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Exclusive Video Interview: Ellen Davis of Shop.org

Ellen Davis of Shop.org, speaks with Bill Bass on Shop.org TV:

Ellen Davis joined the National Retail Federation in 2002 and was named Vice President in 2008. She is responsible for helping shape NRF’s communications strategy, acting as a primary NRF spokesperson, and conducting analysis of NRF consumer research and industry trends.
In 2007, Davis was named [...]

Online holiday sales up 19%

ComScore reports that online holiday sales were 19% higher in 2007 than the prior year. (The season started off slow but accelerated to a 21% growth pace in the month before Christmas).
Other interesting tidbits: CyberMonday was not the biggest shopping day of the season. That was December 10th. Internet Retailer reports:
The heaviest [...]

Amazon.com — #1 on Cyber Monday

According to the Hitwise 100 Retail Index, Amazon.com was the most-visited retail Web site on Cyber Monday.
Amazon deserves credit for continuing to innovate aggressively in an industry that is often slow to challenge conventional wisdom. From Amazon Prime, to their wide embrace of third-party sellers, to Amazon’s recent introduction of Product Video (which silverdock.com was [...]

Cyber Monday — how big is it?

ComScore is reporting that Cyber Monday generated $733 million of online revenue. They’re estimating $123 billion of total online revenue for 2008, which implies that Cyber Monday accounts for about 0.6% of annual revenue. That’s a bit of a surprise; apparently Cyber Monday is only 2x the volume of the average online shopping [...]

Did Yahoo Stores lose $20 million in one day?

2007 is a turning point for “Cyber Monday” — the year this invented concept turned from obscure marketing gimmick to industry rallying cry. The best part is that customers seem to be playing along.
Every rose has its thorn, though… and this year, perhaps the most dramatic prick happened to Yahoo Stores. Yahoo Stores [...]

Slow Servers on Cyber Monday

According to Keynote Systems (as reported in the WSJ), up to a third of retail websites are seeing major slowdowns. Some sites are 400% slower under heavy customer traffic. Sears.com actually locked out customers for a big chunk of Friday!
No retailer wants to “lock the doors” on customers. Site uptime is [...]

Danger! Holiday sales promotions may hurt your business

Internet retailers are “getting in the game” in a big way this year. Discounts abound, free shipping offers clog our inboxes, and webstores are eagerly jostling for traffic. Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!
We need to remember the difference between sales, profit, and brand building. No doubt massive discounts will get customers in the [...]

“Cyber Monday” - fact or fiction?

A client recently asked me about “Cyber Monday” - is it really the biggest day of the year for online retail?
The image of millions of Americans eagerly rushing to their web browsers on Monday morning is striking (and, truth be told, a little comical). Critics point out that Cyber Monday is kind of a [...]