This year at Shop.org we delivered 13 webinars (eight regular webinars and five for May is Marketing Month) as an additional member benefit and more than 1,200 of you registered!

After every one of our webinars we asked attendees for feedback, which we use to guide the content we bring you in the future. So here it is, our very own Shop.org 2010 “Best Webinars” list, links to the playbacks, blog recaps, and my favorite statistic or lesson from each.

1. November 15, 2010: The Obstacles and Enablers of Mobile Commerce
Sucharita Mulpuru, VP & Principal Analyst, eBusiness, Forrester Research Inc. and Andrew Koven, President, E-Commerce & Customer Experience, Steve Madden Shoes
No time to watch?  Here is a quick blog post recap.
One of my favorite mobile stats presented: Large retailers (those with more than $100 million in annual revenue) are investing approximately $465,000 in 2010 on mobile initiatives.

2. September 14, 2010: 10 Most Common SEO Mistakes Retailers Make
Speaker: Stephan Spencer, Co-author, The Art of SEO
No time to watch?  Here is a quick blog post recap.
My favorite SEO mistake from Stephan: Making assumptions about customer vocabulary – i.e. hoodie versus hooded sweatshirt.

3. January 27, 2010: 10 Lessons Learned in 10 Years Selling in Europe
(Playback available for both Shop.org and NRF members until January 26, 2011)
Speakers: Ulric Jerome, Executive Director, Pixmania.com and Zia Daniell Wigder, Senior Analyst, Forrester Research
An eye-opening statistic from Pixmania: Europe is very fragmented and needed a customized approach with 27 countries / 27 nationalities / 19 languages, 493 million inhabitants, different rules on VAT, different rules on recycling fees, and more!

Remember, Shop.org members can register (it’s free for everyone within your organization) to watch the playbacks of these webinars – or one of the other 13 listed on the webinars page.  Enjoy!

1. Interacting with consumers through social media. Marks & Spencer posts videos, including their ads, on YouTube. In turn, they get feedback from their customers in the form of number of times viewed, likes and comments. Some customers take this to the next level by posting their own video spoofs of the commercials. Here’s one on social media and custard. Aubrey-Cound mentioned that some of the spoofs can be rather racy, so don’t say I didn’t warn you… they may not be safe for work consumption.

2. Using video to bring your products to life. ASOS, like many retailers, presents its products through images. They also, like some retailers, display the products through video. What makes them stand out and earn Tony Stockil’s praise as the retailer best utilizing video is the way they they use it. Specifically, Stockil shared, the catwalk videos that accompany many products allow customers to better see and understand the product. View this dress on their site and click “view catwalk” to see how the dress really fits and flows as it is worn.

3. Bring customers across borders a customized experience. Pixmania impressed on attendees the need to base a cross-border customization from a local’s perspective – that includes language, payment methods, preferred search engines. If you don’t know your customers on a local level, he said, you can’t be a retail leader in that area.

4. Make purchasing easy for your customers, even if they are watching a video. French Connection hosts videos on their YouTube page that show customers how to get specific looks. From these “Youtique” clips, viewers can actually click to view the products. Here’s a 30-second video they posted on how to catch a bouquet. As you watch, links appear on the dress and the clutch so you can purchase them.

Click here for pictures from the event.

Kate Terry, EVP Global Ecommerce, Tommy Hilfiger USA. Kate, who has deep e-commerce experience from companies such as Coach, Polo and Kate Spade is in a newly created position, EVP, Global E-Commerce, based in Amsterdam.  This new role combines global e-commerce and marketing for the direct  business, which had been separate prior to Kate joining.  The goal is to grow the e-commerce business to 20-25% of the store business.

