June 11, 2010
By the ZippyCart Ecommerce Software Reviews Content Team

Yesterday, Acquity Group announced the overall “Best-in-Class” businesses in its 2010 Mobile Commerce Audit of the companies named on the 2009 Internet Retailer 500 list. The announcement helps draw attention to the growth of mobile commerce and the need for creating mobile optimized storefronts if merchants want to remain successful in the world of ecommerce. “This year’s group of Overall Best-in-Class winners has recognized that consumers are increasingly turning to their mobile devices for information and purchases,” said Tom Nawara, Acquity Group Managing Director of Digital Strategy & Design. He then stated the Acquity Group study found that mobile optimized storefronts increased from 4% in 2009 to 12% in 2010.

Nawara also discussed the impact of the iPhone and mobile commerce, stating that findings suggest only 1% of ecommerce sites were optimized for the iPhone in 2009 while 11% are optimized for the iPhone currently. This comes just days after the iPhone 4 was unveiled to the public and Steve Jobs announced that the iPhone makes up for 28% of the smartphone market. With the release of the iPhone 4, the iPhone 3GS will now be sold for only $99, which ensures that even more consumers will become iPhone users and enter the mobile marketplace.

Nawara also stated that 2% of companies provided downloadable apps in 2009, while 7% do now. Findings from the study showed that many companies do not have a dual focus of creating an app and optimizing their storefront for mobile phones. Instead, they tend to choose one or the other, which could cause problems for companies in the future. Storefronts with mobile apps help maintain customer loyalty, as searching and browsing products via an app is usually much easier than visiting a mobile optimized store. Overstock and Ebay are both good examples of companies that have both a mobile optimized storefront and mobile apps to increase sales.

This year’s Top 10 Best-in-Class companies identified by Acquity Group include, in order of ranking: Amazon.com, Best Buy, 1-800-FLOWERS.com, Barnes & Noble, Indigo Books & Music (kobo), Sears Holdings, Overstock.com, QVC, Target and ShopNBC.com.

June 11, 2010
By the ZippyCart Ecommerce Software Reviews Content Team

In the world of search engine optimization, one general rule applies: Content is King, but in the world of ecommerce, products have always been the number one feature worth focusing on. Now, as ecommerce continues to evolve and more and more businesses enter the online marketplace, content is quickly becoming the key to success that will make the best ecommerce sites stand out from the rest.

Beach Body CEO, Steve Winshel, reasserted this fact on Wednesday when speaking at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition in Chicago. He stated that “more content” is the number one request consumers make when visiting the Beach Body ecommerce website. Winshel spoke with Ken Burke, chairman at ecommerce platform provider MarketLive, to discuss the various opportunities involved with increasing content on an ecommerce website. Beyond helping a site compete in search engines, content can also help customers make a more informed decision.

Winshel suggested that a general rule should be to focus 80% of a site on commerce and 20% on the content supporting it. Supporting content helps establish the ecommerce site as an authority on the products being offered, which builds trust with consumers. If the site chooses to build out more than 20% of content, it can quickly become an information hub on topics important to its target customers, which will keep them coming back for future purchases.

The expert presentation also suggested that ecommerce merchants should seek out relevant partner websites to syndicate content to in exchange for links back to their site. This also helps establish authority and trust with consumers, as third party websites with syndicated content will provide additionally reputability for the ecommerce site.

Beach Body, which does $100 million in annual sales, is best known for its landmark product the P90X system. MarketLive is an ecommerce company known to help midsized retailers find success online with growing businesses that range in size from $25 million to $1.5 billion annually.

June 08, 2010
By the ZippyCart Ecommerce Software Reviews Content Team

TransFS.com, the world’s easiest way to find the best deal on a merchant account, just released the only platform which allows merchants to screen merchant account providers by gateway. That means that existing e-commerce websites can comparison shop for a better credit card processor without having to rip out their existing infrastructure to get a better deal.

Some quick facts:

• 80% of merchants are overpaying for their merchant account
• Integrating into a new API is the most expensive and time consuming part of switching to a new merchant account provider
• Popular gateways like Authorize.net, Braintree, Cybersource and Payflow work with 60-90% of merchant account providers, giving e-commerce businesses significant choice in their merchant account provider without having to rewrite any software
• Online retailers switching merchant account providers with TransFS on average reduce their overall processing rate by 40%
• ComScore measured $129.8B in 2009 online retail sales meaning the potential benefit to online retailers alone is $454,000,000 / year

“Being able to comparison shop credit card processors for better deals without any changes whatsoever to existing infrastructure means e-commerce sites and bricks-and-mortar retailers can finally start seeing benefits from a truly competitive marketplace,” said Sean Harper, co-founder and CEO of TransFS.com.

