"Retailers have been very slow to understand that, to the consumer, it's one brand," said Paula Rosenblum, a retail technology analyst for the Retail Systems Alert Group. "They're not structured for it. They're not compensated correctly for it, and, in many ways, their technology isn't set up to accommodate that."
Jupiter Research retail analyst Patti Freeman Evans said customers have a very high expectation of shared information, expecting, for example, store employees to know what they did online. Such data sharing rarely exists.
"Though retailers philosophically understand that they want to be there, it's very expensive to change those systems, to change their operating programs, to change their compensation packages in a way that really significantly is going to impact the way they do business," Evans said.
One of the authors of the Gomez report, Jessica Bryan, said the change in consumer perception is strong, and, often, it's not at all fair. That lack of fairness manifests itself in consumers blaming retailers for many parts of the online experience that are beyond the retailer's control, ranging from slow response time (which might be due to overall Internet traffic, the customer's computer or the customer's connection speed) to checkout issues (which the retailer likely has outsourced).
"The retail brand today transcends the channel," Bryan said. "When [customers] have a poor Web experience, as in poor page loads [or] unsuccessful transactions," it's taken out on the storefronts, too. "Consumers don't understand the complexity of delivering an optimal Web experience," she said.
Rosenblum said that even though e-commerce sales are soaring—Jupiter is projecting about $32 billion in online purchases this year—it's a footnote to overall retail sales of about $1.2 trillion. Jupiter projects that online sales will represent about 6 percent of many retail chains' holiday sales and about 5 percent of their total annual sales.
"If it's 6 percent of your business, it's hard for these guys to put in the kind of money they need to put in to create the right online experience," Rosenblum said.
On Nov. 2, the National Retail Federation released its own customer service survey , which placed Amazon as the best merchant (online and offline) for customer service. Analysts argued that Amazon's online-only status is the reason it can strategically justify spending so much online to deliver that level of customer service.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Friday, September 7, 2007
Save the date: an online calendar service is the next crusade for one serial software entrepreneur
JEREMY JAECH'S schedule is packed. A serial entrepreneur, Jaech has had two previous software companies that did so well, they sold for enormous profits. The most recent was Visio, which Microsoft purchased in 2000 for $1.5 billion. In June, Jaech launched Trumba Corp. with the help of four co-founders and $4.75 million in funding. This latest Seattle-based venture offers OneCalendar, an online service that makes it easy for users to manage their schedules, e-mail upcoming events to groups and share their calendars with others.
The concept of a group calendar isn't new, yet Jaech is confident the timing is finally right. "You really need an always-on connection to the internet for this to work really well, and now over 50 percent of internet-connected households are broadband-connected," explains Jaech, 50, whose strategy for success is recognizing shifts--along with room for opportunities--in the marketplace.
With Trumba's 2006 sales projected to hit $12 million, you just might want to pencil Jaech in on your calendar of entrepreneurs to watch.
The concept of a group calendar isn't new, yet Jaech is confident the timing is finally right. "You really need an always-on connection to the internet for this to work really well, and now over 50 percent of internet-connected households are broadband-connected," explains Jaech, 50, whose strategy for success is recognizing shifts--along with room for opportunities--in the marketplace.
With Trumba's 2006 sales projected to hit $12 million, you just might want to pencil Jaech in on your calendar of entrepreneurs to watch.
Online promotions boost beveraqe sales - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included
The greatest marketing machines in the real world are solidifying their places in the cyberworld. Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola are forming alliances with heavy-hitters of the Internet.
Coca-Cola and America Online have announced plans to form a $100-million alliance for advertising and promotions. The agreement will "activate advertising and promotional initiatives across grocery shelves and into cyberspace, according to Brand week.
Coca-Cola said it was in the "final stages" of forming strategic alliances with unnamed Internet companies.
Pepsi-Cola and Yahoo! announced a joint online and offline promotional program, Pepsi Stuff.com. The Pepsi Stuff.com program will enable consumers to earn digital awards and discounts online from promotional partners through an under-the-cap promotion scheduled to appear on 1.5 billion single-serve bottles of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi One, Mountain Dew, Diet Mountain Dew and Wild Cherry Pepsi. The five-month promotion is expected to launch in August 2000.
