November 30, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

Many things have been said about Cleveland, Ohio: the mistake on the lake (remember the fire?), Lake Erie’s armpit, the heart of Rock & Roll (thanks Huey Lewis), or my personal favorite, Can’t-Leve-Land. I prefer Can’t-Leve-Land because, no matter how hard I try, I can never truly leave my hometown of Cleveland. Sure, maybe I’m 3,000 miles away living in Seattle, but in my heart, my home will always be in Cleveland. Yes, us Clevelanders are a rare bread. We root for the underdogs like the Browns (and now the Cavs sans Labron), go to work regardless of the weather (10 feet of snow? Who cares?!), aren’t ashamed to love Miller Lite, and in a gritty economy, Clevelanders band together to make the best of it. The latter has impacted Cleveland pretty hard, but savvy Clevelanders aren’t knocked down easily, so on Cyber Monday they took to the Internet and became the largest group in America searching for deals online.

According to Cleveland.com, “Internet searches for ‘Cyber Monday’ this year [were] about 30 percent higher per capita in Cleveland than the rest of the nation on average.” And don’t worry, I checked, it wasn’t just from my mom hopping onto Amazon.com to do all of her holiday shopping.

So where does this trend get us? According to Google’s retail industry director, Dan Schock, “people in Cleveland are more Internet savvy and know how to use the Internet as a shopping tool…The trend we’ve seen is the savvier, smarter Internet shopping.” As the economy dwindled, consumers took to the Internet to find the best deals and now, with the economy only beginning to recover, this new habit is becoming a way of life. In fact, more than 30% of Black Friday purchases were online this year and Cyber Monday revenues are expected to reach $1billion for the first time (compare to $887 million last year).

In Cleveland, consumers searched for all kinds of products including the latest toys like Squinkies (this year’s “gotta-have-it” item), tablets, TVs, and laptops (searches for laptops increased 50% this month in Cleveland).

While it’s been years since Cleveland has been given credit for setting any kind of a trend (how we miss those days of Rock & Roll), it seems that in the world of online shopping, Cleveland is on top… and as Cleveland goes, so goes the nation.

November 17, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

In the Chinese Zodiac, 2011 will be the year of the rabbit, but according to many experts 2011 is going to be the year of social commerce.

According to industry analyst Ovum, more and more retailers will be turning to e-commerce. They believe retailers will be hoping to harness social commerce across multiple platforms, including smartphones and even TVs for a more profitable year.

Retailers and advertisers have begun to recognize the possibilities and power of social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Interacting on an international level with an audience of  hundreds of millions of people  seemed a far too intimidating medium to get behind at first. Now Ovum estimates that this fear will change as 2011 rolls around and firms move to embrace the march of progress.

Says Christine Bardwell, Ovum analyst:

“Contrary to the current waves of cynicism in the UK retail sector, 2011 will be the year when social commerce will really take off.”

Bardwell explains that leading businesses in the UK are cautious to adopt e-commerce due to a concern of safe online shopping and the small number of actual online retail success stories.  ”However,” she said, “it offers good sales potential in 2011 and will be the big story in retail technology. It definitely should not be disregarded as a fad.” Still, there is something to be said for ecommerce “across the pond.”

Over the next fiscal year social commerce is expected to grow exponentially and leave behind its “faddish” stigma as well.

“Retailers will start to take a serious stance on social shopping in 2011 and we will see more and more products and services available for us to buy when we log on to catch up with our friends,” says Bardwell.

M-commerce and television shopping will also be expecting a significant increase in traffic. Bardwell explains that television shopping shows signs of opening up for retailers. ” We will start to see the option to click through consumers’ favourite soap operas or music videos to make a purchase.”

With multichannel shopping known to increase retail sales as much as a third, it’s important for retailers to keep up with the new trends of social commerce.

“Integrating all these channels is the key to driving repeat business, which is crucial as the days of high growth on the high street are over and the signs are that the online market is starting to mature and should not be relied on for long-term growth,” said Bardwell.

November 10, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

2010 has been a big year for the daily deal group buying industry, with sites like Groupon, LivingSocial, and Tippr taking this new ecommerce niche by storm.  Group buying sites offer a unique opportunity for members to get their hands on the best local deals.  This is done by displaying a daily deal with a purchase threshold.  Once enough sales of the deal have been made, the deal becomes active and working.  If you buy into a daily deal, but not enough people jump on board to buy the deal as well, you won’t be charged.  This system creates that win-win-win scenario that Michael Scott once worked so hard to achieve.  Companies win because they get hundreds of new customers, consumers win because they get great deals, and the group buying site wins because it takes a cut off the top for all the sales.

As competition has heated up among the top group buying sites out there, the major companies have rushed to provide their own unique innovations to make them stand out in the crowd.  Groupon, for instance, launched personalized deals and teamed with eBay to keep their brand growing. Specialty daily deal sites like Ethical Deal have also popped up, which take the group buying idea and spin it in a new direction.  Now, LivingSocial is taking group buying to a whole new level with their launch of weekly travel deals, called LivingSocial Escapes.

