Watch the video below for Vicki’s full remarks including her advice to digital retailers at all level for preparing for the future of the industry.

Retailers reported generally favorable key performance indicators (KPIs) for the November and December period, compared to the January to October 2011 period leading up. While it’s not entirely surprising that nine out of 10 retailers surveyed saw increased average daily site traffic, site conversion increased significantly for almost half and increased somewhat for almost another third. Three-quarters also reported increases in email conversion, and almost half saw increases in average order value. Shopping cart abandonment rates actually decreased for almost half (are shopping cart remarketing strategies perhaps starting to hit their stride?).

Despite largely positive indicators for the just-concluded holiday season, retailers aren’t sitting on any laurels, and many have mapped out a busy year of investments and improvements to make the best of 2012. What did retailers learn that they will do differently for the Holiday 2012 season – and what are they investing in this year to improve those capabilities?

• Planning & Assortment. Improved forecasting, better inventory allocation for the Web channel, and general inventory management top the list of things that some retailers plan to do differently for Holiday 2012. To that end, many expect to invest in better inventory management in the coming months.
• Infrastructure & Operations. Retailers shared that site performance continues to be an area that needs attention, so this year they plan to invest in additional server capacity, site stability measures, and additional infrastructure improvements.
• Marketing & Promotions. Retailers this year are investing in, among other areas, all things search – both site search and SEO / SEM.
• Shipping & Fulfillment. “Fulfillment improvements,” “operational capacity” and “finding a way to extend the shipping cut off to Canada – lots of missed opportunity” were some of the comments retailers shared about what they will do differently for Holiday 2012. Retailers surveyed noted that logistics and operations will see investment this year, along with investments in drop ship management processes and related measures by which to extend shipping deadlines overall.
• Mobile. Not surprisingly, smart phone and tablet device optimization will likely see much work this year. (For tablet device design tips, please see also “Proof that tablets are here to stay”.)
• Customer Experience. Several retailers feel that the customer experience is something they particularly want to improve in time for Holiday 2012, from “end to end customer experience” to the overall multichannel shopping experience. Bravo to retailers who plan to focus on this area, particularly as shopping channels increasingly converge.

Please see the Shop.org site for full results of the 2011 eHoliday Study Post-Holiday retailer and consumer results.

Given the burgeoning tablet device user base, companies are clamoring to give these customers a great tablet experience: Burke noted that Resource Interactive delivered 65 tablet device-related projects just in the last year, serving CPG and retail clients such as Kohl’s, Sherwin-Williams, and Limited Brands. Burke cited research showing that:

• 7% of total online sales on Christmas Day 2011 came from Apple iPads specifically, according to IBM Coremetrics. iPads also drove 6% of all mobile online traffic the very next day (December 26, 2011). Their purchase conversion rate? A whopping 4.6% – “almost double the average mobile conversion rate of 2.8%.”
• Looking ahead, 20% of US consumers say they intend to buy a tablet device in the next six months. For men and adults aged 31 to 40 years old, that’s more like 23% and 24%, respectively. Even among US consumers aged 51 to 60, that’s 21% (just try prying the iPad out of the hands of Burke’s 63-year-old relative who never used her smartphone for anything but phone calls).

What’s interesting about the tablet device, Burke also noted, is that – with the exception of older users – the tablet device is not a replacement for other devices such as the computer at home. Also, Burke pointed to research showing that a high percentage of people who read e-books prefer to use a tablet device for that purpose, prompting Burke to somewhat tongue in cheek characterize e-books as “the gateway drug to tablet dependence.”

“Couch commerce” is really here.  According to Equation Research for Zmags, 70% of tablet usage is at home – specifically, either on the couch or in bed. Consumers use the smart phone and computer to get specific tasks done quickly, whereas tablet device users are “couch browsing” (attributable to Fred Cavazza of Forbes). Ultimately, the tablet is a “leisure device” – albeit one that is starting to drive real commerce.

4 Primary Tablet Device Design Principles.
“Smartphone design is more like fitting a size 12 foot into a size 10 shoe,” Burke joked. By contrast, tablet design is about using the depth and breadth of what a tablet offers – so much so that, “the conversation between agency and client is different.” Overall, Burke isn’t convinced that there’s a vast difference between a good tablet device design and good Web site design – but there are some key tablet design principles to observe:

• Make it engaging. Realize it must be a fun, engaging, immersive experience. “It’s like touching a stained glass window and watching it come to life,” Burke explained. In general, tablet consumers will engage repeatedly before making their considered purchase. Overall, you’ll want to use less text on a tablet, and instead use more imagery and short video.
• Make it share-able. The tablet device itself is often shared within a family. Tapping social media, the tablet also “makes it easy to share ideas, thoughts, and even products” with others.
• Make it shoppable. “The tablet is with people for an extended period of time in a low pressure way.” In traditional web design, “you limit the number of available windows and doors” in order to get people to the cart and to check out quickly. As a highly visual medium, retailers can offer lots of content to “engage and woo” the customer while still (gently) leading him or her to the actual purchase.
• Make it extendable. “The tablet provides a vehicle for brand stories and product immersion.” Retailers should think about digitizing and then making available on the tablet all kinds of analog content that they already own, such as assets such as circulars, a video highlighting a designer that the retailer is launching – the possibilities go on.

As one example of tablet design, Burke pointed to the Sherwin-Williams “ColorSnap” product and how that evolved from the initial smartphone (iPhone) app to the iPad app that features large, rich imagery that allows users to explore and interact.

Burke suggested that retailers also look into the concept of “Responsive Design”, by which the company uses a universal codebase and set of logic to automatically adapt the content to recognize the device and operating system that the customer is using (for example, the system would perhaps remove two or three items from a tablet design in order to render a good smart phone display).

