Online RetailingBlueport.com

Fab.com’s 3.5 million US members were alerted by email to new site enhancements released on Wednesday: “We just reinvented social shopping. Again,” the email proclaimed.

While the fruits of Fab.com’s labors are to be determined, the site released more than 100 enhancements, many with an eye to further integration with Facebook and Pinterest and the fun of social sharing. The e-commerce website’s goal is to “successfully almost replicate the experience people have when they go shopping with their friends in the physical world,” said CEO Jason Goldberg in a Betabeat article. “That’s hard to do online, but we think we’re coming a lot closer to that.”

Fab.com’s Social History

As you may recall, Fab.com originally launched as a social network itself. So it’s not surprising CEO Jason Goldberg would find value in social commerce. But he also has hard numbers to support it:

• 50% of new customers come to Fab.com through social sharing.
• 30% to 40% of an average day’s traffic comes from Facebook.
• 2% of site visits come from Pinterest (and that’s pre-integration).

Additionally, right on its own site, Fab.com was finding that 15% of visits to the Fab live feed result in a purchase.

The New and Improved Fab.com Social Commerce Experience

While the many enhancements range in significance, here is a look at some of the more interesting site changes for Fab.com consumers:

A new Friends tab has been added to the live feed so customers can see specifically what their Facebook friends are buying.

• On product pages, Fab.com has replaced its Google+ button with “Pin It” functionality.
• Customers can Pin items directly from the live feed.
• The live feed has additional sorting options, so customers can opt to see a specific category.
• Consumers can buy directly from the feed without first going to an item’s product page.
• Fab.com also introduced new navigation that brings attention to trending categories and products.
• There are also new privacy settings, so users can control those actions that get shared.

What Can Your E-Commerce Website Learn from Fab.com?

Whether it’s an issue of resources or your own comfort level with social commerce, your e-commerce website may not be ready to integrate with social networking sites in the way Fab.com has done, but there are some easier, quicker social wins that could boost your e-commerce branding and sales.

Social Integration: Make it easy for your customers to share items with their social network pages. Encourage customers to pin your products to Pinterest or Like them on Facebook. Go to the appropriate social networking sites for integration information.

Social Presence: Creating brand pages on Facebook and Pinterest allows you to interact with your customers in new ways. Customers want to feel special, so involve them in a behind-the-scenes look at your company by asking them questions about the products you sell or future promotions you may run. And of course, exclusive deals and contests never hurt anyone and can be a viral way to expand your network.

Put Policies in Place: Whether you have a social presence or not, your customers do. If they have a really great experience or a really awful one, they will likely take it to the web. Be ready and have a process in place to handle any negative vibes out there. But also consider a policy for rewarding people who truly love your brand. This can run the gamut from special drawings for giveaways to enlisting these brand loyalists to help you create content by Pinning or blogging for you.

What is clear is that now is the time of social, and it’s up to e-commerce companies to forage their way into this new and exciting frontier.

Related posts:

• Why You Should Get on Board with Pinterest
• E-Commerce shopping Sites vs. Social Sites
• 5 Ways for Online Retailers to Be a Little Fab
• 3 Key E-Commerce Trends to Watch in 2012

SoLoMo is not just one of the most entertaining buzzwords to say that has emerged in the last year, but it is also the topic of a recent blog post at Shop.org. The post discusses data and topics Forrester Research’s Melissa Parrish presented at a recent workshop. While there’s some interesting information about mobile for retailers, the conclusion it comes to on the local aspect of SoLoMo e-commerce is a little disheartening, and I would say that we can do better than that.

Findings on SoLoMo Consumers

First, let’s look at the good stuff retailers should know when working on their social, local, mobile commerce plan.

To date, most SoLoMo activities for retailers have focused on the “check-in.” While some brands have created geolocation-based apps, only about 5% of online US users with mobile phones use them. While that 5% is a very socially active group and is twice as likely to share product information, reviews and offers with friends, they are mostly male. So they are a small audience that might not fit in many retailers’ core demographic.

Additionally, Forrester has identified a new group of consumers: “the always addressable customer.” These consumers own and use at least three connected devices, and  go online several times a day from several different locations . Always addressable customers tend to be highly educated, high earners who are very social and use technology as a tool.

