(Smart Money) — When Wal-Mart announced last week that it will offer free shipping on thousands of online items this holiday season, consumers looking for deals – and Walmart’s retail competitors – snapped to attention. But the move could change the way people shop online long after New Year’s: You may never have to pay for […]
(Inc) — On a chilly Monday morning in early February, 30-odd reporters, editors, designers, and the rest of the sundry crew that makes this magazine gathered in a conference room to discuss our next issue. These monthly meetings are typically a time to talk about how stories are coming along, plan art assignments, and make […]
(Mashable) — Branded virtual goods are set to take off in the next five years — in a big way. A report by social gaming platform Viximo and virtual goods platform Virtual Greats predicts that branded virtual goods (BVGs) will generate $150 million in 2013 and reach an annual revenue of $318 million by 2015. Read More…
(Brandweek) — For the past month, MasterCard has been running an out-of-home campaign to promote its MarketPlace e-commerce site. The goal? To get consumers’ attention both online and offline. The credit card brand has put up storefront ads featuring black-and-white vinyl panels and taglines like: “A Smarter Way to Shop Online” and “Where Bargains Find You.” The […]
(NY Times) — On Tuesday, Amazon.com took a step toward making the shopping experience on its Web site more social. For many people, shopping is as much about socializing as it is about buying something — a chance to run into neighbors at the farmers’ market or spend time with a friend at the mall. And people […]
(Mashable) — For millions of websites, publishers, and online businesses, search is still the king. While social media may have the media’s attention and are garnering a lot of the hype, search still trumps them when it comes to driving traffic and being discovered by potential new customers. Because of the importance of search traffic to […]
(Fast Company) — Twitter, which once had everybody and their dog wondering how it was going to make money, seems to be doing okay at last. Better than okay, probably: It’s justannounced a new scheme for e-commerce dubbed “earlybird.” The idea as Twitter’s blog explains it: “@earlybird Exclusive Offers are special time-bound deals, sneak-peeks, and events that are […]
(Inc) — Global revenue from the sales of virtual goods will reach $6 billion by 2013, according to Minneapolis-based investment firm Piper Jaffray, which isn’t too shabby for a product that has been deemed by many to be “intangible” or “non-existent.” To the contrary, consumers have shelled out millions for clothing, housing and miscellaneous gifts made purely […]
(Marketing Charts) ComScore estimates indicate that US retail e-commerce spending from home, work and university locations totaled $33.98 billion in Q1 2010. This represents a 10% increase from $31.03 billion in Q1 2009 and a 13% decrease from $39.05 billion in Q4 2009. The strong year-over-year acceleration marks the first time annual growth rates have […]
(E-Consultancy) — Know Your Cost of Sale. If you’re in multichannel, then your financial controller will be working on the net margin for the various channels in which your customers can buy: Online, instore, catalogue, phone and so on. Once Cost of Goods Sold and direct overheads are taken into account, he’ll then deduct the […]
(Web Pro News) — Although the stock market has still been moving up and (mostly) down in a disturbing manner this week, comScore’s provided evidence that the ecommerce market is healthy again. According to comScore, ecommerce spending for the first quarter of this year was up ten percent on a year-over-year basis. Read More…
(AdAge) — Procter & Gamble Co. is leaning heavily on social media and cross-marketing its many brands as it expands to the general public an e-store built heavily around social media, following a four-month test with around 5,000 consumers, the company announced today. Read More…