October 5, 2011
By The ZippyCart Content Team

Just one day following the first keynote address from Apple’s newest CEO, Tim Cook, Steve Jobs has passed away. Jobs, one of the original founders of Apple, Inc. was fired from the company early on due to a power struggle with the board of directors in 1985. Over the next 10 years, he created a competing company to Apple, which Apple later purchased in 1996. With the purchase, Jobs was placed back at the helm. It was there that he made a controversial agreement with Bill Gates that sent stocks on a roller coaster ride, but saved the company. Since then, Jobs has taken the company to unforeseen levels making technology magical for everyone.

Prior to his death, Apple fanboys from Studiocon.com, announced that October 14, 2011 would officially be Steve Jobs Day. This unique day is meant to show homage to Jobs and his many successes. Apple.com quickly changed their website to pay respects to Jobs and have stated the following:

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

The health of Jobs has been a known issue for quite some time, but Apple fans everywhere have remained hopeful for a quick turn around and recovery. This loss will be a large hit to Apple and fans worldwide who have been touched by Jobs’ many accomplishments. That said, his legend will live on as Apple products continue to evolve based on ideas he has shared and stored up over the years.

It took 10 minutes for the entire world to learn about the death of Jobs. How did you learn about it? I did through an AP Mobile push to my iPhone. The point here is simple: Without all of his many creations, we would communicate far slower, grow our companies with more barriers, and have more roadblocks to sharing together in earth shaking events such as this.

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It used to be that the world was run by the guys with big personalities, great looks, and a good golf swing.  That said, the Internet has changed all that, thanks to a little (OK big) thing called ecommerce.  The world of ecommerce has become a wonderland of success for the geeks and nerds of our time.  Now it matters far less whether or not you can stay under par, and matters more if you can create a great online shopping solution, master the language of web code, and keep your site running once all the traffic starts pouring in. So, geek or nerd, how do you identify?  If you don’t view yourself as one or the other, you might be missing out on the Holy Grail of financial opportunity!

To prove our point, we created this infographic that profiles some of the top geeks and nerds in the world of ecommerce.  From Jeff Bezos to Natalie Massenet, these intelligent gurus are making bank – with billions in net worth and a minimum of millions in yearly revenues to their online stores. Check out this rundown of uber-geek power!

The Geeks

Jeff Bezos – CEO of Amazon.com (duh). His net worth almost twenty billion dollars. One notable thing about this eccentric billionaire is that when he was younger he rigged up an electric alarm to keep his brothers and sisters out of his room. Then, a la Dexter, he turned his parents’ garage into a laboratory. His love of experimentation hasn’t waned. In 2004 he “launched” a new company called “Blue Origin.” The goal: human space flight from a private company. Take that, Sir Richard.

Jack Ma – Founder of Alibaba. Alibaba, for those of you who don’t know, is one of the biggest internet groups in China (which has, you know, a few people). The company’s crazy internet success may be fueled in part by Ma’s combative upbringing. For starters, he suffered from stunted growth as a child. To make matters worse, his family was ostracized for siding with counter-revolutionary forces during China’s cultural revolution. This meant he got into a lot of fights. This probably turned him into the scrappy ecommerce geek that he is today with a net worth of close to 2 billion dollars.

Pierre Morad Omidyar – Founder and chairman of eBay. So yeah, there’s this little auction site (you’ve probably never heard of it) but it’s called eBay. So, more than 15 years ago, Pierre had a long weekend off and was feeling bored. Like most power ecommerce geeks, he hates having time on his hands, so he said: “I know, I’ll write the original code for an auction house that will eventually revolutionize online buying and selling.” So a case of diet Dr Pepper later (not confirmed) he emerged from his basement and launched the site “Auction Web.” Fast forward to today: almost 7 billion dollar net worth. Boom. Just like that.

Kevin Ryan – Fashion ecommerce geek and founder of Gilt Groupe. Got a taste for the finer things in life? Then you want to know all about Kevin Ryan, founder of Gilt Groupe (you can tell it’s fancy because it’s got an extra “e” on the end!). He scored a BA from Yale in ’85, then got an MBA from INSEAD (which is totally in France!) five years later. Gilt Groupe was founded in 2007 and has raised nearly 80 million dollars in financing at time of writing. Kevin’s geek power is so awesome that by the time you finish reading this, he’ll probably have raised even more money.

Reed Hastings – Co-Founder and CEO of Netflix. Many geeks love math. Reed loved math so much that he majored at math at Bowdoin college where he won the department’s Smyth Prize and Hammond Prize. He graduated with his bachelor’s degree in 1983 and has spent the intervening years trying to improve the educational system. In 2010 he earned 5.5 million dollars in compensation.