Through these Internet marketing agreements, drug stores will be able continue growing the carbonated beverage category.
According to ACNielsen data for the 52 weeks ended May 13, the regular carbonated beverage category experienced sales of $583.8 million in the drug channel.
For the 12 weeks ended May 13, sales of carbonated beverages in drug stores were up 21.5 percent to $186.2 million, making drug stores the fastest-growing mass channel tracked by ACNielsen for that period. During the same 12 weeks, sales in food stores increased just 3.7 percent to $2.65 billion, while convenience store sales increased just 3.5 percent to $1.11 billion. Sales in the mass merchandise channel increased only 1.6 percent to $226.9 million for the same period.
Connecting with consumers
Through Yahoo!, Pepsi's popular "Pepsi Stuff' promotion will become interactive, allowing consumers to collect points under the caps of 20-ounce and one-liter bottles of Pepsi and Mountain Dew products and quickly redeem their points online for digital and hard-good prizes, as well as discounts from leading manufacturers and retailers. Pepsi Stuff.com also will feature auctions of rare items from Pepsi and its pro. motional partners.
Pepsi and Mountain Dew product bottles will have a "Pepsi Stuff.com, Powered by Yahoo!" logo on labels to alert consumers to the promotion. In exchange, Yahoo! is scheduled to receive logo placement on point-of-purchase materials that will be placed in about 50,00 retail stores nationwide
Coca-Cola and America Online have announced plans to form a $100-million alliance for advertising and promotions. The agreement will "activate advertising and promotional initiatives across grocery shelves and into cyberspace, according to Brand week.
Coca-Cola said it was in the "final stages" of forming strategic alliances with unnamed Internet companies.
Pepsi-Cola and Yahoo! announced a joint online and offline promotional program, Pepsi Stuff.com. The Pepsi Stuff.com program will enable consumers to earn digital awards and discounts online from promotional partners through an under-the-cap promotion scheduled to appear on 1.5 billion single-serve bottles of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi One, Mountain Dew, Diet Mountain Dew and Wild Cherry Pepsi. The five-month promotion is expected to launch in August 2000.
Through these Internet marketing agreements, drug stores will be able continue growing the carbonated beverage category.
According to ACNielsen data for the 52 weeks ended May 13, the regular carbonated beverage category experienced sales of $583.8 million in the drug channel.
For the 12 weeks ended May 13, sales of carbonated beverages in drug stores were up 21.5 percent to $186.2 million, making drug stores the fastest-growing mass channel tracked by ACNielsen for that period. During the same 12 weeks, sales in food stores increased just 3.7 percent to $2.65 billion, while convenience store sales increased just 3.5 percent to $1.11 billion. Sales in the mass merchandise channel increased only 1.6 percent to $226.9 million for the same period.
Connecting with consumers
Through Yahoo!, Pepsi's popular "Pepsi Stuff' promotion will become interactive, allowing consumers to collect points under the caps of 20-ounce and one-liter bottles of Pepsi and Mountain Dew products and quickly redeem their points online for digital and hard-good prizes, as well as discounts from leading manufacturers and retailers. Pepsi Stuff.com also will feature auctions of rare items from Pepsi and its pro. motional partners.
Pepsi and Mountain Dew product bottles will have a "Pepsi Stuff.com, Powered by Yahoo!" logo on labels to alert consumers to the promotion. In exchange, Yahoo! is scheduled to receive logo placement on point-of-purchase materials that will be placed in about 50,00 retail stores nationwide
Nexus and the 'net - Tax - states urge Congress to pass Internet sales tax
Should businesses have to collect sales taxes for states in which they have no physical presence? Riding the coattails of interest surrounding the soon-to-expire Internet Tax Non-discrimination Act, a growing number of cash-strapped states are pushing to get Congress to say yes.
While the act primarily addresses taxes on Internet access charges--not sales--the bill has become a catalyst for the long-running debate about how and when companies must collect state and local taxes. "It's not just going to be about extending the legislation," which is set to expire November 1, says Jeff Friedman, tax partner with KPMG LLR "We expect to see bills and amendments introduced to expand the protections for E-commerce, and possibly to redefine nexus," potentially making a company's physical location irrelevant to its tax obligations.
Currently, most companies do not have to collect sales tax for states in which they do not have a presence, thanks to a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said managing the myriad and ever-changing rules on all state and local taxes would be too burdensome.
