December 1, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

The successes of both Black Friday and Cyber Monday are encouraging signs for the ecommerce industry. Merchants worked hard this season to draw shoppers to their online stores and get them to fill their shopping carts. Record numbers of consumers flocked to retailers online storefronts to make purchases making it apparent that consumer confidence in online spending is at an all time high.

Although 2011 greeted merchants with many opportunities in the thriving ecommerce sphere, 2012 is sure to bring them unmatched success. The new technology and tools available in the marketplace in 2011 have helped retailers greatly increase sales and will only become further refined and useful in 2012. With the amount of competition in the ecommerce industry, 2011 brought innovation and diversity among retailers. 2012 will see retailers build upon new revenue streams and refine last year’s innovations.

To ensure success in the upcoming year, merchants should pay close attention to the 6 ecommerce trends for 2012 outlined below.

6 Emerging Ecommerce Trends For 2011

Personalization

We recently spoke with co-founder and CTO of Baynote, Dr. Scott Brave, regarding the importance of leveraging new forms of personalization on ecommerce solutions. Personalization is moving away from the old-school idea of simply creating personalized greetings on a web page into complex personalization that is behaviorally infused. Brave suggests for success in 2012, retailers will need to focus their personalization efforts on shoppers “real time interest and intent.” We are moving beyond the days of reaching consumers through demographic and other types of segmentation. Retailers must now be in touch with what consumers are thinking and feeling at the specific moment they are shopping. According to Brave, retailers can gain access to this information by collecting consumers behavioral signals. Behavior signals include where shoppers are engaging, where they are spending their time online, what words and phrases they use to find products on search engines, etc. Old methods of personalization do not gather any information on consumer interest and intent and therefore will not efficiently leverage the benefits of personalization as we will see it in 2012.

Online and Offline Integration

Online and offline integration is also a developing trend that will only become more vital to retailer success in 2012. This integration is taking on a completely new meaning than it had in 2011. Throughout the past year, integrating on and offline shopping simply meant offering features such as in-store pick of products purchased online. However, the type of integration ecommerce solutions will see trending in 2012 is bringing the offline shopping experience to the online marketplace. This can take the form of social shopping, extra personalization, one click checkout and more. Websites like sneakpeeq have engaged in this trend by creating online social shopping experiences that match the offline experience. Additionally, PayPal opened a pop-up store in New York City to show users how they plan to integrate on and offline shopping in the new year.

Whether retailers are prepared for it, or not, shoppers are already integrating these two spheres in their own way. Consumers rely on their smartphones almost immediately upon entering brick-and-mortar stores in order to look up online reviews and price comparisons. Retailers should use this integration to their advantage by designing physical storefronts to accommodate interface with ecommerce solutions through consumers use and reliance on smartphones.

Mobile Commerce

Continuing on from online and offline integration, retailers in 2012 must have a handle on their mobile commerce solutions. Consumers are embracing mobile commerce more than ever and mobile is now strategically important for all retailers. PayPal reported a 516% increase in global mobile payments this Black Friday compared to Black Friday 2010. Furthermore, there was a reported 371% increase in the amount of consumers shopping on mobile devices this Black Friday from the same day in 2010. In addition, mobile commerce solutions could see a shift from apps to m-sites in 2012. It may be time for merchants to ditch apps in favor of m-sites as shoppers are increasing looking to m-sites due to their immediacy.

Marketplace Optimization

Marketplace Optimization is a fairly new term coined by Zoovy but has potential to be a big ecommerce trend in 2012. It is an important tool for merchants who depend on business gained through their storefronts on marketplaces like Amazon or eBay. On these marketplaces, merchants aim to be the highest ranked seller when it comes down to consumers deciding on purchases. Competition on marketplaces is stiff and sellers need ways to separate themselves from others who offer identical products. Marketplace optimization is the idea is that merchants can increase their ranking and position on marketplaces, thus close more sales when a competitive price isn’t enough. Zoovy has developed specific techniques to help merchants achieve marketplace optimization and improve performance and plans to announce these techniques in January 2012.

F-Commerce

Facebook commerce thus far has been a lot about experimentation for retailers, but with growing success in the area it is important for retailers to add a sales channel to their social strategy in 2012. Although f-commerce has mostly been in the testing stage, F-commerce will prove to extremely valuable for retailers, especially with the growing amount of users who “liked” and shared products in their news feeds in 2011.