A Closer Look at Local E-Commerce

Based on these findings, the post questions what local means for selling goods online, and suggests focusing on giving consumers access to the brand rather than physical location. “So where does ‘local’ fit in to this data? For a retailer, the ‘Lo’ part of SoLoMo is simply that wherever your customer goes, you must be there. ‘Don’t think technology first – think about what your customer needs.’”

While I agree you need consumers to be able to reach your brand, product information and make a purchase wherever, whenever and however they want in a seamless and integrated manner, local content is an essential part of the equation that this blog post completely overlooks.

Similar to Forrester’s always addressable customer, eMarketer presents the smartphone class, and it describes its members as people who “snack” on their smartphones, consuming bits of content throughout the day. This gives retailers multiple potential touchpoints, but of course, there is a lot of noise retailers have to break through.

Offering localized content, like products the consumer can order with inexpensive delivery and shorter delivery times, creates a more engaging experience between your customers and your brand. And with big-ticket items, like furniture, tying into the closest store where the customer can go see and feel the item could be the difference in making or losing a sale.

Retailers that use mobile technology to be able to both engage consumers wherever they are and add a localized layer to drive customers in store will win. Sometimes even highly connected customers want to interact with real people. Being able to remind customers where you are (and how close that may be) when they feel they need you gives you the ultimate edge.

We at Blueport Commerce help our clients offer a local shopping experience for their customers regardless of the device. We tie right into our clients’ systems and have the same up to the minute inventory and product information the stores have, helping to create the omnichannel, seamless presence consumers now demand.

Related posts:

• Blueport to TJX: How to Bring Your Local Stores Online
• When Charging Online Companies for Shipping, Localized E-Commerce Helps Make the Price Right
• Hyperlocal Beyond Marketing -- Think Localized E-Commerce
• Online Advertising: Now Delivering Local Shoppers -- Is Your Website Ready?

As exciting a time this is for e-commerce, this is also an extraordinary time for the business of paying for goods. From Square, which converts smartphones into credit card-processors, to mobile payment regulations, there’s a lot going on in payments.

When it comes to mobile payments, do you have a pulse on customers’ needs, retailers’ goals and the big technology players? We’ve gathered a roundup of some of the hottest headlines to help you keep up with this fast-moving field:

NFCNews – Survey Shows 66% of Retailers Want Mobile POS

A new survey from Motorola Solutions shows there is increasing interest from retail, hospitality and field service industries for mobile Point of Sale (mPOS) solutions, such as NFC payments and mobile loyalty programs, as a core strategy for improving customer service. According to the survey, which was comprised of 541 retail, hospitality and field service employees from North America, UK, France and Germany, 66% of respondents are interested in mPOS, while 42% of respondents are currently piloting or starting trials within the next 36 months.

U.S. News & World Report – How Safe Are Mobile Payments?

For some consumers, paying at the checkout line becomes a lot simpler when they can forgo the plastic card and pay with their phone. Mobile payment applications like the Isis Mobile Wallet, Google Wallet, Square, and LevelUp turn your cell phone into a payment source: Just store your debit card or credit card information on the phone and scan the device at checkout. "Consumers like the convenience factor," says Sarah Jane Hughes, a commercial law professor at Indiana University. But is this new form of payment safe?

Mobile Payments Today – PayNearMe Gives Unbanked a New Mobile Payment Option

One of the problems for "cash-preferred" consumers is that some transactions, for instance, airline tickets or online purchases, require an electronic payment method. Now U.S. consumers who choose to use cash have another mobile option to make electronic payments. PayNearMe, a cash transaction network that markets to the under- and unbanked, announced its new mobile cash payment system, a product that lets those without credit or debit cards use their cash to make loan payments, pay bills or buy tickets.

Seeking Alpha – Apple: Sleeping Giant Within the Mobile Payment Industry

The mobile payment industry is still in its infancy. I believe the mobile payment industry is a multi-billion dollar, multi-year secular growth market which will have a huge impact to the bottom line of key mobile payment players. Aite Group states the volume of mobile payments will grow to over $200 billion by 2015. In 2010 mobile payment revenue was approximately $16 billion. That is an over 12-fold increase in just five years. Apple is a dominant leader in the smart phone market with over 35 million in smartphone sales last quarter alone. They have not entered the mobile payment market yet, but I expect them to arrive on the scene very soon and disrupt the current mobile payment landscape.

