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

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

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

Larry Joseloff
joseloffl@shop.org

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

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

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

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

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

Below is a recap of one of the sessions in this track called “Remixed: The Customer Experience,” in which e-commerce visionary and Abode VP Doug Mack outlined key trends in e-commerce customer experience.  Below are some of the trends Doug shared.

1. Departure from the original online shopping metaphor of a home page filled with thumb-nail product images with product navigation on either the top or left side.  Instead, we’re seeing more “hero” pages with spectacular product image shots.  An example he suggested is Coach.

2. Content becomes the interface.  In this trend, with the use of new technology, the navigation is driven through the content.  Check out Gucci for an example of this.

3. Customer empowerment & guidance.  As an online shopper, this is one of my favorite trends.  This includes letting customers decide what and how much information they see.  A great example are sites that allow you to select the number of search results you see – 10, 25, all, etc.  Any online retailer offering customization (Puma, Nike ID) are also part of this trend.  Additionally, Doug mentioned customized faceted search in which the shopper can select search criteria (color, size, style) and add or delete it to find the products they are most interested in seeing.  He cited Moosejaw as an example of this.

4. Social shopping.  Watch out Anna Wintour, social shopping and the “wisdom of crowds” may empower customers to become the new tastemakers.  A great example is Polyvore.com, in which customers can mix and match outfits from a variety of retailers.  The most highly rated products and outfits make it to the top.

What trends are you seeing?

A novice in the Retail eComm space myself, I thought we should do more with some of the content from the event for all of those new to the eCommerce world or for those that just want to learn a bit more on a few key areas of their eCommerce program. Our 300 attendees had some great feedback from the event – so the Content Team thought we could do something special for our 700 member companies that may not have attended or want even more of this type of content.

Shop.org and our panel of 2009 Online Retail Boot Camp speakers are proud to GIVE our members a Playbook full of “top tips” in the areas of content that our speakers presented at the event including Social Commerce, Email, SEO, Merchandising for Conversion, and Testing. (To access the report just login to the Shop.org website – just like you do to download our SORO reports.)

Our hope is that all of you that read this Playbook are armed with some research and key tips and tactics you can implement to make sure your digital marketing is firing on all cylinders. The only thing we ask is that if you get a chance to look it over – make sure to let us know what you think – leave your comments here or email us at [content AT shop DOT org].

Consider our Playbook a little gift from Shop.org (and our sponsor Listrak this holiday season… and enjoy!

Almost two-thirds of consumers confirmed again the primacy of consumer ratings and reviews in the research part of the gift buying process. However, they certainly don’t stop there:  over one third said they used comparison shopping sites, and fully one in ten cited Facebook.com and blogs as information sources (somewhat fewer cited Twitter, though I’m guessing that will only grow over the coming months). 

A further note about Facebook, blogs and other social media:  while consumers use them as part of their information gathering process, for now these sources are rarely the starting point for shopping per se. When we asked consumers, “Where do you typically start your online shopping? (Check all that apply)”, consumers told us that they are most likely to start their online shopping at merchant Web sites (almost three-quarters), search engines / directories (one third), and catalogs or offline stores (about a quarter) — with social media sites trailing far behind. Nevertheless, social media sites, blogs and the like already are important in the overall research process and serve a significant consumer engagement function at very least. 

Stay tuned for more holiday research insights next week.  If you have a moment, please let me know what you think of this holiday research series.

On a scale of 1 (least important) to 5 (most important), consumers confirmed just how powerful reviews from fellow customers are, assigning those an overall score of 4.1 (out of 5). The 2009 State of Retailing Online Merchandising Report (produced with Forrester Research) found that close to two-thirds of retailers surveyed have implemented consumer ratings and reviews on their sites, and that almost three-quarters of those rated this site feature “very effective”. With consumer reviews the beneficiary of high investment priority this year (per the same research), retailers should now evaluate how they are using reviews on their site and in their marketing to best effect.

For example, in the past year, we’ve all seen any number of emails and paper catalogs featuring customer reviews gleaned from the Web sites, effectively extending the power of these testimonials far beyond the product detail page. Some retailers have assigned “Power review” status to publicly recognize frequent reviewers, and numerous retailers now ask customers directly to write reviews for products that they’ve purchased, rather than relying on customer good will (and spare time). All in all, consumers generally should be pleased with the ubiquity of customer review information now accessible.