Once a week, members of LivingSocial will receive an email with the latest and greatest travel deal, featuring weekend getaways at discounts up to 90% off.  This is somewhat similar to Travelocity’s last-minute packages, but with a group buying spin.  The LivingSocial travel packages include both local getaways and destinations around the world.  This keeps with the theme of daily deals for local establishments, but lets users find a nice weekend getaway that’s right around the corner.  Unlike group buying though, these deals do not require a minimum number of purchases before the package is “active,” which makes some wonder if these are really the best possible travel deals out there.

LivingSocial has always had one perk that makes them unique in the space, which is the option to get the deal for free.  If you buy the deal, and then suggest it to your friends and 3 of them also buy the deal, you get yours for free.  This works great for local fair, but LivingSocial is carrying the same theme over to their travel section, giving you a chance to hit up your rich friends and get a free vacation out of your hard work.

Overall, this is a nice new twist to the world of group buying and daily deals, but one wonders how likely it is to succeed.  Consumers frequent group buying sites for the incredible deals that require little planning and allow for a quick, no-guilt purchase.  The no guilt comes from the prices resting around two digits.  LivingSocial is about to test whether people are willing to dig deeper into their pocket books, which requires more commitment and some possible regret when monthly bills come due.  The timing is also questionable, as not many consumers plan on spending beyond their holiday shopping budgets this time of year, so that extra self splurge may not come as readily as it will in 2011.  Time will tell whether this new system will work or not, but if Groupon jumps on the bandwagon, then we’ll all know that there’s even more money to be made in the space.

November 10, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

The competition between Google and Bing is heating up as Google continues to release “innovations” that are really a copy of Bing’s semi-unique user experience. But hey, imitation is the best form of flattery right? When Bing launched, the folks at Microsoft were re-branding their failing Live Search engine by positioning it as a decision engine, utilizing almost the same algorithm, but packaged in a new sleek design and an experience providing even more tools to the searcher that could help them decide what result to click on.

The next big weapon in Bing’s arsenal was their partnership with Yahoo, which has ported the Bing search algorithm into the Yahoo search engine, thus mirroring results between Bing and Yahoo and making it a two search engine world. This, combined with a user experience that many consumers are enjoying, has led Google to launch a variety of changes (or subtle copies of Bing) to their search experience, in an effort to maintain their stronghold in the industry. These changes have included the addition of your social graph in search results, a left sidebar filled with options allowing the searcher to drill down deeper, instant search results, and now Google plans on rolling out a site preview feature.

While all of these new tools are great for the searcher, how will they impact your site performance?

To answer this question, it’s first important to discuss what a site preview feature actually is. Google’s new site preview will be rolled out over the next few days and will allow users to view a website before clicking through to it from search results. So, if someone is searching for ugly Christmas sweaters for the holiday, and your site lists on page one, the searcher can click on a magnifying glass next to your listing to get a preview of what you have to offer. From there, they can truly judge a book by its cover and determine whether or not they want to click through to visit your site.

Bing has had a very similar feature, which keeps searchers from clicking on a bunch of results and allows them to spend more time on Bing as they work to narrow down their options and make a more confident and informed decision when clicking on a search result. This new feature in Google will decrease click through rates, which could decrease your traffic.

So what can you do about this?

It has never been more important to improve your website design than ever. As site preview rolls out, your website will be judged by a small thumbnail image before many users decide to actually visit it. Make sure your site is well organized, clean, and unique. If your website is using a template, check to see if others in your niche are using a similar template. If they are, consider changing your template to ensure that your site stands out from the crowd. If you operate an online store, consider placing a decent sized sale banner in a featured section, this will provide possible customers with an enticing image to click in Google’s new search results.

How can you predict what will happen?

Luckily, what Google is doing isn’t new. As mentioned, Bing has had a similar feature since it launched in June 2009. As such, hop into your analytics and check your performance in Bing. Compare your keyword rankings in Bing vs. Google and see which search engines have a higher click through rate. You may find that your site performs better in Bing, which means you can rest easy. On the other hand, if you find that your click through rate in Bing is far less, then there’s much work to do.

It’s likely that Google will continue to innovate, because website owners are not their customers, searchers are. Because of this, Google will always work to improve their user experience and give more people a reason to use Google as their go-to search engine, even if that means copying the competition.

November 10, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

Over the past couple years, there has been a new type of party for the holiday season that is gaining in popularity, and that unique theme comes in the form of an ugly Christmas sweater party. Some people hold generic ugly sweater parties, but the holiday season is the peak time for these events, as most of the ugly sweaters people wear have a holiday theme. Last year when we covered the trend, there were not many ecommerce sites aggressively competing in the space, as UglyChristmasSweaterParty.com seemed to be one of the only leaders in the niche. Things have evolved this year, with more and more ecommerce sites attacking the ugly sweater market, as consumers go hunting for the ugliest sweater they can find to stand out at their upcoming ugly Christmas sweater party. In late 2008 during the holiday season, popular website StuffWhitePeopleLike.com called out ugly sweater parties as a popular trend (which white people enjoy) during the month of December.