Wall Street Daily – Google Could “Wrapp” Up the Mobile Wallet Race for Good

Wall Street Daily readers know that point-of-sale Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology is one of my top trends to watch this year. And although a recent study by Pew Research found that the technology likely won’t be a dominant form of payment until at least 2020, that’s not stopping players from jockeying for position now. After all, whoever lays claim to the biggest share of the NFC market should have an easier go of dominating the industry as the technology gains popularity down the road.

Related posts:

• Square Register Lets Retailers Play with the iPad, Too
• Offering Your Customers Multiple E-Commerce Payment Solutions
• 3 Key E-Commerce Trends to Watch in 2012
• Talk to the Phone: Shoppers Prefer Interacting with Their Smartphones Than with Store Staff

By now you’ve seen it -- the 94-second hilarious spot that introduced a new player to the $13 billion men’s shaving industry. Online-only Dollar Shave Club shaved away 12,000 customers from its competitors within two days of opening its e-commerce site. It didn’t take them millions in advertising -- just this really funny video.

There’s much the likes of Gillette, Schick and Bic, and in fact any retailer looking to sell online can learn from this little e-commerce company that could, as Fast Company offered its own recent list. Big or small, retailers need to realize the landscape is changing, and how you relate to customers deserves to be reexamined.

1. Authenticity

Consumers can see through your marketing speak. And if they can’t, they likely have a network of friends and family who can validate whether your brand lives up to its promises, your products are worth their prices and your customer service is up to par.

2. Social Tactics Done Right

Why did this video go viral? It’s darn entertaining!

CEO Michael Dubin delivers the message simply and honestly. He’s witty and smart -- forget just buying his razors; this guy is fun! I’d go for a beer with him. He is the brand. And customers met the brand and liked him.

The danger with some companies’ ventures into viral video and other social tactics is they try to be viral, which too often delivers in an overthought and overengineered result that falls flat for the public. Humor is hard. And so is having a distinctive voice.

Consider tapping your passionate customers who are already your advocates. See how they are spreading the word about you and similar products. Harness their love of your brand. Their voices will be more authentic and will help you develop the reach you need, and in an appropriate manner.

3. When a Dollar Makes Sense

With Dollar Shave Club, customers know they’re not going to get frills, but for a small amount of money, the video promises decent shave with one of their razors. It’s believable, and consumers can test it out for the fraction of what their regular razors cost.

In this economy, consumers are poised to shop, but they want to know they are getting the best deal possible. That is why some brick-and-mortar stores have been losing sales to in-store shoppers who can find a better price online. Our clients, which sell big-ticket items that are not easily commoditized, are not in the clear just because their merchandise cannot be cross-shopped. They still need to demonstrate the value of their products, whether it comes down to the items themselves or the customer service that comes with it.

So for retailers selling online, examine how you can harness some of the honesty, social tactics and value that has helped Dollar Shave club off to an impressive start.

Related posts:

• There's a Lot to Like About Facebook and E-Commerce Marketing
• 4 Tips to Boost E-Commerce Site Traffic from Rapper Lil B
• Shopper Know-How and the Retail Renaissance
• 3 Key E-Commerce Trends to Watch in 2012
   

These days, shopping online is like going to a post-Oscars party. You can grab a drink (in this case, one from your home bar) and settle in to see some of the hottest stars and the hottest fashion. Who’s the latest guest to join the party? Justin Timberlake.

This week, BeachMint announced Justin Timberlake will work with his interior designer, Estee Stanley, to select home goods and accessories to be sold on HomeMint.com, the company’s newest property to launch later this spring. JT will be in good company, lending his name and design sensibility alongside Kate Bosworth (JewelMint), Jessica Simpson (BeautyMint) and Rachel Bilson (ShoeMint). In similar news, LuxeYard.com, a luxury home furnishings and décor flash sale site, announced the addition of entertainment journalist/reality TV personality Giuliana Rancic to its list of curating trendsetters.

Why Celebrity Curators Equal Big Business for E-Commerce

According to this Practical Ecommerce article, when OpenSky first launched its e-commerce site, leveraging influential bloggers to sell merchandise, the model did not work. When the company relaunched in April 2011 using celebrity curators (Kristin Cavallari, Guy Fieri and Molly Sims, to name a few) who choose the products and accompanying recommendations and content, it was a model that worked.  Revenue and orders are growing 50% month to month, and the company hit $1 million in sales last October.

