After many years of retailers hearing that Facebook will change how consumers shop, is it really driving direct business and customers for retailers? Are the results measurable or is there a lot of “faith” involved with calculating the retailer value of Facebook?

Here are a few questions the Shop.org Think Tank wanted to ask our retail members:

• How are you measuring the true value of a fan?
• Do you look at how many fans competitors have and use that as a metric for success?
• How many people who become fans are existing customers vs. new customers?
• What percentage of your total traffic and revenue comes directly from Facebook?
• If Facebook went away tomorrow, how would it positively or negatively affect your current overall profitability?
• What could Facebook do for retailers to create a more lucrative partnership?

Some of these topics will be covered at the Shop.org members only webinar on Wednesday, January 26.

What are your thoughts? Feel free to respond to this blog or you can email me directly if you prefer your responses to be anonymous and I will post the responses for you without giving up my source. Thanks and I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

We are going to hear from top ranked Shop.org speaker Sucharita Mulpuru from Forrester Research as she shares some recent data on consumer views and adaptation of mobile technologies and how retailers are responding.   Andrew Koven the President of Ecommerce for Steve Madden Shoes is someone who is a self-described mobile evangelist and has the experience and best practices to back it up.   He is going to show us what he has been doing with mobile over the past few years, what has succeeded, and share a few ways for retailers to get started with a limited budget.

Register now and join us for a Shop.org members only webinar as we examine the three important markets for mobile and the obstacles and enablers of mobile commerce, including the technology, the consumer interface, and the need for marketers to adopt realistic expectations of what mobile can do for them.  Remember the new 3:00 PM EST start time.  If you are unable to make it, all Shop.org members can replay all of our webinars  for the next year and this is one where everyone will get good use of this member benefit.  Share it with your entire team! 

Thanks everyone and as always, please contact me if you have any questions.  Mobile is here and Shop.org is also here to help our members make the most of it!

Larry Joseloff
VP, Content
joseloffl@Shop.org

Of all the feedback I received the most heartwarming was from a long time Shop.org member who reflected that even though we grow exponentially every year, the community feeling that makes Shop.org special continues to bubble under the surface.  She mentioned that even in a the huge keynote room when just about every chair was filled, the conversations reminded her of the first few Shop.org conferences where there were bare one hundred people in the room.  There is unprecedented sharing and dedication to the growth of the industry that just is not commonly found elsewhere.   I especially want to thank our partners at FitForCommerce who directed 19 different EXPO Hall Tours and managed the  information desk allowed our attendees to find exactly what they were looking for with our 180 exhibitors.  This is a perfect example of the Shop.org community at work  and making sure the needs of our attendees are met and they have a great experience. 

If anyone has any more thoughts about the Summit now one week removed I would be interested to hear your ideas, but a special thanks to all of the speakers, exhibitors, sponsors, and each and every attendees that made this an even that we will never forget.  

Larry Joseloff
joseloffl@shop.org

We are very excited about our keynote speakers at the Annual Summit and they reflect a diversity of experiences and perspectives on the important topics that are facing digital retailers.   Our keynote sessions include:

• Glen T. Senk, Chief Executive Officer, URBN
• Colleen C. Barrett, President Emeritus and Kevin Krone, VP of Marketing, Southwest Airlines Co.
• Mitch Joel, President, Twist Image and Author, Six Pixels of Separation — (Mitch is also speaking at our Online Boot Camp)
• Scott Savitz, CEO, Shoebuy.com
• Josh Goldman, General Partner, Norwest Venture Partners; Mike Murphy, VP of Global Sales, Facebook; and Rob Solomon, President and COO, Groupon

All of our keynotes have agreed to welcome questions from the audience and there are three ways to have your questions heard:

1. Simply respond to this blog post or write me directly at joseloffl@shop.org and I will send your questions to the appropriate speaker.
2. On site, please use twitter hash-tag #keynoteQs and the speakers will have the opportunity to respond.
3. There will be some microphones available if you would like to ask the speakers directly.