Vicki Cantrell, Senior Vice President, NRF Communities and Executive Director, Shop.org

To put it lightly, Vicki Cantrell has hit the ground running.

Last week, the National Retail Federation announced that retail veteran Vicki Cantrell would be joining the NRF team as  Senior Vice President, Communities and Executive Director, Shop.org. And today, she’s more than excited to share what her first few days on the job have shown her about NRF and the communities she’ll oversee within her new position.

Prior to joining NRF, Cantrell served as the COO and CIO of Tory Burch during a period of extreme growth and expansion domestically and internationally. As COO, her work centered on the development of process and infrastructure for the transition from initial success to sustained growth. She was also a brand advocate and instrumental in developing ongoing employee and team strategies. During her storied retail career, Cantrell has also worked as CIO of Giorgio Armani Corporation and held positions of growing responsibility with Gucci Group, Party City and JCPenney.

Cantrell was kind enough to sit down with us for a Q&A session, where she spoke about her wealth of retail experience, her vision for NRF and Shop.org and her perspective on the evolution of retail over the past several years.

In the press release announcing your hire, Matthew Shay said your past executive level experience with major retail brands makes you a great fit for our organization. What parts of your work experience do you think will have the most impact in your role spearheading NRF’s communities?

As an operational executive in several high/fast growth situations, you have the opportunity to understand what happens in many areas of the company, and most importantly, how different business units are so dependent on each other. Each step is an important cog in the wheel of the product getting to where it needs to be and the customer being satisfied. Today’s retail climate is challenging, not only because of the economy, but because things are changing so quickly. This makes an environment where flexibility, experimentation and moving fast is key. One of my favorite things to do is to bring the right people together, work across business areas, get the best minds on a problem, and facilitate the ability to make something happen.

The NRF communities have to mirror the same style of interconnectedness that is now prevalent and critical inside the retail business. I think we will get great synergies.

What excites you most about this newly-created position?

Actually, there were many aspects of this new position that were a draw for me, some I mentioned above. I consider myself a lucky person and I am a happy person. As I look at my life today and all of the experiences that brought me to this point in my life, I have truly been shaped by my retail career. I have always believed that the NRF and Shop.org are THE representatives of the retail business. In some ways, I feel like I am giving back to my industry by coming here and doing my part to make it a strong organization that truly supports, represents and advocates for the retail industry.

You’ve also worked with NRF in the past from a member standpoint within our committee framework. What was your most interesting take away from that experience?

I have built my strongest industry relationships from being part of those committees. I find that when sitting with your peers in person, there is an almost immediate desire to help each other by sharing experiences. So, the “interesting take away”, is that there is always a level of trust that is assumed. How does that happen? Always remember, that there is no substitute for a face to face interaction.

There’s no doubt that digital retail is playing a major role in the holidays this year. How do you see this “omnichannel” mentality playing out among retailers – and what can retailers be doing to ensure they’re firing on all cylinders this holiday season?

As we all know, the holiday plans are fully in place and now in execution mode. While we are all feeling good about the increases in performance in the digital channels YOY, that does present challenges. A lot of work is done to define the projections because that drives the many inter-related decisions on staffing, fulfillment, customer services, etc. While it is table stakes to be vigilant on the operational aspects of your site, uptime, accurate promotions, appropriate customer communication, etc., it is also critical that retailers have contingency plans for two additional aspects; the Stretch (better than expected sales) and the Problem (unexpected site outages). Make sure you have your action plan in place.

All that said, if you have stores, it is most important to remember that great customer service and the right experience in your store will shape their relationship with your brand better than any other aspect.

What opportunities do you see as low-hanging fruit as you begin your tenure?

I think there is a great opportunity to collaborate across the communities. There is a great talent pool internally at NRF and Shop.org, and externally with our dedicated membership and industry groups. I hope to initially take a macro view and see where we can align some of the functions that are common across all groups while keeping the aspects that define the community’s unique “brand”.

For the past several years you have been focused on the luxury retail market. How has luxury retail changed over the last decade, and how are retailers able to continue to grow that category in spite of the economy?

It is not surprising that the luxury business is coming back after the softening of 2009/2010. I have seen this pattern several times and when taking the long view, luxury is resilient. I could say that it is for the reasons that we have all heard like, the very top tier are less affected by behavior changing shopping patterns, or, people start spending again after a period of austerity.

Rather, I think that an important factor is that the luxury businesses have a distinct advantage of having more information and a stronger personal relationship with their clients in order to provide the high level of touch/service. This gives the luxury retailer the benefit that when shopping patterns change they can communicate differently or provide new or different services.

The biggest change I see in the luxury business over the last few years is that the segment has adapted (albeit a little slower in the beginning) to the digital customer. There was an initial struggle with losing how they managed the brand experience with the introduction of new technology but some of the coolest apps and experimentation are coming from luxury brands.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Wow, that’s a tough one; I have received a lot of good advice! Two that I try to follow is “sweat the details”, and, people may not always remember what you say but they will always remember how you made them feel.

You’ve worked for a number of well-known retailers. What would you tell students who are considering careers in retail about the opportunities in our industry?

I have been part of very robust and important intern programs at several companies so have had a lot of chances to advise, guide or mentor many young people about our industry. I think retail is one of the most exciting careers that someone can have because of the diversity of opportunities. Aside from the different lines of business that could interest someone, the process that happens from the time that something is an idea in a designer’s mind to when that item appears for sale in a store encompasses hundreds of steps. No matter what your interest is, you could find a niche in a retail environment. You can be part of design, web development, manufacturing, finance, customer engagement, and in many cases, it’s also a great way to understand the global landscape. The retail business is so dynamic because of the constant change. The opportunities for growth are unparalleled as long as you’re willing to work hard, stay humble and learn as much as you can about the business.