Patrick M. Byrne – CEO of Overstock.com. Mr. Byrne (“Byrne-ing Man” to his friends – also NOT confirmed) might just be the most educated individual on our list. Despite being way more than normal, he somehow earned a certificate from “Beijing Normal University” alongside his BA in Chinese studies, which he got from a little school called Dartmouth. He decided that they looked lonely on his wall, so he scooped up a masters from Cambridge as a Marshall Scholar. Then to finish off his (current) accomplishments, he got a PhD in Philosophy from Stanford (which I think was his fallback school). Byrne has founded 19 schools internationally, most of which he built by hand with bricks he bakes himself (fictional!). So how much does all that learning get you per year? Byrne takes home only $171,300, probably because he’s worked out that it’s the exact amount that he needs to be happy and provide for all his needs (PhD in Philosophy, remember?).

Tony Hsieh – CEO of Zappos. Geeks know all about treating people with kindness and respect, usually because most of us didn’t get a lot of that from our peers growing up. Rather than being mean to people when we are in control, many geeks decide to try to make the world a better place. Tony’s contribution to the happiness of the world was to create an ecommerce business where every customer service decision was geared DIRECTLY towards making every customer as happy as possible (when buying shoes, anyway). Fellow ecommerce geek Jeff Bezos loved this so much that in 2009 he called up Tony and was like: “I’d like to place an order.” and Tony said: “Okay, what would you like to order?” and Jeff said: “Your whole company.” and Tony, wanting to deliver an awesome customer service experience, quoted Jeff a number. Amazon acquired Zappos for 1.2 billion dollars. Tony then went on to write a book called Delivering Happiness, all about his entrepreneurial experiences. It spent almost 7 months on the best seller list.

Natalie Massenet – Executive Chairman (Chair-WOMAN!) of Net-a-Porter.com. Let’s face it: geeks and girls don’t always get along. But what about girls who are themselves geeks? Well Natalie is an ecommerce geek who is also a woman and who is also shrewd when it comes to business. Starting off as a fashion editor at Women’s Wear Daily in 1993, the left that job to start her own business: Net-a-Porter. Seventeen years later she sold her shares for fifty million British Pounds (which is like, a lot in American money!). Even without her shares, she stayed on as Executive Chair and will probably put all that money she raised back into her own company to make it even more awesome – because that’s how she rolls. Her site, by the way, gets about 2 million logins every weekend and each person’s average spend is 500 British Pounds (translation: a LOT).

If you want to spread the message about geeks ruling the world, copy and paste the embed code below to post this infographic to your website or blog:

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This infographic was designed by Killer Infographics. Check out other fun infographics on Submit Infographics.

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While the economy may be recovering in some places, it’s still rather dismal in others. Because of this, online businesses can’t afford to ignore a great money making opportunity when it arises. But before chasing the next big product launch, an online entrepreneur needs to tackle the easy changes right under his/her nose. Fixing the low hanging fruit of sales messaging, could lead to a huge financial impact with just a few hours of work.

So how exactly does sales messaging affect the conversion rates of an online store or business? This infographic answers that question and more!

Concrete Emotional: The Winning Tactic

The first big take away from this infographic is that concrete and emotional statements go a lot farther than abstract and intellectual statements. So what’s the difference? A concrete and emotional statement tells the reader exactly what your company is about while also showcasing how your service will help them in some way (thus playing to emotions). An abstract and intellectual statement may be very catchy (like “Online advertising that works!”) but it doesn’t provide your audience with any concrete proof of your statement or an explanation about why your service helps your customer.

Buttons, Buttons, Who’s Got the Buttons?

Your button text, color, and the graphics on your buttons can go a long way. If you run an online store, your main goal is for users to click that “add to cart” button, but is the button the best it can be to attract the attention of your visitors? Having a button that matches the template or theme of your website might look pretty, but this also means it might get lost among all the other images on your site. Studies show that red buttons with arrows go a very long way toward improving conversion rates.

Here’s some other tips for creating a highly converting button:

Draw the eye in with big, bright and bold colors

Add a price drop call out on sales buttons

Navy text has been proven to give off a feeling of trust

Things Best Left Unsaid:

Sales messaging is as much about what you don’t say as it is about what you do say. As ecommerce has evolved, we have learned about a lot of sales messaging that should be avoided and buttons to keep off of websites, but many shopping cart solutions still provide this messaging as a default on buttons and forms. Messaging worth avoiding includes: “Empty Cart” , “Reset Form” , “Create an Account to Make a Purchase” , “Your Session Has Expired.” If any of these messages exist on your site, consider dumping them before they deplete your conversion rates.

A/B Testing is a Must

This infographic has pulled together studies from all over the web to serve as a guide for conversion focused sales messaging. Of course, every web experience is different and every brand is different. You may find that while some of these are spot on tips for your online store, others just won’t work with your unique customers. That said, we can all agree that finding the right sales messaging could lead to huge improvements in conversion rates and it’s easy to test the sales messaging that works best for you. Use Google’s Website Optimizer tool to roll out A/B tests of different landing page slogans, buttons, and more. It’s free and extremely user friendly.