This is truly going to be out biggest and best Annual Summit yet and we thanks everyone for their support!  See you in Dallas!!

Larry Joseloff

PS:  Coupon Code from our friends at Sheplers for Annual Summit attendees:  From now until 10/13/2010 get 20% off your entire purchase by using code “SHDG” at checkout.  Simply input the code into the “Special Instructions” field, in the Shopping Cart to receive your discount!

We understand that plans and meetings can cause you to leave early,  but the 2010 Shop.org Annual Summit is planned as a holistic experience starting with our Online Boot Camp on Monday and finishing on Wednesday afternoon with the final sessions.    There are no “throw-away” sessions at Shop.org events and our Wednesday afternoon breakouts are going to be some of the strongest of the entire conference.    Here are a few highlights of Wednesday afternoon:

• Bryan Eisenberg sharing on 21 secrets of top converting web sites.    This session will be incredible. 
• Kickin’ Keywords:  How Gap Achieved Paid Search Paradise.  If paid search is important to your business, come and learn some practical information for optimization.
• The Retail Business of the Future featuring cross-channel guru Kasey Lobaugh from Deloitte and Steve Zapf from Guitar Center.  
• Real Life Mobile Advertising Case Studies featuring PETCO and Crate and Barrel.
• Roundtable Discussions that will allow you to interact with speakers and other industry experts in a small group environment.
• The Brave New World of Email:  Tactics to Increase ROI.
• 7 Social Strategies that Work.
• Building a Holistic Mobile Strategy for your Business
• Measuring What Matters for Cross Channel Success

You are coming to the Summit to learn all that you can from our active community that you can take home and use to help improve your business.   Make sure that you make the most out of your trip!  We are even featuring a satellite luggage check in Longhorn Ballroom B to make your life easier when you do need to head out.

Our Summit will be Bigger and Better this year.   Learn all you can — stay the whole day!

Larry Joseloff
VP, Content
joseloffl@shop.org

PS:  Coupon Code from our friends at Sheplers for Annual Summit attendees:  From now until 10/13/2010 get 20% off your entire purchase by using code “SHDG” at checkout.  Simply input the code into the “Special Instructions” field, in the Shopping Cart to receive your discount!

During each afternoon of the Shop.org Annual Summit, retailer attendees will be able to reserve 20 minute time slots with a number of industry consultants whose expertise include multi-channel strategy, end-to-end customer experience, site design, and merchandising best practices. These private one-on-one sessions allow you to network with industry experts who will critique specific aspects of your website, go over questions and ideas you may have, and provide tactical and practical solutions for what ails you.  There is no charge, but you must be registered with a full-conference retailer pass to the Annual Summit before you register for “The Doctor Is In”.

We  suggest that you sign reserve your time with a Doctor in advance as this is an extremely popular feature of the Summit.  Three doctors are already filled with appointments, but there is plenty of opportunity to still participate. Please make your advance appointment by Wednesday September 15th to make sure you have the opportunity to meet with the Doctor of your choosing.  Simply go to our Doctor Is In page, read about each Doctor’s expertise, and reserve your time.  Due to popular demand, we also ask that you limit the number of appointments to two per retailer.

Thanks and please let me know if you have any questions!

Larry Joseloff
VP, Content — Shop.org
joseloffl@shop.org

If you have not filled in your ballot to elect your new Shop.org Board members please let the voting member of your company know that time is running out.  If you do not know who the voting member is in your company, simply contact Sara Greene at greenes@shop.org and she will let you know the right person.

The preliminary results are very close and your vote can make the difference so let your voice be heard!

Larry Joseloff
VP, Content
joseloffl@shop.org

One of our retail members (mid-large size cross-channel retailer) had a question they wanted to ask the community.   They wanted to know about different options regarding affiliate networks in the UK — what are the options and what have been different experiences from retailers.

If you can help out, you can either post a comment to the blog, or simply write me at joseloffl@shop.org and I will send your comments to the member.

Thanks so much everyone and let’s see this community at work!

