5 Ways to Reboot Your E-commerce Business

Linc Wonham — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:30:00 GMT

IRCE 2010 wrapped up a couple of weeks ago after drawing nearly 6,500 e-commerce professionals to Chicago for the four-day event. The show’s official theme was “Time to Reboot”, and retailers and vendors alike left with shared optimism as e-commerce climbs out of a recession and into its next stage of development. Businesses large and small are now readying themselves for the industry’s next growth spurt, many of them focusing their energies on social media and mobile commerce.

Hundreds of companies were represented in these and countless other areas of interest, so we put our heads together and came up with the following suggestions for how you can reboot your e-commerce company based on what was seen and heard at this year’s IRCE.

Ratings and Reviews
Proponents of user ratings and reviews continue to bombard us with testimonials, calling the practice one of the simplest and most effective uses of social media available to online retailers. GoGreenSolar.com CEO Deep Patel shared his success story in a session co-hosted with Neal Creighton of RatePoint, the customer feedback and reputation management company that helped GoGreenSolar raise sales by 20 percent each month through product reviews. Bazaarvoice, PowerReviews and RateVoice are some of the other leading providers of ratings and reviews solutions in attendance at IRCE.

Personalization
This is another up-and-coming aspect of e-commerce that is attracting a lot of attention thanks to innovations in social media. There were more than 15 exhibitors at IRCE offering creative products and services in the area of personalization, ranging from personalized recommendations to geographical targeting. ChoiceStream, Strands Recommender, Criteo and Nextopia are just some of the companies that can help you bring your e-commerce site up to speed with the latest personalization tools.

Video and Imaging
With each technological advance in imaging, the bar is raised a little bit higher as far as how consumers expect to view products online. Staying on the front end of the curve is essential for an e-commerce business to remain competitive, and there are numerous affordable options for merchants. Shotfarm is a startup that provides a free product-image sharing service, and Beyond 360 is a company on the cutting edge of product photography and image processing. Webmasters looking to take the leap into product video should look no further than e-commerce pro Invodo.

Payment Management and Processing
As consumers try to climb out of debt and retailers work to protect against fraud, e-commerce businesses are finding new and creative methods for shoppers to pay for items online. BSG Clearing Solutions is one company that offers an array of payment options, including the Bill2Phone service that enables customers to bill their digital purchases to their telephones. GlobalCollect, eBillme, JetPay and Kwedit are just some of the players that offer solutions for merchants looking to enhance their customers’ experience while also protecting their own interests.

Loyalty Programs
From subscription-based incentive programs to brand-awareness marketing campaigns, channels that lead to customer loyalty and retention are always going to be vital to a successful e-commerce operation. Software-maker Teleformix presented an intriguing loyalty platform called a Customer Loyalty Center at IRCE, a customized set of services designed to build and expand your brand online. FreeShipping.com helps retailers reach out to their customers with its free-shipping and cash-back programs, and Webloyalty.com and OrderGroove have similar solutions designed around increasing customer retention.

Sneak Preview of IRCE Chicago 2010

Linc Wonham — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:00:00 GMT

The Internet Retailer 2010 Conference & Exhibition (IRCE), by far one of the largest gatherings for e-commerce professionals, is being held this week in Chicago. Nearly 500 exhibitors are scheduled to attend, and Website Magazine will be there to see them all. We will provide full coverage of the event in the next E-commerce Express newsletter, as well as in subsequent blog posts over the next two weeks. Until then, here’s an alphabetical guide to some of the companies worth watching, whether you are able to attend the show or not:

Alibaba
A global trade platform for importers and exporters, Alibaba has a community of more than 50 million users in over 240 countries around the world. In April, 2010, the company launched AliExpress on the international marketplace for smaller e-commerce buyers looking for the fast shipment of small quantities of goods.

Bold Software
Providers of an affordable and flexible line of communications tools for e-commerce merchants, Bold Software is continuously making innovations to enhance online interactions. The company’s popular and intelligent brands include a live chat platform (BoldChat), a mobile selling solution (BoldCall) and a customer contact management tool (BoldCCM) for any size business.

ClickTale
An industry leader in Customer Experience Analytics (CEA), ClickTale’s products put instant information on website usability and conversion analytics into the hands of e-commerce business owners. Some of the tools used include heatmaps that report where a customer is looking, real-time monitoring and form analytics that show conversion rates.

Demandware
The global leader in on-demand e-commerce, Demandware is constantly looking to provide businesses new ways to deliver customized shopping experiences. The company’s on-demand platform is rated at the top of the industry, providing solutions for such big-name e-commerce clients as Crocs footwear, Columbia Sportswear and Barneys New York.

eBillme
With a growing number of online shoppers electing to pay with cash to keep their debt down, eBillme provides merchants with safe, secure and easy options to offer customers. Consumers using eBillme can check out online using their own bank account information, or visit one of more than 75,000 walk-in locations to pay cash for their online purchases.

FetchBack
This retargeting advertising technology provider was just acquired by GSI Commerce in a major move within the e-commerce industry. FetchBack brings with it a top-notch reputation in the retargeting space and a big list of blue-chip clients, and I won’t be the only one looking to hear some initial reactions just a week after the deal was announced.