No matter what, there is always room for improvement with any given website. If you spent a lot of time A/B testing before, that doesn’t mean that you’re done now. As the Internet evolves, so do the users that you hope will one day become your customers, so it’s important to always test how you are communicating with your audience to ensure you’ve found the best messaging to achieve your goals.

Credits:
This infographic was designed by Killer Infographics for ZippyCart.com

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The Internet is all a-twitter with rumblings of April Fools 2011. With so many sites running pranks, it’s hard to keep track of them all. Luckily there are many great lists out there, but unfortunately there are some pranks that aren’t too great. Since we put together a list of the top April Fools 2011 pranks as well as an infographic of April Fools 2011 pranks on the web, we thought following up with a list of the worst pranks wouldn’t be a bad idea.

The Worst April Fools 2011 Pranks Online So Far

Hulu’s Kicking it Old School Sorry Hulu, but we view your prank today as a fail. Why? Because it’s a cheap rip off of pranks from the past and not creative enough. Hulu, you are such a smart company with great ideas, so why did you choose to go with an April Fools prank that has been done already?

For those of you that don’t know what I’m talking about, go checkout Hulu.com and you’ll be taken to the past when websites were awful looking and barely usable. Beyond the old school interface, Hulu is also offering up older TV shows for your viewing pleasure. While this would be a funny hoax one day, it doesn’t work as an April Fools prank online because too many sites out there have raised the bar far higher than this.

SocialBlade & YouTube $$ OK, maybe this prank is actually funny if you are a fan of this site, but it doesn’t speak to the masses. Instead of showing how much “YouTuber” is making in dollars, SocialBlade has substituted money for physical things like cameras, batteries, etc. To this prank I say *shrug* Eh.

Pay What You Weigh for a Flight This isn’t really that bad of a prank… in fact, I love it (even though it’s a little lacking on the PC side of things). My issue with it is simple, I don’t know how to navigate to this prank unless I find it through sites reporting on pranks. In other words, who are they pranking if, when you visit the site’s home page, there are no options to pay what you weigh?

February 23, 2011
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

Volusion has been a major player in the hosted ecommerce world for several years now. After racking up several noteworthy clients and awards, the Austin, TX based provider recently unveiled their latest software version, Volusion 2011. Better known as “V11,” this release was designed to make Volusion’s platform more user-friendly and intuitive than ever before.

There have been other changes at Volusion, including the introduction of their new Head of Product, Jason Woosley. ZippyCart had the pleasure of sitting down with Mr. Woosley to learn more about the company’s latest version and their overall direction.

ZippyCart:
Volusion recently launched their latest version, V11. What are some of the highlights of this release?

Jason:
We are currently in preview of V11 and are receiving positive reviews.   Most of the new features fall into two themes: improving conversions/sales and faster, easier management of the interface.

Some of our customers’  favorites include:

Increasing Conversions and Sales:

• Product Comparison: Online shoppers want to compare products, so you want to make sure that they do it on your site.  This new feature makes it easy for Volusion customers to set up comparison shopping on their storefront.
• Abandoned Cart Emails: According to See Why, 71% of customers start a purchase process and leave before completing.  One of the best ways to recover lost sales from cart abandonment is to send a follow-up email. We now offer the capability to email customers directly from the abandoned cart view.
• Free Shipping: End customers love free shipping. In fact, a Compete.com survey revealed that 93% of ecommerce shoppers agree that free shipping encourages them to purchase more products online.  In V11, we’ve made it easy for Volusion customers to offer free shipping promotions.

Faster, Easier Management:

• Updated Design of Administration Console & Dashboard: The V11 administration console has a great new look and feel by offering exceptionally intuitive navigation – it was designed to make your most frequent tasks faster to complete.  The new dashboard features all of your most relevant store data at a glance, including sales and trends.
• The Right Help at the Right Time: Support is just a click away with context-aware help systems embedded on every page.  If you are stuck, need a hint, or just want to learn more about the functionality of a particular page, we have conveniently placed a help icon in the upper right of every page.
• One-Stop Product Management: We have made drastic improvements to product management pages to allow users to manage all aspects of their product line in one place.  Manage product images with a slick new interface and use drag and drop to naturally organize categories and options – all from the detailed view of your product.

ZippyCart:
What was the key goal when creating V11? Do you think it was achieved?

Jason:
Our overarching goal was to simplify complex tasks and enrich our user interface.  We understand that our customers are busy business owners, so we wanted to make it as easy as possible to manage an online store without sacrificing flexibility and advanced features.  We feel we took a huge step forward in this release – thanks to the feedback of our customers.

ZippyCart:
How does your team make decisions about prioritizing software enhancements?

Jason:
We spend a lot of time listening to our customers.  We get requests through many different sources: monthly surveys, our Facebook page, and regular customer interactions with our Customer Experience team. One of our most significant channels is the Volusion online customer forums. The forums provide a way for all of our customers to submit ideas and vote on their favorites. That input has driven many of our enhancements including the launch of our mobile commerce add-on (mCommerce) last March.