Larry Joseloff
VP, Content
Shop.org
joseloffl@shop.org

Consistent with our “by the member, for the member” philosophy, this year we will focus on two of the most popular marketing areas of eCommerce: Search – the established channel, and Social Media – the new kid on the block.   We are also introducing a new element to our boot camp and we are asking we all attendees to bring their laptop to the event as wireless Internet will be provided and you will have the opportunity to follow along and learn in a hands-on, interactive environment. 

This all day event on September 27th will be taught by two of our highest ranked speakers and industry experts:  Stephan Spencer will be running the search workshop and Mitch Joel will be directing the Social Media portion.   You will actually be able to improve your search  ranking and social media presence as you attend the boot camp!  We will also end the boot camp with a series of roundtable discussions that will allow attendees to dig deeper into the covered topics. 

Sign up today and the first 250 people who register for the boot camp will receive a free copy of Mitch Joel’s book “Six Pixels of Separation”.   Shop.org members can attend the boot camp for only $295!  We already have nearly 100 people who have registered for the boot camp with more registrations coming in every day.  If you are interested in specific steps that you can take back to the office with you and implement right away (yes even in time for holiday), the boot camp may be the best $295 you have ever spent.   Hope to see you there…

Larry Joseloff
joseloffl@shop.org

I wanted to write a quick note and thank all of the attendees, staff members, speakers, board members, content committee members, and everyone else that made the Shop.org 2010 Online Merchandising Workshop such a success.   I have been helping to direct content for over four years and according to most of the feedback we hit the nail on the head by providing content that is by the member and for the member.

Please check out our recap page that has a brief summary of the event along with links to the blog entries and many of the presentations.   If you came to the Workshop and you have not filled out the survey yet, please do as we ready every piece of feedback and use it to try and make every event the best it can possibly be.   If you missed the workshop, we hope to see you in Dallas for our Annual Summit as this is looking like the best one yet — of course everything is bigger in Texas!

Thanks again and please feel free to contact me with questions, comments, or additional feedback on the Workshop.

Larry Joseloff
VP, Content
joseloffl@shop.org

I wanted to thank all of our members who helped make our first annual May is Marketing Month a success!  Whether you attended one of our regional dinners, participated in a webinar, watched a webinar playback, viewed a Marketing Month Video Tip of the Day, or downloaded a white paper, we want to thank you for your participation.    We had nearly 500 people attend one of our 11 regional dinners, nearly 300 webinar attendees and that number is growing due to our playbacks, and nearly 1,500 views of our Video Tips of the Day. 

As many of you know we developed Marketing Month to help replace our Online Marketing Workshop.  While nothing can take the place of an in-person event we hope that the networking and content sparked at least one idea for our participating members to help them achieve their business goals.  If you did attend a dinner or a webinar, please fill out a quick five minute survey so we can receive your feedback. 

There are so many people to thank for all of their hard work, but I especially want to thank my partner in content, webinar goddess, and newly promoted Director of Content Artemis Berry.   As usual, she went above and beyond the call of duty to help create an incredible event. 

We are interested to know your feedback so please let us know what you think.

Thanks!

Larry Joseloff
joseloffl@shop.org

This year is no different and I think it will be our best Merchandising Workshop yet.  Retailers have commented to me that with all of the technological advances at their fingertips they must find the perfect balance between optimizing existing channels while not falling behind by embracing the new tools.   At this year’s Merchandising Workshop we are addressing this balance.   We will discuss spanking new merchandising innovations such as mobile merchandising, social merchandising, and the latest and greatest in retail applications of online video.   However, we will also provide tactics and practical case studies on optimizing some of your key merchandising elements including online photography, specific quick-hits to drive conversion, and when it’s time to re-design your website and what to expect during the process.   Merchandising Workshop attendees will leave this event with a full tool kit to increase conversion, improve the customer experience, and hit the holiday season head-on.