In an effort to get that decision overturned, however, this spring 13 states passed laws to adopt the agreement drawn up by the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP), which aims to standardize definitions of taxable goods across states and limit each state to two sales-tax rates, thereby defusing the burden argument. According to Neal Osten, a director for the National Conference of State Legislatures, project backers are hoping to get a bill before Congress by next fall seeking authority for states to require all out-of of-state sellers, including Web-based ones, to collect sales tax.
"Businesses would benefit from the simplification," says Douglas Lindholm, president and executive director of the Council on State Taxation, which represents 550 multistate corporations on tax issues. However, he says, the reform should include congressional action to stop states from using the same logic to pad their income-tax bills. "If you set physical presence aside as a standard for sales-tax purposes," says Lindholm, "the big unanswered question is, what is the nexus standard for business-activity taxes?"
RELATED ARTICLE: GETTING TOGETHER: States adopting the SSTP agreement.
1. Arkansas
2. Indiana
3. Kansas
4. Kentucky
5. Minnesota
6. Nebraska
8. Oklahoma
9. South Dakota
10. Utah
11. Washington
12. West Virginia
13. Wyoming
While the act primarily addresses taxes on Internet access charges--not sales--the bill has become a catalyst for the long-running debate about how and when companies must collect state and local taxes. "It's not just going to be about extending the legislation," which is set to expire November 1, says Jeff Friedman, tax partner with KPMG LLR "We expect to see bills and amendments introduced to expand the protections for E-commerce, and possibly to redefine nexus," potentially making a company's physical location irrelevant to its tax obligations.
Currently, most companies do not have to collect sales tax for states in which they do not have a presence, thanks to a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said managing the myriad and ever-changing rules on all state and local taxes would be too burdensome.
In an effort to get that decision overturned, however, this spring 13 states passed laws to adopt the agreement drawn up by the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP), which aims to standardize definitions of taxable goods across states and limit each state to two sales-tax rates, thereby defusing the burden argument. According to Neal Osten, a director for the National Conference of State Legislatures, project backers are hoping to get a bill before Congress by next fall seeking authority for states to require all out-of of-state sellers, including Web-based ones, to collect sales tax.
"Businesses would benefit from the simplification," says Douglas Lindholm, president and executive director of the Council on State Taxation, which represents 550 multistate corporations on tax issues. However, he says, the reform should include congressional action to stop states from using the same logic to pad their income-tax bills. "If you set physical presence aside as a standard for sales-tax purposes," says Lindholm, "the big unanswered question is, what is the nexus standard for business-activity taxes?"
RELATED ARTICLE: GETTING TOGETHER: States adopting the SSTP agreement.
1. Arkansas
2. Indiana
3. Kansas
4. Kentucky
5. Minnesota
6. Nebraska
8. Oklahoma
9. South Dakota
10. Utah
11. Washington
12. West Virginia
13. Wyoming
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Online retailers need to protect their customers - report
INTERNET BUSINESS NEWS-(C)1995-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD
A majority of UK consumers would like to be better informed on how to protect themselves during online shopping, according to recent research from Forrester Research Inc (NASDAQ: FORR).
The results shows that 74% of consumers would like more information on how to protect themselves, but retailers still fail to educate their online customers.
According to secure browser business, Deepnet Explorer, one of the most effective things that retailers can do to help ensure safe online transactions is to include password hashing into their online sales process. Shoppers need to enter their details, such as credit card, into their 'password hashing' enabled web browser and these details are scrambled up, becoming useless to anyone except theretailer they are intended for.
A majority of UK consumers would like to be better informed on how to protect themselves during online shopping, according to recent research from Forrester Research Inc (NASDAQ: FORR).
The results shows that 74% of consumers would like more information on how to protect themselves, but retailers still fail to educate their online customers.
According to secure browser business, Deepnet Explorer, one of the most effective things that retailers can do to help ensure safe online transactions is to include password hashing into their online sales process. Shoppers need to enter their details, such as credit card, into their 'password hashing' enabled web browser and these details are scrambled up, becoming useless to anyone except theretailer they are intended for.
