E-Commerce

I’ve just returned from the eTail conference in Boston, and I got to say, the mood was pretty upbeat considering the economic news swirling around the event. A plummeting stock market, stagnant unemployment numbers, downgraded credit rating and talk of a double-dip recession seemed to be mere afterthoughts for those at the event. Heck, the only double-dip that internet retailers may be familiar with these days is scoops of ice cream as they celebrate their latest round of good news.

Major retailers, including Nordstrom and Gap, have begun offering electronic versions of receipts, either emailed or uploaded to password-protected websites. The retailers report more customers are opting for paperless.

The popularity of flash-sale websites with limited time and inventory offerings has grown exponentially over the past two years. Online shoppers’ love for the thrill of snagging designer clothing, home décor, travel and even wine has caused visits to the category to increase 368 percent in July 2011 as compared to the same month two years ago and 109 percent one year ago. 

Despite leaving the company five weeks ago, Shoebuy.com founder and former President and CEO Scott Savitz led a session at this week's eTail conference in Boston where he detailed the steps the online footwear retailer took to grow into one of the most successful online brands, averaging more than 8 million visitors to the site monthly and realizing gross margins in excess of 43 percent for those visitors.

Build-A-Bear Workshop is using ChannelAdvisor's solutions to transform its original print catalogs into interactive online sales tools, boosting the make-your-own stuffed animal retailer's online presence.

comScore released its Q2 2011 U.S. retail e-commerce sales estimates, which shows that online retail spending reached $37.5 billion for the quarter, up 14 percent vs. a year ago. This growth rate represented the seventh consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and third consecutive quarter of double-digit growth rates.

Groupon subscribers have more than doubled to 115 million since the end of last year. The company had 50.58 million subscribers at the end of 2010. That jumped 64 percent to 83.1 million at the end of the first quarter. Since then, the number of subscribers has climbed to 115 million. That means subscribers are up about 38 percent since March 31.

RetailMeNot.com has released a new infographic that highlights the most popular times and days for coupon usage, as well as regional and international coupon behavior and average savings on a particular site.

Gilt Groupe announced the launch of its standalone luxury retail site for men, PARK & BOND. Built from the ground up to reflect the way men shop, PARK & BOND merges a curated selection of the world's best brands with a continuously updated mix of editorial content designed to give guys the inspiration and advice they need to look their best.

eBay told analysts in February it would launch branded outlet stores on its site later this year. eBay will launch the outlet stores on Sept. 19. They will include Neiman Marcus Last Call, William Rast, Spanx, Fila, Timberland, Brooks Brothers, Bluefly and Custo Barcelona.