Oh yeah, it is free.  If you are a Shop.org retail member you can get a free pass to this event.   We also cap the workshop at 300 so do not be left behind.  Claim your free pass today and be part of the action, and part of the fun.  Huntington Beach is absolutely gorgeous and easy to get to from a number of California airports.    If you have questions or need help claiming your free pass, just contact me directly and I can make it happen.  We appreciate your membership and we want to make sure you are making the most from what Shop.org can offer.

Larry Joseloff
VP, Content — Shop.org
joseloffl@shop.org

1.  For the third year in a row we will be offering our 40+ Things You Can To Make More Money Next Week session at our Annual Summit.   This is where the tactics really take the center stage.   Speakers will present for 8 minutes each and only present tactics that are basically free, can be implemented quickly, and can produce instant results.  We have received an overwhelming request to extend the deadline for speaker applications.  So, if you are interested in submitting for this session, you now have until Friday May 28th.   Simply click here to fill out the application to have your proposal considered.  May 28th is the final deadline and it will not be extended any longer. 

2.  Last year our Online Bootcamp at the Annual Summit attracted over 300 people interested in receiving a years worth of learning in one day about the basic principles of digital retail.  This year we are taking our boot camp a step further by introducing a new element to our boot camp where we will be asking all attendees to bring their laptopto the event as wireless Internet will be available and you will have the opportunity to follow along and learn in a hands-on, interactive environment.  This year we will focus on two of the most popular marketing areas of eCommerce: Search – the established channel, and Social Media – the new kid on the block.  This all day event will be taught by two of our highest ranked speakers and industry experts:  Stephan Spencer will be running the search workshop and Mitch Joel will be directing the Social Media portion.   You will actually be able to improve your search  ranking and social media presence as you attend the boot camp!  Sign up today and the first 250 people who register for the boot camp will receive a free copy of Mitch Joel’s book “Six Pixels of Separation”.   Shop.org members can attend the boot camp for only $295!

Thanks and please let me know if you have any questions.

Larry Joseloff
joseloffl@shop.org

Due to popular demand we will be offering these critiques at our Online Merchandising Workshop for the first time.  During the afternoon of July 13th, retailer attendees will be able to reserve 20 minute time slots with industry consultants whose expertise include end-to-end customer experience, site design, and merchandising best practices.   The Doctors at the Merchandising Workshop include both speakers at this year’s Workshop (Jack Aaronson and Bryan Eisenberg) and previous speakers (Lauren Freedman and Elizabeth Peaslee from CreativeGood).

Spaces are limited so if you are attending the Merchandising Workshop, I urge you to reserve your time slot today.  Due to popular demand, we also ask that you limit the number of appointments to two per retailer.   Go to our Merchandising Workshop Doctors Is In Page, read about our doctors, and reserve your slot.  If you have any questions, please let us know.  Thanks!

Larry Joseloff
joseloffl@shop.org

I am very excited to announce that Marketing Month has officially begun!  Throughout the month of May Shop.org will be featuring weekly webinars, daily updated video marketing tips, 11 regional dinners (Shop.org is coming to a city near you), and other Shop.org-produced marketing-related activities that facilitate networking, education, and thought leadership.   I encourage all of our members to check back to the Marketing Month website daily to watch the video tip of the day and look for other additions as more is being added every day.    Make sure you refer to our Marketing Month Calendar to make sure that you do not miss any of the great activities!

Ourfirst Shop.org webinar is days away and will feature an in-depth discussion of the initial results of our latest version of The State of Retailing Online Report.  Our regional dinners are filling up fast and we are having four this week on the West Coast.  If you are retailer and we are having a dinner near you, sign up to take advantage of this free unprecedented networking opportunity.  Thanks to all of our sponsors who made this happen.

If you are a member of Shop.org, Marketing Month has been designed for you to make sure your online and cross-channel marketing is firing on all cylinders.   Thanks to all in the community who has contributed their expertise to make this happen.  If you have any questions, please let me know. 

Larry Joseloff
joseloffl@shop.org
VP, Content — Shop.org

Speakers must talk about SPECIFIC and EASY-TO-IMPLEMENT ecommerce tactics.