No doubt a sign of the times – though possibly something which consumers will be looking for even after the economy has palpably turned around – consumers want to see clearance sale pages (4.0) and featured sale item pages (3.8). Rather than seeing this as a negative, think of the clearance or sales pages on your site as a welcome mat for customers new and old – make it visible and easily accessible, merchandise it as attractively as any other section of the site (no sub-standard imagery, please), cross-sell across all products (yes, including full priced), and incorporate it into your search plans for the season. Once through this site door, you can convert that visitor from browser to bona fide buyer, dazzling not only with great offers but also a great product selection, guaranteed on- time delivery, stellar customer service, and all the other features that customers value and that you already offer.

Continuing the theme of consumer pragmatism — the shipping deadlines calendar ranks a solid 3.8 with consumers. Many retailers do offer this feature, so the trick may really lie in featuring this information in more places on the Web site and in emails. Exciting? Perhaps not – but in terms of what is most important to consumers, this site feature edged out expert reviews, comparison engines, gift receipts, express ordering, wish lists, suggested items, and numerous other areas.

For the full results, please see the eHoliday ’09 pre-holiday survey results on the Shop.org Web site. As always, I welcome your ideas and feedback about our research.

Who they are. The women surveyed represent a broad swatch of mothers: almost two-thirds work outside the home, not quite one fifth primarily are homemakers, 1 in 20 is in school, and the remainder is either retired or currently unemployed. In sum, this is a busy market segment and the Web is an important utility to get numerous things done in the course of the day.

Promotions. Many mothers manage the family finances and, given the economic pressures felt by most, coupons are often welcome – whether as samples received in stores or via the mail and the ubiquitous store loyalty card, among others. By contrast, mothers don’t want to receive text messages or voicemails on their mobile phones. Word of mouth, however, trumps all – fully 97.2% of mothers surveyed noted that they give advice to others about products and services, and almost as many again seek out advice from others for the same purpose.

Media consumption. Mothers consume multiple media, and often more so than the average adult aged 18 or older. Watching TV (more about precisely what they’re watching in the study also), reading their email, surfing the Web, reading snail mail and listening to the radio top overall media usage. It also turns out that if you’re speaking to a mother on her mobile phone, she may well be multitasking during that call: she may be online, listening to the radio, even watching TV, among numerous other activities (note to self: keep mobile phone conversations short and to the point…).

Tech leaders. As the RAMA study points out, “Gone are the days of trying to show mom how to work the DVD player or use her new iPod.” (The very idea!) Instead, over two-thirds are busy texting and talking on their mobile phones, more so than the average adult 18 years or older. Perhaps related to their modus operandi of both giving and asking for advice, quite a few are firmly established in the so-called blogosphere, whether reading (51%), posting to (28%), or maintaining (15%) their own blogs. And if you still think Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are the sole purview of the young, hip and single – guess again: mothers actually use all of these media in droves, and, once again, more so than the average adult aged 18 years or older.

And yes, there’s more! Now, if all of this data about this powerful market segment isn’t enough – there is indeed more to learn. Kelly Mooney, President and Chief Experience Officer at Resource Interactive, will be presenting can’t-miss research and advice about this segment at next week’s Annual Summit. If you’re at the Summit, be sure to see Kelly speak on Wednesday, September 23 at 11 a.m. on the topic, “Recession-Rewired: Moms and Millennials in Consumerism’s Crosshairs.”

As always, please let us know your thoughts on this subject also. See you at the Summit!

On Tuesday afternoon we will begin with a in-depth look on how retailers such as Fandango, Harrah’s Entertainment, and Moosejaw are succeeding today using mobile commerce.  This is not a session where we will look into a crystal ball, as mobile commerce and mobile marketing is happening right now and we will learn what retailers are doing today.   Right after our mobile session, “The Cutting Edge” track will continue with a session that our attendees are already talking about titled “Twitter and the Social Media All-Stars.”  We all know social media is popular and important, but now we will look in detail how retailers such as Overstock, 1-800 Flowers, and Drugstore.com are using Social Media to grow their business and share some mistakes they have made so hopefully you can avoid falling in the same trap.   On Wednesday the 23rd The Cutting Edge track will continue with a look into how retailers are using Widgets and other similar applications in creative ways followed by a exciting session featuring the new rules of relevance and innovation in email marketing.  Each day will end with a series of round tables on related topics moderated by speakers and other industry experts.