Talk about your very first job.

I started working at JCPenney in “Foundations” and went on to become a department manager and then a buyer for jewelry and luggage. This was when the corporate headquarters was still in New York and there were buying and merchandising teams at the store level. I was able to work in several areas and my time at JCPenney was a microcosm of my future career – I even helped train on, and implement their first “computer registers”. I wouldn’t trade the experience of working on the retail floor and with the customers. There is no substitute for understanding where the rubber meets the road.

Finish this sentence, “I can’t start my morning without…”

My Google Alerts and a cup of coffee (in that order).

Stephanie Tilenius from Google

Pretty crazy, right? Well, it’s a reality for Tesco shoppers in South Korea, according to Stephanie Tilenius, Google‘s vice president of commerce and payments, who spoke this morning at the 2011 Shop.org Annual Summit. The act of combining the mobile and bricks-and-mortar experiences resulted in Tesco moving from the No. 2 grocery retailer in South Korea to No. 1. Those results are impossible to ignore. Mobile is the way of the future.

The average mobile phone user checks his or her mobile device 40 times a day and is never more than three feet away from it. These incredible facts underscore the importance of mobile for the next mobile retail generation. These customers are Web-connected and location-aware. However, embracing mobile doesn’t mean the death of bricks-and-mortar, said Tilenius. It’s your job as a retailer to create efficiencies between online and offline so that these customers have an enriching retail experience.

How do you create these efficiencies? Retailers including Home Depot, Walmart and Best Buy already have embraced order online/pick-up in-store strategies, while retailers such as Nordstrom are using iPads to provide sales associates with more information about in-store customers and their latest purchases.

Tilenius stressed the importance of optimizing mobile sites and adding rich content as a sales driver. On-site curators and tastemakers that personalize recommendations help initiate a new dialogue with loyal customers. Retailers also can offer store maps, coupons and recipes via mobile for consumers who are in stores. Better yet, they can offer mobile payment as a self-checkout option, so that customers don’t even have to stand in line when they’re in the stores.

Google’s role in this integration of mobile and bricks-and-mortar comes in the form of Google Wallet, Google Offers and Google + and other platforms. The company also has launched Google Catalogs, a product search that features curated sets of products as an interactive browse-based experience.

One final scenario from Tilenius to consider while you ponder your own role in this new wave of retail features: A customer walks into a Gap seeking a pair of jeans. She finds the right style, but not the correct size. With her mobile device, she scans the NFC tag attached to the garment, selects the correct size and places an order. The next day, the customer’s jeans, in the correct size, is delivered on her doorstep. That’s a win/win for both retailers, who get to keep the sale, and a shopper, who is able to buy the product she wants.

As a self-proclaiming geek, I had to follow up with Tradewell on a tactic called link bait – what he referred to as “the new geek sport.” In this video, he explains what the concept is, why it’s important, and shares 12 easy ways to do it.

And remember! Voting begins Monday, August 15. Each Shop.org member company has one voting member. If you are unsure as to who that person is in your company, please contact Sara Greene at greenes@shop.org or give her a call at 202-626-8113.

David Brussin Founder and CEO Monetate, Inc. I think I am a good candidate for the Shop.org Board of Directors because I would not only bring a lot of energy and experience to my board service, but also a great deal of enthusiasm for the growth of online retailing as it enters yet another phase of technological innovation, in areas like social, mobile, and location-based services. Because I believe that information technology should truly serve the retailer and the consumer, I’m eager to help companies understand how best to leverage these new technologies for enhanced consumer commerce and see them as exciting opportunities rather than daunting challenges. Finally, let me say that I would be honored to serve on the Board of Directors of Shop.org, which is clearly the leading organization for retailers who want to make the most of technological innovations to grow their businesses while providing their customers with the best possible online shopping experiences.

Kasey Lobaugh Direct-to-Consumer and Multichannel Retail Leader Deloitte Consulting LLP I believe we’re in the midst of the next industrial revolution – this time focused on the consumer. In the not-too-distant future, the majority of consumers will be connected constantly via a “smart” device, and consumers are already more connected to and influenced by their social networks. Given this unprecedented connectivity, the digital retailing model is poised to expand dramatically, and staying ahead of the curve is more important than ever. As Deloitte Consulting’s Direct-to-Consumer/Multichannel Retail Leader, and the co-chair of the Cross-Channel Retail Consortium, staying on the leading edge of key issues impacting the industry is part and parcel of my job. Helping retailers evaluate their capabilities as they move toward becoming true multichannel merchants is my everyday focus. I would welcome the opportunity to contribute my time and energy to Shop.org as a member of its Board, and to help shape the future of the digital retailing community.

Rob Schmults SVP Strategic Partnerships Intent Media Shop.org has been an important part of my own learning experience. The “by the member, for the member” ethos is something I feel extremely protective of having personally gained so much from it, and I believe this would make me a good steward of what makes shop.org such a uniquely valuable organization. My history of active participation with shop.org should also help me represent the membership’s short and long-term interests. Having been both a retail and a non-retail member — as well a member from both large and small companies — gives me a good perspective on the many needs of the membership. As I noted, I am committed to maintaining the core of shop.org’s value proposition, but also recognize that the organization must continue to evolve to keep up with the needs of both newer and older members, as well as with the constantly changing online landscape.