Kate has overseen the creation of a new structure, which adjusts the mixture of functions being centralized vs. de-centralized.  The object is to centralize areas to gain efficiency and brand consistency, but to keep the local flavor where it’s most important.  And, to separate ego-authorship from local expertise.  I love the term, ”ego-authorship,” which is meant to describe situations where people are given decision-making authority as a way to give them a voice, which Kate believes is not the right reason to give someone decision-making authority.  Below is how some of the functions at Tommy are distributed:

• E-Commerce Platform – de-centralized, there is a different platform in the US than Europe
• Merchandising – 65% overlap / 35% local
• Service – 65% overlap / 35% local
• Marketing – 55% overlap / 45% local
• UI – 100% overlap

Cyriac Roeding, co-founder of MOBshop, made a bold statement about mobile that captured the audience.  “The future of online, is offline.”  He first made the case for the massive growth of mobile Web usage – particularly in the U.S. and primarily due to the iPhone.  He then discussed how the mobile Internet will change the in-store experience forever including the ability to drive foot-traffic to the store, close sales and increase loyalty.

Hiroshi Mikitani, CEO of Rakuten. He is the founder of Rakuten and built the company without any venture capital.  It was the first time most people in the audience heard the story of Rakuten, which is the #1 e-commerce company in Japan.  Amazon in Japan is 20% the size of Rakuten, a rare spot for Amazon, as it is the market leader in most other parts of the world. The Rakuten business model is to be a selling platform mainly for SMEs.  They currently have revenues of nearly $4 billion (and facilitate much higher gross merchandise revenue).  He gave an extreme example of an egg farmer on the Rakuten platform that sells $300,000 in fresh eggs per month.  The eggs he sells are fresher because selling directly to consumers is weeks faster than using the traditional distribution system, which, also addes a 70% mark-up after they pass through the various distributors. The farmer’s margins are so high that if the eggs arrive broken, he will resend them with no questions asked.  Mr. Mikitani also described how the Rakuten Eagles, the Japanese professional baseball team he purchased, supports the Rakuten business model by creating ongoing brand mentions due to the media coverage of the team.

Mr. Mikitani also spoke about the future of e-commerce.  He believes that Southeast Asia is poised to bloom and will be a bigger market than China.

If you’re interested in following global e-commerce topics, feel free to join the Global E-Commerce Summit group on LinkedIn.  You can also subscribe to the NRF Global SmartBrief free daily email newsletter.

Click here for pictures from the event.

François Momboisse Vice President of EMOTA and Susanne Czech, Secretary General of EMOTA, opened the Summit and shared data on European and French e-commerce:

• Europe is expecting 12% e-commerce growth in 2009
• French e-commerce is up 25% in 2009
• Average order value is down
• 23.5 million online buyers in France, which is up 44% in the last 3 years
• C2C commerce such as eBay and Priceminister are enormous in France – market leaders

Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne followed with a thought provoking keynote presentation that was a mixture of the Overstock.com business and Mr. Byrne’s concerns about the U.S. capital markets.   He painted a dim picture of the next 10 years, and when asked where he invests his money given his concerns about the economy he said that it is a combination of Overstock.com stock and gold.

Allan Christiansen,  CEO, Telmore, shared his thoughts on how to build “extreme customer satisfaction.”  Telmore answers 80% of customer service calls within 20 seconds, far faster than its competitors.  One of his most compelling quotes was that “customer loyalty is not how loyal a customer is to a company, but how loyal a company is to a customer.” 

Stay tuned for more blogging from the event.  You can also follow the event on Twitter (hashtag #GES09).

We’ll wrap up the series of posts we’ve pulled together this year on international e-commerce by highlighting some of the dialogue that the study stirred up.

One of the best comments came from a CEO-guy across the table who attended the session where Jim Okamura hit the highlights of the study and interviewed the esteemed panelists.  He had that slightly worn look one has at the last session of the last day, but he was totally into the idea of going global.

Finally he looked over at his VP of e-Commerce and said “Let’s just do this.”

