Amazon | Internet Marketing Blog

Index invests in 'Russian Amazon'

Rusian book, music and game retailer Ozon.ru has landed £9.1m in an investment round led by Index Ventures, and also involving Holtzbrinck Ventures and Cisco Systems.

Ozon.ru intends to use the capital to develop its logistics, expand product lines and establish new distribution centres across Russia.

by Graham Charlton 03 April 2007 10:01am 1 comment

New location readies Amazon for Christmas

A massive new distribution centre due to be built in south Wales by Amazon.co.uk will be partially operational in time for the 2007 Christmas e-commerce rush.

The retailer yesterday announced it is to create its fourth UK fulfillment HQ, spanning 800,000sqft, near Swansea following an incentive package from the Welsh Assembly Government.

by Robert Andrews 30 March 2007 12:34pm 0 comments

Interview: Tim Curtis, head of Mothercare Direct

Tim Curtis has been at Mothercare Direct for five years now, helping the company shift towards multichannel retail and more recently overseeing its switch to Amazon Services' e-commerce platform.

We asked him a few questions about the challenges of integrating different channels within Mothercare, and what opportunities there are for retailers within Web 2.0, mobile and digital TV.

by Richard Maven 27 March 2007 13:13pm 0 comments

M&S launches new Amazon-powered website

Marks and Spencer has revamped its online retail site with a little help from Amazon, hoping that its new multichannel approach to retailing will increase its online sales.

At the launch of its interim results for 2006/2007, M&S chief executive Stuart Rose said that the company intends to double its online sales from £100m in a short period of time.

by Graham Charlton 26 March 2007 18:37pm 0 comments

Amazon kills Statsaholic, but does Jeff know?

Statsaholic, the Alexa-powered traffic tool formerly known as Alexaholic, is being systematically crushed by Amazon in a move that is going to create a wave of negative PR for the online retail giant.

Earlier this month Amazon sent a legal warning that forced Alexaholic to drop the Alexa from its name. Fair enough – brands have to look after their trademarks. But now it is preventing Statsaholic from using its API at all.

This is bad news, and sends out a highly ridiculous message to current and prospective users of Amazon Web Services. The message is this: “If you are successful, we can close you down.”

by Chris Lake 26 March 2007 14:30pm 2 comments

Borders goes it alone on the web

Borders Group has announced plans to end its relationship with Amazon and reopen its own e-commerce website early next year.

The move follows a similar decision by rival bookseller Waterstone's in 2006, and came as Borders posted losses of $73.6m (£37.5m) for the fourth quarter of last year.

by Graham Charlton 26 March 2007 09:08am 0 comments

Interview: Persuasion guru BJ Fogg

BJ Fogg directs research and design at Stanford University's Persuasive Technology Lab , and is pretty much The Don of captology - the study of how computers can be used to influence people's behaviour.

We asked him a few questions about how internet marketers could be using persuasion techniques more effectively, as well as some of the more scary implications for individual web users.

by Richard Maven 14 March 2007 15:08pm 3 comments

Retail Week review: Targets miss the multi-channel point

Last week at the Retail Week Conference , I was so pleased I wasn’t in the corrugated roofing business, because no-one was talking about it. Everyone, on the other hand, was talking about multi-channel retailing - and it was great.

From the opening remarks to the close, a gruelling 33 hours later, e-commerce, its impact on retailers and on the high street was the main talk of the auditorium, the breakout sessions and the coffee queue.

by Guest Author 07 March 2007 10:18am 1 comment

US shoppers happier in online stores

Customer satisfaction with e-commerce sites improved for the second year in a row, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) released by the University of Michigan.

Online retail achieved a score of 83 on ACSI's 100 point scale, while offline retailers scored 74.4. The survey was carried out in conjunction with ForeSee Results.

by Graham Charlton 21 February 2007 11:16am 2 comments

69% of retailers shun e-commerce

Over two thirds of UK retailers are missing out on potential revenues by not offering their goods for sale online, according to a survey by Barclaycard.

The company said many retailers are reluctant to embrace e-commerce because of the perception that set up costs are too high and that a high level of technical know-how is needed.

by Graham Charlton 29 November 2006 11:07am 0 comments