 We don’t care if you are a retailer, researcher, educator or vendor – if you think you have got some killer tips to share, we want to hear from you! Here are the details:

To Be Considered as a Speaker:

1. This session is a real meat and potatoes, get your hands dirty, down in the trenches (pick your favorite analogy) kind of session. There is no room for generalities or non-specific corporate jargon. The only points you want to talk about are things that people can make money with within 7 -14 days of them returning to the office. These tactics must not cost a huge amount of money and be realistic for the attendees to implement.   Tactics, tactics, tactics!  
   
2. We are going to have 5 speakers and an alternate for each session (a total of 10 speakers and 2 alternates). Alternates will be placed on the panel in the event a scheduled speaker drops out or does not have their materials in on time (see below).
3. Your presentation cannot run over 8 minutes. At EXACTLY the 8 minute mark, the moderator will use an air horn to stop your presentation.  This session is not for speakers that cannot stay within their time limit.
    
4. Forget a long personal and corporate introduction – you won’t have time. The moderator will introduce you and we cover your bio and services in the handout. Let the quality of your presentation speak to the value of knowing you and your company.
5. Speaking of Handouts: This session will be moving at a brisk pace. Therefore, we will be giving the session attendees a DETAILED handout so they can listen to you instead of taking notes.  More details will be made available to selected speakers.

  How to Apply:

Please submit your contact information and the three (or four) tactical tips you want to discuss on the Shop.org website at http://www.shop.org/summit10/speaker-application.  Please briefly describe each tip and how it works. If we like what we are hearing, we will contact you and ask you to further define the tips. The deadline for application is May 25, 2010.

APPLY HERE and be aware of the important dates below:

Submit application:  April 15 – May 25
Speaker selection:  May 25 – June 15
Calls with all selected speakers:  June 15 – 30
All presentations and handout materials due:  July 30th
Shop.org 2010 Annual Summit:  September 27-29 – Dallas, TX

Thanks so much and we are looking forward to hearing from you with your killer, tactical, practical, easy-to-implement tips.  Let the GAMES BEGIN!!

Larry Joseloff
joseloffl@shop.org

We received a question from a Shop.org member to the community.  Looking forward to seeing the responses below if anyone has any ideas. 

Thanks

————————————————————————————————————————————————-This past holiday season I noticed a spike in the use of network branded gift cards and prepaid products online.  As many of you already know, network branded (open loop) gift card volume has experienced strong growth in recent years, as has online shopping volume in general.  As usage of these network branded gift cards increases we see evidence of a growing problem in the customer’s online shopping experience.

 Let’s say I received a $50 gift card for the holidays, and I’m shopping at a brick and mortar retail store.  I grab a sweater for $60 off the rack and I take it to the clerk for checkout.  In most cases, the clerk can swipe my card and then ask for a second form of payment to cover for the $10 balance I owe towards that sweater.  Many merchants are enabled for this type of processing due to coding called partial authorization available at their point of sale.  The customer is able to easily use the entire balance on their gift card easily and leaves the store happy. 

If you think about it, the situation is different online as these split transactions are not possible.  First off, most checkout windows that I’ve seen only accept one form of payment.  Many merchants accept in-store (closed-loop) gift cards that can be applied towards their purchase total, but this is not the case for network branded gift card acceptance.  More and more network branded gift card users are complaining that their online shopping experience isn’t like it is in the physical world.

 Is anyone out there aware of a solution to this problem of processing split transactions online?  How are other merchants currently handling this issue?  I would appreciate your input/thoughts/comments.  Thanks!

 ———————————————————————————————————————————————–

Working at Shop.org is a true privilege and our new Membership Director will be immersed in the dynamic world of digital and cross-channel retail.  It is always a true pleasure to see how our members feel a great responsibility of making Shop.org all it can be and creating the community that makes us special.   If you think this position is right for you, send a resume and one-page letter summarizing your interest, qualifications and salary expectations. Please reference the Director, Membership position in your cover letter. Please mail, fax (1.866.223.5393), or e-mail (hr@nrf.com) your application to: Human Resource Manager, NRF, 325 7th Street, NW Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20004.