The International Growth Story

Chris O’Neill, who runs Google’s retail practice, was a welcome opening host for the session.  He set that stage nicely by commenting that:

• Well over 50% of Google’s growth is from markets outside the U.S.
• In order for Google’s CEO to approve any program, it must have a global plan
• From an organizational perspective, discussions about international initiatives often revolve around the trade-offs between centralization and de-centralization

What should we watch for on the international front? According to O’Neill, innovations in payments “in a world without the financial payment infrastructure the U.S. takes for granted.”

And stay tuned for how machine translations will fulfill the vision of a border-less e-commerce landscape and where advancements in analytics will leverage data to understand international customer needs that are not being met.

A New Chapter in the Customer Experience Saga

Of the many barriers the study highlighted, the one that requires the most urgent attention is the generally poor online experience that most international shoppers encounter, an ironic similarity to the early days of e-commerce in the U.S. the study points out.

Another key finding was that an expanded range of strategic options has replaced the “all or nothing” mindset that until recently prevailed among international strategists.  Each option has its own different risk/reward profile and collectively, they provide online retailers and consumer brands greater strategic flexibility, which is critical in today’s challenging retail environment.

A “middle” stage of international e-commerce expansion is emerging, which the study calls the “Participatory” stage.  Aided in part by the emergence of “sell-and-ship” solutions providers, this stage offers online retailers a low-cost, low-risk way to dramatically improve the international customer experience while also ramping up global sales.

Global Logistical Expertise is Evolving Regionally

An interesting ancillary finding emerged on the expo floor at the Summit.  As one visited the vendors that are opening doors to international e-commerce, one found that those with logistical expertise currently tend to specialize in different regions of the world.

Not surprisingly CanadaPost/Borderfree excels in Canada while Pitney Bowes (e4x/fiftyone’s logistical partner) delivers the goods throughout Europe.

Access Technology Solutions has built a sophisticated network of trade channels and customs brokerages throughout Asia-Pacific. In fact you can ship express packages from the U.S. into Japan for about what it costs to ship from California to New York. And it can get there quicker.

Meanwhile Borderjump/Aeropost is fulfilling thousands of international orders daily throughout South America.  Look for some consolidation in this sector in the year ahead, but for now, choose your market and go with the strongest player in that region.

Social and Mobile: Hot Panel Topics

No way can we hope to pack in highlights from the report’s findings plus insights from the panel session at the Summit into this no-longer-short post.  Several quick take-aways for you.

One of the biggest challenges of going global is balancing existing brand equity/controls with the need for local relevance.  The panelists agreed that tracking and measuring brand equity is tough globally, especially in the Asia-Pacific regions.

However, social media is evolving as a means to cost-effectively tap communities and facilitate word-of-mouth ─ and by doing so, to better understand how to adapt brands to local market preferences.

Panelists also agreed that having a mobile strategy is an essential component of going global.  Depending on which international market you target, expect 20% to 40% of the traffic coming to your site to originate from mobile devices ─ and plan for women to over-index on mobile.

Organizational Catalysts?

The panelists provided advice for e-commerce professionals trying to push their leadership to go global.  After conducting initial market assessments, focus on understanding the types of payments that are locally relevant.

Accept that payment models will not be one-size-fits-all.  In China, expect to accept at least five types of payment.  In Germany, more than half your holiday orders may go out with an open invoice.

Next Stop: Monaco, October 26-28th

It’s always intriguing when you put almost a year into conducting a study and then it’s done.  But of course research is never really done, in fact, we’ve barely written the first chapter of the international e-commerce expansion story.

The next chapters will provide different viewpoints.  The Shop.org Global e-Commerce Summit will offer a diverse collection of best practices and insights from leading global e-commerce professionals outside the U.S.

And look for a quantitative study exploring international e-commerce expansion from the J.C. Williams team next spring, with a focus on how online merchants of different sizes are mastering global e-commerce.

Until then, enjoy the International E-commerce Expansion Benchmark Study, the most uncreatively-titled report out there today.

