  | News about digital retail commerce |  |
- Taigan gives local boutiques an international audience
Brentwood, Tenn.-based Taigan grew rapidly this year and now handles sales for about 80 small shops and boutiques in Nashville and other cities. The online marketplace, launched as a way for travelers to continue shopping at boutiques they discover, is proving popular by offering hard-to-find, full-price merchandise -- the opposite of Amazon, Wal-Mart and other discounting mass merchandisers, says CEO Elizabeth Nichols. The Tennessean (Nashville) (12/26)        | Supercharging the Online Channel
Getting to the right shoppers and then converting them to buyers in your online store is every retailer's key objective. Short purchase windows, impatient buyers, and new mandates around security are creating unprecedented demands on commerce sites. Learn how to attract customers to your site, optimize their online shopping experience and drive more transactions. Watch the webinar NOW! |
 - Merchants lure shoppers online in record numbers
U.S. e-commerce sales rose 15.4% from Oct. 31 to Dec. 23, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse, and about 10% of all retail spending is online. Department stores and electronics stores reported double-digit increases in online sales, and sales by specialty apparel stores rose about 25% as shoppers became more comfortable ordering clothing without touching and trying it on first. The Wall Street Journal (12/24) - E-gift cards get their own special day
Sellers of online gift cards dubbed Dec. 23 Click It to Gift It Day to spur sales of electronic gift cards for folks who waited too long to order gifts online. Maine-based CashStar, which named the day, manages electronic gift-card programs for 46 retailers and restaurants, including Home Depot, Gap and Cheesecake Factory. Boston Herald (12/23)  | Samsonite Brings Durability Online with Amazon Webstore Samsonite wanted a truly integrated brand and marketing experience—a site that looked like Samsonite and still allowed them to promote their products effectively. They turned to Amazon Webstore to tap their expertise and raise the Samsonite eCommerce processes to a 'best-in-class' level. Download the Case Study now! |
 - Social networking influences more purchases by moms
More than three-quarters of mothers of young children use social networks and a growing number of them depended on Facebook friends and Twitter connections for shopping suggestions this season, a survey found. "Social media has become an enormous influence on purchasing," said NPD Group analyst Anita Frazier. Chicago Tribune (12/26) - Amazon's patent offers a solution to costly returns
Amazon obtained a patent this year for a system that would head off unwanted gifts at the pass. The innovation would give customers a way to return gifts before they receive them and could save the online retailer significant sums in shipping fees on returned items. Etiquette experts say the system might save money but could kill the spirit of giving. The Washington Post (12/27)  | New cloud management techniques enable IBM to provide a simplified "anywhere, anytime" self-service approach for the delivery and consumption of IT services. Read this paper to see how using a cloud-based approach for your IT can free you to reap immediate benefits of a specific technology instead of having to spend time, resources, and money focusing on how to implement it. |
 | Hot Topics |  | | | Top five news stories selected by Shop.org SmartBrief readers in the past week. - Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.
| Companies in the News | | | | - Research values Facebook higher than Yahoo! and eBay
Facebook's "enterprise value" has increased to $41.2 billion, putting it ahead of eBay and Yahoo! and leading privately held, fast-growing startups such as Groupon and Twitter, according to research from Nyppex. The securities firm used pricing data from private sales of stock by employees and other insiders to set a value for the startups. San Jose Mercury News (Calif.) (free registration) (12/26) - Q&A: Peggy Yu, chairwoman of China's Dangdang
Improving distribution and continuing to diversify its product lineup are two key goals for Dangdang, a Chinese e-commerce player that went public this year. In this interview, co-founder and chairwoman Peggy Yu talks about plans to build market share, the impact of e-book piracy on business and the importance of pricing power in winning loyal customers. The Wall Street Journal/China Real Time Report (12/27) | | | Most Popular Headlines from Last Week Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers. |
| Interactive Advertising | | | | - 2010: a signature year for mobile
A surge in smartphone use and acquisitions by Google and Apple of mobile-ad firms made 2010 the year of mobile, according to some analysts. Spending on mobile advertising was up 138% from the previous year. ClickZ (12/23)  | Target Your Message — Advertise Here
Direct your message straight to key decision-makers in the digital retail commerce industry. With over 32,000 subscribers and valuable ad performance feedback, Shop.org SmartBrief is the smart place to advertise. Click here to download media kit. | | Shop.org Spotlight | | | | - Schedule set for Shop.org's 2011 regional dinners
Get your 2011 off to a great start by networking with your peers at Shop.org's free, retailer-only regional dinners. The 2011 schedule includes stops in Boston, Seattle, San Francisco and Dallas, among other cities. Spots fill up quickly, so register soon to ensure you don't miss out! Learn more. - Retail's BIG Show standard registration ends Jan. 7
Want to attend the year's biggest and best retail industry event? Here's your last chance to save on registration for NRF's 100th Annual Convention & EXPO, Jan. 9 to 12 in New York City. Registering before Jan. 7 can save you more than $200 off the on-site rate. NRF retail members can save even more by registering as a five-person retail team. Learn more.
| SmartQuote | | | |  | Endeavor to be innocent as a dove, but as wise as a serpent."
--Lady Anne Fanshawe,
British memoirist  |
| | This SmartBrief was created for cpgbrokers.data@blogger.com | | | | Advertise | Sales Account Director:
Dena Malouf 202.737.5500 ext. 282 | | | | | | | | | | Recent Shop.org SmartBrief Issues: - Thursday, December 23, 2010
- Wednesday, December 22, 2010
- Tuesday, December 21, 2010
- Monday, December 20, 2010
- Friday, December 17, 2010
| | | Lead Editor: Megan Conniff
Mailing Address:
SmartBrief, Inc.®, 1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20005 | | | | | | © 1999-2010 SmartBrief, Inc.® Legal Information |
|
Two-thirds of retailers surveyed allow customers to return items to stores that they purchased online. Source: 
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please comment thoughtfully CPG Brokers, your best resource to optimize your in store self exposure and maximize sku distribution.