While celebrity endorsements are nothing new, why does celebrity curation have such a profound and positive effect on e-commerce sales?

Personalizing the Website: Celebrity-curated e-commerce sites  bring a personal feeling to the online shopping experience. Customers aren’t virtually strolling down Amazon.com’s endless array of aisles, but are instead being guided in their shopping experience to items that are already endorsed to have value.

Appeals to Women: Women do the majority of online shopping and tend to use the web socially much more than men do. Most of the categories that have so far seen success with celebrity curation – home goods, apparel,  cosmetics, cooking – are verticals where women buy, and much of the celebrity curation has been geared toward that demographic.

Brand-Building: By aligning with a celebrity, online retailers get the halo of that celebrity’s reputation. It’s a fairly quick way for a website to establish its expertise, style and reputation.

And, of course, it’s a bit of good, old-fashioned star power. After all, when it comes down to it, wouldn’t you like a little more Justin Timberlake in your home?

Related posts:

• Online Retalers Can Close Sales with Curated E-Commerce
• 5 Ways for Online Retailers to Be a Little Fab
• 4 Tips to Boost E-Commerce Site Traffic from Rapper Lil B
• Today's E-Commerce Content

The answer to that question depends on what you’re selling. For instance, if you sell electronics and video games or other commodities, like Best Buy does, then you need 50 less physical stores than you currently have.

Last week, a day after Best Buy’s e-commerce site was down for 17 hours’ worth of upgrades, the company announced it would close 50 big-box stores as a cost-reducing measure.  Similarly, big-box commodity seller Wal-Mart is losing ground to Amazon and is working to beef up its own e-commerce offering.

We’re seeing this trend, because commodities can be easily searched online and via mobile devices, and consumers can easily shop the lowest bidder. After all, a Canon Powershot is a Canon Powershot and has the same features and feel no matter where or how it is purchased. E-commerce operations with lower overhead can underprice physical stores and win the business away from them.

However, if you’re a retailer selling big-ticket or other non-commoditized items, your e-commerce presence can be a vital customer touch point that drives the overall business. When executed correctly, the e-commerce site becomes a full brand extension that drives in-store traffic and vice versa. This is what Blueport Commerce helps its clients do.

For the merchandise our clients sell, like furniture and flooring, the store behind the products matter.
Consumers often begin their searches online, researching selections and offers from various retailers, but for some, they will need to move on to the store to make their final decision. As a retailer, you want to give customers the choice so they can buy in the way that best suits their needs. Even if sofas from two different retailers look the same, they likely come from different manufacturers and may be constructed differently. Given that this is a larger, more expensive purchase, consumers are also looking for trusted retailers that can provide quick, inexpensive delivery, as well as service, if ever required.

Our clients are fortunate -- they can truly harness the power of multichannel retailing, because all channels play important roles in the buying cycle. And consumers win as well, because they’ll still have a place to go test drive a sofa.

Related posts:

• Amazon's '$5 to Leave the Store' Promotion: Reactions Mixed, But a Sign of Things to Come
• Big Ticket vs. Small Ticket: Why Disaggregating E-Commerce Matters
• New Insights on How Consumers Research Products and Shop Online
• E-Commerce Is About More Than Online Shopping: Think Digital Marketing

Copyright 2010, Official Blog of Blueport Commerce

If you wanted to browse products or make a purchase at Best Buy’s website on Wednesday morning, you were out of luck. BestBuy.com was down, due to a planned outage, from 10 p.m. ET on Tuesday until 3 p.m. ET on Wednesday, for site updates. But the inconveniences transcended the prospective online shopper.

Customers who already made online purchases could not track or receive updates on their orders, and access to the mobile site and in-store kiosks was also cut. In-store, salespeople rely on the website for checking inventory and other product information. So, if you went to a store and wanted to know if an out-of-stock item was available at another location, for example, a salesperson would not have been able to help you during that downtime.

While the full extent of the updates may not be apparent to the average consumer, the disruptions they caused for 17 hours must have been.