“The Cutting Edge” track is not the only place where you will find inspiration as our “Customer Experience” track is also featuring can’t miss sessions that will broaden your horizons and provide fresh perspectives on your current retail practice.   I am especially excited about our “Reinventing Online Retail: Radical Business Models That Are Paying Off Today” session that is moderated by VC Joshua Goldman and features the CEOs of two of the most innovative and successful retailers out there today:  woot! and The Gilt Groupe.  They will discuss what lessons can be learned from these companies and if multi-channel retailers can implement some of these approaches to attract new customers and stimulate loyalty from existing customers.   On Wednesday the 23rd, the Customer Experience track will continue with a unique session that recreates one of the most popular sessions of the 2006 Annual Summit.  Industry expert and top-ranked Shop.org speaker Doug Mack will sit down with three senior level retailers to discuss whether the predictions they made three years ago about online and multi-channel retail came true and what this same group will be talking about three years from now at the Summit.  These industry veterans bring diverse perspectives—and will share their insights into how the online shopping experience may need to change over the next few years to keep up with growing consumer expectations and to win the increasingly fierce battle for existing shoppers. 

With all of this diverse and valuable content, it has become even more important to bring a variety of members of your organization to the Summit.    I would also like to offer you a personal walk-through of the agenda at the Annual Summit to provide more details and help guide which members of your team should attend the specific sessions.   You can contact me below and we can set up a short call.

Thanks and the Summit is only a month away!!

Larry Joseloff
VP, Content
Shop.org
joseloffl@shop.org
202-661-3057

At this year’s Annual Summit I can guarantee that this will not be a problem.   We are continuing with the format from the 2008 Annual Summit’s most popular session with a full afternoon of tips and tactics titled “50+ Things You Can Do To Make Money Next Week.”  For those unfamiliar with this session, Allan Dick, great friend of Shop.org and CMO of Vintage Tub and Bath, will moderate this session that features speakers presenting for only 7 minutes each on a minimum of three specific easy to implement tactics that can produce immediate results.

When we asked the Shop.org community for ideas we received over 80 applications from members wanting to present for only 18 available slots.  Allan and the Shop.org team spent hours going through each application, making difficult decisions, but finally coming up with what we think is the best speakers with the ideas that are the most tactical, easy to implement, and with the potential to produce instant results.   Listen to what Allan has to say about this session with his preview video.

This is not for the faint of heart: prepare to be showered with tips from SEO, paid search, email, social media, and increasing conversion from a variety of industry experts.   We will even have a handout where additional ideas from our speakers and our alternate speakers will be highlighted.

If you are in the market for actionable tips and tactics, look no further than Shop.org Annual Summit “Tactics” track in Islander Ballroom I on the afternoon of September 22nd.  If you have questions or want more information, please let me know and I can help out in any way possible.  Thanks!

Larry Joseloff
202-661-3057
joseloffl@shop.org

In his keynote, Lazarchic discussed a new pilot program the company is implementing in San Diego stores to provide customers shopping in stores with real-time customer ratings and reviews. Read more about this program on the NRF blog.

As part of our ongoing consumer research series, this month we asked consumers quite simply, “What do you do on social media sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Kaboodle, or others)?”  A total of 4,034 adults over the age of 18 in the U.S. told us just that in a survey conducted in June 2009 by BIGresearch on behalf of NRF and Shop.org. 

Judging from the results, social media appears to be on the path to becoming increasingly mainstream media.  While there is much growth ahead yet, social media is by now woven into the lives of adults across age, sex, household income, marital and parental status, and region.  And while much of that activity to date centers on connecting with friends (both old and new), chatting, and sharing photos, consumers do recognize that social media is helpful for a number of shopping related activities as well. 

BIGresearch broke out the responses to this question into the overall respondent group (adults over the age of 18), as well as a second group, dubbed “social media users”.  A “social media user” is defined as any respondent who indicated that they did two or more things on the list of answer options provided.   

What did we learn about social media users?  Social media users skew somewhat more female than male.  Close to half are married, and another quarter describe themselves as “single, never married.”  They range in age, with a heavier concentration between 18 and 54 years, and heaviest use among 35 to 44 year olds specifically.  If one couples this data point with the knowledge that social media users skew female and that quite a few are married, one could surmise that social media users include a fair number of moms, as well.  Social media users are found in every household income bracket, although with somewhat fewer represented in the $100,000+ bracket. 