Thanks!

Larry Joseloff
VP, Content
Shop.org
joseloffl@shop.org

 As many of you already know, Shop.org will not be having our traditional Marketing Workshop this year.  Instead we are going to be trying something a little different.  We are launching our “May is Marketing Month” campaign that will feature weekly webinars, regional dinners, white papers, discussion groups, and numerous other opportunities for marketing content to be shared with our members.

One idea that came out of a brainstorming meeting was to have a “Tip of the Day” video that would be placed on the Marketing Month website each morning.  This would be a short 30-45 second video that provides a specific marketing tactic that our members could use to grow their business and be swapped out each morning.   The tip should be something that can be IMPLEMENTED RELATIVELY QUICKLY and involves any of your online and cross-channel marketing channels including search, email, affiliates, social media, mobile, and any other relevant topics. 

 This is where you come in.  I would like to see if you would be interested in providing via video between one and three marketing tips that we could use for our daily “Tip of the Day” feature.   CLICK HERE TO VIEW A SAMPLE TIP OF THE DAY VIDEO and see below for rules and requirements…

Shop.org Marketing Month Video “Tip of the Day” Rules and Requirements 

• Please send over a video explaining your marketing tip that you would like to share with the community.
• The videos should be no longer than 30-45 seconds in length. Videos any longer than 45 seconds will not be used.
• Videos under 10mbs should be emailed to mayismarketingmonth@gmail.com by April 9th, 2010.  If your file is over 10mbs please send them to mayismarketingmonth@gmail.comusing YouSendIt.com.
• If you are going to be sharing multiple tips, please send separate video files for each marketing tip.  Each company can submit up to THREE tips.
• Please make sure to email us the name, title, and company of the person speaking in the video so we can give credit to the right person.
• As always, please keep these non-promotional and educational for our members.  Videos that promote specific companies or products will not be selected.

 A Few Tips for Shooting Your Video

• Please make sure you have nice lighting – if shooting outdoors, keep the sun behind the camera.
• It is best to wear solid colors – striped shirts for example don’t video well.
• Use a tripod or other image stabilization device. For handheld stability, imagine that your camcorder is a very full cup of hot coffee.
• Use the zoom to compose your shot. Avoid zooming while the tape is rolling.
• Keep hand movements on the camcorder to a minimum.
• Please speak loudly and clearly.
• Please limit your video clip to 30-45 seconds in length.

 Thanks and looking forward to seeing your video clip!

Larry Joseloff
VP, Content, Shop.org
joseloffl@shop.org

First up, one of the hottest topics to hit retail in many years: Mobile. We kicked off our time in San Fran with a one-day Mobile Boot Camp which covered basic topics of designing and deploying effective mobile sites, using SMS to increase sales, and what the future holds for this digital trend, but that was hardly the end of the mobile discussion. At the main event, speakers detailed where mobile has been and where it’s heading, how to take the first steps in mobile retail, and digital trends to watch for 2010. Trust us when we say, everyone is on the mobile bandwagon. Best Buy even shared a video of why they love mobile and what it means to the company (it’s worth a watch).

And the other big hitter at our conference was the topic of social commerce (our VC panel summed it up by saying: it’s here and it’s now.) But there were also social media mantras from Diane von Furstenberg, rules for customer engagement from Moosejaw and Marketspace’s Jeff Rayport, and a very popular Sephora session on identifying key participants in your community: “Who’s at your social media party?”

Mobile and social commerce may have been the big ticket items for this conference, but our speaker topics also included The New Customer, Creative and the Customer Experience, as well as Cross-Channel Marketing. If you’re looking for more highlights from Innovate ’10, check out a full listing of blog posts here. Or search #innovate10 for all the Twitter chatter and nuggets straight from attendees. If you attended, feel free to tell us what you thought.

Thanks and feel free to share your experiences at our inaugural Innovation event.

Larry Joseloff
VP, Content, Shop.org
joseloffl@shop.org