| News about digital retail commerce |  |
| Top Story |  |  | | - Gilt Groupe aims to raise profits, eyes 2013 IPO
Five-year-old Gilt Groupe is working to improve profit margins as well as sales as it prepares for an IPO that could come as soon as next year, said CEO Susan Lyne. This year, the company will also focus on boosting global sales, she said. "We've just recently allowed people to start purchasing with credit cards all over the world. There's a big market out there." CNBC (3/1)       |  |  | | See how Cardmembers use American Express OPEN Cards to help run their business:
“I put all Membership Rewards® points back into the business for goods, products, or travel and I'll be using them to get a new voice-internet-phone system installed.” - Lenie Ramos Trent, little twig
With The Business Gold Rewards Card, you can redeem Membership Rewards points for your essential business needs.
LEARN MORE & APPLY | |  |  |  |
  | Online Retail Trends | | | | - Virtual-closet sites combine sharing, shopping
A growing number of "virtual closets" that meld social sharing and shopping are popping up and gaining popularity as start-ups see the demand for social collaboration sites such as Pinterest. Clothia.com, which launched during New York Fashion Week, lets users replicate their real closets in the virtual world, put together outfits and collections and create wish lists for new pieces. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (2/29) - Retail chains partner in mobile-payment race
Major retailers including Wal-Mart Stores and Target reportedly are collaborating to create a mobile-payment option to compete with Google Wallet and efforts from cellphone companies. One estimate has the market for mobile payment topping $600 billion by 2016. The Wall Street Journal (3/2) - The importance of load time for e-commerce websites
Web users will spend a shorter time on pages that download slowly. In fact, the blink of an eye -- 400 milliseconds -- is too slow for many people, according to researchers. "Two hundred fifty milliseconds, either slower or faster, is close to the magic number now for competitive advantage on the Web," said Microsoft's Harry Shum. That far outpaces the old "two-second" loading rule that many Web-commerce sites used. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (2/29) - Multiple vendors vie in N.Y. taxi-device contest
New York's Taxi and Limousine Commission has expanded the testing of tablet-like devices for new interactive services in the back of cabs. Originally allowing San Francisco-based Square to test its device for implementation, but now Verifone and Creative Mobile Technologies will test their variations in pilot programs. The Wall Street Journal (3/1)  | Consumer Insights Your Brand Needs to Know: Latest Trends in Behavioral Advertising
Learn what brand managers, advertisers, as well as networks, agencies, and publishers need to know about consumer survey insights into behavioral ad serving, also known as interest-based advertising. Learn more today! |
 | Companies in the News | | | | - Macy's gets new look on Facebook
 Macy's has revamped its Facebook page using new timeline tools that help the department store better tell its story, and is getting ready to launch other social initiatives aimed at keeping existing customers happy while currying favor with younger consumers, says digital marketing executive Jennifer Kasper. "The rule of thumb for us is really thinking through how the customer is using the channel and then using it appropriately." MediaPost Communications/Marketing Daily (3/1)
 | Hiring exceptional talent is critical to the success of your business. Whether it’s the executive who offers visionary leadership, or the sales professional who won’t settle for less than 100%, a business needs great people to thrive. This guide provides best practices for securing the top talent you need to drive business results. |
 | Shop.org Spotlight | | | | - Best strategies for making your "invisible" Web content accessible
With 150,000 URLs added to the Internet each day, Web content is growing at a rate almost impossible to keep up with. So how can retailers siphon their communications to consumers through the increasing clutter of information? In a new white paper in the Shop.org library, BloomReach identifies ways online retailers can package their messages so that they are easy to find for the consumers who seek it. Download the white paper. - NRF: Don't broaden cybersecurity legislation
While two major cybersecurity bills in the Senate are focused on increasing the sharing of information between the government and the private sector and protecting "critical infrastructure," NRF believes the legislation should not stray from these key purposes and be expanded to include data breach legislation or broad new privacy regimes. "The goals underlying the cybersecurity legislation and provisions in data breach notification legislation are fundamentally contradictory," NRF Senior Vice President for Government Relations David French said. Read more.
| SmartQuote | | | |  | Write the bad things that are done to you in sand, but write the good things that happen to you on a piece of marble."
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Just 29% of consumers who have followed a retailer via social media noted that they had ever opted-out of a retail connection. Source: 