Thanks,

The J.C. Williams Group

If your company is already conducting cross-border e-commerce, the reasons for attending this event are clear – you’ll tap into the most impressive gathering of global e-commerce executives in the world.  If you are one of the many U.S. online retailers looking at overseas expansion as a growth opporunity, you may also want to consider attending.  (And, if you’re a Shop.org member, you’re eligible for a substantial discount on your registration fee.)

There are two keynote speakers that stand out for me and who I look forward to hearing speak at the event.

Hiroshi Mikitani, Chairman, Founder and CEO, Rakuten

The first is Hiroshi Mikitani, Chairman & CEO, Rakuten.  If you aren’t familiar with Rakuten, you should be.  You may know them as the parent company of U.S.-based LinkShare.  But, they are also Japan’s leading Internet company with 2008 revenues of more than 2.7 billion USD.  They have a fascinating array of Internet businesses is Asia including in the No. 1 shopping portal and they recently purchased a 67% stake in Thailand’s largest e-commerce company.  Mr. Mikitani is the charismatic founder, chairman and CEO of this global Internet powerhouse.  In addition to their Internet interests, Mr. Mikitani also arranged for the purchase of the Rakuten Golden Eagles, a baseball team in Japan’s Pacific League.

Paul Delaoutre, Chairman and CEO, Galeries Lafayette

The other keynote speaker that has piqued my interest is Paul Delaoutre, chairman and chief executive officer of Galeries Lafayette.  Up until recently, pure-play ecommerce companies have represented the lion’s share of French online retail revenue.  Not anymore.  Major French retail brands are now flexing their e-commerce muscles and leveraging cross-channel strategies.  Galeries Lafayette is leading this trend.  It’s rare to find U.S. retail CEOs from large stores with hands-on e-commerce experience and even more rare outside of the U.S.  But, that’s exactly what Mr. Delaoutre brings to Galeries Lafayette.  Prior to coming to this famous French department store, from 1999 to 2004, Mr. Delaoutre was CEO for La Redoute, a leading mail order company in France, which he transformed into an international company as well as a web driven company.

Visionary keynote addresses from Mr. Mikitani and Mr. Delaoutre are just part of the reason to consider being a part of this event.  The full agenda includes e-commerce executives from Denmark, German, The Netherlands and more.

And, did I mention that this event is in Monaco?  By the way, thanks to some of the lowest airfares and hotel rates in recent memory, a trip to the Global E-Commerce Summit in Monaco is much less expensive than you think.

I hope to see you in Monaco later this month.

In the last month alone, Costco has announced plans to open in Australia while eBags has shuttered its UK operations (for now). When it comes to expanding globally, it seems like some retailers are jumping in with both feet and others are pulling back substantially to focus on core business operations. I imagine there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach given this economy, but how can retailers know what choice is right for them?

The dichotomy you describe is certainly one that has emerged from the current economic crisis. Some retailers are viewing the global recession as a wake-up call to diversify revenues and expand beyond domestic borders; others are saying there’s no way they can justify a risky international investment in such uncertain times.

While there’s no foolproof way to determine which strategy makes sense, internal factors are as essential to determining when and where to go global as external ones. Retailers must ask themselves questions such as: How much international traffic is there currently on my site? Do I have existing international fulfillment capabilities that support other channels? How strong is my brand recognition in international markets? Does my company have international staff I can tap into to help operate the new business? Is my company flexible enough to change its offering based on learnings in new market(s)? The answers to these questions can help dictate how successful an international expansion is likely to be. Retailers also need to make sure they’re not overestimating the revenue potential in new international markets – in most cases, it’ll take several years to break even.

As a person who studies web globalization, what are your insights on how US online retail affects retail around the world?

While non-US brands are increasingly impacting global retail, there’s still a lot of leadership in the online retail space coming from the US. Features such as ratings, user reviews and, increasingly, recommendation engines are commonplace on US retail sites, yet they do not tend to be as widely deployed in other markets. US-based online retailers are eyeing these features as a way to differentiate their global offerings from those of local competitors.

