SLI Systems

Gaining insight into how your customers think and behave is essential for an effective marketing strategy. Yet customer research can be expensive and time consuming. Should you hire focus groups? Conduct customer surveys? Enlist help from a data analyst? While each of those methods can be useful, the starting point to gathering customer intelligence should be easy and inexpensive for online retailers, who already have a window into customer intent and behaviors through the search function on their website. Site search data reflects what visitors actually do on your website.

Football fans around the world are gearing up for the biggest day of the season. On Super Bowl Sunday, a record-breaking 111 million viewers are expected to be glued to their sets to see whether the Broncos or Seahawks carry the day. Which team will they be rooting for? We can answer that question by looking at online search behavior among shoppers seeking NFL logo wear for purchase. During the week following the NFC and AFC championship games, nearly 160,000 searches for the Denver Broncos or Seattle Seahawks were made on e-commerce sites powered by SLI Systems. 

Rounding up the year's best tips to help you optimize your business.

Online shoppers faced with buying a gift often don't know what they want to buy until they see a product that catches their fancy. That presents a challenge for online retailers, who must present shoppers with the right mix of products without knowing what they'll jump at. A variety of search and navigation tools can help guide your customers through the process of looking for a gift and zeroing in on the best options. Your job is to make this process as fast and easy and possible; consumers don't have time for endless, random browsing.

This is the second part of a two-part series recapping last week's Magento Imagine Conference in Las Vegas. Today's installment contains tips from leading experts on topics including responsive design, site search, SEO/SEM and website conversion optimization. 

I attended the Magento Imagine Conference in Las Vegas last week as a speaker and attendee. This was the third year of Imagine and, as promised, it was an exciting and energizing event consisting of workshops, networking, self-promotion and a lot of Vegas-style glam. Here's part one of my recap of the event:

SLI Systems’ survey of nearly 500 retailers finds that e-commerce platforms, site search and search engine optimization will be the top priorities for online retailers in 2013. More than 61 percent of retailers surveyed listed improving conversions and attracting more customers as some of the biggest challenges they face as an organization. To capitalize on recent increases in mobile shopping, 40 percent of retailers also said they would add a mobile version of their site. Download this survey and find out what other strategies retailers are planning for in 2013.

A compilation of this year's best and brightest ideas.

The New York Times recently reported that during the past holiday season tablets became popular tools for online shopping, with 75 percent of web shoppers making a purchase on their tablet. With the recent release of Apple’s newest iPad, it’s clear that “couch commerce” has arrived. To help consumers find their way around your tablet storefront, follow the four tips below to remove navigational and search barriers that can prevent them from fast, easy browsing and shopping.

Welcome to Retail Online Integration's annual Resource Guide. This special section offers all the crucial details, company information, contact numbers and addresses of product and service providers to the cross-channel retail industry.