How do these social media users specifically spend their time when using social media sites? (Shop.org members may download the full set of data results from the Shop.org Web site.)  A sampling of answers:   

• Connect with friends – 64.5%
• Share photos – 39.5%
• Reconnect with old classmates / friends – 39.1%
• Look for sales / promotions / coupons – 17.9%
• Look for product advice / recommendations – 13.3%
• I like to follow my favorite retailers – 8.4%
• Post ratings or reviews of shopping and dining experiences – 7.0%

So if you – or perhaps your senior management – have been wondering just who wants to engage with you and is looking for your product information via social media, it appears it’s just about everyone one would pass walking down Main Street.  The absolute numbers of course are still growing – but for retailers it’s increasingly an opportunity to connect with both existing and new customers, many of whom have real purchasing power and actively want to engage with you.  As a retailer, it’s up to you to show them that you really want to engage with them as well.  

As always, looking forward to your thoughts and comments on this subject. 

The caveat that I always note when reporting on blog results is that this is very much a snapshot in time, and it is by no means statistically valid research in the traditional sense.  That said, the results are always a fascinating window into a given topic — and this one no less so.  Out of 25 total votes for this poll, five noted that mobile features of any kind were simply not yet significant enough for online retail.  Other poll takers, however, thought that some applications are poised to take off in the near term, including:

• Accessing price comparison info for a product either photographed or scanned in store — 8 votes
• Customer ratings and reviews accessible via mobile phone — 6 votes

Additionally, a few deemed shopping list related features as holding potential, whether scanning a bar code to add something to a shopping cart (3 votes) or storing a shopping list on a mobile phone at all (2 votes).

Clearly, there is still much debate, discussion and exploration going on when it comes to mobile and its role in online retail.  I thought I’d mention a few mobile-related resources on the Shop.org Web site for Shop.org Members (please use your Shop.org Member log in), among those: 

• Webinar playback.  Evolving Retail Trends Regarding Social Media and Mobile Shopping. Featuring Newell Rubbermaid, Sherwin-Williams Paint Stores, and Peet’s Coffee and Tea.  (June 2009)
• Article.  Sephora establishes foundation for mobile customer reviews.  By Fiona Soltes, STORES Magazine.  (April 2009)
• White paper.  Powering Any Time, Any Place Communications:  Why Integrating Mobile is Imperative Now.  By Resource Interactive.  (March 2009)
• Event presentation.  Mobile Marketing:  Opportunities for Driving In-Store Purchasing.  By Scott Dunlap, CEO, NearByNow, Inc.  (See slides 19 through 25.)   (Shop.org Annual Summit — September 2008)

What do you think about the role of mobile in online retail in the coming months?  If you’ve been looking into mobile at all of late, which resources have you found helpful? 

Looking forward to continued discussion on this topic!

Members of our content committee may have refered to me jokingly as Dr. Doom in the past, but the general vibe of the workshop was the worst could be possibly behind us, and now we faced with the rebuilding process.   The online channel remains as resilient as ever and is a beacon of light in a stormy and turbulent environment.

While the theme of the event was Optimization and it was addressed in nearly every session and roundtable, the topic of social networking was also a very popular discussion point.   However, it seemed to take a very fresh approach.   For years at Shop.org events you could hear about what social networking is, why it is important, the details of the available tools, and how retailing is changing due to this new paradigm.  However at this event, retailers were sharing tactical stories and solutions to challenges of how they are currently using social networking in their retail operations.  Whether it is connecting it with email marketing to stimulate consumer response, viral distribution of online marketing videos, how it effects marketing channel attribution, and even how affiliates are using it to drive sales.  It seems like the ever popular topic of social networking may possibly have taken a step towards maturity for our retail members.   We all know WHAT it is, but our community was sharing specifically HOW they are using all of the available tools.  Not just as a stand-alone, but as a way to grow and support all of their marketing efforts.   We are going to continue this discussion thread at our Annual Summit with our retailer panel discussion titled of “Twitter and the Social Media All-Stars”.   Sign up now for the Summit along with our upcoming Merchandising Workshop.

Thanks again to everyone who made the Marketing Workshop a great event! 

Larry Joseloff
VP, Content
joseloffl@shop.org

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/

Oriental Trading Company did have reviews before Taylor came on board, but his predecessor was so concerned about negative customer feedback that he took them down after just four days. Taylor believes that was a missed opportunity. “Oriental Trading lost all of this value,” he said. “I wish we had two years of data because we would be two years ahead of where we are.”