TransFS works by having merchant account providers compete for the business of retailers and e-commerce sites. Retailers and e-retailers just fill out a quick survey about their business, and get instant binding quotes a variety of credit card processors. These quotes are on an apples-to-apples basis, so it’s dead simple for merchants to compare bids and select a provider. Every quote on TransFS adheres to TransFS’s fairness standards, which includes interchange-plus pricing and absolutely no hidden fees.

For more information about TransFS’s new offering, please contact Stella Fayman, TransFS Director of Marketing, at stella@transfs.com or 309.368.5987.

If you are interested in contacting Sean Harper, TransFS co-founder and CEO, for use as a source or expert in your payments or e-commerce stories, please feel free to contact press@transfs.com or 309.368.5987.

June 07, 2010
By the ZippyCart Ecommerce Software Reviews Content Team

Steve Jobs just unveiled the iPhone 4G and iPhone OS 4.0 (now dubbed iOS4) at today’s WWDC keynote, talking up hundreds of new and exciting features that will help the iPhone continue to dominate the smartphone market. Jobs began his presentation explaining that the iPhone currently holds 28% of the US smartphone market. Google’s Android phone is the closest competitor to the iPhone, but the new release of iOS4 will easily combat that threat. The Android phone touts its ability to multitask as its number one feature, but iOS4 now makes this a breeze without eating up battery life for any version of the iPhone. The Android also boasts an amazing screen resolution, making images appear crisp and clean, but the iPhone 4 comes with a 326 ppi retina display, which Job’s stated that there has “never been a display like this on a phone.” 300ppi is the limit of the human retina when holding a phone 10-12inches away, so it’s no wonder why Jobs stated that 326 ppi is “comfortably over” that limit. With all of the new advancements, it’s clear that the iPhone 4G and iOS4 will change how we use our phone, but many should also consider how these advancements will change the world of ecommerce forever.

The iPhone 4G Provides a Longer Battery Life and Faster Network

While Jobs was having trouble loading the New York Times at today’s keynote, the iPhone 4G does come with the capability to load on a 4G network, which means much faster load times for users needing to browse and compare products on the fly. AT&T still doesn’t provide a 4G network, but now that it will carry a 4G phone, it is likely to jump to the next level soon. Currently many ecommerce stores have at least 3% traffic from iPhone users. With the entrance of a 4G enabled iPhone, it is likely that this traffic will double, so ecommerce merchants will need to ensure that their storefronts are iPhone enabled. Add to a faster network a longer battery life (Jobs suggested that the new iPhone batter will last 40% longer), and it is certain that more customers will use their iPhones to browse the Internet.

The iPhone 4G Shoots HD Movies

This is an amazing new feature with the iPhone 4G that can’t be ignored. The iPhone 4G allows users to shoot movies in HD (720p at 30fps) and export movies at 360p, 520p, and 720p. With a 5 megapixel camera, 5x digital zoom, and an LED flash, the iPhone 4G is a cut above the rest. Users will also be able to download the iPhone iMovie app to edit videos before posting. This shift will make anyone with an iPhone a director, which will change user expectations when it comes to video online. More videos will be posted to YouTube, blogs, and Facebook since shooting and editing videos will be such a breeze. Ecommerce merchants should prepare for this trend because the web is quickly becoming video-centric. If it is easy for an iPhone user to create a video, they will expect to find videos on the websites they visit. Start adding product videos to your site as soon as possible, and if you can’t afford the production costs, get an iPhone 4G and produce them yourself.

Bing Will Now Be a New Option for Browsing on the iPhone

While Google will still be the default search engine for the iPhone, Apple has not ignored the fact that many users prefer Bing as their default search engine. Because of this, iOS4 will now allow users to choose Bing as their default search engine, with a few changes to their system preferences. This seemingly small shift creates a large impact for ecommerce merchants who may rank differently in the competing search engines. Merchants should prepare for this switch by optimizing their storefronts for both Bing and Google. By the end of 2010, the Bing algorithm is supposed to port over to Yahoo, so a good rank in Bing will equal a good rank in Yahoo, which is yet another reason to begin optimizing for Bing sooner rather than later.

