 | News about digital retail commerce |  |
- Redesigned Zagat site offers more free content
Zagat has launched a redesigned website that aims to build on recent efforts to upgrade its offerings and provide more maps, restaurant listings and other food-related content for free. The site also encourages users to post and share their favorite food photos, and has even taken a page from Facebook by adding a "Like" button that shows how many users enjoyed their meals at specific eateries. TechCrunch (2/21)        | Stop Being Ripped-off Twice
Fraud is the #1 reason for chargebacks for card-not-present merchants. If your ecommerce site is experiencing high chargeback rates or if your organization is in an Excessive Chargeback Program with Visa or MasterCard, Kount can help...fast. Get your chargebacks under control in 60 days or less, or it's FREE. Click here | | Spotlight on Social Commerce |  |  | | |  | - Keep it simple to sell on social sites, exec says
Companies need to make it easy and fun for their customers to find them and start buying if they are going to make a splash in social commerce, says Jon Mandel, one of the executives behind the 1-800-Flowers Facebook application. That means not creating needless barriers to engagement, while ensuring that your promotions are enticing rather than annoying, Mandel says. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Social Media (2/22)  | Report: CMOs share top results on the bottom line of social. We surveyed top CMOs to get the real story about how they use social media; their answers (and honesty) may surprise you. Download the report to see what's most important and most impactful to top CMOs. | - Lower prices on Amazon prove an ongoing challenge to retailers
Amazon's ability to sell books at lower prices helped push Borders into bankruptcy, a trend that's extending to more traditional retail chains as the online retail giant expands its product mix. The company's revenue rose 40% last year, as brick-and-mortar rivals struggled to recover from the recession, and for the first time, sales books, DVDs and other media made up less than half of Amazon's sales. The Wall Street Journal (2/22) - Survey: Online retailers bank on live chats to spur sales
More than half of online retailers that engaged their shoppers via online chat during the holidays were able to turn browsers into buyers 20% of the time or better, according to a survey from Bold Software. Proactive chat -- in which retailers reach out and initiate conversations based on users' online behavior -- yielded higher conversion rates than chats that were initiated by the shopper, the survey found. InternetRetailer.com (2/18) - Small online businesses require protection, council says
The Council of Small Business of Australia said that small businesses operating via the Internet need security via regulation and contracts from collusion between online leaders and traditional retailers. Peter Strong, executive director of the council, said the concern is that traditional retailers will force smaller companies from the online world. Computerworld (Australia) (2/18)  | Turning Online Shopper Uncertainty into a New Source of Sales and Profits. Eliminating consumer uncertainty is a challenge for all online merchants. The question is, how can you address shoppers' concerns and increase sales and profits in the process? Download the buySAFE white paper to learn more NOW! |
 - Are you a conversation fire-starter?
Engaging customers online is like starting a fire, writes Gail Goodman. You have to spot the initial sparks of interest, then nurture and feed them until they grow into a self-sustaining conversation, she writes. Make yourself available, provide plenty of original content for users to chat about and, for best results, seek to weave conversations across multiple social platforms, Goodman advises. Entrepreneur.com (2/22) - Sites want to know when penalties hurt search rankings
Almost 25% of U.S. and U.K. website owners surveyed recently reported sudden, steep declines in traffic to their sites, but few realized that the seemingly unexplained drop may have been a result of obscure penalties imposed by large search engines. An initiative called "Have I been penalized..?" aims to educate website owners about the system and push for search companies to confirm whether penalties were imposed and why. International Business Times (2/21) - Race heats up between mobile-payment players
Mobile operators, including Deutsche Telekom AG and France Telecom SA, are vying with Visa, Google and others to create systems that allow consumers to pay for purchases with a swipe of a cell phone. Payments made using near-field communications systems are expected to make up about one-third of the $1.13 trillion market worldwide by 2014, according to IE Market Research. Bloomberg (2/20) - Next major Google-Apple tussle: Augmented reality?
Google and Apple are expected to compete in one of the next major waves of technology, augmented reality, according to a published analysis that quotes ABI Research as calling augmented reality a potential $3 billion market by 2016. eWeek.com (2/21)  | Companies in the News | | | | - U.K.'s Waitrose plans to restart online grocery service
Upscale U.K. supermarket Waitrose will relaunch online grocery ordering and delivery that started more than a decade ago. The chain, part of John Lewis Partnership, plans to invest £10 million to expand the selection and geographical reach of the program, which will be rebranded Waitrose.com next month. The Wall Street Journal (2/21) - Alibaba CEO and COO quit after inquiry finds fraudulent sales
Alibaba CEO David Wei and Chief Operating Officer Elvis Lee resigned after an investigation revealed more than 2,000 cases of fraudulent sales by subscribers of the company, China's largest in e-commerce. Both executives quit as a way of taking responsibility for the situation, but neither has been implicated in any of the fraudulent sales at the company, which connects Asian suppliers with global buyers including online retailers in North America. Bloomberg (2/21), InternetRetailer.com (2/21) - Sources: Chrome's new look would eliminate address bar
Google is reportedly in the midst of a radical redesign of its Chrome browser interface that would remove the Web address bar to create more space for browsing. One possible redesign would make Web addresses visible only when users hover the mouse pointer over specific spots on the page. Telegraph (London) (2/21)
| Shop.org Spotlight | | | | - 7 things to know about e-commerce in 2010
Following Shop.org's recent webinar 'The 2010 Digital Year in Review,' comScore Executive Chairman and co-founder Gian Fulgoni shared seven e-commerce stats from 2010 that industry professionals should keep in mind when planning for 2011. Read more. - Racie 2010 award finalists named
Finalists for the most creative and innovative advertisements in retail have been announced. Brands like Kohl's, Express, AutoTrader, Best Buy and Fashion Bug are in the running to take home awards in television, mobile apps, gift cards and in-store non-digital. The winners will be announced at the annual Racie Awards Luncheon held at INNOVATE '11, March 8-10 in San Francisco. View a complete list of finalists.
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Almost two-thirds of 18- to 34-year-olds finished their holiday shopping in the last two weeks of December. Source: 
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