E-Commerce

In the final installment of this three-part series on how multichannel merchants should adjust their marketing budgets to account for an influx of Web traffic and buyers, this week I continue with my list of online programs that make sense to invest your resources in.

The Internet isn’t pink, and it’s certainly not gray. It’s pure black and white. Users want Web sites to be like grocery stores: It doesn’t matter which supermarket you go to in the U.S. — whether it’s a Piggly Wiggly in South Carolina, Safeway in Seattle or Shop ’n Save in Maine — you know milk will be near the eggs, flour close to the sugar and the bananas in the vicinity of the apples. You don’t expect ice cream in the dog food aisle or pickles sandwiched between puppy chow and cat litter. A typical grocery store is full of absolutes. Same

Despite the faltering economy surrounding them, online retailers remain optimistic for the holiday shopping season. In a recent survey from Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, conducted by the shopping search site Shopzilla.com, 56.1 percent of online retailers surveyed said they expect their holiday sales to increase at least 15 percent over last year. The 2008 eHoliday Study polled 2,040 online buyers and 60 online retailers from Sept. 29-Oct. 20. Here are some more of the study’s findings. * 78 percent of the retailers said they plan to offer free shipping (with conditions) at some point during the holiday season, consistent with

It may come as no surprise that our current economic conditions and diminishing consumer confidence are predicted to limit the growth of retail sales this holiday season. But what may be shocking is that even e-tailers are expected to take a hit. While online sales this holiday season are expected to reach $44 billion, the 12 percent increase over last year represents the slowest growth to date, according to Forrester Research. All this uncertainty means that Black Friday and the weeks that follow will be an even more critical time for e-commerce. Retailers’ ability to keep Web shops running reliably through heavy holiday traffic

As more retailers turn to the Web, direct mail and catalogs to offer customers alternatives to burning gas traveling to malls, many are taking a crash course in direct marketing, seeking ways to make the direct channel work for them. Last month, we laid out the first five of 10 key principles retailers should follow to make the most of catalogs and the Web to augment their retail/multichannel programs. Here are principles six to 10. 6. Use effective segmentation to select names for catalog contact. While very sophisticated segmentation and scoring models have proven successful at larger companies, it’s best to first exploit the

Plurk? Twitter? FriendFeed? Utterz? Social networking is all the rage. Everyone seems to want to know more about Web 2.0. That’s especially unfortunate for traditional catalogers and direct marketers whose sites are still at Web .05. Here are the reasons: • These days, most businesses get more than enough Web traffic. • They just don’t know how to convert it effectively. • And to mask their inability to actually enable people to easily add stuff to their carts and check out seamlessly, these companies send more and more traffic to flawed sites. Short term, it can be a great idea. Long term, it’s

In many respects, there’s no such thing as a stand-alone catalog company these days. The value of multiple channels, particularly the Internet, has been readily adopted by most catalogers. So the role of the catalog, while still critical, has changed. It no longer serves as the sole driver of sales, but now also acts as a vehicle to push sales to the Web. Jeff Haggin, president/CEO of the multichannel direct marketing agency Haggin Marketing, offers several tips on how best to convert this consumer traffic into sales when it gets to your site. 1. Limited-quantity specials. Let your customers know your site has deals

Copywriting is often treated like “copy on the go.” That is, it’s treated more like picking up fast food than relaxing over a well-balanced meal. But when you drag copy to a Web site from the original catalog, or use it almost verbatim in an e-mail, there’s bound to be something missing — including lost sales. Consider writing to “fit” the media. The very aspects that make each different selling channel so vital provide clues for writing more powerful copy. The Similarities Regardless of the media, the name of the game is selling. Keep your voice consistent for all media, and remember the

Editor’s Note: This is the third of a three-part series on becoming more adept and adapting to the multichannel world. Parts one and two appeared in our February and June issues. Smart multichannel merchants let customers decide how to order. You can visit a J.Crew store and order a pair of jeans via its in-store Web kiosk while talking to a service rep on the phone. What generated the order? In this case, it was a mailed catalog. Which channel gets the credit? That gets a bit complicated. Our first installment of this multichannel mastery article series detailed the key issues you should focus

A recent webinar from the e-commerce site search, navigation and merchandising solution provider Mercado, led by the company’s director of worldwide merchandising consulting, Michael Klein, provided several tips to help multichannel merchants prepare for their busiest time of the year, the holidays. Here are some takeaway pointers Klein doled out. * Identify your top 20. This includes your top 20 products and keywords and the top 20 percent of your customers, Klein said. Then develop a promotional campaign around that top 20, with targeted e-mails and landing pages. * Test and analyze keywords and null results. For null results, Klein advised offering product alternatives