Daniel Schock Retail Director Google I would like to be a Board Member of Shop.org because I believe I can help the organization achieve its Vision Statement of being the leading membership community for Digital Retail. I have extensive marketing and Internet experience; I was a pioneer in Internet retailing when I joined Microsoft in 1996 launching MSN Sidewalk.com to over 1000 small-to-medium retail businesses. Today, as a Google Retail Director, I work with over 100 or the IR 500 top retailers on a daily basis to solve ongoing issues: from Ecommerce analytics to the emerging Mobile market; from measuring the Internet’s effect on in-store sales to understanding cross-platform attribution modeling. I understand your communities’ challenges and will work to represent them within Shop.org. And finally, as someone who often speaks to the press on Internet retail issues, I will represent the Shop.org Board of Directors as industry thought-leaders and influencers.

Scott Silverman Co-Founder & VP, Marketing Ifeelgoods, Inc. If elected, I will excitedly apply my passion for Shop.org to help the organization grow its leadership role in the industry and make involvement in Shop.org more valuable to members. I 100% support and embrace Shop.org’s vision to be the world’s leading membership community for digital retail (in fact, I was part of the team that developed this vision). Being Executive Director for 9 years gives me a clear understanding of Shop.org’s value to members and the industry and a deep appreciation of what’s required for Shop.org to reach its full potential. My other passion is social media and innovation. As a co-founder of a company that is defining a new marketing approach that ties social media with virtual goods, I plan to contribute my passion and expertise to help Shop.org bring the most current thinking in these areas to its content and operations.

Tony Stockill CEO Javelin Group I would like to help Shop.Org to develop a dominant position in Europe. There is huge value in cross-fertilizing ideas across the Atlantic – for US retailers as well as for Europeans. As Shop.org’s US members expand internationally, and as Europe becomes more mature (Google tells us that the UK is now the most mature e-commerce market in the world in terms of e-commerce spend per capita), there is an increasing need for Shop.Org to represent online retailers everywhere. I have a privileged perspective of what is happening across European e-commerce, and excellent network of retail CEOs and e-commerce decision-makers in Europe, and I am well-known on the European e-commerce “speaker circuit” as a well-informed and engaging speaker. I would like to put these assets to good use to help Shop.Org develop itself here.

Scott Wingo CEO ChannelAdvisor While the Shop.org Board of Directors is made up mostly of retailers, I would represent the sentiments of ChannelAdvisor’s 3,000+ retailers and advocate on their behalf. Having served on the Shop.org Content Committee and spoken at Shop.org in the past, I have proven that I can provide a different perspective that reflects the interests and opinions of retailers without using a Board position as a sales platform. Further, I would bring innovative ideas, 20+ years of experience and numerous industry connections to the Shop.org Board of Directors. The Shop.org Board includes the best minds of the e-commerce industry, and in many ways shapes the future of e-commerce. I believe there are great things to come for e-commerce, and I would be honored to be a part of the board that is shaping this future. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Bernardine Wu CEO FitForCommerce I am passionately committed to the success of the eCommerce industry, and my actions, not words, are the proof. As a founder of 4 e-com businesses and networking organization, I’ve leveraged my expertise and connections to help all stakeholders in this market. Through my company and as an individual, I help businesses find opportunities, companies and practitioners find each other – all with the goal of mutual success. I have been fortunate to have shared my knowledge through 80+ speakerships, webinars and bylines in almost all industry channels and work with business (merchants and providers) of all verticals and sizes. Shop.org is at a crossroads – where the competition for community attention is getting harder and quality information is being diluted by the barrage of options. I would be honored to help take Shop.org to the next level.

Here’s how it works: We received dozens of applications from retailers and non-retailers to vie for five open retail seats and four open non-retail seats. On July 11, the nominating committee (a subset of the Shop.org Board) met to finalize the ballot.

On August 15, we will begin online voting. If you are the voting member in your company, you will receive an email from me with a unique URL that will allow you to vote. Voting ends on August 27. The new elected Board members will be announced on September 6, and the newly constituted Shop.org Board (returning and new directors) will meet in Boston on September 12.

For your information I have listed the names and companies of everyone on the ballot. In the next couple of weeks you will see more information on all these folks on the Shop.org blog.

I encourage all voting members to vote. Shop.org works best when we can be “by the member, for the member,” and voting to get a strong Board in place really helps everyone.

If you have a question about who in your company is the Shop.org voting member, please email Sara Greene at greenes@shop.org or give her a call at 202-626-8113.

Shop.org Board of Directors — 2011 Election Ballot

Retailers:

• Miki Berardelli (incumbent—Tory Burch)

• Michael Crotty (Nordstrom)

• Allan Dick (Vintage Tub & Bath)

• Pinny Gniwisch (incumbent—Ice.com)

• Christopher Ladd (lululemon)

• Rich Last (incumbent—jcpenney.com)

• John Lazarchic (incumbent—PETCO)

• MJ Murphy (incumbent—Cole Haan)

• Simon Rodrigue (Travelocity)

• John Seebeck (Crate and Barrel)

Non-retailers:

• David Brussin (Monetate)

• Kasey Lobaugh (Deloitte)

• Rob Schmults (Intent Media)

• Daniel Schock (Google)

• Tony Stockill (Javelin)

• Scott Silverman (ifeelgoods.com)

• Scot Wingo (ChannelAdvisor)

• Bernardine Wu (FitForCommerce)

Few phrases cause more anxiety in the hearts of e-commerce executives, and for good reason. With average abandoned shopping cart rates hovering around 40-50%, it’s easy to understand that converting even a fraction of these deserted carts into sales could substantially add to a retailer’s bottom line. What’s difficult is figuring out how to do that.

Eight by Eight CEO Amy Africa shares tips for lowering shopping cart abandonment

During a session at Shop.org’s Online Merchandising Workshop, Eight by Eight CEO Amy Africa shared incredible insights on the physical reactions involved in buying online, a “magic formula” for trigger emails, and the best ways to test for success. She also offered exceptional suggestions on ways retailers can convert on-the-fence shoppers. Some were simple, some were extensive. Here are ten of them:

1) Make it easy to take the plunge. “Check out now” buttons are a good idea, Africa said. “It’s very important that when someone raises their hand and says they’re ready to buy, you act on that.”