iAds Available in iOS4 Starting July 1, Making Advertising in Apps Easier Than Ever

iAds are advertisements in iPhone and iPad apps, which make it easier for developers to sell their apps for free and still make money from advertising. Moving forward, iAds will be a standard part of iOS4, which places the ad into the app in a flash-like video. Users can close the ads by clicking on a button in the left corner, or view the ad before moving onto the next portion of their app. Apple is anticipating a 48% market share of mobile advertising in the second half of 2010 and has already sold $60 million worth of iAds. As an ecommerce merchant, a new window of advertising just opened up for you. iAds are easy to add to any app from a development perspective, so consider creating an app for your storefront and then including your own ads within it.

iPhone 4 Makes Video Conferencing Possible

The iPhone 4G also has a camera on the front of the phone as well as the back. With a forward facing camera, users can now video conference with ease. Apple is calling this new feature FaceTime, which lets users enable video conferencing with either the front or back camera in both portrait and landscape modes. This unlocks a brand new venue of customer service that even eBay tried to enable when they purchased Skype. Merchants can get FaceTime with customers, clients, and business partners to ensure the best possible communication.

iPhone 4G Pricing and Availability

AT&T is making an incredibly generous upgrade offer for the new iPhone 4G, which will go on sale June 24th. Prices with a 2 year contract include $199 for the 16GB model or $299 for the 32 GB model. The iPhone 3GS will start selling for the very low price of $99, allowing those who couldn’t afford an iPhone before, the chance to get one for the same price as other smart phones.

June 03, 2010
By the ZippyCart Ecommerce Software Reviews Content Team

Ebay CEO, John Donahoe, suggested on Wednesday that Skype is not a useful tool for buyers and sellers, when defending his decision to buy and then sell the company for only a 5% profit. In September of 2005, ebay purchased Skype for $2.6 Billion, hoping to use the VOIP company to improve communications between buyers and sellers, letting them quickly speak with one another to finalize a deal. At the time, market analysts warned that real-time communications could actually harm rather than help online auction sales.

Ian Fogg, senior analyst at Jupiter Research stated that language skills could be a roadblock. He suggested that “It’s one thing to express yourself in a foreign language, say English, via e-mail; but it’s something completely different when you’re on the phone speaking with someone real-time in a foreign language.” Other analysts worried that only early adopters would find Skype as a reputable option, while others would not be willing to enter the VOIP space and prefer online auctions because they don’t require direct contact beyond email.

4 years later, in September of 2009, eBay sold 65% of its Skype ownership for $2.75 Billion to the private equity firm Silver Lake Partners. Now, a minority share holder in Skype, eBay is shifting its focus to its successful acquisitions, like PayPal. “PayPal will be the digital wallet inside your mobile device,” Donahoe suggests, after stating that people won’t use their wallets in three year’s time.

As eBay continues to work out small kinks, like its failed purchase of Skype, the lessons it learns set a trend for ecommerce. Donahoe is banking on the continued growth of ecommerce and has learned that Skype is not the wave of the future for merchants.

May 28, 2010
By the ZippyCart Ecommerce Software Reviews Content Team

Memorial Day weekend is known for sales across the country at most of the leading clothing and department stores, however shopping online may be the easiest way to get the same great deals while staying at home. There are a variety of sales this weekend, but most are centered around clothing, as people look to get new gear for the upcoming summer season. Many sales started today and will continue through the Memorial Day weekend, some even going into early next week. Shopping online will allow you to access dozens of ecommerce sites to browse the gear that they have on for sale, to see if you can get a deal. The rocky economy has created more and more bargain shoppers online, and if you’re one of them, then you need to be online this Memorial Day weekend to search through all the specials, sales, and deals. Below are a few ecommerce stores with Memorial Day weekend sales for you to browse.

ShopBop – Women are big shoppers for the Memorial Day weekend, and Shopbop is the perfect place to shop online if you’re looking for deals of up to 70% off retail price. There are so many discounted designer fashions on the site, that it might be tough to decide what you like best.

Charlotte Russe – This is a popular store which has retail locations in the U.S., but those fans of Charlotte Russe can get great deals online via their Buy One Get One 50% Off sale.

Amazon – It would not be a Memorial Day weekend of discount sales, if you did not include Amazon. They have various deals on qualifying clothing items where you can take anywhere from $10-$100 off your order.