ZippyCart:
Are there any hints or sneak previews you can give us regarding your product roadmap?

Jason:
Faster, better, stronger.  We have brought all of our operations together in one location, invested in top talent, and refreshed our agile approach to development – all in an effort to bring future enhancements to market more quickly and effectively.  We listen to our customers and the market to prioritize the features that will put Volusion even further ahead of the ecommerce market.   Volusion lives and dies by our agility in the rapidly evolving ecommerce market space.  We are unconditionally dedicated to driving our products and services forward and leveraging new technologies where appropriate.  Look for future product releases with themes around scalability and performance, ease of use and seamless integrations with social and mobile platforms.

ZippyCart:
What do you think will be the next big thing in ecommerce software?

Jason:
Two words: mobile and social. With the proliferation of the iPhone, iPad and Android devices, mobile commerce is taking off.  I think you will see many developments in this area as the market evolves.  In the social space, having a presence is moving from a “nice-to-have” to an expectation for many businesses.  Our offerings will continue to rapidly facilitate mobile interaction on a variety of form factors. including front-end and back-end optimizations for smartphone and tablet devices.

As social media becomes increasingly pervasive, we will strive to provide rich integrations with leading services and provide seamless access to these services from our platform.  While new technologies and platforms are critical to our ongoing success, we are committed to innovating on our existing offerings, especially with regards to scalability and performance.

February 3, 2011
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

When selling products online through one of the many shopping carts that are available we know that you are constantly looking for ways in which to sell more products and reach more customers.  One of the most common ways in which this is done these days is to launch your own affiliate program.  Some of the benefits to having an affiliate program include expanding your reach without hiring more staff, improved Page Rank by having increased inbound links and a low overall entry price. Once you launch your affiliate program you will begin to realize the benefits of increased exposure by having affiliates market your products and services for you.  This expanded reach is one of the main benefits of having your own affiliate program.

One cost effective and user friendly affiliate solution that can easily be implemented is Omnistar Affiliate.  This solution is compatible with most of the top shopping carts that we feature on our site.  They also provide integration instructions for each of these carts which simply consists of adding some tracking code to your shopping carts order confirmation page.  The Omnistar Affiliate software also has many other powerful features that allow you to setup multiple affiliate groups, manage a multi-tiered program and much more. By launching an affiliate program, you will be able to increase your revenue, create multiple levels of income and offer your affiliates multiple promotional methods.

One thing that makes Omnistar a bit different than other affiliate solutions out there is that it takes SEO into account. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is very important for ranking well in search engines, and link building is a primary tool in the SEO tool belt.  The more inbound links you have to your online store, the more likely it is to rank better in search engines and improve your Page Rank score with Google.  If the entire concept of SEO is foreign to you, you don’t know much about Page Rank, or you want to learn about good link building tactics, check out our blog series: SEO for Ecommerce. When creating an affiliate program with Omnistar, there are 2 link options that will give you search engine benefits as described here: http://www.osiaffiliate.com/affiliate-software-improve-seo.htm

These days its all about exposure and traffic to your web site, so now that you have a shopping cart and can easily get your products and services out to your customers, you just need to get more customers so you can grow your business.  Starting and managing your own affiliate program is an excellent way to grow your customer base and choosing the right affiliate solution is the best way to get started.

January 17, 2011
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

Buying glasses is not a cheap process, no matter how hard you try to find a good deal, you’re usually paying a high price either literally, or figuratively by sacrificing fashion. Over the past few years, the world of ecommerce has been home to a variety of normally expensive goods for sale at discount prices online, which is why many who wear glasses turn to the Internet in hopes of finding frames, lenses, or even the whole package (frames and lenses) for a price lower than the latest deal at Lens Crafters. Unfortunately, buying glasses online hasn’t really taken off, this is for a variety of reasons including the fact that you can’t try on the glasses, the quality is often sub par, and usually those great deals offered by online eyewear companies often come in the package of yesterday’s fashion flops. This is where a small company in Manhattan’s lower east side is trying to change things up. Warby Parker is the latest installment to online eyewear shopping, and it is coming in as the greatest.

Over 70% of the United States wears glasses, and of that majority, almost everyone hates the costly hole a pair of lenses and frames can quickly burn into their pockets. For instance, even if you find a pair of frames for under $100, the lenses will cost hundreds and that’s before protective coating. At Warby Parker though, things are different. Every pair of glasses (lenses included) cost only $95, and guess what – they look good. In fact, they look better than good! Warby Parker designs their own glasses with a vintage edge. The glasses are hip, modern, and look as if major name brands would salivate at the opportunity to place their name on them.