2) Leverage temperature bars. Don’t we all like to see how much we’ve accomplished? Let your customers know how many more steps there are until they’re finished with the check out process by using a temperature or status bar at the bottom. Why? The higher customers get on the temperature bar, the more likely they are to actually pull the trigger on a purchase. Hello Direct and Amazon.com were cited as examples of companies that do this well.

3) Reconsider one-step check out. One-step check out is all the rage in online retail, with a handful of service providers making it very easy for consumers to simply click and buy. While this option is ideal for some consumers, it isn’t best for everyone, said Africa. “In a perfect world, you’ll have a four to five step process for some people and one-click for others,” she said. “It’s your job to know which check out they should receive.”

4) When it comes to buttons, remember: Bigger equals better. “Take your biggest button and triple it,” she said. “The biggest button should be what you want them to do next.” What that means is don’t create a bunch of similar-sized buttons. If your “check out now” button and your “keep shopping” buttons are the same size, Africa said, it confuses people. And then they leave. And then you’ve got to speed right down to #10.

5) Look at your vertical fields. And from the things-I-never-would-have-thought-about department, here’s a good one: Put your city, state and zip codes on three lines, not one. Why? Having these fields on separate lines gives the impression to the buyer that they’re going through the process faster, Africa said.

6) Quit asking pointless questions. Once a customer makes it to the checkout, the process needs to be easy and hurdle-free. So, retailers, stop asking questions that don’t pertain directly to the sale. Shipping information? Fine. A billing address? Absolutely. But don’t ask them for the code on the back of their circular. There’s another time and place to gather that data.

7) Use pop-ups. When a customer has merchandise in your cart and is leaving your site, use a pop-up to ask them if they’re sure they want to move on. Hate pop-ups? So does Africa. So do some consumers. (So do I.) But, quite frankly, they’re a great way to get attention and, if the creative is right, are very effective.

8) Offer a guest checkout option. Yes, we all wish every single customer would want to create a username and password. But they don’t. If given the option, about 30% of shoppers will use guest checkout. Why? The perception is that it’s faster (even if it’s not). For a customer who’s shopping in a hurry, guest checkout might be the deciding factor on whether to move forward with a purchase.

9) Don’t make me ask you again… If you already know certain things about your customers – their name, their shipping address, their email – don’t make them tell you twice. Do them a favor and prepopulate those fields. It will give them more time for, I don’t know, shopping.

10) Send them an email. And another one. And another one. While an abandoned cart program shouldn’t exclusively rely on emailing your AWOL shoppers, reaching out to people who left your website with items in their cart is essential. During the session, Africa talked about the importance of email timing (around lunchtime), personalization (use their name and specific items they abandoned), how many emails you should send (five), and whether retailers should offer extra incentives in those emails to get people to buy (she says no).

For more insights from Amy, or if you just need a good laugh, read her blog – I mean, qlog.

It just takes one look at their website to realize that ModCloth is one cool company. Built around the premise that “we want to be the fashion company you’re friends with,” ModCloth relies upon a variety of media, tools, and messages to actively engage with their audience. In advance of her keynote at Shop.org’s Online Merchandising Workshop next month in San Diego, ModCloth Chief Marketing Officer Cooper took time to share her thoughts on social media successes, their unique “Be the Buyer” forum, and how they integrate the company’s blog into their overall strategy.

Many digital retailers are increasing their focus on Facebook and Twitter, but ModCloth has taken social engagement a step further by using partner sites like Kaboodle and Polyvore. What have you learned by participating on these relatively new platforms?

Having a presence on Polyvore, Kaboodle and other sites like Tumblr allows us to collaborate with their communities and tastemakers in a way that is about fashion and our girls’ lifestyle. This subset of customers wants to think about how an item will fit in her wardrobe before purchasing or just wants to experiment and enjoys styling and conceptualizing looks in her free time, especially for big events like choosing a holiday outfit or an 80s-themed party.

Knowing that there’s an audience that wants to interact with our product this way has been something we consider in our engagement strategy, especially with contests that include styling elements or even tools. Most recently, we ran a contest utilizing the Polyvore mini editor on our ModCloth blog. We also think about engaging this audience with our ModStylists, who provide live style advice and product information for our customers and supports that segment of the ModCloth community looking specifically for styling advice on the ModStylists’ Facebook page. These sites and tools are giving girls the freedom to really become stylists and style curators like never before and since supporting the customer’s voice is our mission at ModCloth, we want to continue to think about how we can offer more contests and site features that allow her to express her creativity.

The ModCloth shopper is young, trendy and no doubt on the high end of social media usage. Based on the tools your target shopper uses to influence her friends about your product, what insights or projections can you share on social media trends?

Our customer definitely is a heavy user of social media. And, I don’t think you can talk about social media without talking about Facebook. I think for marketers, Facebook will continue to evolve its ad platform to a very interesting way of reaching their target market. I think we’ll see a lot of experimentation with commerce on Facebook. I don’t think Facebook is a great platform to replace standalone ecommerce sites, but I do think it’s an interesting way for retailers to attract customers. I also think Twitter will figure out how to monetize its platform and be an interesting place for marketers to reach their market.

As I mentioned before, there are many sites beyond Facebook and Twitter that will continue to grow and be an important part of her life. Tumblr and new sites like Pinterist become places where she can highlight her tastes and curate collections and find like-minded friends to follow that are more around like-interests than friendship. In a similar vein, our girl is sharing more often, and exciting new tools to enable her sharing like Go Try It On are letting women get fashion advice before they head out the door. Online tools are allowing shoppers to get advice from the people whose opinions are most important to them–their friends.