While many of us of might have an ugly Christmas sweater hidden somewhere deep in the closet, there are thousands of people each year looking to purchase one online for a holiday party. New niche ecommerce sites look to have stepped up their game over the past year, as a quick search on Google reveals a number of sites all fighting for consumer attention. Additionally, eBay is also a popular destination for online shoppers searching for an ugly Christmas sweater, as a lot of online sellers look to make a quick buck for the holiday season. Many of the ecommerce sites in the ugly sweater niche look a bit basic, or even outdated, but there are a couple competitors in the space who have created a slightly more current looking ecommerce experience. Below are three of the better looking sites competing to win over consumers in their search for the ugliest sweater to wear this year at a holiday party.

UglySweaterShoppe.com – This site has a clean and simple layout, plus they have a lot of great deals on very ugly sweaters that would work well for any ugly Christmas sweater party. When you take a look under the hood, you will see that the ecommerce site is powered by 3dcart, which is a very popular ecommerce software solution among small online businesses.

BuyUglySweaters.com – This site has a fun design and easy to use navigation that will allow anyone to quickly find an ugly sweater that meets their needs. In looking closer at the ecommerce technology, you see that the site is powered by ZenCart, which is a free shopping cart solution. ZenCart is not for novices, as BuyUglySweaters looks to have partnered with San Diego based Cofa Media to design a nice looking ecommerce website.

ButtUglySweaters.com – This site has a funky logo that matches their unique name, and consumers can find a variety of ugly sweaters on the ecommerce site. In terms of design and ecommerce software, the site went with Ascender Cart, which looks to be a new player in the market out of Oklahoma.

So if you’re looking to find an ugly sweater for a holiday party this year, or maybe you are a merchant looking for a way to make some extra cash, checkout these sites and see what they have to offer.

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

Earlier this month it was reported by The Wall Street Journal that Google will soon release an improved version of Google Product Search, as the Internet giant looks to dominate the comparison shopping niche. In the summer, Google made a strategic purchase of Like.com, which is a comparison shopping engine focused on searching in a visual way. The Wall Street Journal reports that Google will leverage the technology they acquired from Like.com to take Google Product Search to the next level, but it is not 100% clear as to all the changes that will be made to the service. Earlier in the summer, Microsoft had announced that Bing Shopping was now going to be free for qualified select sellers who meet their eligibility requirements. This was part of the larger overall marketing efforts for Bing to gain market share as a search engine, as they also want to be a leader in consumer product searches. Both Microsoft and Google want to own a large portion of these highly sought after product searches, as they are some of the most valuable online search requests out there.

The comparison shopping space is tricky in that there are a number of sites which people visit to compare prices including eBay, Amazon, Craigslist, Overstock, and even Become.com. However Google is already a go-to site that people use for their online searching, so all they need to do is find out a smart way to funnel those people into using Google Product Search. Currently the homepage of Google Product Search is quite minimal in the traditional Google style, but the functionality of the service is quite powerful and accurate when it comes to finding what the consumer wants. Google has made enhancement to the product search service over the last year, and even put out Google Shopper to attract people to use the site on their mobile phones.

Despite the efforts thus far from Google, Amazon and eBay are still the leaders in the world of product searches. Consumers view Amazon and eBay as a destination for online shopping, whereas most view Google as a place for online searching. Shifting the mindset of consumers is not an easy thing to do, but Google definitely has the resources to try and make it happen when it comes to online product searches.

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

Isn’t Black Friday supposed to be the day after Thanksgiving?  Any normal consumer would say yes, but things are changing for Black Friday 2010.  Starting tomorrow, Black Friday deals will go into effect at well known retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and Sears (to name a few).  Over the past few years, Black Friday has been in heavy competition with Cyber Monday in the same way that retail stores are losing customers to online stores.  Last year, we saw this competition heat up as both online and offline retailers announced Black Friday deals a week early.  This year, retailers are going one step further by launching deals weeks in advance, turning everyday in November into Black Friday.

The deals begin with Sears, who is launching their first Sears Black Friday Now sales weekend.  Special deals will be available both Friday and Saturday between 8am and 12pm at Sears stores nationwide as well as on their revamped Sears.com.  Amazon and Best Buy are getting into the mix too, with two different events.  Amazon is having a big Electronics Sale on Friday and Best Buy is having a Black Friday Phone Sale tomorrow.  Other major retailers are also stepping up their game with special offers and promotions that they are relating to Halloween weekend.

Some of tomorrow’s Black Friday Now deals include:

• 20% off all Craftsman Power Lawn & Garden and Outdoor Storage
• Over 30% off Frigidaire appliances
• Huge savings on LCD TVs
• Clothing discounts
• Huge discounts on diamond and sapphire rings

Sears also plans to continue their “Now” sales events with Real Deals Now (Dec. 1-2 and Dec. 8-9), Wow Now (Dec. 3-4 and Dec. 10-11), and Christmas Now (Dec 17-18 and Dec. 22-24).

Given all of the expanded deals and the month of Black Friday, Time Magazine asks a good question: How do you know which Friday is the blackest?  The answer is that the day after Thanksgiving will still likely have the best deals, but for people who don’t want to wait in long lines, there’s plenty of comparable deals both online and offline, starting tomorrow.