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| Shop.org SmartBrief |
| December 4, 2008 |
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Holiday retail sales buoyed by Cyber Monday's success
E-commerce retailers saw a 13% spike in sales for the weekend after Thanksgiving, compared with last year. Cyber Monday sales also were up 15% over last year to $846 million. Shop.org Executive Director Scott Silverman warns that "we could see a drop-off for the rest of the season." NYTimes.com (12/3)
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Companies set out to police online prices
Manufacturers are contracting with companies such as Arizona-based NetEnforcers to ensure Internet retailers are not selling some goods below their minimum advertised prices. The practice has forced discount sites such as eBay and Costco to maintain certain prices on electronics, tools and other items. The Wall Street Journal (12/4)
Florida company eases the load for e-retailers
Online Management Services in Fort Myers, Fla., which provides shopping-cart software, merchant applications and shipping services to online businesses, has seen its business double in the past year and expects the same growth next year. Online Management's growth is an indicator of how quickly retailers are expanding online. "E-commerce is just huge, and it is growing exponentially year after year," company co-founder Barry Shepherd said. The News-Press (Fort Myers, Fla.) (12/4)
The stupidest gifts this holiday season
The second annual top-10 list of stupid gift ideas for the holidays is posted at Stupid.com. The list includes a screaming chicken and wasabi-flavored gum balls. The past year "might have been a bad year for the economy, but it was a great year for stupidity," site founder Gary Apple says. Reuters (12/3)
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Widgets deserve more respect from marketers
Marketers are missing a key online opportunity by failing to fully embrace the low-cost, high-engagement widget, which this year will account for just $100 million in ad spending, according to writer Bob Garfield. "At a minimum, [widgets] carry an ad message wherever they go," Garfield writes. "At a maximum, the widget is something like the magical connection between marketers and consumers, not only replacing the one-way messaging long dominated by media advertising but vastly outperforming it." Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (12/1)
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Facebook taps Oodle for new "Marketplace" ad application
Oodle will begin operating Facebook's "Marketplace" classified-ad application sometime in the first quarter of 2009. The tool is intended to facilitate sales of items between friends and regular Facebook contacts, according to this article. ClickZ (12/4)
P&G hopes to learn from British online grocer
Procter & Gamble has paid $7.5 million for a 1% stake in British online grocer Ocado. "It's an opportunity for us to deepen our understanding of unique shopper knowledge that Ocado offers," a P&G spokeswoman said. "We see their business model as a fertile testing ground for new ideas." American City Business Journals/Cincinnati (12/3)
Citi extends rewards program with Amazon partnership
Citigroup and Amazon.com have joined forces for a rewards-program partnership that lets 13 million Citi card members shop online for merchandise fulfilled by Amazon. Reuters (12/3)
Prominent banner ads promote personalized M&M's
Banner ads for personalized M&M's as holiday gifts are on USATODAY.com and MSNBC.com, and they target users of Facebook, MSN, Digg, Photobucket and SuperPages. Personalized M&M's, from the Mars Direct division of Mars Snackfood USA, are sold exclusively online, starting at $11.99 per bag. MediaPost Communications/Marketing Daily (12/3)
Tesco.com CEO to speak at Retail's BIG Show
At NRF's Annual Convention, Jan. 11 to 14 in New York City, Laura Wade-Gery, CEO of Tesco.com, and Tony Stockil, CEO of The Javelin Group, will speak about global strategies for multichannel success and will discuss how the Web can be used to drive online and store sales. Register by Dec. 5 and save $300 off the on-site rate. Register now. Blank (12/4)
Learn what retailers can expect during the last few weeks of the holiday season
Listen to yesterday's Holiday Consumer Insights webinar to learn how consumer sentiment has changed since the election and how lower fuel costs are affecting spending. Get results from NRF's newest holiday survey about the most popular gifts, gift-card trends and payment methods, plus new findings on spending over Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Register for and listen to the one-hour webinar. Blank (12/4)
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