Our shopper is always connected, so I think we’ll continue to see massive growth in mobile, as well as marketers and ecommerce companies finding ways to connect with her in those small moments of downtime. I think part of the growth of the “daily deal” sites or Gilt has come from impulse buying — in Gilt’s case, at a specific time — but I think in all cases, an opportunity to quickly show her ideas and engage her is a fast retail fix.

Finally, social media tools are opening up the business process. Many other companies have seen the benefit of crowdsourcing. Sites such as Threadless are also using crowd generated votes to produce products. Technology allows people to be a part of business processes and make decisions that affect them, and the public loves it! Tools such as Polyvore and Kaboodle allow users to be the stylists and create new trends. These sites are able to share interesting information on trends, popular brands, and influential celebrities based on feedback from users. Using customer generated products and content will continue to be a growing trend within social.

More outwardly than most other online retail sites, ModCloth allows customers to “Be the Buyer” through an online forum built into the purchasing interface. What other ways are you using engagement techniques to influence your product offerings?

You’re right, we want our customer to be at the center of the buying experience, and Be the Buyer is a great way to have her help us decide what we should buy (and how much we should buy)! One less obvious way we engage our customer is through our merchandising on the site. We launch 25-50 new products a day, and we tend to buy in small lots, so if products sell out quickly, we offer our girl the opportunity to click “Notify me on Restock”. This allows us to gauge demand we missed and notify customers directly when the item in their size returns to the site. We also listen to how she “loves” items and how she reviews them. We believe customer reviews are so critical to buying the right product that we built our own reviews feature that allows customers to upload photos, provide their measurements, and rate on fit, length and quality.

Of course, we’re always looking for feedback through Facebook and Twitter. We have many product conversations each week on our Facebook page where we are getting great responses. Our team talks about our social sentiment cross-functionally to make sure that the big themes as well as smaller issues are understood by the team internally.

The ModCloth blog is a key feature of your brand site. What types of successes are you finding with this content?

The ModCloth blog is a great vehicle to connect with our girl, tell her our story and the unique personality behind our brand, and connect our community. The blog gives our customers the chance to learn more about who “she” is, the girl behind the outfit. We want to support the indie and vintage-inspired lifestyle through style tips, relevant news that resonates with our readers and their lifestyle, and contests that engage our readers and encourage them to feel part of the ModCloth community. Our girl loves the creative side of life, so features like fashion, culture, cooking, and DIY engage her with the brand. One of the principals we start with is that anyone who’s passionate fashion can find value and inspiration in our content.

One thing that I think sets our blog and our overall voice apart from other retailers is that we have our employees’ are the voice of our brand. We hire amazing customers as our employees and think it’s important that, as they are a part of the ModCloth community, their voices and ideas are what drive the blog. We talk about oft-avoided subjects such as plus-size clothing, or the sexist context of the retro styles we all gush over. In 2010, we wrote a three-part series explaining to our customers why ModCloth hasn’t been able to carry large quantities of plus-size clothing, and asked our readers to help us fight the industry traditions preventing us from doing so. This week, we kicked off swimsuit season with a “Vintage Sexism” post on body hair and the societal pressure for women to shave. Not the most glam topic to bring up when we’re promoting swimsuits, but we knew we could pull it off. And we did — the reader responses have been incredible. In short, the blog is a great way for our girl to engage with the brand in a “real” way and help shape it.

When I asked the current Shop.org Board of Directors to share their board experiences, here was a great response from Kevin Ertell.“I love the networking, the highly intelligent discussions with some of the industry’s best thinkers and most of all, I love the opportunity to contribute to the growth and health of our industry.”

Having been on the board as both a service provider and now as CMO of OnlineShoes.com, Kevin knows what he’s talking about. He went on to say, “It’s tough to narrow down the best part of service on the board.”

Now that Shop.org is currently accepting nominations through June 24th for the new board term, I couldn’t agree more with Kevin. And like him, I’ve served on the board myself, so I can tell you first hand just how rewarding the experience is and how much I attribute my professional growth and connections to my board service.

Here’s what other current retail and solution provider board members have to say. When asked about the best part of serving on the Shop.org Board of Directors, Pinny Gniwisch, Co-Founder & EVP Marketing of Ice.com, like a few of his fellow directors referenced the high-level thinkers in the group saying, “Being on the Shop.org Board has given me the ability to interact with the smartest minds in ecommerce around.”

Troy Brown, Retail Practice Leader at Demandware, also mentioned the camaraderie he feels “with other board members that has been formed while working with some of the brightest people in the industry.”

It’s not just about the networking and sharing of ideas. Patti Freeman Evans, VP of Research Director for Forrester Research, talked about the service to the industry saying “As part of the board I feel I am giving back and contributing to the growth of an industry that has been good to me. It’s an industry that has been exciting thus far and is poised for great change going forward.”

What makes a good board member? According to Rich Last, JCP.com and Board Chairman of Shop.org, it’s all about “Passion for digital retail, demonstrated active involvement in Shop.org, recognized leadership in our industry, and vision for the future of digital retail.”

If you feel like this is group of industry leaders is something you want to be a part of, I encourage you to nominate yourself. We are, after all, “by the member, for the member.”

That’s of course encouraging, but the real challenge is for the research itself to keep up with an ever-evolving e-commerce industry. When we released the results of the first 2011 SORO survey in May (“The State of Retailing Online 2011: Marketing, Social & Mobile”), a member of the Shop.org Board of Directors remarked how much the scope of this research has evolved – for example, mobile and social are now “must have” components in SORO, when just a few years ago they were proverbial glimmers on the horizon. Our second 2011 SORO survey thus hones in on several topics that our partner, Forrester Research and we at Shop.org both get questions about: key metrics, merchandising tactics, organization structure (a manifestation of all that channel convergence in play now?), and global expansion.