Blueport Commerce Minimizes Downtime for Online Retailers

Here at Blueport, we have set up our systems to keep downtime to a minimum during any release – our goal is to never make core functionality unavailable for more than five minutes.

Our global environment is composed of many small environments that all work together. For instance, we split the websites the public sees into two groups, A and B. When we’re doing a site release, we remove the A group from public view and update that group. Then we repeat with group B group. Releasing in this way allows for almost no downtime as one of these groups is always available to customers.

Such a process has allowed us to release significant site and platform redesigns without any adverse effects for our clients and their online retail customers.

Related posts:

• Keep Your E-Commerce Site on Target and Avoid Outages
• Data Center Issues Are Part of E-Commerce -- But They Can Be Mitigated
• Get Your E-Commerce Website Ready for Daily Deals
• Consistency Is Key in This Multichannel Retail World

Copyright 2010, Official Blog of Blueport Commerce

When looking for anything on the web, people are faced with numerous possibilities. It’s like our lives have turned into an overwhelming list of search results listings with seemingly limitless possibilities. For some, this is an opportunity to explore and play, but for others this is just plain daunting. Here at Blueport, we believe thematically culling items is especially helpful for big-ticket retailers that sell larger items that aren’t easily shopped around like other commodities.

And shopping on an e-commerce website is the same. Many online retailers’ site links are merely returning keyword searches, giving shoppers choices, but sometimes the vast number of items returned is too large. As a recent eMarketer article about its new report, “Curated E-Commerce: How Less Can Be More for Shoppers,” says, “As the Internet matures and expands, the number of choices available to users grows exponentially…. Over time, though, human curation was all but replaced by algorithm-based searching.”

The report discusses the merits of retailers hand-picking items and grouping items together based on themes or other qualities beyond data points that might align with a specific user’s Facebook profile data points. It’s about bringing a genuine human quality back to the online shopping experience that can’t be replicated solely through metrics.

“Curated e-commerce is becoming recognized by both retailers and shoppers for its simplicity and ability to help fill an online void,” says Krista Garcia, the report’s author. “There will always be a place for comprehensive, multi-category retail sites, but fine-tuned collections enhanced by personal touches also perform a necessary function in the e-commerce ecosystem.”

How Curated E-Commerce Can Help Your Online Store

Here at Blueport, we believe thematically culling items is especially helpful for big-ticket retailers, like our clients, that sell larger items that aren’t easily cross-shopped like more commoditized items. Often, shoppers come to our clients’ websites knowing they want a sofa or a dining room set and little beyond that. They may have specific ideas related to material, color, size or price point, but often stores are not organized by these characteristics. But curated collections can be!

Curated galleries of merchandise allows retailers to guide their customers to product in different ways, often with a more brand-oriented, personal touch. Retailers can use these galleries to offer information related to what they sell so customers get advice as well as exposure to a specific slice of inventory. It helps to perpetuate the retailer’s voice and authority.

We have already developed curated offerings for our clients and have found that those shoppers who interact with category widgets or curated collections on the websites and via email have deeper interactions with the sites overall. And we think an even more aggressive curated approach will capture more consumers in an increasingly overwhelming online shopping landscape.

Related posts:

• 5 Ways for Online Retailers to Be a Little Fab
• E-Commerce Shopping Sites vs. Social Sites
• 3 Key E-Commerce Trends to Watch in 2012
• Today's E-Commerce Content

Copyright 2010, Official Blog of Blueport Commerce

Blueport Commerce would like to offer a hearty congratulations to Demandware, which priced 5.5 million IPO shares at $16. They closed at $23.59 making the company’s value $530 million. Demandware joins the likes of other cloud computing-based software companies, including Brightcove and Bazaarvoice, that have joined the IPO wave since December.

There are a number of reasons why we here at Blueport are happy for Demandware’s success. Above all, it shows how more and more retailers are looking to the cloud for e-commerce solutions, rather than trying to build and run their own e-commerce software.

Retailers who use Software as a Service (or SaaS) e-commerce solutions like Blueport or Demandware leverage the cloud, cutting-edge technology and the expertise of companies that live and breathe e-commerce to bring their brands online efficiently and effectively.

This IPO is also a good reminder of how far e-commerce has come. Demandware’s e-commerce solution focuses on apparel. There was a time when no one believed anyone would buy clothes or shoes online. Now, buying clothing online is as commonplace as buying as anything else.