I had some fun with the virtual try on tool

Of course, if a name brand were on these glasses, they’d cost an arm and a leg simply for the name. Brand names are just one of the many middle men that Warby Parker does without to ensure low overhead and low costs. Another way Warby Parker can offer boutique designs at an affordable price is by taking their entire business online, but not the way other online eyewear companies work. Warby Parker is unique in many ways, and their online store is just one of those ways. On WarbyParker.com, you can browse through an elite selection of quality frames. When you click on the frames, you’ll be able to zoom in and view at full size as well as see diagrams about what face shapes work best with the frames. Next, you can use their virtual try-on tool to upload a photo (or take one with your web cam) and see exactly what those frames look like on your face. If this isn’t enough, Warby Parker has taken a page out of the Zappos.com book with their Home Try-on system. Warby Parker will send up to 5 frames of your choice to try on for free (free shipping, free everything). You can try the glasses on for one week until you have chosen the frame (or frames) you prefer to buy.

On top of offering quality designs, Warby Parker supplies the best possible lenses. If you’ve ever bought glasses before, you know what it’s like to get up-sold on higher quality lenses. Your insurance might only cover the cheap lenses, but your told those will scratch or break easily, so you dig deep into your pockets to get polycarbonate or high-index lenses. At Warby Parker, every pair of glasses comes with anti-reflective polycarbonate lenses – polycarbonate is the best, it leaves the factory with scratch resistance and UV protection. In other words, you get the same lenses (with frames) for $95 that you would get somewhere else for hundreds, even after insurance.

OK... I had A LOT of fun with the virtual try-on tool

So how does Warby Parker do it? As mentioned before, they cut out the middle man. Major eyewear companies like Luxottica spend the exact same amount of money that Warby Parker does creating glasses, but they mark up those glasses nearly ten times! Here’s what causes these markups:

1. They pay a license fee to place a brand name on their glasses (yup that’s right, the eyewear company designs those “designer” glasses and then places a licensed brand name on them… this means that pair of Oliver Peoples glasses you’re wearing weren’t exactly designed by the folks at Oliver Peoples).
2. They mark up the glasses more for their own profit

It’s also important to note that companies like Luxottica are vertically integrated. This means that they have their hands in your wallet multiple times along the path towards getting glasses. They own eye insurance companies (which you are paying to make the costs of glasses lower, even though they set the cost of glasses), they own factories that make the glasses, the brand names on the glasses, and even Pearl Vision, Lens Crafters, Sunglasses Hut, and more.

So when you’re out there looking for a great deal on glasses, going to the latest Lens Crafters sale may not be your best bet. Consider taking advantage of Warby Parker’s Home Try-on system and get quality glasses from the comfort of your own home… and if their great online store doesn’t win you over, remember the cherry on top of this Sundae: Every time you buy a pair of glasses from Warby Parker, they send a FREE pair to someone in need.

January 17, 2011
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

There are many ways to make money online, but KickStarter has found a unique way to make money that also helps others flourish.  If you’re not already familiar with KickStarter, this infographic on the left does a good job of explaining exactly how KickStarter works.  What’s important to note is that KickStarter utilizes a method of making money online called Crowdfunding.  Crowdfunding relies on large numbers of small donations from a community of supporters.  While these donations may not make up for much from just a few people, if hundreds or even thousands of people donate, they can add up quickly.

While the idea of crowdfunding began in the late 90′s, the term “crowdfunding” was coined by a Michael Sullivan of fundavlog, who stated that “Many things are important factors, but funding from the ‘crowd’ is the base of which all else depends on and is built on. So, Crowdfunding is an accurate term to help me explain this core element of fundavlog.”

Throughout the years, there have been similar methods of funding including Micropatronage (one blog relying on donations from readers to keep going), crowd sourcing, and crowd source capital.  With KickStarter though, crowdfunding is pretty unique.  This is because funding on KickStarter requires a minimum threshold.  In other words, users searching for funding from a KickStarter campaign have to meet a minimum goal in order to get the money donated to their campaign.  If the minimum threshold isn’t met, then supporters don’t get charged and nobody makes money.

Those who do meet their goal, gain the money needed to begin or complete the project they are campaigning for while KickStarter makes 5% of all donations (which ends up being millions).  Some of the most successful campaigns on KickStarter show exactly why it provides a win-win situation for making money online:

• TikTok+LunaTik watch kits – Turn an iPod nano into a multitouch watch.  They requested $15,000 and raised $941,718 which was 6283% more than anticipated.
• Blue Like Jazz (the movie): Filmmaker Steve Taylor requested $125,000 and made $345,992 which was 276% more than requested.
• Diaspora: Filmmakers raised $200,641 which was 2006% more than their initial request for $10,000.
• Glif: An iPhone 4 Tripod Mount & Stand – Creators Tom Gerhardt and Dan Provost raised $134,417 which was 1378% more than their goal of $9750.
• Lockpicks by Open Locksport: Creator Schuyler Towne raised $87,407 and asked for $6,000, making 1456% more than requested.

