How to use Google Voice to increase reorders
I just received an email from nutritional supplement retailer Jigsaw Health, about a new program they offering their existing customer base.
After speaking to President and Co-Founder Patrick Sullivan Jr, I learned that 80% of their monthly revenue comes from returning customers (and they don't even offer an auto-ship program).
How? By setting up Google Voice so that repeat customers can place orders via text message. Let's take a look at how this works...
Q&A: Gerrard Dennis of Simply Group on e-commerce
The Simply Group operates seven e-commerce sites in the UK, from SimplyScuba, to the recently relaunched SimplyBeach.
I've been talking to founder Gerrard Dennis about the challenges if running seven separate sites...
How can etailers handle the Christmas rush?
Over the past year, we've seen a couple of examples of well known e-commerce sites being unable to cope with traffic spikes, mainly caused by sales.
This time last year, Debenham's website went down for around 24 hours thanks to the weight of sales traffic, while the Next website had to implement a queuing system in July thanks to a traffic spike.
But what can online retailers do to avoid such problems?
Q&A: Pluck's Stephanie Himoff on social media for publishers
Pluck provides social media platforms for brands and publishers, including News International, The Guardian, and Trinity Mirror.
I've been talking to Stephanie Himoff, who directs Pluck's European sales, about the company's social media tools, and how publishers can use UGC to drive traffic and increase engagement...
Holiday shopping 2009: five tips for online retailers
The holidays are right around the corner and that means that online retailers are gearing up for what is usually the busiest shopping season of the year.
This won't be your typical holiday season, however. Although one might argue that the global economy is in a better place than it was at this time in 2008, times are still tough for a lot of people and that means that retailers will need to go into Holiday 2009 prepared for another challenging year.
EU: no cookies without consent. Will EU affiliate programs be killed?
Earlier this year, I wrote about an EU plan to require that internet users consent to cookies before they're placed on their computers. At the time, I called the plan "absurd".
Which must be precisely why the Council of the EU has approved a directive amending legislation to do just that. The announcement of this potentially horrendous action? Well-hidden in an 18 page Council press release.
Coupons and discounts sustain etailers
The economy has been making some hints at ressurgance in the past few months, but it's nowhere near a complete rebound, and according to ComScore today, most of the bright spots in third quarter are only relative to the dismal results that occured last year. During its quarterly report "State of the US Online Retail Economy," ComScore chairman Gian Fulgoni characterized a generally dismal third quarter for retailers.
However, it's not all bad. Amid struggling revenues and rising unemployment, some retailers are increasing conversion rates and site visitations. What's their secret? Low prices and reliable online experiences. And there is promise in the fact that young, upper income earners are opening up their wallets again.
Will Netflix throw its customers under the bus for higher profits?
Imagine for a moment that you're the CEO of Netflix. The movie studios don't really like you. They think low-cost rental services like Netflix are cutting into DVD sales, which have declined. So they come up with a plan to block rentals of new releases for a short time, perhaps a month.
The question: do you oppose this plan or do you look to negotiate with the studios for some sort of benefit?
Site review: Virgin Trains revamp
Virgin Trains relaunched its website yesterday with an updated look and feel for the site, which apparently aims to 'convey the brand's new positioning of train travel as superior to other modes of transport'.
I'm not sure whether it does that, but it does look a lot better than the previous version. I've been comparing the site with the old version...
Email marketing: six steps to improving customer engagement in 2010
Despite the naysayers claiming email marketing is on the way out thanks to the snowballing impact of social networking and new forms of communication, the facts are very different. Email continues to play a vital role in both business and customer communication.
According to Epsilon, email is used more regularly than social networking for personal communication, while 30% of organisations in Econsultancy’s Email Marketing Industry Census claimed an ROI from email in excess of 500%.
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
