 | News about digital retail commerce |  |
- Rackspace exec: The benefits of off-site hosting for e-commerce
E-commerce platforms and cloud-computing services are more in sync than ever, as off-site solutions prove themselves amid online retailers' rapid growth, says Rackspace executive Christopher Rajiah. Off-site computing helps online merchants reduce downtime, a problem that translates into lost sales and discouraged customers, he says. BusinessNewsDaily.com (2/15)        | Recorded Webinar: Holiday 2010 Recap Discover what worked online and what didn't this past holiday season for leading brands and retailers. Also learn how their efforts were viewed by online and multichannel shoppers. View or download the recording now. | - Shoppers make the shift to "bricks-and-mobile"
A small-but-growing band of consumers increasingly is incorporating smartphones into their shopping trips, using the gadgets to scan bar codes, read product reviews and comparison shop. Industry watchers say it's only the beginning. "The customers are going to do whatever they want," said Home Depot's Cara Kinzey at last month's NRF convention. "Everybody will have that expectation that they can talk on their phone or do things on their phone in your stores. And we have to prepare for it." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (2/15) - Online and specialty merchants score highest in customer satisfaction
E-commerce retailers took the top spots in the annual American Customer Satisfaction Index from the University of Michigan, with Amazon ranking highest. Specialty merchants gained in popularity, while overall satisfaction with all retailers fell 0.5%. "Even with the decline, customer satisfaction with Internet shopping remains much higher than with in-store shopping, and online sales continue to grow at a faster pace, too," said ACSI founder Claes Fornell. TWICE (2/15)  | RSR Ecommerce Benchmark Survey 2011 - Learn how winning retailers connect with the new online consumer - comparing prices, coupon searching, going social and mobile. Three major trends emerged from this research. Learn these trends, their implications, and RSR recommendations as to how they should impact your 2011 investment plans. Learn more | - Bar code strategies paid off over the holidays
Consumer use of smartphones was a mainstay of this past holiday shopping season, and brands and marketers found innovative ways to use bar codes with the devices. Among the services offered were those that empowered consumers with useful information in the store, enabled buyers to make quick purchases and used apps to engage users and showcase products. Mobile Marketer (2/15) - Companies can make the most of fan bloggers
Unofficial bloggers can be a brand's biggest advocates, says Starbucks fan blogger Melody Overton. Hosting real-world get-togethers and providing easy access to staff and information can help turn casual bloggers into fierce brand advocates, Overton says. "In a nutshell, it's this: Know your advocates, and be responsive and transparent," she says. MarketingProfs (free registration) (2/15)  | The Super Bowl isn't the only way to reach 100 million people. Super Bowl: 110 million impressions. Facebook: 500 million interactions. Learn the best way to launch something new on Facebook. Register for the webinar. |
 - How Home Depot coordinates in-store and online efforts
About 45% of Home Depot shoppers check out the chain's website before heading to the store, making it essential for the channels to work together, said Hal Lawton, president of Home Depot Online. The site localizes Web content 95% of the time, a key feature since the home-improvement chain's regional pricing policy means identical products are priced differently in different markets. "When we show it to them on their phone, iPad or PC, we try to map it to the store we think they'll visit," he said. "We make sure that the price we are showing in the site is what they'll see in store." InternetRetailer.com (2/15) - GrubHub aims to deliver in 13 new cities this year
 Online restaurant-ordering platform GrubHub has spent seven years perfecting its technology, marketing efforts and business model, and is now in expansion mode. It has plans to grow to 26 U.S. cities this year, says co-founder Matt Maloney. The service is free to consumers, and restaurants pay an average commission of 15.5% on each order. Bloomberg (2/15)  | New eCommerce market drivers: remote widget technology
The proliferation of new digital mediums, interaction models and touch points has fragmented the customer journey, making it more difficult to connect with customers. Download this white paper, and take an in-depth look at the new market drivers for remote widget technology and understand how they can be used to enable commerce everywhere. |
| Shop.org Spotlight |  | | | - Going to eTail West? Join us for dinner!
Shop.org's free, retailer-only regional dinners head west this month to sunny California, with stops in Palm Desert on Feb. 22 and Los Angeles on Feb. 23. Take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy a great meal at a local restaurant and network with other e-commerce executives in the area. Not in California? Check out the full spring schedule for all dates and locations. Register or learn more. - Shop.org SmartStat: Feb. 16, 2011
 More than 20% of consumers say an upgraded mobile device, such as a smartphone, iPad or eReader, was something they could not live without in 2010, up from only 12.5% in 2009. Source: STORES Media survey conducted by BIGresearch. - January marks seventh consecutive month of retail sales gains
Stronger discretionary spending has helped boost retail sales as January marked the seventh straight month of gains. According to NRF, January retail industry sales increased 0.2% seasonally adjusted from December and 3.5% unadjusted year-over-year. NRF's chief economist noted stock market gains, tax cuts, income growth and savings may have contributed to the recent spur in consumer spending. Read more.
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