Weather
October 26, 2011

When the first flakes of a snowstorm start falling in Philadelphia, it doesn't take nearby Home Depot stores long to position shovels and rock salt up near their front doors. At the same time, if a heat wave is blasting Phoenix, shoppers walking into their local Wal-Mart will be tempted to buy air conditioners, kiddie pools and slushy machines.

Outrageous Offers: Free Necklaces and Shipping for Holiday Shoppers?
October 25, 2011

Retailers are so desperate this holiday season that they're willing to lose money to get you to spend yours. Take online jeweler Stauer. It's offering a $249 amethyst necklace for free — provided customers pay the $24.95 it costs to ship it. Stauer will lose money on the deal, but it hopes to reel in new customers who will buy other jewelry.

Looking for Growth in All the Wrong Places
October 25, 2011

Any digital-based business, whether it’s advertising, commerce or publishing, is still saddled with the burden of potential. Growth is expected to be exponential. Therefore, it surprised me that more than a few experts are throwing in the towel on some important growth markets.