Guidance
A Web development, design and hosting company specializing in e-commerce, Guidance serves a broad range of clients such as Foot Locker, Z Gallerie and Disney. I’m interested in learning about their work for new client TOMS Shoes, which donates a pair of shoes to the needy for every pair sold, and what role Guidance played in creating this “socially conscious commerce” business model.

HookLogic
This company helps e-commerce retailers maximize the media value of their shopping audience. HookLogic’s software creates media programs that drive new non-transactional revenue streams while preserving the quality of the online shopping experience.

Invodo
I am personally very interested in seeing the latest innovations in e-commerce video, so Invodo is on my must-see list while I am at this show. A leader in the category, Invodo’s retail-focused video technology helps online retailers increase traffic and sales conversions while reducing returns.

Jagged Peak
This company provides order management software and multi-channel fulfillment services that enable e-commerce professionals the ability to quickly and effectively establish and operate direct-to-consumer online businesses. Jagged peak’s outsourced solution provides companies the benefit of owning the channel without the burden of managing it.

Keynote Systems
A leading provider of on-demand test and measurement products for mobile communications and the Internet, Keynote just recently launched a new self-service load-testing tool for e-commerce website owners. The revamped product is supposed to have three times the capacity as its predecessor so that merchants can see up to 30,000 virtual users on their site in real time as they watch for symptoms of system overload.

Listrak
E-mail marketing provider Listrak is a leader in the industry with clients such as Motorola, Waterford and Wolfgang Puck. Topics on the company’s radar right now include boosting sales through a shopping cart abandonment e-mail campaign, segmenting e-mail lists using traditional direct marketing RFM metrics, the latest behavioral and event-triggered e-mail tactics and trends regarding cross-channel convergence.

MyBuys
The leading provider of personalized recommendations, MyBuys builds deep profiles on shoppers’ behaviors and uses a portfolio of algorithms to deliver the best recommendations in real time. E-commerce retailers that partner with MyBuys are said to be experiencing increases in conversion rates by as much as 90 percent, and in overall revenues by as much as 30 percent.

National Eco Wholesale
The first specialty wholesale distributor of exclusively natural and sustainable products, National Eco Wholesale serves as a one-stop virtual warehouse for a wide variety of environmentally friendly products. NEW provides drop-ship services for e-commerce businesses and offers a cost-effective bulk purchase program.

OpinionLab Inc.
User-generated ratings and customer feedback are also on my hot list during this show, and OpinionLab gathers this kind of information for e-commerce companies so that they can analyze it and leverage it into providing a better experience for shoppers. I am interested in learning about the latest technologies involved in collecting and distributing this useful business intelligence.

Payvment
An e-commerce app for Facebook, Payvment allows users of the social network to sell products in a retail environment. Similar to other Facebook shopping apps such as Socialshop and 1-800-Flowers, Payvment should be able to give me a good insight into this particular trend in the industry.

Quova
Geotargeting is yet another aspect of the industry I hope to learn more about at this show, and Quova provides IP geolocation data to e-commerce businesses. Merchants can instantly identify where a visitor to their website is located geographically, which can be used to target advertising and content for consumers or to detect potential fraud.

RatePoint
A leading provider of customer reviews, testimonials and online reputation management services, RatePoint has been hard at work to stay fully integrated into all of the various social media channels. Helping e-commerce businesses protect and build their online reputations, this company usually has some innovative new tools and services to share.

Shotfarm
This is a startup that’s looking to make a splash with its product image management and rich media solutions for e-commerce merchants. Shotfarm will be unveiling its HTML5-based hosted viewer for businesses big and small, affordably priced but with the most up-to-date capabilities.

TurnTo Networks
A leader in on-site social shopping for e-commerce, TurnTo will be announcing its new social commerce suite that includes TurnTo Social Merchandising and TurnTo Social Purchase Sharing. TurnTo runs directly on a merchant’s site, showing shoppers what their friends have purchased there.

USI Technologies
Providing e-commerce businesses with sales and service chat solutions, USI introduced the industry to the first automated sales chat five years ago. The company continues to advance the live chat category as it comes up with new ways to increase conversions and improve customer experience.

Volusion, Inc.
The leader in innovative shopping cart software for e-commerce businesses, Volusion is the choice for over 100,000 online retailers. I am always interested to see and hear about the latest solutions and technologies that Volusion is working on.

WebLinc
For 15 years, WebLinc has been consulting and developing systems that drive sales and increase conversions for e-commerce companies such as Urban Outfitters, Deep Discount and AAA. The Philadelphia-based company provides an array of e-commerce solutions for some of the biggest names in the industry, so they’re always worth checking in with.

XPO
This company creates customized international and domestic mailing solutions tailored to each e-commerce customer’s own system. XPO has personalized programs for parcels and letters, including pre-payment of duties, delivery confirmation and return management programs.

YourAmigo
Makers of an award-winning artificial intelligence service called Spider Linker, YourAmigo’s product is responsible for e-commerce revenues increasing by as much as 25 percent for some companies. Spider Linker’s AI identifies gaps in an online business that most merchants are not able to find on their own.

Zoovy Inc.
Makers of the Zoovy Complete e-commerce platform, Zoovy provides tools and guidance for merchants to keep up with their rapidly growing online businesses. Zoovy’s features combine professional e-commerce expertise with a unique service platform that covers all the bases.

'Net Features : IRCE

5 Ways to Reboot Your E-commerce Business

Sneak Preview of IRCE Chicago 2010