However, companies in all regions of the world are challenging the US when it comes to online retail innovation. In France, electronics giant Fnac paired online video and chat functionality to create a unique customer service experience. In China, Tencent’s QQ coin gained enormous popularity and became the poster child for the power of virtual currencies. On the vendor side, Israel continues to produce innovation in areas such as online payments and security. Retailers should not look only to their domestic peers for innovation and opportunities, but rather take a more global view.

Here’s a hypothetical for you: A retailer has a limited amount of money to invest in a new global initiative this year. How should they spend it?

If the retailer hasn’t started shipping internationally, that can be a good way to start. We recently published a report on this topic since it’s been such a key area of interest for our clients this year. The cost of entry is low – a key factor during these economic times – and both site traffic and shipping data provide direction on international demand for products. The upside can be significant: retailers often see a revenue lift in the range of 10% after introducing international shipping. There’s no doubt that a localized, transactional site is the only way to fully mine the potential of any market, but international shipping can be a useful step for companies not yet ready to make a more significant investment.

Where are retailers’ missed opportunities abroad?

Latin America is one region that remains largely untapped by US-based online retailers. I understand the local market challenges and the fact that most companies want to look at the largest online markets around the globe, but when it comes to market saturation, you’re looking at much more intense online competition in Europe and Asia than in Latin America. Two markets – Mexico and Brazil – account for over half the online users in the region and rank as two of the US’s top 10 global trading partners, yet only a handful of US online players have any presence at all in these markets. The head of an ad network in Buenos Aires recently asked me why European online businesses were showing such an interest in Latin America while American ones weren’t.

Walk me through a typical day in your shoes.

Let’s take a typical day in the office rather than one on the road. I try to spend an hour at the beginning of the day reading through the news and industry updates. I’ll then work on a research report – either by interviewing key companies in the space, analyzing data or writing – and spend a few hours on consulting and advisory projects. Recent projects have involved assessing online markets around the globe, calculating potential revenues from shipping to Canada and evaluating different e-commerce platform vendors.

A typical day is also likely to include inquiries with clients as well as briefings with vendors or other companies in the global online retail space. Our goal is to learn as much as we can about the industry from as many sources as possible. New developments come from all over: last week, for example, I met with a machine translation company whose background is in the intelligence community, but whose technology is now being deployed for user reviews and online customer service.

At what point did you know you wanted to pursue this career?

I’ve always had an interest in international issues, especially in applying ideas and businesses models developed in the US to international markets. I’ve been at Forrester (and formerly Jupiter) for 11 years now, but my early career was spent at different diplomatic and educational institutions in Europe and Asia. I enjoy my work at Forrester immensely since in many ways it combines both the diplomatic and business worlds: you can’t simply replicate your current initiative in a new market and assume it’s going to resonate with a local audience.

Tell me about the most unexpected experience you have ever had traveling abroad.

That’s a tough one! I guess my most unexpected lodging experience was after a summer spent teaching economics in Uzbekistan. A friend and I planned a trip to Samarkand, but our guide decided to ignore the itinerary and instead booked us at a hotel outside the city that had recently served as a house of ill repute. Let’s just say the décor had not exactly been updated to reflect the new ownership.

How do you unwind?

I live in New York City but grew up in New Hampshire, so I still try to make time for outdoor activities on weekends. I love to ski in the winter and hike in the summer with my three kids. I also read a lot of non-fiction. I’ll pick up anything that introduces me to a topic I don’t know much about.

You founded a program entitled 12 Hours of Dialogue. Can you tell me a bit about it?

The program involves a series of video-conferences between young professional women in the US and their counterparts in North Africa and the Middle East. The goal is to introduce and connect women who would not otherwise have contact, and to help counteract some of the negative stereotypes that may exist. We discuss everything from our family lives and career aspirations to the best way to combat poverty and global warming. We’ve gotten very positive feedback from participants in both locations and are gearing up for our third year this fall.

