Amazon will drop e-book prices

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April 12, 2012 Sign up Forward Archive RSS Feed News about digital retail commerce   Top Story    Amazon and eBay add Pinterest button to product pages Amazon and eBay added a Pinterest button to help shoppers share photos and comments on their favorite product finds via the social network. ClickZ (4/11)      Amazon adds CDs to trade-in program: Amazon customers can trade in used CDs for a gift card from the retailer. The move expands on Amazon's trade-in program, which includes DVDs, textbooks, video games and electronic gadgets. USA TODAY/Technology Live blog (4/11)      Six Ways Personalization Can Move the Needle Strategies used to get a customer's first glance are far different than those needed to create loyalty. But from initial interaction to purchase confirmation, personalization is the thread that connects the two. Learn personalization strategies that can help you engage browsers and build long-lasting relationships: www.igodigital.com/move_the_needle   Online Retail Trends    Online shoppers boost order sizes Online shoppers are placing fewer but larger orders, boosting the average order size 7% even as the number of transactions slows, according to a new index from Dydacomp. Internet Retailer (4/11)      Report: Smartphones assist in many shopping decisions Most consumers equipped with smartphones use them to help make shopping decisions, according to research firm Leo J. Shapiro and Associates, which found that 66% of the respondents in a February survey considered the devices to be helpful when shopping. Among its other findings: 38% conducted research with their phones while inside stores, while 47% said they used the devices for gathering information about products. eMarketer (4/12)      Younger consumers boost online use of prepaid cards A growing number of consumers are using prepaid cards to shop and pay bills online, especially younger people who don't have easy access to banks and credit, according to Javelin Strategy & Research. Prepaid card use is forecast to grow from $21 billion last year to $32 billion by 2016. ZDNet (4/11)      Tax season can be tough. The IRS has increased the time it spends auditing small businesses by 30%. This free white paper brought to you by American Express OPEN, will help you learn how to navigate changes in tax legislation, leverage often overlooked deductions and strategize for the coming years. Download your free white paper, What Every Small Business Owner Needs To Know For Tax Season.   Companies in the News    Amazon will drop e-book prices Amazon plans to reduce the price of some popular e-books from $14.99 to $9.99 or less. The announcement comes after the Justice Department decided to sue Apple and five publishers, accusing them of price fixing. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (4/11)      DOJ lawsuit accuses Apple and publishers of e-book price fixing: The Justice Department filed a lawsuit alleging that Apple and five publishers colluded to fix prices for e-books. Three publishers -- Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster -- agreed to settle without admitting wrongdoing. The Washington Post (4/11)      Music industry and online sellers reach royalty deal Record labels and music publishers reached a deal with online music sellers on proposed royalty rates for five services, including online lockers such as Amazon's Cloud Drive and Apple's iTunes Match. The Wall Street Journal (4/11), Bloomberg (4/11)      Birchbox creates special-edition "Gossip Girl" box Online subscription-based beauty and lifestyle product retailer Birchbox has partnered with popular CW show "Gossip Girl" to create a box of show-related beauty products for its May offering. The site has expanded its paying subscriber base from 45,000 to 100,000 in less than a year. The Hollywood Reporter/The Live Feed blog (4/11), The New York Observer/BetaBeat (4/11)      The Business Case for Mobile and Tablet Shopping Is mobility an out-of-reach luxury or could it really improve your business? Get the facts! Aberdeen’s Analyst Insight examines the impact of mobile solutions on retail transactions, customer expectations, and important profit opportunities. This research – a $399 value- is yours free! Download your copy here!   Featured Content    5 Unique Ways to Obtain Growth Funding DAVID LAVINSKY Which Do You Fear More: Losing Customers-or Your Whole Business? Courtney Rubin How a Real Estate Developer Rode the Economic Roller Coaster Melanie Hicken How to Create a Survey that Drives Business Kentin Waits 9 Easy Ways to Remember Your Presentation Material Bruna Martinuzzi   Interactive Advertising    Could Near Match be the next Google game changer? Coming off an earnings miss, including a decline in cost per click of 8%, Google's Near Match couldn't be better timed to be another game changer, Chris Copeland writes. According to Google, Near Match extends the reach of "Exact and Phrase Match keywords to cover plural, misspelling, close rewrite, abbreviation and acronym variants only," which the company predicted will lead to a volume increase of 6.5% in click and 9.8% in impression. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model)/DigitalNext blog (4/11)      On the Internet, page-loading delays can stop customers from buying. Download our free report 3 Proven Ways to Boost Transactions with Web Acceleration and learn how Limelight Network's front-end acceleration technology can improve Time to Actions.   Shop.org Spotlight  Are you a digital retailing pioneer? Share your story at Shop.org's Annual Summit Join thousands of the best and brightest digital retailers at the hottest digital retailing event of the year -- Shop.org's 2012 Annual Summit, Sept. 10 to 12 in Denver. The Shop.org event team is searching for speakers for more than 20 sessions to share tactical "lessons learned," strategic planning ideas, and insights on new technology all retailers should watch for in the next five years. The deadline to submit proposals is May 20. Learn more and submit a proposal.      Shop.org SmartStat: April 12, 2012 When comparing conversion rates from social media sites and search engines, shoppers from Twitter had the highest average order value of $122.33. Source: RichRelevance via Shop.org white paper library.        How Wi-Fi can change the way retailers engage in-store customers The mobile revolution continues to grow and evolve, and shoppers are arming themselves with smartphones and tablets for their trip to their favorite store. And some retail companies are leveraging in-store wireless connections to better understand their customers. In an April 19 STORES webinar, executives from Dell and Retail Systems Research will explain retailer Wi-Fi strategies that can improve customer loyalty and quickly bring companies ROI by implementing a secure and scalable wireless infrastructure. Learn more and register.      Learn more about Shop.org -> Website  |  Events  |  Research  |  Shop.org Blog  |  Join Shop.org   SmartQuote  I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail." --William Faulkner, American writer        This SmartBrief was created for cpgbrokers.data@blogger.com   Subscriber Tools       Update account information | Change e-mail address | Unsubscribe | Print friendly format | Web version | Search past news | Archive | Privacy policy Grab our News Widget Publish your Press Release   Advertise Associate Publisher:  Dena Malouf 202-407-7837 Download Media Kit       Recent Shop.org SmartBrief Issues: Wednesday, April 11, 2012 Tuesday, April 10, 2012 Monday, April 09, 2012 Friday, April 06, 2012 Thursday, April 05, 2012     Lead Editor:  Megan Conniff       Mailing Address: SmartBrief, Inc.®, 555 11th ST NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004     © 1999-2012 SmartBrief, Inc.® Legal Information