Retail members also told us that they want category-specific results broken out. The good news is that if we have ten or more companies in a given category participate in this survey, we should be able to break out aggregated category-specific results.

The upshot for you: if you are a retailer, you need to complete this survey so we can deliver those category-specific breakouts back to you. Please email me if you have not received your survey participation email by Friday, June 10. The deadline to participate is end of day Thursday, June 30. All retailers who complete the survey will receive a copy of the aggregated results with our compliments.

For further information about the State of Retailing Online 2011 research, please see information on our site, as well as a full set of FAQs. I look forward to your participation very soon!

Online retailers have reason to smile: almost a third of online shoppers plan to spend more this year for Mother’s Day than last year (compared with half that number for all Mother’s Day shoppers). Indeed, online shoppers expect to spend a combined net average of $219.40 (up 10 percent from last year), versus $140.73 across all shoppers.

Close to half of online shoppers plan to buy their moms some jewelry, spending a net average of $44.20 on this category, versus $26.22 for all shoppers. Consumer electronics, flowers, special outings such as brunch or dinner, and spa services, among other categories, are also favorites again this year. Online shoppers prove themselves again to be multichannel shoppers: over one third will shop also in department stores and in specialty stores, while a quarter expect to pop into a discount store.

So – with just a scant week to make hay for this prime gift giving occasion, I went back to some of the lessons learned from another prime gift giving occasion: the 2010 eHoliday Study, also conducted by BIGresearch. If you consider that you’ll need to put together your 2011 holiday season plan in the next few months, perhaps Mother’s Day and Father’s Day can serve as test runs for some new ideas. Herewith a few nuggets from the 2010 eHoliday findings:

• Free shipping – Consumers want it, but the bottom line generally suffers. Why not test offering discounted shipping (remember the shoes I bought last fall from Bluefly with a $2.95 flat shipping charge?), and/or swapping out free shipping on returns in lieu of free outbound shipping (as we saw in the 2010 pre-holiday results, 3 out of 10 women said they would like to receive free returns shipping offers).
• Customer product reviews – Clearly now a staple of online retail sites, two out of five consumers noted that they referenced reviews when making holiday purchases online, more than any other site feature. The key for reviews at this point: “right place, right time” throughout the site as well as one’s marketing and social media channels.
• Later purchases – While consumers expect to spend more this year than last for Mother’s Day, I’m guessing that they’ll still be shopping carefully and may wait to click “submit order” in the (vain?) hopes of last-minute discounts. Determine your ability to offer discounted express shipping, and make sure your print at home / electronic gift card options are in excellent working order and well marketed across your home page, email, and social media outlets.
• Marketing – Email and search are still an online marketer’s best friends: retailers cited email to one’s house list and SEO as the most cost-effective marketing vehicles for Holiday 2010. That said, two out of five noted paid listings (SEM) gained the most customers who ultimately bought from their site, well ahead of both SEO and email.  And while still very small compared to means such as merchant emails and search, more consumers than in years past noted that they are learning about retailers via Facebook and blogs.
• Mobile – I simply can’t do this topic justice in one or two sentences.  Instead, I recommend revisiting the November 2010 Shop.org Webinar, “The Obstacles and Enablers of Mobile Commerce”, featuring speakers from Forrester Research and Steve Madden, for a terrific overview of mobile / multichannel best practices.

One of our favorite, highest-viewed videos from last year, came from the Bronto Software email strategy team, listing four types of effective and targeted messages you can send to subscribers and customers based on “last purchase date” field data. They, and we here at Shop.org, believe these types of targeted messages will help you build relationships and boost sales.

We’ve included the video for those of you that may have missed it below.

Since thousands of you viewed these tips last year, we are bringing them back again for the 2011 May is Online Marketing Month. But this year, we are only going to accept the 15 BEST online marketing video tips to share with the Shop.org community. We’re accepting video tips until April 18th and can’t wait to hear your advice.

Shop.org information:

• Shop.org’s February webinar on the 2010 Digital Year in Review featuring comScore Executive Chairman and Founder Gian Fulgoni is still available for member playback. Not a member? Read the recap.
• The results of Shop.org’s post-holiday survey are in, and our Head of Research, Fiona Swerdlow, has compiled three trends to help you plan for Holiday 2011.
• Always a favorite, the Shop.org Job Board was an especially hot item for the month of February. See who’s hiring right now.
• During the month of February, Shop.org hosted sold-out networking dinners in Palm Springs and Los Angeles. Upcoming stops for March include Seattle, San Francisco, Dallas and Austin. View the full Spring schedule.
• There were four new white paper submissions to the Shop.org library last month. Topics include: a case study on going global, a look at long-term mobile strategy and two papers on consumer behavior. Visit the white paper library.

Top retail news stories from Shop.org SmartBrief:

• The psychology behind the success of daily-deal sites
• Will Facebook emerge as a key e-commerce player?
• Study: E-commerce sales will hit $279 billion in 2015
• More merchants test in-store iPads to boost sales
• Groupon defends controversial Super Bowl spots

Our favorite member tweet from February:

• @Forrester: Forbes runs down the digital marketing to do’s for the CMO, courtesy of @cjstutzman http://forr.com/eBR3lv

Want more industry news and resources from last month? Check out NRF’s What’s Hot for February 2011.

Shop.org members can watch the free replay of this hour long webinar, but we also wanted to share some of the quick facts Fulgoni revealed from the report. During the webinar, it was no surprise to see a majority of the discussion around social networks, flash sale and group-buying sites, and mobile.