I’ll use my last question to pick the brain of a frequent traveler. Finish this sentence, “When traveling abroad, never forget to bring…”

Essentials in your carry-on luggage! I once spent a week in Iran trying to adhere to the local dress code while my bags bounced between different European airports. And my former boss had to present to a client in Mumbai in a borrowed, oversized suit and sneakers when his flight was delayed and his luggage lost en route. It’s so rudimentary, but I’m amazed how many seasoned travelers still make the mistake.

Shop.org members, connect with Zia:

• Facebook: Zia Daniell Wigder
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ziadaniellwigder
• Blog: blogs.forrester.com/ebusiness_strategy/

Peter: Our plan was to form a beachhead for the EU (we chose Cambridge, UK), establish the UK business, then roll out to the 400M potential customers in continental EU. We would roll out to the rest of the EU with the team of ten we had in the UK.  We got the UK part up and it was actually working quite well (125 brands, 10,000 bags all drop-shipped directly from the brands).

Scott: Can you give me a general overview of why eBags decided to shut down its UK operations and put a hold on EU expansion?

Peter: It’s a complicated question and answer. It would have required a few more years for the UK business to be profitable, which was acceptable during the pre-meltdown days, but the environment has changed and there is much more uncertainty. eBags probably is experiencing what a lot of companies are going through right now. Taking a look at each area as an entity and determining whether to keep it based on its ROI. The issue was whether we wanted to spend the internal Denver resources on IT, customer care, translations, financial reporting, web design, etc. for each country we rolled out to or whether there was more upside in focusing on solidifying the strength and market share of the eBags USA business with those same resources (a common dilemma within companies). As you know, our business model is drop-ship and we have 550 brands and 42,000 products on eBags USA so we feel that our model is superior, especially during these times when other retailers are slashing inventory.

Scott: What lessons did eBags learn from this experience?

Peter: In reality, entering a new country makes it a startup business and it takes several years to become profitable. One reason is that the sales have to scale to cover the fixed costs. Also, entering a new country a site has to generate visitors and unless a brand already has high awareness, the fastest way is through keyword search. As you probably know, expensive keyword search is ok when it is 15-25% of the sales mix but when you start out in a geographic area with minimal traffic and no email list, keywords tend to be 80% of your marketing spend and sales. Tough to justify during these difficult times. Every retailer looking at the EU will face this (unless it is Amazon, eBay, Walmart, etc. who might have instant awareness).

Scott: Do you think other online retailers can be successful in Europe and do you have any plans for resuming eBags’ EU expansion?

Peter: Time will tell, but our feeling is that it is doubtful that other bag retailers will have much success in the EU over the next few years and we will be able to re-visit the EU when blue skies return and some of our competitors have vacated the category.

Scott: Retailers are usually willing to share their successes, but some of the best lessons are drawn from setbacks or when things don’t go as planned.  On behalf of the entire Shop.org community, I want to thank you for being so forthright and sharing this very helpful information.  I strongly encourage other people to reply to this blog with additional insights they may have about online retail international expansion in today’s economy.

Making the Decision

• When trying to decide if you should expand, talk to your customers. Are they aware of your brand? Do they understand it? Are they advocates? Try to determine if there is enough of a global base to build upon.
• Take a close look at web analytics to determine how many people are coming to your website from other countries. Realize that, as a company, you are likely not monetizing any of that traffic. Make strategic decisions on how to leverage the people who are already coming to your website.
• Get good counsel. Legal fees are often massive, the panelists agreed, but it is imperative that retailers prepare themselves ahead of time for what they can and cannot do legally.
• Be realistic. The decision to go into an international market may take a long time to pay off. As Jim Okamura from J.C. Williams Group summarized, “this is not for the faint of heart.”