May 28, 2010
By the ZippyCart Ecommerce Software Reviews Content Team

The death of Gary Coleman earlier today, has caused a spike in collectors rushing to eBay to both buy and sell various memorabilia related to the child star. Gary Coleman, best known for his role on Different Strokes and token catch phrase “What’choo talkin’ ’bout Willis?” died earlier today at the age of 42 after a brain hemorrhage. Fans from across the world have flooded the Twitterverse with kind words and conversation in memory of this iconic star.

On eBay, the death caused a sudden influx of memorabilia being placed on the auction block, with more items being added by the hour. It’s likely that Memorial Day weekend will see a large spike in eBay sales related to Gary Coleman’s death, as over 30% of the Coleman related items currently up for auction on eBay were added shortly after his death. Items include a Different Strokes poster, a Gary Coleman and David Hasslehoff magnet, Gary Coleman t-shirts, and more. All items are reasonably priced right now, but past trends have shown that these auctions see a large increase in bidders in the first few days following a death.

Auction sites like eBay tend to see a large spike in star memorabilia sales immediately following the death of an icon. Michael Jackson is still one of the number one searches related to entertainment memorabilia according to eBay Pulse. Like Jackson, Gary Coleman’s death has come as a shock to fans around the globe. The past 12 months have seen quite a few losses in the entertainment industry, and fans will continue to flock to eBay and Twitter to reminisce about the unexpected losses that have left many with heavy hearts.

May 24, 2010
By the ZippyCart Ecommerce Software Reviews Content Team

Baby boomers are retiring every year and moving into some kind of senior housing, which is causing a rise in those needing a place at an assisted living home. Seniors who choose to live at an assisted living home usually need help with some of the activities of daily living. This could be a wide variety of things like bathing, dressing, light housework, eating, and even meal preparation. The seniors of 2010, are much savvier than those from 2000 and therefore like to do some of their daily tasks via the Internet. Not only is the Internet a great way for seniors at assisted living homes to communicate with their family and friends, it is also an amazing tool for shopping. Online shopping is becoming more popular with seniors as it saves them time and energy from traveling to a traditional brick and mortar store. Another plus for online shopping, is that it makes the process much easier for those seniors who have difficulty getting around or walking for long periods of time.

Luckily assisted living homes in the U.S. are becoming more receptive to the evolving senior audience they aide, therefore making it easy and accessible to get on the Internet for online shopping. Seniors who would typically need support traveling to the local Wal-Mart or Target, can now just get some assistance with shopping online at the Wal-Mart or Target websites. There was a recent study by VibrantNation.com, that indicated more women over 50 are choosing to shop online because they’re not happy with the level of customer service they receive. This is yet another factor that reinforces why seniors are becoming more accustomed to the online shopping experience.

May 18, 2010
By the ZippyCart Ecommerce Software Reviews Content Team

Famous singer, Ronnie James Dio, died this past Sunday due to stomach cancer and Ebay is already full of memorabilia from the late singer. Ronnie James Dio is best known for two things, with the first being that he replaced Ozzy Osbourne as the lead singer of Black Sabbath. Dio was also the first to make the “devil horns” hand gesture that became synonymous with the heavy metal music culture. In addition to Black Sabbath, Dio also performed with numerous bands over his career including Rainbow, Elf, Heaven & Hell, as well as his own metal band Dio. Dio must have not been shy about autographing items, as Ebay is flooded with hundreds of pieces of memorabilia, much of which are autographed.

There looks to be at least a dozen autographed guitars, numerous autographed prints and photos, signed CD and albums, as well as a signed drum head. The most expensive items look to be the guitars, which are being listed for up to $999.99 right now. However there are also two Ronnie James Dio signed Tournado Box Sets from the Black Sabbath days, which start at $699.99 and $750. As of now there are over 1,100 items that show up on Ebay for sale or auction when you search for Ronnie James Dio, many of which seem to be from his years with Black Sabbath. This Ebay pattern is quite common, when someone famous passes away, hundreds if not thousands of pieces of memorabilia go up for auction or sale. With Dio, there are also hundreds of random items from Black Sabbath or any merchandise related to Dio also up for sale or auction on Ebay.

March 15, 2010
By the ZippyCart Ecommerce Software Content Team

From time to time, we at ZippyCart are approached with a special deal to offer our readers. When we think the deal will do a service to anyone in the ecommerce industry, we try to do it justice. Take a moment to learn about getting 50% off web hosting for life, just by using the promo code Zippy50 when you visit Hostdango.com:

HostDango is going above and beyond for the readers of ZippyCart to provide an unheard of discount of 50% off for life on web hosting and reseller hosting. However this offer does not apply to hosting with dedicated servers. There is one catch in that you have to know the special discount code of Zippy50, which will get the first 50 people, who sign up with HostDango, an amazing discount of 50% off for life. This means that as long as you stay with HostDango for your web hosting and reseller hosting, you get a phenomenal discount from a top quality partner in the hosting industry. HostDango is celebrating their 11 year anniversary with this private discount to show more people why they have such great web hosting for personal websites or small businesses.