Just as Demandware has done for its apparel clients, Blueport takes the hard work out of e-commerce for challenging categories like furniture, flooring and appliances. We provide a robust SaaS e-commerce platform that solves the unique, local challenges our customers face, so they can focus on their businesses, rather than attempting to reinvent e-commerce technology.

We’ve seen our customers have great success selling big-ticket items online. Demandware’s IPO reminds us this is only the beginning.

Related posts:

• E-Commerce 2.0: The Next Wave
• Blueport Commerce to TJX: How to Bring Your Local Stores Online
• Retail CIOs Should Champion Collaboration Across Departments
• Keep Your E-Commerce Site on Target and Avoid Outages

Copyright 2010, Official Blog of Blueport Commerce

In February, when TJX announced its plan to nearly double its annual sales, we here at Blueport took notice, especially since e-commerce is a crucial part of the plan to get there.

For the fiscal year ending January 28, 2012, TJX, parent company of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods in the US, had $23.3 billion in net sales. The goal is to reach $40 billion by investing in technology and e-commerce. While the company has a web presence with a combined 4 million visitors per month for all of its properties, they do not sell merchandise online in the US and have not since their last attempt at e-commerce in 2006.

“E-commerce is clearly in our future,” said TJX CEO Carol Meyrowitz in a recent conference call as reported by RIS News, Internet Retailer and others. “We believe e-commerce will open up a greater landscape for categories. Just think about the potential for us to carry categories online that we wouldn’t carry in our stores.”

At this point, TJX is building a team of e-commerce experts with a focus on developing the new initiative.
 
My Advice for TJX

Working at a company with more than 10 years of e-commerce experience, I have some thoughts on the possible tact TJX could take in growing its online retail business.

As I understand the retailer’s overall business, much of the merchandise it sells comes from opportunistic buys, like when a distributor liquidates 900 name-brand sweaters or 500 sofas in a discontinued upholstery pattern, or from program buys, when items are manufactured specifically to be sold by discount chains. Most, shall we say, Maxxinistas, go to the stores to land the opportunistic merchandise, which is harder to find because of the limited supply. So not every store carries the same merchandise, and much of the more sought-after stock moves very quickly. How does this translate to an online retail business?

Option 1: The Gilt Model

TJX and all of its properties could follow in the paths of Gilt Groupe, Fab.com and the like, selling the best stuff online, perhaps even following the invite-only model. Then, items could be shipped from a central location, which tends to work best for smaller items that can be packed in a Fed Ex box.

The challenge here is that their retail websites would directly compete with their stores rather than creating a beneficial and seamless multichannel retail experience for consumers. (Hint: Don’t do this.)

Option 2: Localized Cross-Channel Commerce

TJX could go for a truly localized e-commerce solution that ties into real-time inventory data would provide the best results for their overall bottom line. Customers would be able to get their purchases inexpensively and quickly or even see items in a nearby store. The web presence would continue to improve the overall bottom line without jeopardizing any individual location’s own fiscal health. (Hint: Do this!)

Based on the e-commerce solution we’ve created for our own clients, we think the second option and offering customers a localized cross-channel e-commerce experience would be the best for any retailers’ long-term growth. After all, we’ve already proven this model in the home furnishing industry for stores just like HomeGoods.

Related posts:

• When Charging Online Customers for Shipping, Localized E-Commerce Helps Make the Price Right  
• Hyperlocal Beyond Marketing -- Think Localized E-Commerce
• Online Advertising: Now Delivering Local Shoppers -- Is Your Website Ready for Them?
• Consistency Is Key in This Multichannel Retail World

Copyright 2010, Official Blog of Blueport Commerce

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Retailers must advertise online to compete in today’s market. We’ve showed you that customers are online, and we’ve shared data that proves the direct correlation between online advertising and increased in-store sales.

We continually talk to our clients and other big-ticket retailers about the merits of advertising online vs. sticking with what some still call a “tried-and-true” newspaper advertising strategy.

The times, they are a changing. This week, a little graphic has been making its way around the Web, showing the decline in print newspaper advertising revenue, adjusted for inflation.