Hot stuff - Buzz - online business - Brief Article
E-commerce didn't die with the dotcom bust. It just got more realistic. Now "slow" and "steady" are the buzzwords entrepreneurs live by. Analysts are trying to figure out what online retail areas win be hot. Tech research firm Forrester Research Inc. sees growth in food and beverage sales, used sporting goods, home products like tools and hardware, flowers, and health and beauty products.
Another encouraging sign is the growth of paid content online. The Online Publishers Association reports the first half of 2003 saw spending increase to $748 million, up 23 percent over the same period in 2002. Some of the biggest areas are personals and dating, business and investment, and entertainment and lifestyles. Entrepreneurs looking for opportunities in e-commerce should keep an eye on these trends.--A.C.K.
Another encouraging sign is the growth of paid content online. The Online Publishers Association reports the first half of 2003 saw spending increase to $748 million, up 23 percent over the same period in 2002. Some of the biggest areas are personals and dating, business and investment, and entertainment and lifestyles. Entrepreneurs looking for opportunities in e-commerce should keep an eye on these trends.--A.C.K.
Catholic singles seek their match online; hopeful romantics find love when they turn to Catholic dating sites
Judy Conti, of Alexandria, Va., is a pro-life Democrat and a lawyer who runs a nonprofit organization advocating for low-wage workers. Frustrated with the Washington-area dating scene, she was definitely ready for marriage in 2002 when she considered online personals. Several acquaintances had tried them; some had explored specialized race--or faith-based dating services.
"I knew four different people who married folks they met on J-Date [a Jewish singles site], and a few who met on Black Planet, a few on Match.com," she said. "I had doubts, and thought, 'You have to be desperate to look for a date on the Internet,' but by that time it had lost the negative connotation because it had been around for a while."
After six months on Match.com meeting men who grilled her on her SAT scores or detailed the playlists from every Bruce Springsteen concert they'd ever attended, Ms. Conti quit Internet dating--or so she thought. By 2003, Ms. Conti, then 34, was considering Plan B: adopting a child on her own. She gave Internet dating one last try, and this time she signed up with Catholic Singles, hoping an affinity site would help her meet prospects whose values were more closely aligned with hers.
"Affinity" or "niche" online dating sites target people seeking others with similar ethnic, professional or religious backgrounds. Catholic Singles, Catholic Match, Ave Maria Singles and Catholic Mingles are four Catholic dating sites with varying degrees of emphasis on the faith.
After corresponding with a handful of the men she met, Ms. Conti narrowed down the serious prospects to two. One was Dave Dunn, a sales manager for a construction equipment company, and the rest is history.
"None of our friends would have put us together because of our politics," said Mr. Dunn, who is a pro-NRA Republican. Though the two may disagree in a big way about politics, they found common ground in their similar views on faith and family.
The most ironic aspect of the couple's story is that they had lived about 10 minutes apart and attended the same parish for eight years without ever crossing paths. The couple , married on April 2 after what Ms. Conti calls "a fairy book romance" that defied her previous approaches to dating.
"I spent my life telling everyone I know, 'You should never get engaged to someone you haven't known for a calendar year,'" she said. "I broke all my rules for this guy."
Affinity sites, and online dating in general, have become increasingly popular. First, there are simply more , singles out there--approximately 80 million in the United States, said Dr. Christine Whelan, an expert on changing relationship and dating patterns. Second, more people are staying single longer and marrying later. And about half of them, by some estimates, have browsed online personals.
But for every success story like Ms. Conti's, there are others who find the Internet dating experience a little less than storybook-perfect. Browsing online personals can feel voyeuristic. Patrons fill in the blanks with their preferences in a potential partner: "blue eyes," "loves sports," etc., and see who shows up on the screen. But the fantasy can fade when a cyber-friend suddenly ignores them or they try site after site, finding friends and fellowship but no fiance.
"I think the whole idea of a Catholic Web site tells us one message: Finding someone who shares your faith is a priority ... but then the format doesn't lend itself to real relationships," commented "Daniel-48875," AKA Daniel O'Mullane, a youth minister from Mountain Lake, N.J., in a real-time online chat with a reporter on Catholic Match, to which he's subscribed for 15 months. He likes the site's technological user-friendliness and sense of camaraderie. But, while he's met several e-mail partners, he has yet to meet someone special.
