E-Commerce Times
Building E-Commerce on Rough Economic Terrain - Although the shadow of the recent recession is still lingering over us, many business owners are moving toward starting an e-commerce business, which can seem like a scary leap to take. However, a reason to take that leap is that the number of consumers shopping online is growing. Recent figures show that online stores’ sales were up 12.4 percent in January, compared with a year ago.
Google’s New Mobile App Lets Shoppers Peer Into Retailers’ Stockrooms - Google has introduced a mobile version of its Product Search tool that lets users check on a product’s availability in local participating stores. Product Search for mobile with local inventory lets a user see if, say, a Nikon Coolpix camera is in stock at a nearby Best Buy or Sears — two of the retailers participating in the program — and then provides basic directions to get there.
The SaaSification of IT Management - IT professionals should embrace SaaS and cloud computing because they deliver tangible, measurable business benefits to organizations of all sizes. IT departments are relieved of many of the hassles associated with implementing and administering traditional, on-premise software and supporting the application end-users.
Customer Data Is a Terrible Thing to Waste - Few marketers would argue against the importance of relevant, timely, personalized marketing communications. In fact, research has consistently proven the value of personalizing marketing messages by segmentation, targeting, or one-to-one messaging. Personalized email campaigns generate two to three times higher click-through rates than mass email campaigns and twice the conversion rates.
FTC May Put Kibosh on Google’s AdMob Deal - Google’s proposed $750 million acquisition of the mobile ad network AdMob may be subjected to a protracted period of regulatory scrutiny. The FTC reportedly is seeking sworn declarations from at least two of Google’s competitors. Google announced its intent to buy AdMob in November 2009, in a stock deal that would make it the company’s third-largest acquisition.
E-Tailers Should Act Fast to Comply With Colorado’s New Tax Law - Legislation signed into law on February 24 will have a profound effect on e-commerce and catalog companies that sell to customers in Colorado. Companies that do not collect Colorado sales tax must notify their Colorado customers that they are obligated to file a use tax return to pay the sales and use tax themselves. It also requires them to send out an annual information statement.
Social CRM’s Point of First Impact - Service is becoming perhaps the most important leg of CRM. It’s not just me saying it — it’s many others, including Paul Greenberg, who literally wrote the book on CRM. With the economy in the state it’s in, that makes sense; keeping the customers you already have has never been more important. However, service has some internal cultural hurdles to clear before it gets the respect it deserves.
Google Cuts Ribbon on Apps Marketplace - You’ve got apps for your phone. You’ll soon have apps for your digital video recorder. Now, you can have apps for your Apps, as in Google Apps. Google has launched its new Apps Marketplace for its Google Apps line of cloud-based productivity services. Initial participants include about 50 companies selling applications that hook into various Google services.
Bringing 3-D Out of the Dark and Into the Living Room - “Avatar” may be the box office champ in this or any other galaxy, and the first weekend of ticket sales for “Alice in Wonderland” has certainly put a Cheshire Cat smile on the faces of Walt Disney studio executives. However, all that monetary activity stems from watching those two movies in the plush, dark expanses of a special, 3-D-enabled movie theater.
Thunder in Cupertino Makes It Rain on Wall Street - Apple has announced the iPad will hit retail shelves April 3, sending the adrenalin surging through competitors’ veins. HP and several Chinese manufacturers have announced tablets in what might be perceived as an attempt to capitalize on the not-quite-a-laptop, not-really-a-netbook category.
The Empty Promise of Experience Without Engagement - I wasn’t sure what the reaction would be to last week’s column on customer experience.
Maybe I hang around with vendors and other analysts too much, because customer experience is a hot topic among, us and it’s generally seen as a good thing. However, judging by last week’s mail and some further digging at the Harvard Business Review’s Web site, it appears that there are at least two camps with decidedly different views.
The Shaky Dance of SOA and SaaS - We assembled a panel to examine service-oriented architecture and cloud computing — the relationships, the inter-reliance and the realities. Three years ago, the IT transformation poster child was SOA, and now we’re well into the hype curve around cloud computing, but has one actually given way to the other?