The image was created by Dr. Mark J. Perry, a professor of economics and finance at the University of Michigan in Flint. One of his more striking observations? “It took 50 years to go from about $20 billion in annual newspaper ad revenue in 1950 (adjusted for inflation) to $63.5 billion in 2000, and then only 11 years to go from $63.5 billion back to about $20 billion in 2011.” Said another way, in the last decade, newspaper advertising has fallen back to 1950s levels.

As an article from The Atlantic explains, newspapers have been losing advertising revenue to websites, because the softer sections of the newspapers that actually sell the ads, like “the car section, the style section, the travel section and the classified” all have online counterparts. “Ad dollars started flowing to websites that gave people their car, style, travel, or classifieds directly. So did the readers. And down went print.”

What is it about print advertising that still has some retailers hooked? Print ads are expensive, can’t be personalized and the ROI is often hard to track. Meanwhile, online advertising has numerous capabilities for localization, personalized targeting and tracking. They reach shoppers not when they are reading a news article, but when they’re searching online for the goods that you can sell them.

As the print advertising industry has been collapsing, the folks at the Interactive Advertising Bureau have been tracking online advertising growth, and have a very different story to tell.

In the third quarter of last year, US online advertising revenue hit nearly $8 billion, reaching double digit increases despite the lagging economy. “The ongoing increases in internet advertising revenues points to a new paradigm within the advertising world -- one in which digital is taking a bigger seat at the table,” said David Silverman, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, in the IAB press release. “Moreover, even with a softened economy, digital advertising is making tremendous gains.”

Overlay these two trends since 2000, and the message becomes even clearer: Advertisers are fleeing newspaper advertising for the improved ROI of online.

Compare how you spend your advertising dollars to this trend. Are you spending like it’s 2012, 2000 or 1950?

Related posts:

• Online Advertising: Now Delivering Local shoppers -- Is Your Website Ready?
• Will You Make Back Your Online Advertising Spend in Store Sales? Yes!
• Multichannel Communication: A Marketer's Dream or Nightmare?
• E-Commerce Marketing: Multichannel Analysis Is a Must!

Copyright 2010, Official Blog of Blueport Commerce

Would you spend $300 on shipping an item you’re buying online for $100? If you’re like many of today’s consumers, you might think that’s just not fair. But that is the type of shipping charge Ikea customers are facing.

According to this Stylelist Home blog post, Ikea has established a flat shipping rate for customers further from their store locations. This likely lowers the cost for customers buying roomfuls of furniture, but the customer who is buying a single item appears to lose out. Statistics show that people who purchase furniture on the web are, in fact, often buying single pieces -- it's the guy who’s jumping online at lunch to snag that $899 leather couch he has in his cart that is now on sale for $629 (you know, the one with the brushed stainless legs).  But what is the abandonment rate when a customer sees the shipping rate is higher than the money he’s saving?  I'll save you the thinking on this one: The abandonment rate is huge, and that's a problem for billion-dollar retailers like Ikea.

Shipping is an expensive part of the retail business, especially for big-ticket retailers. But not getting this part of the pricing right can be detrimental to the bottom line. Implementing a local e-commerce strategy can keep shipping costs down for your customers.

Our e-commerce solution here at Blueport takes the customer’s location into account. We tie into our retail clients’ real-time inventory data and display the merchandise that is available in the physical stores closest to the customer. This allows customers to get the merchandise they want as quickly and inexpensively as possible. After all, happy customers equal happy retailers!

Related posts:

• Hyperlocal Beyond Marketing -- Think Localized E-Commerce
• E-Commerce Logistics and the Element of Localization
• 5 Tips for Handling Inventory Stock Information on E-Commerce Sites
• E-Commerce 2.0 -- the Next Wave

Copyright 2010, Official Blog of Blueport Commerce

• Rethink Shopping Cart Abandonment on Your E-Commerce Site
• 3 Reasons Why Quality Content Could Be Your Key to E-Commerce Success
• Engaging Site Visitors Through Email
• E-Commerce CRM Becomes More Meaningful in a Multichannel, Social World

• 3 Key E-Commerce Trends to Watch in 2012
• Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday -- How Did E-Commerce Do?
• The Economy May Be Looking Down, But E-Commerce Sales Keep Looking Up
• Engaging Site Visitors Through Email
• It's Not Always About Price...
  