"I'd say that people just have to manage their expectations," Mr. O'Mullane concluded, "but that there's a lot of great fellowship going on here, real positive experiences even if you don't find 'the one.'"
Patricia Wrona, a 47-year-old trial attorney in Chicago, might agree with Mr. O'Mullane. She's tried three Catholic sites, and though she has met many friends among the other singles, ultimately she sees marriage as her vocation.
"I went to all the 'good' parishes in the areas of town where the yuppies tend to live, [did] all the things I thought I could do to run into likeminded single Catholics," Ms. Wrona said. She'd even spearheaded an archdiocesan singles group for those 35 and older, a demographic she thinks is ignored by the church in general. Although she met men both online and in "the real world," few shared her level of Catholic belief and practice.
"I knew four different people who married folks they met on J-Date [a Jewish singles site], and a few who met on Black Planet, a few on Match.com," she said. "I had doubts, and thought, 'You have to be desperate to look for a date on the Internet,' but by that time it had lost the negative connotation because it had been around for a while."
After six months on Match.com meeting men who grilled her on her SAT scores or detailed the playlists from every Bruce Springsteen concert they'd ever attended, Ms. Conti quit Internet dating--or so she thought. By 2003, Ms. Conti, then 34, was considering Plan B: adopting a child on her own. She gave Internet dating one last try, and this time she signed up with Catholic Singles, hoping an affinity site would help her meet prospects whose values were more closely aligned with hers.
"Affinity" or "niche" online dating sites target people seeking others with similar ethnic, professional or religious backgrounds. Catholic Singles, Catholic Match, Ave Maria Singles and Catholic Mingles are four Catholic dating sites with varying degrees of emphasis on the faith.
After corresponding with a handful of the men she met, Ms. Conti narrowed down the serious prospects to two. One was Dave Dunn, a sales manager for a construction equipment company, and the rest is history.
"None of our friends would have put us together because of our politics," said Mr. Dunn, who is a pro-NRA Republican. Though the two may disagree in a big way about politics, they found common ground in their similar views on faith and family.
The most ironic aspect of the couple's story is that they had lived about 10 minutes apart and attended the same parish for eight years without ever crossing paths. The couple , married on April 2 after what Ms. Conti calls "a fairy book romance" that defied her previous approaches to dating.
"I spent my life telling everyone I know, 'You should never get engaged to someone you haven't known for a calendar year,'" she said. "I broke all my rules for this guy."
Affinity sites, and online dating in general, have become increasingly popular. First, there are simply more , singles out there--approximately 80 million in the United States, said Dr. Christine Whelan, an expert on changing relationship and dating patterns. Second, more people are staying single longer and marrying later. And about half of them, by some estimates, have browsed online personals.
But for every success story like Ms. Conti's, there are others who find the Internet dating experience a little less than storybook-perfect. Browsing online personals can feel voyeuristic. Patrons fill in the blanks with their preferences in a potential partner: "blue eyes," "loves sports," etc., and see who shows up on the screen. But the fantasy can fade when a cyber-friend suddenly ignores them or they try site after site, finding friends and fellowship but no fiance.
"I think the whole idea of a Catholic Web site tells us one message: Finding someone who shares your faith is a priority ... but then the format doesn't lend itself to real relationships," commented "Daniel-48875," AKA Daniel O'Mullane, a youth minister from Mountain Lake, N.J., in a real-time online chat with a reporter on Catholic Match, to which he's subscribed for 15 months. He likes the site's technological user-friendliness and sense of camaraderie. But, while he's met several e-mail partners, he has yet to meet someone special.
"I'd say that people just have to manage their expectations," Mr. O'Mullane concluded, "but that there's a lot of great fellowship going on here, real positive experiences even if you don't find 'the one.'"
Patricia Wrona, a 47-year-old trial attorney in Chicago, might agree with Mr. O'Mullane. She's tried three Catholic sites, and though she has met many friends among the other singles, ultimately she sees marriage as her vocation.
"I went to all the 'good' parishes in the areas of town where the yuppies tend to live, [did] all the things I thought I could do to run into likeminded single Catholics," Ms. Wrona said. She'd even spearheaded an archdiocesan singles group for those 35 and older, a demographic she thinks is ignored by the church in general. Although she met men both online and in "the real world," few shared her level of Catholic belief and practice.
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