So here are seven intriguing facts from our look back at 2010 in digital retailing:

1. Facebook surpassed each of the top three web properties Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft based on time spent. Facebook now accounts for 12.3% of all time being spent online, up from 7.2% in 2009.
2. Communication among younger audiences is shifting from web-based email to instant messaging, social networking and mobile. In fact, the 12-17 year old age group is spending 59% LESS TIME on web-based email.
3. Flash sale sites (Gilt.com, Hautelook.com, Ideeli.com, RueLaLa.com, and OneKingsLane.com) gained traction in 2010. Gilt Groupe closed in on one million visitors at the end of 2010, up 52% from one year ago.
4. Group-buying sites increased in popularity in 2010. Groupon saw visitation grow 712% to 10.7 million visitors. LivingSocial was up 438% to 5.7 million visitors.
5. Social networking drove growth in display ad impressions. Facebook alone served more than 1 trillion display ads in 2010.
6. There are significant demographic differences between people who visit retail sites on a PC versus their mobile phones. Mobile retail users are male and younger, in the 18-34 year old segment.
7. Retail e-commerce was up 10% in 2010 over 2009 reaching $142 billion. Consumer electronics, computer hardware, and books & magazines were the fastest growing e-commerce categories in 2010.

In addition to reviewing the results of report, Fulgoni spent nearly 30 minutes in an interactive discussion with One Kings Lane CMO, Greg Fant, and W.W. Grainger VP of e-commerce, Paul Miller. Topics discussed included email, personalization, the reason for the success of group buying sites, which social network is best for targeting the younger consumer, product reviews and UGC, the free shipping expectation and more.

Those of us in the industry can only imagine what’s ahead for digital retail in 2011 and beyond, but most of us agree that taking a look back at how we have done (or what we have done) is the best way to ensure success in the future.

A few highlights of our survey findings:

• Average web sales growth across all retailers surveyed was 29% (Q4 2010 vs. Q4 2009)
• One quarter of retailers surveyed experienced YOY growth of 50% or higher.
• Retailers earning over $100 million in annual web revenue reported average growth of 24%.

Many retailers noted that Black Friday and Cyber Monday were especially strong this year. Several noted increases in average order value (AOV), while others commented on promotions as part of the market landscape.

The big question now, of course, is whether this increased penchant for spending will last into Q1 and beyond, or will consumers step back now that the after-Christmas sales are done? The first test comes with Valentine’s Day gearing up in a matter of weeks.

Shop.org members can download the full results summary now from the Shop.org site.

Of course, all eyes in retail now are on Cyber Monday, and here is what NRF / BIGresearch data tells us some of what retailers can expect:

• 106.9 million consumers plan to shop on Cyber Monday this year, a nice jump from last year’s 96.5 million.
• Retailers are fueling consumer interest in Cyber Monday with special offers, free shipping promotions and other specials to entice consumers to spend online.
• While 9 out of ten consumers (96 million people) plan to shop from home, over seven million (6.9%) plan to use their smartphone for this purpose also — and that’s even higher among consumers aged 18 to 34. Retailers who have set up their mobile sites with store locator, pricing, and customer review info should do well with these consumers.
• 44.2% of Cyber Monday shoppers plan to shop online in the early morning hours, posing little problem for those retailers who have been diligent about load testing their site for the holidays. Traffic should progressively ease a bit over the course of the day (particularly over the lunch hour — lunch itself appears to be taking precedence over shopping for many), with one quarter of Cyber Monday shoppers shopping in the early evening.

For further detail, please see Cyber Monday Trends 2010, as well as the Shop.org press release.

Shop.org members can register (it’s free) to watch this webinar replay anytime for the next year. I highly suggest it. Until you find the time, I included some of my favorite information from the webinar below.

Why you need to care about mobile: The research

• So far about 2% of the overall online revenue that retailers have observed come from mobile commerce.
• Large retailers (those with more than $100 million in annual revenue) are investing approximately $465,000 in 2010 on mobile initiatives.
• Who owns mobile strategy and management within your organization? For a majority of teams this lies in the Web/eCommerce teams or the marketing teams.
• Forrester’s Sucharita Mulpuru went into fix major factors affecting mobile commerce today related to industry leader trust, operating systems, apps, déjà vu, and more.

What retailers are on point with mobile: The best in class

Jewelry TV: Launched an app keeping in mind that consumers are watching their TV network. They showcased a particular product on their app as it was being shown on TV for consumers. This synchronization allowed consumers to have a speedy purchase experience.

Target: Target is a best-in-class case for both their mobile-enabled website and their mobile app. They have store locators, store stock availability, bar code scanning, registries, weekly ads, daily deals, and product details.

Steve Madden: In stores, Steve Madden is looking to develop engagement. They want to know who is shopping in-store and what they are interested in. They want to help customers pull the information they want – and do not just push information at them. They started doing this by providing incentives for consumers to join their mobile club at POS with a one-time offer asking consumers to provide their info and interests. This cost them between $5-20K for in-store signage and mobile execution. Steve Madden mobile analytics results to date include over one million visits with an average of over 6 minutes spent on the site. They have also cited revenue of over $595K with over 8,000 products sold to date. Andrew Koven, President of Steve Madden Shoes, even provided one key non-platform mobile investment tip he believes all retailers should consider. Shop.org members should watch the replay to find out some other great things they are doing with mobile.

How do mobile commerce right: The must-have list

1. Store locators. Koven mentioned that you can expect utilization of around 7% for the store locator feature.
2. Reviews. It supports the shopping process.
3. In-store inventory. Find out if a product is in stock at nearby stores based on geo-location, link to directions to the store, and include phone number of the store.
4. Recommendations/Cross sells.
5. A full mCommerce WAP site that includes: Full purchasing option and shopping cart, account information, search, store locator with geo-location, reviews, recommendations, brand.