• Why E-Commerce Should Be Fired Up About Kindle
• Shopper Know-How and the Retail Renaissance
• Online Expectations, Offline Experience
• New Insights on How Consumers Research Products and Shop Online

• New Insights on How Consumers Research Products and Shop Online
• Engaging Site Visitors Through Email
• Online Research Is Critical for Big-Ticket Purchases
• Will You Make Back Your Online Advertising Spend in Store Sales? Yes!

This Saturday, Amazon is running a one-day promotion that gives consumers who use Amazon’s Price Check app while shopping in a store a 5% discount (up to $5) on select items. Consumers can redeem the offer up to three times.

This offer -- luring shoppers from local stores to instead buy online via Amazon’s e-commerce site -- has been met with a bit of consumer backlash. Even so, it feels like a harbinger of a future retail landscape that’s divided in two: retail in categories where stores still matter and retail where they don’t.

Consumer Reaction: ‘Kind of Sleazy’

The Wall Street Journal’s AllThingsD blog was among the first to report on this story, and consumers were quick to react to what they saw as Amazon’s effort to intercept local shopping. Comments on the story included:

• “This seems unethical at best. Amazon is encouraging people to go into a store with no intention to buy, incurring costs for the retailer in staffing and wear and tear on store premises…. Kind of a sleazy move by Amazon.”
• “This is not about comparison shopping per se. Of course, I’m all for getting the best price. What I’m NOT a proponent of is giving my business to any retailer, online or brick-and-mortar, who blatantly scams to have their customers ‘spy’ for them, and try in the grander scheme of things to shut down the very business who contribute to the local economy.”
• “As a supporter of local small businesses, I find this appalling. But, hey, if you want do Amazon’s market research for them for a measly 5 bucks, feel free. Me, I’ll take my 5 bucks and funnel it into MY local economy….”

The Future of Retail: What Do Stores Do?

I completely understand these sentiments, but at the same time, one starts to wonder: For lower ticket, commoditized items, what value does a store really bring to a shopper?

With a maximum value of $5 off, Amazon is clearly targeting items in the under $50 range. And, for price check to work, the items need to be commonly available. For these commodity-type items, does a store add much (other than cost) to your purchase?

There’s a segment of the retail economy we think will ultimately move largely online. In these commoditized categories, stores don’t bring enough to the table to justify the cost they add. Once Amazon can deliver same day, one of the last reasons for running to the store to buy a low cost, common product will be gone.

Honestly, this end of e-commerce isn’t one that excites us much. Like any commodity market, it will be dominated by players with the scale to cut costs and offer the cheapest price. In this regard, Amazon and Wal-Mart aren’t so different.

At Blueport, we think the other end of e-commerce -- using the Internet to engage, rather than replace, local stores -- is a far more interesting space.

In the categories we commerce-enable -- furniture, appliances, flooring -- stores add a tremendous amount to the consumer experience. They offer expertise, a place to “touch and feel,” local delivery and installation, and ongoing service for big-ticket purchases. We use the Internet to drive sales for these local businesses with walk-in traffic, leads, and yes, e-commerce.

It’s an exciting segment to be in right now. Retailers in these categories have been slow to adopt e-commerce, mainly because they couldn’t see how the Amazon model could work for them. Now, big-ticket retailers are jumping into multichannel e-commerce with both feet. And, I suspect, they may be around far longer than some of their more commoditized counterparts.

Related posts:

• E-Commerce 2.0 -- The Next Wave
• Shopper Know-How and the Retail Ranaissance
• Will You Make Back Your Online Advertising Spend in Store Sales? Yes!
• Forrester's Online Retail Growth Forecast

Copyright 2010, Official Blog of Blueport Commerce

• Big-Ticket E-Commerce Should Be Ready for the Holidays
• Holiday Emails Trump Social Media
• The Big Online Opportunity for Big-Ticket Retailers This Holiday Season
• 'Tis the Season for Multichannel Shopping

• Improving the Big-Ticket E-Commerce Online Shopping Experience
• Approaching E-Commerce Applications with the Wisdom of Maturity
• Creating an Immersive Online Shopping Experience

• Online Advertising: Now Delivering Local Shoppers -- Is Your Website Ready for Them?
• Will You Make Back Your Online Advertising Spend in Store Sales? Yes!
• Consistency Is Key in This Multichannel Retail World
• E-Commerce Logistics and the Element of Localization