Indeed, multichannel primarily store-based retailers as well as branded manufacturers reported year-over-year growth for the quarter of 33 percent; ditto for retailers boasting between $10 million and $100 million in annual Web revenue.

Comments on Q1 trends observed included the negative impact on sales from recent major world events and a later-than-usual Easter this year. By contrast, one retailer noted that the severe weather in January and February had actually boosted their bottom line. Still, the market is perplexing: for some retailers, average order value was up, though not for others. And while one retailer observed that free shipping has become a consumer expectation, another noted that they had cut off free shipping offers with no palpable impact on sales. While the elusive “silver bullet” continues to be just that – elusive – it appears that consumers overall are showing signs of continued confidence. Shop.org members can download the full results summary here.

As obvious as it sounds, retailers should continue to test what works for their customers (hats off to the retailer noted above who cut off free shipping to test the impact on sales) and make sure that all the basics are working as they should. If you haven’t checked out the growing list of expert insights on topics spanning testing, video merchandising, mobile commerce strategies and tactics, even how to hire the right leaders for your multichannel organization, check out the ever growing Shop.org White Paper Library.

So it’s hardly a coincidence that standard shipping deadlines will hit this week for online retail.

Newly released results from our 2010 eHoliday pre-holiday study, conducted in partnership with BIGResearch, show that nearly two-thirds (64.3%) of retailers’ standard shipping deadlines for Christmas delivery will expire on or before Saturday, December 18.  No surprise then, that free standard shipping promotions will also end this week.

Of course, retailers know that last year almost two-thirds of consumers finished their holiday shopping the last two weeks of December, so there’s a ripe market for express shipping (and print at home gift cards, but that’s a separate topic!).

Four out of ten retailers who will offer express two-day shipping have set December 22 as their deadline, while others are more cautiously cutting that off the day before.

As an aside, Nordstrom this year has repeated its well done holiday shipping deadlines page, clearly outlining shipping deadlines specific to Christmas, Hannukah, and Kwanzaa – a nice customer-centric touch.

Shop.org members can download the eHoliday results from our site.

In a recent interview with Fox 5 in DC, Shop.org’s interim Executive Director Joan Broughton took a few minutes to talk about the buzz created by Walmart’s move, what it means for other multichannel retailers and her views on why free shipping offers are so hot this year.

And, earlier this week, Amazon provided their own insight into the holiday season. Their Q4 guidance is for between 6% and 23% revenue growth. That’s quite a big range, but expected given the volatility of our economy.  I would expect that the range for most retailers’ projections are equally wide.

So what can retailers do to push their sales to the high range of their forecasts besides hoping for fewer headlines about the Dow plummeting and layoffs?  This won’t be a popular suggestion, but my recommendation is to offer free shipping (of course, not everyone agrees with me on this). The rough economy is pushing people to shop online looking for savings. If the savings are cancelled out by shipping costs, customers will be disappointed. Maybe they’ll go to a store, which isn’t bad if you have stores, but maybe they’ll decide not to buy at all.

Of course there are many other tactics and strategies retailers can employ. To hear a dozen plus of these ideas, Shop.org members should carve out an hour and fifteen minutes on November 12 to plug into the “14+ Specific Things You Can Do To Make More Money Next Week (and Improve Your Holiday Sales) webinar.  This Webinar will also feature an economic overview presented by comScore’s Gian Fulgoni. 

If you can’t wait until November 12, feel free to download (members only) the “24+ Specific Things You Can Do To Make More Money Next Week,” presentation from the Annual Summit.

Shop.org Members should also check out the Holiday section of the Shop.org Web site, which includes a great overview of recommendations for holiday 2008.  Written by Fiona Swerdlow, Shop.org’s head of research, the 2008 Holiday Planning and Strategy Guide is chock full of data points and recommendatoins based on the learnings from last year’s holiday study. 

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.”