While negative product reviews are often a concern among many in senior management, Taylor insists that negative reviews–more than positive reviews, in many cases–teach a company valuable lessons, increase customer loyalty, and can actually lead to sales.

When reviews and ratings were added to the site, Taylor saw them as a huge opportunity. He and his team read every single one- and two-star review to try to understand if there is an issue with a particular product or if the company has made a mistake.

On one occasion, Taylor read a review from an angry bride who wanted to use some autumn leaf decorations for her upcoming wedding. (He acknowledged that this absolutely the last person you want to irritate.) She said she would not recommend them to anyone and that they were “awful.” Based on that feedback, Taylor said members of his team went down to the warehouse and opened up the product. Sure enough, it was awful: a new vendor had not delivered what they had promised. Taylor took the product off of the website, and has since taken down dozens of top-selling products due to bad reviews. “Take them down until you can fix them,” he said. “How many times is a customer going to buy from you if you keep disappointing them?” That experience, among others, Taylor said, has given the company grounds to go back to suppliers to demand new shipments or make claims.

In another instance, the company received several negative reviews on a particular package of bulk candy. The reviews said the product didn’t look at all like the picture. It turns out, the reviews were right. The picture was updated and information about the ratio of hard to soft candy was added to the product description. Oriental Trading also added a comment inside of the reviews to let new customers know that the photo had been changed.

In his final example, Taylor illustrated how negative product reviews can actually help retailers make money. A customer wrote that a child’s craft project was too difficult for children to put together and said she had to use a glue gun to make the pieces stick together. What the woman didn’t know (and the company was either poorly or simply not communicating) was that she should have been using glue dots to adhere the pieces.

Enter an up-sell opportunity. Today, when the company is selling crafts for kids or items that may be particularly tricky, it adds in the product description that glue dots are a useful accessory. Customer service representatives are trained on this as well, not only to ensure that crafty moms and their snowbound counterparts have everything they need to make a project seamless but also–you guessed it–to add to the company’s bottom line.

Since then, customers have written positive reviews on the same items mentioning that they purchased the crafts even after reading the negative reviews. In learning from others’ mistakes, they have said, they used glue dots and the kids had a great time.

The merchant team is using this feedback, too, and took this particular challenge one step farther. Instead of guessing how crafts should best be assembled, they brought their children into the office to determine–product by product–which adhesive worked best. (I imagine this experiment was likely a win/win and that the kids loved it, too!)

Although implementing product reviews does take a bit of faith, Taylor made a strong case for how all reviews–positive or negative–can keep customers coming back for more.

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.”

What impact is social media having in your company at this stage?  Is Web 2.0 / social media spurring new conversations with colleagues?  How about with customers?

Next week’s Annual Summit will explore many aspects of this topic — looking forward to seeing many of you there.

Best,

Fiona Swerdlow
Head of Research, Shop.org

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

 First of all I wanted to thank all of our speakers and attendees who spent a few days in beautiful Arizona at our Online Marketing Workshop.  All feedback is welcomed so please drop me a line at joseloffl@shop.org with any thoughts, opinions, and ideas for content moving forward.    I want to make sure that the content at our events fits the needs of our members.

 One of the highlights of the Marketing Workshop was Mitch Joel’s two-hour intensive Web 2.0 University.  As a follow-up he has written a blog with a curriculum and links to some of the sites that he covered and he wanted me to distribute it to the Shop.org community.  Click here to check out Mitch’s blog.

Also, special thanks to our sponsor ChioceStream for their support of this session!

 Thanks everyone!

 Larry Joseloff

Broad international themes from Shop.org
Zia Daniell Wigder, JupiterResearch
This is the third Shop.org event I’ve attended over the past couple of years – it’s been a lot of fun to see global topics starting to play a key role in this online retail conference.

Acquisition Versus Retention – New Thoughts on an Old Argument
Mitch Joel, Twist Image
While attending the Shop.org Strategy And Innovation Forum in Orlando today, I had the pleasure of presenting on the topic of Social Shopping with Carrie Johnson from Forrester Research. We each did a twenty-minute presentation with about fifteen minutes of questions and answers. One individual asked our thoughts on where online merchants should best devote their time – on retention or acquisition?Canadians

Canadians Take Shop.org Innovation Forum by Storm
Evolving Shift, Simon Rodrigue
I just got back from Shop.org’s first Strategy and Innovation Forum and I am happy to report that Canadians stole the show. As an aside if you haven’t been to one of the shop.org events you need to put one on your schedule for 2008.