E-Commerce

E-mail Appending: Pros, Cons and Action Tips
April 1, 2002

Spam is in the eye of the beholder. This adage offered by Anne Holland, publisher of MarketingSherpa.com, encapsulates the current discussions about e-mail appending. Most of the debates center around privacy as it relates to recipientsโ€™ permission. Some experts propose that the existence of a business relationship in one channel (e.g., direct mail) doesnโ€™t justify marketersโ€™ contact through another (e.g., online) when the customer hasnโ€™t given his or her specific permission. โ€œUntil [customers] grant permission to send that e-mail, you shouldnโ€™t assume you have it,โ€ says Margie Arbon, director of operations for Mail Abuse Prevention System, a non-profit organization that works with Internet service

High-tech Customer Service
March 1, 2002

Technological advancements within contact centers are revolutionizing the way catalogers answer and manage inbound calls. And if implemented properly, automated, inbound call programs can streamline caller-cataloger interactions and improve overall customer relations. Added bonus: By using these technologies, catalogers are saving time and moneyโ€”good news in these economically challenging times. The Virtual CSR Imagine a virtual customer service representative (CSR) through which callers can place, change or check their order status. For example, officials at NetByTel (www.netbytel.com) say their NetByTel Connected systemโ€™s virtual agents recognize human colloquialisms, ask callers to repeat information the technology couldnโ€™t initially register, and it even

CS0202_Fea_Ecomm
February 1, 2002

Technological advancements within contact centers are revolutionizing the way catalogers answer and manage inbound calls. And if implemented properly, automated, inbound call programs can streamline caller-cataloger interactions and improve overall customer relations. Added bonus: By using these technologies, catalogers are saving time and moneyโ€”good news in these economically challenging times. The Virtual CSR Imagine a [โ€ฆ]

Try Teamwork: Internet Partnerships
December 1, 2001

Putting aside for a moment the criticisms about its overall business model, Amazon.com offers numerous lessons for Web retailersโ€”namely, the inherent beauty of Internet partnerships. Indeed, Amazon set the standard for this mainstay in the e-commerce world, and numerous catalogers have adopted these principles to great success. In fact, 10 percent of all Internet sales and 3 to 5 percent of all online catalog Web sales come through affiliate sitesโ€”and these numbers are rising rapidly, noted two consultants at the recent Direct Marketing Association Annual conference in Chicago. In their seminar entitled โ€œInternet Partnerships: Understanding the Key to Catalog Growth,โ€ John Deneen, president of

One-Stop E-commerce: GiftCatalog.com
December 1, 2001

Type the word โ€œGiftโ€ into any Internet search engine, and youโ€™ll be faced with more sites than you know what to do with. From Gift.com to SendAGift.com, online gift retailing has become a hot-button business. With such a crowded field, why would the executives of retail giant Target Corp. decide that three of its strongest print catalog brandsโ€”Wireless, Signals and Seasonsโ€”would do better under one URL, GiftCatalog.com? The answer lies in the shopping experience. Market researchers told Targetโ€™s online division, target.direct, that potential for cross-selling among the three catalogs was high, but that navigating three different sites was not as easy it should be.

Nine Tips for Building Your E-mail Housefile
August 1, 2001

All of my favorite catalogs (both business and consumer) regularly e-mail to me promotions or newsletters. It appears that todayโ€™s catalogers are taking e-mail communication seriously and devoting significant marketing efforts to regularly contacting customers and prospects. Indeed, a catalogerโ€™s e-mail file is a valuable asset in building site traffic and sales. Following are nine tips to aggressively grow your e-mail list. Prominently feature on your Web siteโ€™s home page an invitation to sign up for e-mailed communications. Most catalogs offer a subscription for e-mail specials or newsletters; but they can be amazingly hard to find. Sometimes I have to scroll down below

10 Low-Cost Tips to Increase Web Sales
August 1, 2001

Want to improve your online customersโ€™ shopping experience? In its new report, โ€œ10 Retail Site Fixes That Wonโ€™t Break the Bank,โ€ Forrester Research offers these tips culled from a recent study of 100 retail Web sites. 1. Donโ€™t let customers get away. Customers who mistakenly type in โ€œwwwhomedepot.comโ€ are still directed to Home Depotโ€™s site. But those typing โ€œwwwjcpenney.comโ€ end up at a casino site. โ€œRegister and use common domain name misspellings of your site,โ€ says James Crawford, a Forrester analyst. 2. Make it easy for customers to look around. Donโ€™t force them to complete a long online registration form just so they can

Show Us Your True Online Colors
August 1, 2001

Customers will expect to see perfect color online by the year 2002, according to analysts at Forrester Research. Catalogers who are finally feeling comfortable with computer-to-plate and digital proofs now are facing the daunting task of achieving color perfection on their Web pages. Todayโ€™s online shoppers are demanding more from their online shopping experience, including color accuracy. A study from PricewaterhouseCoopers and Media Metrix shows that 83 percent of online shoppers distrust the colors on their monitors. Yet 80 percent of respondents said accurate color was โ€œvery importantโ€ when buying clothing, cosmetics, home furnishings and art online. More importantly, 50 percent of

The Sharper Image: Creating Better Desires
June 1, 2001

My old professor, Frank Knight, used to say, that what people wanted was not the satisfaction of their wants, but better wants. โ€”Herbert Stein, Presidential advisor and economist, The Wall Street Journal When I was a small boy growing up on Long Island, the big annual December outing was an overnight trip to Manhattan to visit my grandmother for the movie and Christmas pageant at the Radio City Music Hall and the annual visit to F.A.O. Schwarz, the great toy emporium on Fifth Avenue and 59th Street to see the newest in 0-gauge Lionel electric trains. When I became a man, I put away

E-commerce: Unconquered Territories
June 1, 2001

After faltering at the starting block, online procurement might have found the magic combination to finally make businesses sit up and notice: indirect buying. And PC giant Dell Computer is leading the pack. Businesses have resisted online buying services until indirect e-procurement arrived on the scene mostly because open buying was slow and perceived as less-than-secure. E--procurement is the purchasing of support goods and services through an online, private customized catalog. The catalog contains products a company is interested in, and has approved for employee purchase, as well as a companyโ€™s negotiated pricing. According to AMR Research, the worldwide market