Some of the benefits of Hostango are that they’re powered by The Planet (www.theplanet.com) which is the world’s largest supplier and most advanced datacenter. There are NOC staff on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. HostDango is setup to handle anything from the person wanting to launch their own personal resume page to the corporation looking to shave costs. The shared hosting (regular web hosting) and reseller hosting accounts at HostDango are all hosted on top of the line Dell servers.

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May 11, 2010
By the ZippyCart Ecommerce Software Reviews Content Team

In early April 2010, the dust and ash spewing from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano caused major flight delays throughout Europe. Thousands of people were stranded, and many others were prevented from taking flights to travel anywhere around Europe. This is one of the biggest disruptions in the history of airline travel, and now you can buy part of this historic event via ecommerce sites. Nordicstore.net and Nammi.is are both Icelandic based ecommerce sites where you can purchase some of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano Ash. Many weird things are put up for sale in ecommerce, but the profits from ash sales at Nammi.is will be donated to the ICESAR (www.icesar.com) association. This group has been helping with the safety in the area around the Eyjafjallajökull volcano and has also been helping clean up the farms close to the epicenter of this event. Farmers need to stay in business and their farm sites are a mess after all of the ash fall, which should be cleaned up soon, thanks to ICESAR.

Buying volcanic ash from Eyjafjallajökull is not cheap, as small amounts in a glass container go for $26-$30 depending on which ecommerce site you purchase it from. It is still unclear how many people are buying the volcanic ash online, but Nammi.is did report that most of the orders had come from the US and Australia thus far. People from around Europe are also beginning to purchase the volcanic ash, so it seems that this idea is starting to take off. This online venture may spark similar ecommerce ideas the next time a natural disaster comes around, giving people a chance to buy a piece of the event.

April 20, 2010
By the ZippyCart Ecommerce Software Reviews Content Team

Over the past month the news has been buzzing about Wauconda, Washington being put up for sale on online auction site Ebay.com. However this is not the first time a town has been auctioned off online or on Ebay. In early 2003 Bridgeville, California was put up for sale on Ebay, but the deal fell through and the town was sold a few years later on Ebay again. Other California towns have also been sold online, and so has a tiny town in Texas called Albert.

This particular Ebay auction involves Daphne Fletcher who purchased the 4-acre town of Wauconda back in 2007 for just over $180,000, and put it up for online auction a month ago. The reserve bid was set at $359,000, which is much lower than the 2008 price where she tried to sell for $1.1 million. In 2009 Flecther tried to flip the town and sell for $495,000, but still no one was interested enough to purchase this tiny town of Wauconda. The rough economic conditions over the past couple years probably did not help, as few people had the time and money to invest in buying a remote town as an investment property.

With no luck selling the place through traditional means, Flecther put the town up for auction on Ebay where it got over 100 bids. As usual most of the bids were fake, and the few serious bidders just did not pan out. Luckily a couple from Bothell, Washington decided to close the deal and purchase the town via Ebay for $360,000. Maddie and Neal Love plan to move there soon, after they sell their home in Bothell, Washington.

April 6, 2010
By the ZippyCart Ecommerce Software Reviews Content Team

The 2009 Major League Baseball season saw a dip in attendance from their 2007 high, primarily due to the downturn in the economy and people not having as much disposable income to spend on fun things. People were struggling to keep their homes and find jobs after being laid off. Luckily the economy is slowly recovering, which should hopefully translate into more people buying baseball tickets online and at the stadium. This will be a big boost to the local economies where the various MLB teams are based, as fans spend more money at the stadiums on food, drinks, and merchandise. If online ticket sales pick back up, it is likely that online sales of MLB merchandise will increase in 2010.

