| News about digital retail commerce |  |
- Amazon acquires Cloud.co and other .co domain names
Amazon purchased domain names Cloud.co, A.co, Z.co and K.co for an undisclosed amount. While technically the country code for Colombia, .co can be treated as a generic domain. The seller said popularity for one- or two-letter domain names is soaring, after Overstock spent $350,000 on O.co last year. TechCrunch (5/17)        | Privacy & Online Behavioral Advertising: What's Next?
Join a thought-provoking discussion with the FTC, Forbes.com, DAA, and TRUSTe focusing on how pieces of the privacy puzzle — self-regulation, browser features, Do Not Track, legislation and enforcement — fit together and their implications. A must-attend event for advertisers and compliance leads. Learn more |
 - Middlemen offer layaway plans for online shoppers
Companies including eLayway.com and Lay-Away.com have found a growing demand for their services, as customers who faced lower credit-card limits or were determined to reduce their debt during the recession increasingly opted for less-costly layaway plans. Both act as middlemen between merchants and consumers, who set up payment plans at checkout and receive their goods once they've paid them off. Fox Business/CreditCards.com (5/17) - Newest group-buying sites focus on gift giving
The success of group-buying sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial has spawned new players focused on bringing the daily-deal concept to gift giving. Startups including The Gifts Project, Friendfund and Giftiki are adding plug-ins that make it easy for friends and associates to gather online and pool their resources to purchase group gifts. GigaOm (5/17)  | Evaluate your Energy company's top ten, potential risks and loss management strategies with the Zurich Virtual Consultant tool. Sign up to get FREE access today! |
 - Online retailers upgrade to fill orders faster and more accurately
Retailers are upgrading the way they fulfill orders with each new distribution center they open, aiming to meet consumers' rising expectations of speed and accuracy. From a high-end robotic system at Gilt Groupe to new e-commerce fulfillment centers from brick-and-mortar chains including Macy's, Urban Outfitters and Toys R Us, merchants aim higher as programs such as Amazon Prime and ShopRunner train consumers to expect two-day delivery. InternetRetailer.com (5/17)  | If you post something on your brand's Facebook page your fans see it, right? Wrong. What you don't know about Facebook's post ranking system can hurt your social branding efforts. EdgeRank is the way that Facebook grades the relevancy of your posts to your fans. Cut through the mystery of Facebook's EdgeRank - download the White Paper now. |
 - I.T. lessons from a small online specialty merchant
Adrian Mak and his partners sell pens -- Japanese pens, to be precise. Until recently, Mak did all the I.T. work for California-based online retailer JetPens himself, then hired a full-time staffer rather than go with an outside consultant. He shares some of the lessons he's learned along the way, including the benefits of using the cloud, the power of big pictures to add vitality to an e-commerce site and the value of old-fashioned spreadsheets for tracking new-fangled social media mentions. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/You're the Boss blog (5/17) - Gilt Groupe cuts $4 from shipping fees
Flash-fashion site Gilt Groupe has cut its ground shipping price for packages of all sizes from $9.95 to $5.95 and introduced a more liberal return policy. Shoppers now can return all items, not just the sized products such as clothes and shoes that were allowed under the old rules. InternetRetailer.com (5/17) - EBay's chief engineer leaves to co-found e-commerce startup
Chief eBay engineer Randy Shoup, the architect behind the auction website's search infrastructure since 2004, left the company to co-found a consumer-focused e-commerce startup, Shopilly. The venture hasn't offered many details on what it will bring to the table, beyond saying that it will help shoppers "cut through the clutter" to discover shopping opportunities. GigaOm (5/17)  | Akamai - The Right Partner with the Right Solution
Are you failing to to satisfy user expectations for an outstanding online shopping experience? Do you need to accelerate your dynamic content? Do you strive to be a retailer that pushes the envelope with site technology and offerings? Learn why the Akamai Dynamic Site Accelerator is the right solution for those issues and more. |
| Interactive Advertising |  | | | - Facebook drops restriction on some types of ads
Facebook is lifting restrictions on some types of advertising, a gesture toward consistency and simplification that in some cases puts the onus on marketers to make sure their ads don't reach users under a certain age or in venues where laws might bar such appeals. Among the "sin products" affected are tobacco, gambling, firearms, prescription drugs and sweepstakes. MediaPost Communications/Online Media Daily (5/17) | Legislative & Regulatory | | | | | Shop.org Spotlight | | | | - How to develop the right mobile strategy for your business
Wondering how mobile can be used to achieve your business goals? Join executives from Gilt Groupe, Alibris Retail and Eight by Eight for a May 19 Online Marketing Month webinar as they share tactical advice on how to drive mobile conversions. Amy Africa, CEO of Eight by Eight, will also reveal eight mobile measurements every retailer should track. All Online Marketing Month webinars are free for Shop.org members. Register or learn more. - Shop.org SmartStat: May 18, 2011
 The average age of a tablet owner is 36 years old -- younger than the average smartphone owner and the average adult. Source: NRF survey conducted by BIGresearch. - Research: How retailers and shoppers are using tablets
With the popularity of tablets spreading like wildfire, NRF's Kathy Grannis digs into new BIGresearch data on the demographics of tablet shoppers and what influences their online purchases while using the cutting-edge device. The blog post links to a free report that profiles today's tablet users. Read more.
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