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January 11, 2011
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

Today will be a day to remember, and not just because it’s 1-11-11, but because the long awaited Verizon iPhone is finally a reality.  Verizon iPhone rumors have been spreading for years, but the past few months the rumors came with a twinge of certainty as big name sources like Fortune Magazine and the Wall Street Journal jumped into the conversation to verify certain claims.  And today, as Gizmodo predicted, the Verizon iPhone has been announced.

Set to be available to all Verizon customers in exactly one month, the Verizon iPhone will be utilizing the latest iPhone 4 model and will run on Verizon’s 3G network for now.  While many expected that Verizon would come out of the gate with an iPhone for their 4G LTE network, that network is still too young to take on such a large customer base.  Verizon cannot afford to have the same connectivity problems that the bogged down AT&T network has had all these years, so they are making the safe choice of providing the iPhone 4 on 3G instead.

In announcing the Verizon iPhone, Verizon also launched a complete guide to all things iPhone for their network.  This includes a very detailed FAQ section that answers important questions like “Can I use my AT&T enabled iPhone on the Verizon network?” (short answer for that, ladies and gentlemen, is No).  Other important information to consider is the fact that Verizon customers can pre-order the iPhone 4 on a first come, first serve basis.  It is likely they will sell out before they are even released, which is why Verizon is anticipating a large amount of new customers over the coming weeks.  Pre-order of the phone for Verizon customers will begin around February 3rd or customers can go to an Apple store on or around February 10th to get their hands on the new device.  The cost of the Verizon iPhone will be $199 for 16GB and $299 for 32GB

In light of this announcement, AT&T stocks have began to fall as many assume there will be a mass exodus of current customers who were only in it for the iPhone.  Verizon’s answer to this is simple: “The phone that changed everything [is] coming to America’s most reliable network.”  In other words, sorry AT&T, but Verizon has found your Achilles’ heel and has no problem exploiting it.

January 10, 2011
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

The Verizon iPhone is almost here… actually it’s less than 24 hours away according to Gizmodo. Gizmodo, a well-known tech blog, gained rapid popularity when they released photos of an iPhone 4 prototype months before Apple was ready to share their newest technology with the world. Now they are stating that January 11th will be the official announcement we’ve all been waiting for. Their reasoning is sound: Verizon is holding a top secret press event and has invited popular Apple bloggers to attend, but did not invite Gizmodo (who, let’s face it, didn’t really get on Apple’s good side when they showed pictures of a found iPhone 4).

Rumors of a Verizon iPhone have been stirring around the blogosphere since the iPhone first came to market, but these rumors were quickly squashed by industry experts every time they gained momentum. In November though, things changed when Fortune Magazine hopped on the bandwagon stating that inside sources confirmed rumors for the launch of a Verizon iPhone in early 2011.

Now, just into the second week of January, all eyes are on Verizon in hopes that tomorrow the CDMA enabled iPhone will be announced, and to sweeten the pot, rumors from the Wall Street Journal are stating that the Verizon iPhone will be available with unlimited data.

In the spring of 2010, AT&T made a change to their data plan that rocked their already unsteady customer base. Customers who had just signed up for AT&T with their new iPads got a huge shock when AT&T did away with their unlimited data package and instead began to offer two very limited data packages. This shift added to an already growing mountain of complaints from customers who had been unhappy with AT&T’s spotty service for years. While service is one thing that will make Verizon different from AT&T, they are also seeking to stand out by providing what AT&T no longer does: unlimited data.

Industry analysts anticipate 12 million Verizon iPhone customers in 2011 alone, and with the addition of unlimited data, some wonder if Verizon will suffer the same bogged down network issues that AT&T has for the past 5 years. Time will only tell, but for now, everyone is looking for the light at the end of the tunnel… and we all hope that tomorrow that light will shine bright, from a CDMA enabled Verizon iPhone.

December 28, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

The holidays come with an abundance of family, friends, presents, and all too tempting sweets, traditional fare, and rare delicacies (if you have a mom that likes to experiment with Christmas Eve dinner like my mom does).  The amazing gifts to your taste buds that come every holiday season bring with them extra pounds that we all have come to expect, but often fail to avoid.  With every bite of extra calories, we tell ourselves “I’ll start working out tomorrow, these pounds won’t stay on very long.”  And while not all of us actually follow through with that promise, those of us that do, end up taking the Internet by storm looking for the latest and greatest post-Christmas diets and exercise programs in preparation for that New Year’s resolution that we swear we’ll stick to this year.

This time of year is when online diet and exercise sites really shine and companies like Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, and more gear up for an influx of new customers.  But which exercise and diet program is the best?  It seems that Weight Watchers has been working hard to claim that crown, with a variety of iPad/iPhone apps and an entire online system that lets users start their Weight Watchers program from the comfort of their own home.  Dubbed Weight Watchers Online, this Internet-based diet and exercise tool helps users get over 3,000 healthy recipes, a variety of exercises, and links everyone into a social network where they can share their stories, coach each other, and celebrate successes.  On top of this, Weight Watchers recently released a free iPad/iPhone app called Weight Watchers Kitchen Companion, which will help users make smart choices on the go.