Since the MLB season kicked off this week, the Internet has been buzzing with people searching for their baseball teams to find out how they will perform for the 2010 Major League Baseball season. Google Trends is full of baseball related keywords as President Obama threw out the first pitch at the Washington Nationals’ home opener against the Philadelphia Phillies. Obama was wearing the MLB gear from one of his favorite teams, The Chicago White Sox. The Obama first pitch is a big deal in the U.S., as baseball is our national past-time and it is important for people to continue to support the sport as it helps contribute to the local economies. People are also searching for their favorite teams as indicated by Google Trends, some of the more popular searches are for the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Texas Rangers. Hopefully this means that these teams will see an increase in ticket sales online and at the stadiums, in addition to in increase in online sales of MLB merchandise. Some of the most popular teams in the league, like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, have not been hurt as bad by the recession, but it is likely that all teams will benefit in 2010 as more people have the extra money to enjoy a game.

April 2, 2010
By the ZippyCart Ecommerce Software Reviews Content Team

Ecommerce giant Ebay is looking to increase their sales generated from mobile devices in 2010, of which the iPhone is the leading contributor. Ebay reports that the company is on pace to generate $1.5 billion in merchandise volume via the mobile sector in 2010. In order to facilitate this mobile sales growth, Ebay debuted two new iPhone apps and announced another app for the iPad which is expected to come out next week. Both Ebay iPhone apps are free, and will help compliment their original iPhone app which debuted in 2008. The company had strong success with their original iPhone app as they generated $600 million in total items sold on mobile devices in 2009. These new iPhone and iPad apps are already generating a lot of buzz, as Ebay buyers and sellers flock to review the new releases.

The two FREE iPhone apps Ebay announced cater to different markets, as a way to speed up the mobile buying and selling experience with sleeker and more targeted apps. One app is dubbed as “The Selling App” as it is a robust tool to allow sellers to list an item for sale in less than sixty seconds. This makes the mobile selling process a snap, as you have a streamlined app that only focuses on selling. On the other side of things you have the “Classifieds App” which is applicable for sellers and buyers, allowing them to easily find items that they want to buy locally, or list items on Ebay. With the addition of an iPad app, Ebay is well positioned to continue to grow their mobile sales in 2010 and beyond.

March 26, 2010
By the ZippyCart Ecommerce Software Content Team

ShopGala is becoming more popular with online deal hunters, who are comparing many coupon code sites to ensure they always get the best deal. There are already a variety of popular coupon code websites online like WeUseCoupons, RetailMeNot, and CouponCabin, but ShopGala hopes it can make a dent in the market. Consumers are enjoying the site because the primary focus is on coupon codes, so they can easily find what they need with minimal distractions. They also provide a section for shipping discounts and free shipping deals, that is very popular with consumers who hate to pay for shipping. In the very competitive coupon code space, ShopGala is trying to become the go-to source as it offers a massive amount of coupon codes for consumers to browse through when deal hunting.

The economic recession has forced many consumers to become savvier online shoppers, as they search for deals on almost everything they purchase. Many people are using ShopGala as a resource before checking out of their shopping cart, as they double check all of the items they intend to purchase to see if they can get a better deal. The site has a very robust search engine that allows you to search for brands or products that you are interested in finding a deal or coupon code. However it is unclear at this point if ShopGala or one of the other leaders in the coupon code space will prevail as the top source for deal hunters online. It will also be interesting to see if there are any mergers in the space, as many sites have similar offerings for consumers with their coupon code tools. If you are not already using coupon code sites when shopping online, you may be missing out on a number of money saving opportunities.

March 25, 2010
By the ZippyCart Ecommerce Software Content Team

Williams-Sonoma closed fiscal 2009 strong, and things are already looking up for the company in 2010. However this story is not all positive in that Williams-Sonoma expects to close out 2010 with less retail store locations than at the close of the last year. This is why Williams-Sonoma expects their ecommerce operations to help improve overall revenue, because they can operate that division with much lower overhead. They also have a strong catalog presence to keep in touch with all of their customers, all of this is tied into their ecommerce shop. Consumers love to browse for Williams-Sonoma goods online, especially those who are compiling their wedding registry with the site. Williams-Sonoma experienced a 15% increase in online sales for the fourth-quarter last year. These results are a big reason why Williams-Sonoma has a new focus on stepping up their online ecommerce efforts to capture more revenue from that channel.

Last year in the third-quarter, Williams-Sonoma launched their new ecommerce platform which will help them become more efficient as they increase their online sales. It will also help position them well for the 2010 holiday season, so that they can continue to expand market share and sales for the online channel. This shift to online is being seen worldwide by many other retailers, as they look to reduce costs and increase revenues. Consumers are also adopting online shopping more and more, so retailers are forced to follow their target market online to continue to capture the revenue. Williams-Sonoma is well positioned to establish a very strong online presence if they continue their efforts and dedication to ecommerce.