Social Shopping | Internet Marketing Blog

Bumper Christmas expected for online customer service

Online customer service departments may be dealing with up to five times more emails in the pre-Christmas run up than at any other time of the year.

The two weeks before Christmas will be a busy one as anxious customers contact retailer’s customer service departments to see whether their purchases are going to turn up in time for the big day.

by Graham Charlton 30 October 2006 14:38pm 0 comments

Report shows influence of internet on offline sales

New research once again proves the influence of the internet on both online and offline sales. A study has shown that 77% of electronics purchases are researched online before customers head to a store.

The results of the US-focused study indicates that online research time increases in line with product prices.

by Graham Charlton 27 October 2006 11:42am 1 comment

Web searches to kill window-shopping?

Europe’s high streets could eventually be devoid of banks, travel agents and mobile phone shops as consumers turn to the web for research, according to ACNielsen.

A study by the analyst group found consumers used window-shopping less than the net when choosing their purchases, except when it came to clothing and accessories.

by Richard Maven 13 October 2006 13:45pm 0 comments

Study: ‘social local search’ catching on

Hitwise research director LeeAnn Prescott has released some data showing traffic to local directories employing user generated content (UGC) is growing faster than traditional 'yellow pages' (directory) sites.

by Richard Maven 11 October 2006 11:24am 0 comments

Should Web 2.0 startups seek venture capital?

Web 2.0 startups shouldn’t bother seeking VC money, according to Neil Sequeira of General Catalyst Partners, because “there have not yet been these type of exits that generated venture capital type returns”.

Neil is a VC who made these comments at the AjaxWorld Expo in California, but I’m not sure he’s entirely correct in his observations.

by Chris Lake 04 October 2006 17:20pm 0 comments

Wal-Mart dumps social networking site

Wal-Mart’s brief fling with online networking appears to have come to an end, with several blogs saying the retailer has closed its teen-oriented social networking site - called ‘ The Hub ’, among other things.

The site, temporarily launched this summer as a promotion for the start of the school year, aimed to copy Myspace et al by encouraging ‘hubsters’ to set up their own personalised web pages.

by Richard Maven 03 October 2006 12:10pm 0 comments

Classified ads rise in popularity

Traffic to the largest classified advertising websites has grown by almost 50% in the last year, according to new research.

by Richard Maven 06 September 2006 10:53am 0 comments

UK online spending to double by 2010

UK web shoppers will spend £6.25 billion on groceries a year by 2010, an increase of 235% over last year, according to a study by Paypal.

Research by the payment firm suggests British online spending will double to £39 billion, with the grocery sector taking the lion’s share of the market.

by Richard Maven 21 August 2006 11:54am 2 comments

Netvibes gets new cash injection

In another indication of growing interest among VCs in Web 2.0 outfits, Netvibes has raised US$15 million in a round of financing led by existing backer Index Ventures.

The Paris and London-based start-up, which claims to have recruited five million users of its customisable Ajax home page, plans to use the funding to help it take on rivals such as Microsoft's Live.com and Pageflakes.

by Richard Maven 15 August 2006 11:21am 1 comment