2012: The year that online retail reaches adulthood
Online retail will be 18 this year, so what has the industry achieved during its childhood years?
This is my school leaver's report for the industry as it moves into adulthood.
Online retail delivery: what does Kiddicare get right?
Kiddicare was the winner of the Snow Valley's recent Golden Chariot award for online retail delivery excellence.
So what has Kiddicare been doing right with its delivery policies and processes?
I'll look at this, as well as some highlights from Snow Valley's 2012 Online Retail Delivery report...
Christmas shoppers don't trust etailers to deliver on time
46% of the UK's online shoppers are planning to leave their Christmas shopping until the last minute this year, despite the majority having little faith in the ability of retailers to deliver in time for the big day.
This stat comes from an online Christmas shopping survey of 1,000 UK consumers carried out for Eptica, which also looked at how retailers were providing information on delivery.
So what can retailers do to appeal to last minute shoppers and reassure them about delivery?
Javari provides the best customer experience: study
Online shoe retailer Javari has the best user experience of 51 leading e-commerce websites, according to a new study.
Javari, which is an offshoot of Amazon, achieved this thanks to excellent scores for search and navigation, as well as its delivery and returns process.
I've been looking at the eDigital Research report in detail, as well as what Javari is doing well online...
Online customer service: how to get it right
With the increasingly homogenous offer of online retailers, it is generally agreed that high levels of customer service are more vital than ever.
With this in mind, I'm constantly astounded by the shockingly poor levels of service British consumers are exposed to.
Online retail delivery improved last year: report
Online retailers continued to improve their performance in terms of delivery last year, with an increase in the speed of delivery, and a greater range of options on offer for customers.
John Lewis picked up Snow Valley's Golden Chariot award for all round delivery excellence, though the 2011 Online Retail Delivery Report did still find some room for improvement.
Some highlights from the report...
How online marketers can adapt to the weather
The weather in 2010 made front-page news across much of the planet. Washington's storms caused power outages, NYC endured insufferable heat, and the UK was brought to its knees by snow.
With retailers reflecting on their 2010 performance, the effect of the weather on online sales and how marketers can respond is worthy of investigation.
Christmas delivery: a quarter of orders arrived late
Thanks in part to the snow, more than a quarter of customers received their orders late this Christmas, and almost half of those orders arrived two or more days late.
This is one of the findings of a Christmas delivery survey of UK consumers carried out exclusively for Econsultancy by Toluna.
Some highlights from the survey after the jump...
Christmas delivery: are online retailers managing customer expectations?
In the past few years, thanks to retailers and couriers offering more delivery options, deadlines for Christmas delivery have been getting later. However, the snow has thrown a spanner in the works, and some retailers are now bringing these dates forward.
For example, while Amazon had planned to promise Christmas delivery for orders placed up to December 23, it is now unable to offer any guarantees.
Depending where you live, you may still be able to order online and get items delivered by Christmas, but are online retailers informing customers effectively before they begin shopping?
A Christmas checklist for online retailers
With the Christmas shopping season just getting under way, what can online retailers do to drive more traffic to the site and convert as many visitors as possible?
Here's a checklist of 12 things etailers should be doing to make the most of the holiday season...
