Amazon.com

E-commerce: Lessons Learned From Being an Amazon Partner
March 15, 2005

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

The Secret to a Successful Web Site
November 26, 2003

It should have such incredible perceived value that your visitors want to bookmark it By Denny Hatch When I travel, I like to bring my laptop so I can check e-mail and read English-language newspapers online. To do that, of course, I need the right phone jack for the country I'm visiting. Recently I went to Spain. Before I left, I visited the Web site for the Magellan's catalog, clicked on "Info Center," scrolled down the country guides list to Spain and found that Spanish telephones are accessible with the RJ-11 adapter used in the United States. Terrific! No order needed from

Amazon Helps British Merchant Unveil Its Brand in the U.S.
October 1, 2003

By Lisa Yorgey Lester The launch of a new sports bra ordinarily doesn't attract a great deal of press. Then again, a tennis match at Grand Central Terminal between Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos and tennis siren Anna Kournikova is no ordinary event. Bezos and Kournikova recently teamed up to promote the U.S. debut of the Anna Kournikova Multiway sports bra available to U.S. consumers through Figleaves, a London-based intimate apparel retailer that recently joined Amazon's Apparel & Accessories store. Exclusivity and variety are Figleaves' unique selling proposition. The retailer sells leading swimwear, nightwear and hosiery brands for men and women in all

Holiday Hunting, Part 2
January 1, 2003

In last month’s column, I recounted my holiday-shopping experiences with The Sharper Image, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com. This month I offer more catalog-shopping tales in case they’re helpful or instructive to other catalogers. I requested a copy of the Wisconsin Cheeseman catalog, because a recent vacation in Wisconsin convinced me of that state’s supremacy in cheese-making. The catalog, which arrived about a week after I requested it online, offers various cheeses, meats, sweets and other delectables. It’s a terrific marriage of photography and copy. And the color quality and merchandise selection is exceptional. So with the catalog, a credit card

Early Holiday Hunting
December 1, 2002

This past month I did a bit of holiday shopping online and by catalog. On the whole, my experiences were enjoyable, although I did encounter a few snags. I offer them here in case they’re instructive for other catalogers. I’d been looking in The Sharper Image catalog at a foot massager as a holiday gift for my husband’s two hard-working aunts, but I was unsure about buying it. One day I got an e-mailed offer from The Sharper Image: Get $20 off an order of $60 or more. “Ah!” I thought. “A perfect time to buy.” So I clicked on

Amazon Tests Catalog Search Service
July 1, 2002

By Gabrielle Mosquera Seeking to further its mission of enabling consumers to buy anything online, Internet behemoth Amazon.com in May began testing its own catalog search service. "It's similar to our 'Look Inside the Book' feature," explains Amazon spokesperson Carrie Peters. "It's an easy way for catalogers to have exposure to Amazon's customers. The nice thing is that it's in a format that a lot of our customers are familiar with." The search allows catalogers access to Amazon's 26 million active customer base, and offers catalogs in eight categories: scientific supplies, medical supplies, industrial supplies, car parts, home furnishings, lifestyle, pet toys,

Close More Online Sales
June 1, 2002

Catalogers know the Web can be a valuable place to sell product. However, it’s likely that many are missing the chance to generate even more sales via the Web. To boost your chance at success, pay as much attention to closing the sale online as you would in your print catalogs—perhaps even more so due to the nature of the Web. Therefore, to convert more of your Web shoppers into buyers, consider three key points in your Web-shopping process: online customer service; shipping and handling; and order-taking and processing. Online Customer Service Here are two commonly held misconceptions about online customer service:

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 retailers—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 sites—and these numbers are rising rapidly, noted two consultants at the recent Direct Marketing Association Annual conference in Chicago. In their seminar entitled “Internet Partnerships: Understanding the Key to Catalog Growth,” John Deneen, president of

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

Type the word “Gift” into any Internet search engine, and you’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 brands—Wireless, Signals and Seasons—would do better under one URL, GiftCatalog.com? The answer lies in the shopping experience. Market researchers told Target’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.

So Who’s Laughing Now?
September 1, 2001

Funny isn’t it that only a short time ago some people were telling jokes about print media such as catalogs, direct mail, magazines and newspapers. Many said these forms of communication would be dead as dinosaurs in a few years, thanks to the advent of the Internet as a marketing channel. Some even abandoned their long-time work in the print media industries in search of more glamorous jobs out in the great World Wide Web. But look inside your mailbox today and, lo and behold, you may find a catalog or brochure from one of the leading online marketers. Those who laughed at