E-Commerce

Some online retailers seeking to improve their sites can afford substantial investments in sophisticated analysis tools and costly usability consulting. Others can’t. This article aims to help anyone who wants to tune a Web site “on the cheap.” Step 1: Decide What Needs Improvement on Your Site After listening to comments from customers and employees, you may already know some of the trouble spots on your Web site. You also may note weaknesses on your site after surfing and shopping from your competitors. And you may even use Neilsen’s law of Web usability, which states — quite obviously — your visitors spend

Catalogers should consider using the Web for price testing, said Daniel Dorzback, chief merchandising officer at Petals, a silk flower and decorative accessories catalog, when he spoke at the Hudson Valley Direct Marketing Association’s”Meet the Catalogers” luncheon held in Greenwich, Conn., in early April. “In our paper catalogs, we may run a promotional price test, but not a test across our entire mailing segment,” he said. “We use our Web site as a testing ground -- like a lab to look at different Web exclusives to see how customers will buy into new product categories.” The beauty of online product testing is that the Web provides”a

The Internet penetrated consumers’ inner sanctum faster than any medium since the black-and-white television; both reached 50 percent of U.S. households within eight years of being readily accessible, says DoubleClick, citing the 2001 U.S. Census in its paper, “The Decade in Online Advertising, 1994-2004,” released last Wednesday. And just how does that compare to other media used to reach consumers? Other data revealed by the U.S. Census: ¥ Nine years for 50 percent of homes to gain radios ¥ 17 years for personal computers ¥ 39 years for cable television ¥ 70 years for the telephone

Problem: Omaha Steaks wanted to prevent as many fraudulent orders as possible from shipping. Solution: Instituted a comprehensive fraud-protection program, and it hired fraud-prevention professionals. Results: Saves about $1 million annually from catching fraudulent orders before they ship and in credit card chargeback fees. Ron Eike, director of operations for food purveyor Omaha Steaks, called it his company’s “million dollar problem.” How to prevent fraudsters from using stolen credit cards and other illegal means to buy the company’s gourmet goods? Omaha Steaks established in the early 1990s a comprehensive fraud-protection program, which includes technological means of flagging suspect orders. It also

Two years ago, J.C. Penney Co. unveiled its latest branding slogan, “It’s all inside,” to illustrate to consumers that no matter which channel they shop — retail, catalog or online — they’ll find the same from Penney in terms of merchandise, service and the overall brand. No other companies have copied Penney’s slogan, of course, but many have followed the same path, recognizing that with more orders coming online, customers need to know that regardless of which channel they choose, they can expect a similar experience. Easy Does It Some catalogers have been making subtle alterations in their approaches to the print book

Be afraid. Be very afraid. As you read this, hackers are scanning your servers for open ports. Or perhaps at this moment a hacker is pasting odd strings into your catalog request form to steal credit card numbers. Worse yet: Your machines might already be compromised — and you don’t even know it. Yes, my intent is to scare. And yes, I sound paranoid. But I’m actually not. As one security expert told me with no trace of humor, “It’s not paranoia when they really are trying to get you.” As a multichannel merchant, your days should be spent worrying about merchandise, customer

“The goal of any change to an e-commerce platform is to decrease the customer’s cost of time and effort in doing business with you,” said Eric Svenson, vice president of DMinSite, an e-commerce service provider to the catalog industry, in his talk “Advanced Web Selling Techniques for Catalogers” at the New England Mail Order Association conference held in Cambridge, Mass., last week. Customers will respond to a simplified shopping experience with higher average order values (AOV) and higher conversions, noted Svenson. In order to facilitate this goal, Svenson offered the following techniques: * Test, test, test! Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind is

Becoming an Amazon.com Merchant is a tremendous way to supercharge your Internet exposure, said Sally Rue, former director of consumer business at Caswell-Massey, a soap and toiletries multichannel merchant, during her talk at the conference of the eCommerce and Catalog Systems Forum, held March 3 and 4 in New Orleans. Caswell-Massey’s foray into the Amazon world boosted the merchant’s incremental sales and enabled it to achieve better prospecting. “No question, it was 100 percent worth it,” said Rue, now an e-business consultant who retains her ties with Caswell-Massey. Indeed, in December, Caswell-Massey, a tiny firm by most measures, had three of the top 10 selling

Introduction Like other forms of e-commerce, the possibilities in search engine marketing (SEM) are only just beginning to be fully explored. In its own way, the craft of SEM is a lot like other methods of direct marketing: It requires a steady dose of testing, and in the end, a favorable return on investment. According to a recent SEM survey by New York-based Jupiter Research, just 25 percent of search marketers use “sophisticated SEM tactics. Marketers must cultivate sophistication to remain successful,” the survey states. What’s more, the search numbers continue to multiply. For instance, in November, Google doubled, to more than

Internet-related complaints comprised 53 percent of all fraud complaints processed in 2004, according to a report issued in February by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Other statistics reported by the agency: ¥ Online and offline identity theft accounted for 39 percent of the 635,173 fraud complaints filed in 2004. ¥ Internet auctions accounted for 16 percent of complaints. ¥ Shop-at-home and catalog sales accounted for 8 percent of complaints. ¥ Losses due to Internet fraud amounted to $265 million. ¥ In 35 percent of all fraud cases, victims were initially contacted via e-mail. For more information, visit www.ftc.gov/opa/2005/02/top102005.htm.