Weight Watchers has also made its presence known on other Internet venues like Amazon.com, where the Weight Watchers Cookbook is currently on sale for 40% off.  Additionally a subscription to Weight Watchers Magazine is currently 37% off at only $14.95 for the entire year.

As more and more people begin to explore the idea of diet and exercise to work off this year’s holiday pounds, Weight Watchers has all their ducks in a row and is poised for post holiday success!

December 27, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

Friday afternoon, while most of us were busy traveling to family, risking our patience with last minute shopping, or preparing a fancy dinner, Skype accidentally published help documentation meant for a new version of their iPhone app that has not yet been released.  Upon discovering the live document, Skype quickly took it offline, but not before its contents sent bloggers buzzing about its many implications.

The document, which covered video chatting feature updates on the Skype app for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, had many talking about how these new features will effect their mobile device and use of the iPhone 4′s Facetime.  The feature changes that Skype plans to roll out include the ability to add video calling and video chat to any camera enabled device that uses Skype, and even suggested that a updated app would be created for the iPad, which many believe will have a camera in its newest version to be released next year.

While these improvements are definitely worth talking about, one of the most subtle aspects of this document that few are discussing, is the fact that it included the Verizon logo.  The document only spoke about the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, which is a clear indicator that the Verizon logo wasn’t meant for a Droid.  Of course, the iPad does work with Verizon, so it’s possible that the logo was only meant to be in conjunction with the iPad, but if this were true, then the document should have had an AT&T logo too right?  The absence of the AT&T logo, lack of iPad related talk, and focus on the iPhone, has experts like 9 to 5 Mac certain that this can only mean one thing: the Verizon iPhone announcement will be January 6th 2011 at Apple’s annual CES.

So, let the countdown begin.  Will January 6th be the day that Verizon iPhone fans have been waiting for all these years, or is this Skype teaser a ploy?

December 20, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

According to rumors, the much anticipated Verizon iPhone is set to be released before the end of the first quarter in 2011, and with 2011 only two weeks away, people are starting to get antsy and many news sources are beginning to doubt the launch of this rare treasure.  Why all the doubts? Well even though reputable sources like the Wall Street Journal and Fortune Magazine have said that the Verizon iPhone will be the first great must-have item early next year, Apple and Verizon have yet to comment on all of the rumors.  Instead, Apple continues to focus on “big announcements” like the Beatles coming to iTunes and the Verizon iPad, while Verizon continues to push their Droid.

Of course Apple, taking a cue from Dr. Frank-N-Furter, has always done a great job at building antici………pation, which makes questioning their current actions a moot point.  Verizon, on the other hand, has not been one to keep secrets, and with their dwindling profits this year, it seems that they would benefit from jumping in to confirm this rumor for the salivating masses.

Apple has little need to worry about building a customer base for their smart phone leader, which continues to control the majority of the U.S. market, as Apple and AT&T have sold 2.5 times more iPhone 4’s than Verizon has sold Droids.  Because of this, Apple can keep their lips as sealed as they want, and they are definitely sticking to a vow of silence on this one.

Still, there are plenty of little clues that point to a CDMA enabled iPhone in production.  This includes “leaks from reputable sources” as Fortune Magazine suggests, as well as job postings that Apple has put up for CDMA developers.  Finally, the most important clue is that this Verizon iPhone rumor hasn’t been squashed.  Since the iPhone came to market, consumers began postulating about the illusive Verizon iPhone and every time a rumor popped up, it was quickly squashed, but this rumor has continued since before Q4.

So while some are starting to worry that 2011 won’t bring a Verizon iPhone before Apple unveils the iPhone 5 (which is likely to be in June when Apple always releases iPhone updates), this reporter has AT&T on speed dial ready to cancel her account and enter the world of 4G, with a Verizon iPhone 4 before spring comes to Seattle.

December 13, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

Yesterday, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer reached out to the FTC to begin discussions about adding more stringent regulations to online retailers with regards to return fees.  At brick and mortar retailers, when a customer comes in to return a previously purchased item, there is sometimes a restocking fee in the form of X% of the overall purchase price.  Honestly, restocking a product takes very little time in most physical stores, unless the store sells electronics, in which case they require a technician to look over the product before putting it back on the shelves. And as an added plus, this small fee often keeps consumers from returning the product, thus reducing losses and keeping profits steady.  Regardless of the reasons behind brick and mortar restocking fees, any physical store that has these fees is required by law to post a notice at their registers about these fees in many states.  Other states require that these fees be noted on the purchase receipt.