Planning

• While it’s possible to push the button and begin shipping to other countries virtually overnight, a more structured approach generally takes about four to six months to implement.
• Plan for a different set of customer expectations. Jake Bailey from Overstock.com mentioned that customers in the UK were accustomed to having sales taxes included in the price of the item instead of having it added in when the sale was complete. (The company didn’t realize this until customers started complaining.) He suggested that companies make sure their systems are flexible enough to tailor components by geography or country.
• Product descriptions and marketing messages do not always translate well. After the information is translated, have someone from inside the company double-check the language to make sure it’s saying what you mean.
• Don’t forget about expatriates or military personnel who may live abroad. Many of them will buy and ship to their families in the US, or their families will want to buy and ship to them. Those groups could be a powerful ally in expansion.
• Consider creating an FAQ section where international inquiries will be routed. Also consider having a specific customer service number and email address for international customers to contact.
• Germany was mentioned several times as a country that is difficult to crack. Norway and Brazil were also mentioned.

Execution

• Realize that, for some potential customers, you’re just another start-up. While customers in Canada knew of Overstock.com, said Bailey, customers in Germany and France had never heard of the company. Keep that in mind in all communication, and take time to teach a customer your brand.
• In all cases, under-promise and over-deliver, especially when it comes to shipping. If you can deliver the merchandise within a week, customers will likely be satisfied.
• If you run into a problem you don’t know how to fix, go straight to the source. Michael Ross, who worked on global expansion of UK retailer FigLeaves.com, found that contacting customers to ask for assistance with shipping or for other insights was “cheaper, more accurate and more useful than lawyers.”

We have numerous new speakers (Bob Thacker, SVP Office Max, Alfred Lin, COO Zappos, Bradford Matson, CMO, Bluefly), returning favorites (Avinash Kaushik Analytics Evangelist, John Squire, Chief Strategy Officer CoreMetrics, Sam Taylor, CEO Oriental Trading Company), and many networking opportunities including our newcomers reception, Opening Night Reception and Dinner on Monday, Vendor Retailer Case Study Roundtables, and Birds of a Feather Roundtables in the EXPO Hall. 

We are covering numerous innovative topics such as how consumer behavior will change during the economic recovery and what retailers needs to do about it today, disruptive business models for the new consumer, the eCommerce platform of the future, how international expansion can stimulate growth, and case studies showing how innovative retailers can be even in a recession.

I am especially excited for our new Innovation Contest presentation at the end of the day on Tuesday and I wanted to congratulate our winners which include Bazaarvoice, Richrelevance, SLI Systems, Vcommerce, and Ordermotion.  

For everyone coming, I am excited to see you in Orlando.  For everyone who could not make it, please follow our live blogging, Twitter Feeds, and drop me an email after the event, and while it will not be the same, we can share some presentations and talk about what you missed.  

Thanks!

Larry Joseloff

VP, Content, Shop.org

On an international plan: Lenk mentioned that Gap already has stores in many international markets and that the company was “actively evaluating when to support those markets with ecommerce,” he said. “Don’t be surprised if you start to see us do some things there.” He also mentioned that “the UK is a fantastic market and is growing like crazy.” Read: Gap hasn’t announced an international ecommerce plan yet, but you could hear about one soon.

On the phrase that the “web is a company’s biggest store:” Lenk seemed put-off by this common analogy because he said that thinking ”degrades the importance of the web.” In addition to using the internet as a sales channel, he said, it is also the best marketing program that a company has. And, unlike print and television advertising, it’s marketing that actually makes money, instead of costs money.

On cross-channel sales attribution: While the company does not reward store associates for online performance or online staff for store performance, the conversation is being had among executives.

On how to “break the rules” if you’re only in middle management: Lenk suggested that those in ecommerce who might not yet be the big decisionmakers “find an evangelist” within the company, like a CIO or CFO, that will help sell new ideas to company executives. However, he said, it’s nearly impossible to be innovative if upper management does not want to invest in new ideas. “If the top people don’t want to hear it, you may stall,” he said. “Start hoping for a new CEO.”

