February 22, 2012
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eBay buys a provider of technology for auto parts sales

Posted on 22. Feb, 2012 by in Internet Retailer

Gearheads could find the going a bit easier on eBay Inc., thanks to the online marketplace’s announcement today that it will buy WHI Solutions, which provides software and digital catalog technology for auto parts distributions and retailers. EBay declines to say how much WHI will cost. But the acquisition will improve the buying and selling [...]

Home goods e-retailer Fab.com expands into Europe

Posted on 21. Feb, 2012 by in Internet Retailer

Fab.com, an eight-month-old flash-sale e-retailer of design-focused home goods, today launched Fab.de to serve consumers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Fab entered those markets by acquiring the five-month-old Casacanda, a Berlin-based flash sale online retailer that also sold high-fashion design products. Fab.com says it plans to expand to more countries in Europe and that it [...]

IRWD 2012: Easy ways to improve the value of video

Posted on 20. Feb, 2012 by in Internet Retailer

Sometimes the little things make a big difference. That’s what Shannon Wu-Lebron, director of ecommerce searchandising, at Office Depot Inc., found out as the e-retailer began adding product videos to it e-commerce site. In Office Depot’s situation, Wu-Lebron discovered that placing buttons identifying videos high on the page, above the fold where the viewer doesn’t [...]

IRWD 2012: There’s little forgiveness for landing page sins

Posted on 19. Feb, 2012 by in Internet Retailer

E-retailers have one chance to make a good first impression with their landing pages, and they should not waste it by making potentially poor design choices. That was the message delivered by Tim Ash, CEO of SiteTuners, a site optimization firm, and David Gusick, director of e-commerce at Western wear retailer Boot Barn Inc., during [...]

IRWD 2012: Conference closes with a web design reality show

Posted on 18. Feb, 2012 by in Internet Retailer

A participatory mood prevailed this week during the live site critique session that wrapped up the Internet Retailer Web Design and Usability Conference 2012. Scores of e-retailers turned for advice to Nate Ende, vice president of e-commerce at Trinity Insight LLC, an e-commerce consulting firm, and Danielle Leitch, executive vice president of MoreVisibility, an interactive marketing [...]

Broken hearts vent on Twitter

Posted on 17. Feb, 2012 by in Internet Retailer

Complaints about late or missed deliveries by floral retailers flooded Twitter this week, with consumers saying that, in addition to being left without expected gifts for sweethearts, they couldn’t get help from conventional customer service centers. “I hope u know that u ruined my Valentine’s Day,” one female customer tweeted to ProFlowers on the afternoon [...]

Facebook’s Timeline applications are proving valuable for retailers

Posted on 16. Feb, 2012 by in Internet Retailer

Since Facebook Inc. last month launched Timeline Apps, which aim to make it easier for shoppers to share personal information, which products they own and what items they want to buy, a number of retailers are finding that consumers are increasingly clicking from the social network to e-commerce sites. The Timeline is an opt-in tool [...]

How retailers can increase app visibility on Google

Posted on 15. Feb, 2012 by in Internet Retailer

After SEO changes, a listing for REI’s mobile app page in the App Store now appears in the No. 2 position on the mobile search results page on Google. Perhaps the biggest challenge for retailers launching a mobile app is getting consumers to find it. There are more than 500,000 apps in Apple Inc.’s App [...]

IRWD 2012: Engage, don’t distract, during checkout

Posted on 14. Feb, 2012 by in Internet Retailer

Laura Santos, marketing manager, Envelopes.com With Mendelssohn’s Wedding March playing in the background and clad in a wedding gown, Laura Santos strode down the aisle at the Internet Retailer Web Design and Usability Conference to speak on streamlining the checkout process of a retail web site. What’s the connection between the bridal theme and a [...]

Pinterest drives shoppers to Gemvara

Posted on 13. Feb, 2012 by in Internet Retailer

The e-retailer uses the online social network to engage consumers. Even before custom jewelry retailer Gemvara.com became actively engaged on Pinterest about six months ago, the web merchant’s customers were already talking about the brand’s products on the fledgling social network. In fact, it was those digital conversations that drove Gemvara to begin interacting on [...]

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