Q&A with Duncan Jennings of VoucherCodes.co.uk
Duncan Jennings, the founder of VoucherCodes.co.uk, spoke at our recent Online Marketing Masterclasses about - you guessed it - the role of voucher codes in affiliate marketing.
I caught up with him to find out how voucher codes can be embraced by e-commerce companies to drive sales, and to figure out some best practices in this area.
Ideas for free delivery offers
The benefits of free shipping offers are well documented; it simplifies the charges in the customers mind, and is a proven sales driver.
Luke Knowles from freeshipping.org has put together a free e-book (pdf) with some case studies and stats on free delivery.
Here's a few of his tips on different types of free delivery / shipping offers...
comScore - ecommerce shrinks first 23 days of November, will Black Friday, Cyber Monday save the day?
It looks like the woes that had already befalled brick-and-mortar retail may have finally befallen online retailers. According to comScore, e-commerce sales in the first 23 days of November declined 4% from the same period last year.
5 top tips for SEO customer service
Usually my articles are directed at the search engine optimisation (SEO) customer, the entrepreneur or marketer looking to boost their online business through search.
Today though, I want to explore how we sector professionals interact with these customers, how we deal with them and how we can get the best out of our working relationships.
Q&A: Steve Howell of charity auction site Celeb2nds
Celeb2nds auctions items donated by celebrities, from David Beckham's boots, to Cliff Richard's jacket, all in aid of its eight founder charities, which include the Rainbow Trust and Dial a Dream.
The site is pretty well designed too, though there are a couple of slight issues; the 'auctions ending soon' display could be promoted better, as on eBay, and the fairly hefty delivery charges, £10 for a signed Harry Hill joke book for example, may deter some bidders.
Has retailer Woolworths closed its website?
Woolworths, having become the latest victim of the credit crunch yesterday, seems to have taken its website offline this afternoon.
Visitors to the website will find this message: 'Our site is currently undergoing essential maintenance. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. Please check back later. '
Q&A with Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh
Online shoestore Zappos was founded in 1999 and has in less than a decade grown to be one of the leading lights of e-commerce.
Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is a firm believer in the value of a delightful customer experience and is an early adopter of Twitter. I asked him a few questions to find out how this focus on satisfaction (and the Twitter factor) is helping the company progress.
Retailer 247 Electrical closes online store
The latest casualty of the economic slowdown appears to be pureplay internet retailer 247 Electrical, which has closed its online store.
The 247 Electrical website currently displays a “we are having some technical difficulties” message on its homepage (the only page that works), but a closer look at the title bar presents a more ominous statement: “STORE CLOSED”.
Mobile site review: Amazon.co.uk
Amazon's mobile site has been going for a while, and I've been testing out the site to see how easy Amazon makes it to make a purchase by mobile phone.
According to this survey, Amazon is one of the more impressive mobile shopping sites, so what is it doing right?
How will the VAT cut affect e-commerce?
The Chancellor yesterday anounced a cut in the rate of VAT from the current 17.5% to 15%, effective from Monday 1st December.
The intention is to stimulate consumer spending to help businesses but, as Patrick at Blogstorm points out, this could turn out to be a major problem for some online retailers.
Social media: the best and worst of 2009
Email marketing: six steps to improving customer engagement in 2010
Web 2.0
Graham Charlton
Strategy & Planning