On the possibility of the website’s universitality (having all Gap’s websites under one roof) causing cannibalization among Gap brands: In today’s economy, Lenk acknowledged that some of Gap.com’s customers may want to “trade down” to Old Navy. However, he said, that’s no reason not to combine all brands into an easy format for customers to access. “Don’t get hung up on the idea of customers trading down within your brands,” he said. Besides, if the customer can’t find something at Gap.com, the company would much rather that customer visit another one of its brands than a competitor’s site.

Lenk also provided a more optimstic perspective on the “trading down” concept. “Customers are aspirational,” he said. “They really like to think about trading up.” In fact, Lenk said, since combining Gap.com, OldNavy.com, BananaRepublic.com and Piperlime.com, the biggest winners have been Banana Republic and Piper Lime: the brands with the highest price points.

On social media: Lenk acknowledged that the company has experimented in the social networking world. Saying that some in the company have “skepticism” while others have “hope,” Lenk admitted that he isn’t sure how powerful social media will be for Gap. But he did say that the company was learning and testing to understand the value of sites like Facebook.

On customer feedback: The company has not yet integrated customer feedback on its site. Unlike other companies that sell merchandise from many manufacturers, Gap’s merchandise is its own. Lenk said that selling executives on the idea of putting both positive and negative feedback on the site is “a harder sell because, emotionally, it’s a bit of a hurdle,” but he acknowledged that customer feedback is very important and that it could help the company “do what we do.”

On free shipping: Shop.org members have been talking about the value of free shipping for weeks, so it was no surprise when this question was raised by an audience member. When asked his perspective of free shipping, Lenk smiled, then remarked that talking about free shipping was “always a painful discussion.” He conceded that Gap falls in the middle of the pack on the free shipping debate, offering free shipping on occasion but relying primarily on its flat rate shipping, offering to ship any order from one or multiple Gap websites for a flat $7. He said that customer feedback on the flat shipping rate has been strong and that they’re willing to pay it.

On loyalty programs: An attendee asked if combining the brand’s websites also meant that loyalty programs were combined. In fact, Lenk said, the company integrated the Banana Republic credit card into all of its brands several years ago. Customers can use the card at any Gap website to pay for merchandise and earn and redeem points. he said that integrating the Banana Republic credit card into all of the brands was the company’s “first step in breaking the rules” and that the process was hard but worthwhile.

On technology: “If you’re going to be an ecommerce leader, you have to be willing to invest in technology,” Lenk said. “And you have to be willing to invest in it every year.”

Our roundtables consistently rank as one of the most valuable content areas for our Shop.org conference attendees.  At this year’s Annual Summit, we will be having our roundtables occur immediately after a breakout sessions has concluded and in the same room as the breakout session.  The information for the roundtables are now online, so please feel free to take a look at all of the topics and moderators.  We are also dividing the tables into Intermediate and Advanced level tables to best help meet your content needs.  Thanks to all of the industry experts who have volunteered their time to be roundtable moderators.

The “Doctor Is In” session at the Annual Summit (where attendees can reserve 20 minute individual tutorial sessions with industry experts on a variety of topics including merchandising, product presentation, and usability) are starting to fill up, but we still have some appointments still available.  Some of our Doctors with some time available include:  

• Beth Temple, Senior Conulting Director, Creative Good:  Web’s Best Practices
• Jay Dettling, SVP Acquity Group:  Multi-Channel Strategy
• Michael Amar, Entrepreneur:  European Expansion Strategy
• Adam Michelson, Director E-Commerce, Optaros:  How to Monetize Web 2.0
• Suzanne Hader, Principal, 400 Twin:  Marketing and Merchandising for the Aspirational Customer

Thanks everyone and you can reserve your 20 minute time slot with these along with all of our available doctors online, by simply selecting the doctor of your choice, looking at their available time slots, and click “Register”.  Don’t wait until the show as many of these slots are filling up fast and we will close online reservations next week.

 Looking forward to Vegas, and please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Larry Joseloff
joseloffl@shop.org