This extra transparency takes hidden fees out of hiding for any consumer willing to look, but the same warning about fees is not currently required of online merchants.  Of course, restocking for the online merchant can actually take a good deal of time and often includes the cost of shipping, so these fees often necessary.  That said, with online holiday shopping already up 12% this year as compared to 2009 (reaching 22 billion over the past 40 days), many feel that it’s time for online merchants to disclose return fees to their customers and Schumer is leading the charge.

In a letter to the FTC, he calls for an agency to be created, which will determine how best to regulate online retailers.  The opening of his letter states:

This busy holiday season has brought welcome reports of vibrant retail sales, with particular growth in the online market. While the revitalization of the American retail industry is exciting news, the increased growth in online sales requires heightened sensitivity to the new ways consumers may be put at risk.

And this holiday season is definitely busy, as a Compete survey suggests that there has already been more spending online than at retail stores offline, which is a first in the history of ecommerce.

It is still unclear if more government officials will get involved with Schumer’s fight for transparency, but likely that this won’t end with a simple letter.  As online spending becomes the norm for consumers, online merchants should prepare for more government regulations that ensure consumer safety.  In the end, this will likely be the best for all involved and will rule out Decor My Eyes type competition.

December 13, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

Last week, a WikiLeaks support group calling themselves “Anonymous” launched an attack on MasterCard dubbed Operation: Payback, causing MasterCard.com to error out for hours.  This attack, which involved a series of DDOS attacks against MasterCard.com, was said to be the first in a series that the group has planned in response to major companies withdrawing support for WikiLeaks.  The online businesses on their list included PayPal, Visa, EveryDNS.net, and Amazon.

Now, days later, Amazon UK went offline Sunday night in the UK, Italy, Germany, and France as well as many other countries throughout Europe.  While the downtime was brief, hundreds of thousands of users across the world had issues logging onto the popular online shopping portal, and many are wondering whether this downtime was a result of another DDOS attack from Anonymous.

In another unexpected turn of events, the extremely popular blogging site Gawker was hacked today causing its encrypted database of 1.5 million user names and passwords to be exposed to the hacker.  It is still unclear if this attack can be tied to Anonymous, as Gawker doesn’t seem to have done anything to offend WikiLeaks.  That said, the WikiLeaks support group is not affiliated with WikiLeaks at all, and as such could be targeting other sites for a much larger attack that they have yet to report.

Nick Denton, owner of Gawker and its network of blogs, expressed sincere apologies after announcing that this sensitive data had been hijacked.  Gawker is currently working on a very important facelift that would take its network of blogs to a whole new level, which means that bad publicity is not the most welcomed experience right now for Denton and his team.

Amazon has not yet reported the cause of the problem, but Netcraft said that “the problems seemed to affect other sites hosted with Amazon in Dublin,” meaning it might have been an internal error and just very bad timing.  Others suggest that the error could be due to Sunday night being one of the busiest shopping nights on Amazon this holiday season.

Anonymous could neither confirm nor deny their involvement, as their latest confirmation of their MasterCard attack was released on Twitter last Wednesday, forcing Twitter to delete many Anonymous user accounts.  Anonymous has been linked to an attempted yet failed attack on Amazon this past Thursday and a brief attack that caused a small blip Sunday morning, but currently that is all that has been confirmed.

It is likely that more sites will see negative impacts as the threat of Operation: Payback looms.  It is still uncertain if personal private data will be effected and if consumers will inevitably be the main target.  For now, these threats don’t seem to be stopping online holiday shopping, so consumers are trusting that their power brands have everything under control.

December 8, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

US Digital Transactions Corporation announced today an exclusive partnership with SignatureLink, Inc., which they say will be a game-changer for the future of ecommerce. The partnership allows SignatureLink to continue work on a promise-to-pay system that they conceived in 2004. The system lets online shoppers make purchases online with nothing more than their signature, which acts as a promissory note to pay later.

Dubbed Card-Not-Present Signature services, or CNPS, this technology is set to significantly reduce costs for online merchants, while also increasing sales. Despite the growth in online spending, there is still a large sector of consumers who are unwilling to make purchases online, for fear of identity theft. Should an online store provide this alternative method of payment, this group may be more willing to adopt online shopping as their preferred source for goods and products.

SignatureLink also believes that this service would significantly reduce the costs of processing payments online, as merchants will not have to utilize spendy merchant payment gateways.

CNPS, which is currently in beta development, will work with all PCI-Compliant ecommerce solutions like CoreCommerce, AmeriCommerce, 3dcart, and more.

“Currently there is not an interchange rate or category for CNPS card-not-present signature transactions. The new transaction type is in full compliance with the U.S. Federal UETA and ESIGN Act and we intend on lobbying the card associations to accommodate the new transaction type. This is a game changer for eCommerce worldwide and will have a major impact on reducing overall cost of payment acceptance and fraud,” states Greg Wooten, CEO, USDT

CNPS is a patent-pending technology, so there is not a lot of information that either companies are willing to divulge at this time. Merchants should keep their eyes on this new system though, as some feel it could revolutionize online spending.