Social shopping through Facebook is also gaining popularity with platforms like Shopcade and sneakpeeq, both of which attempt to recreate the offline shopping experience using an online platform (ahem, online and offline integration). Facebook commerce is beneficial for both these sites due to the amount of likes and shares products receive from shoppers using these apps. Although Facebook has been slower starting in the ecommerce scene than originally expected, consumers are beginning to feel more comfortable making purchases through social media outlets, making F-commerce a trend that will only gain momentum in 2012.

Video Commerce

As we’ve seen with Shazam’s new technology, Shazam for TV, the ability to purchase products seen on television or other kinds of video media is gaining momentum. Currently, Shazam for TV has partnered with television shows in order to allow audiences to access products from their mobile devices while watching certain television programs. In 2012, video commerce will continue to be further developed in the ecommerce sphere as follows: Suppose you are on a brand’s online store and there is a video of someone in a particular outfit, you might click on her skirt and move it into your cart. This video commerce is different than what it looked like 2011, as consumers will not only see automated products videos. The video commerce trend of 2012 is moving beyond automated product videos and becoming an interactive process where shoppers can access products they see on TV at the same moment they are watching it. Ecommerce solutions who can leverage this technology will put themselves ahead of the pack in 2012.

Moving Forward

There are several trends that were considered for this list such as group buying, private sales sites and push shopping. Push shopping and private sales sites are definitely still relevant, but are not new or emerging trends for 2012. As far as group buying, it’s hard to say if it will continue to be a relevant trend considering the ups and downs Groupon has experienced on the road to their IPO. Although Groupon and competitor Living Social met some success this past weekend on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it’s difficult to be certain whether they will continue to thrive in 2012.

Opportunities and methods for connecting with customers and making sales are constantly evolving. As merchants prepare for the new year, they should consider trying out a couple of these emerging trends. With the increasing amount of consumers turning to online storefronts to make purchase, there will inevitably be more new trends that pop up in upcoming months.

This year’s Cyber Monday attracted record numbers of online shoppers, making it a huge success for retailers as expected.

According to IBM Benchmark, sales this year were up 33 percent from 2010. Online shoppers also spent more, the average customer order was $198.26 compared to $193.24 last year. In accordance with 2011 holiday shopping season trends, a record number of Cyber Monday shoppers made purchases from smartphones and tablets. 10.8 percent of people visited ecommerce solutions from a mobile device, more than double the amount that did so last year.

IBM’s fourth annual Cyber Monday Benchmark study has not released a figure about total spending yesterday, but all indicators point to spending reaching the predicted $1.2 million. Many holiday shoppers prefer Cyber Monday to Black Friday because they can avoid the crowds, chaos, and pepper spray that has become the day after Thanksgiving. Although many retailers still offer online deals on Black Friday, online sales were 29.3 percent higher on Monday. John Squire, chief strategy officer of IBM’s Smarter Commerce team, said the following in a statement:

“Retailers that adopted a smarter approach to commerce, one that allowed them to swiftly adjust to the shifting shopping habits of their customers, whether in-store, online or via their mobile device, were able to fully benefit from this day and the entire holiday weekend.”

Consumers filled their shopping carts with deals like a 47-inch LG TV from Wal-Mart for $320 less than the regular price, Amazons Kindle DX for $120 off, and a $200 gift certificate from LivingSocial for $100. Online shopping traffic peaked before and after work hours, it appears that getting caught shopping while at the office was a concern for many Americans.

In preparation for Cyber Monday, the feds shut down and seized the domains of 150 websites believed to be selling counterfeit products or copyrighted works. The FBI reportedly made undercover purchases of goods such as counterfeit sports jerseys, DVDs, golf clubs, footwear, and more. The Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Border Control joined the FBI in the operation to seize the 150 domains, bringing the total number of such seizures to 350 since June 2010.

The majority of seized domains were targeted for selling counterfeit clothing but ecommerce solutions selling pirated music and other copyrighted works were also included in the operation. Many of the domain names were registered in the U.S. but operated from abroad from countries like China. The operation was timed to coincide with Cyber Monday in an effort to protect holiday shoppers from getting duped into purchasing counterfeit goods thinking that they are getting a great holiday deal.

November 28, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Holiday shopping season 2011 got off to a great start with retailers reporting record-breaking Black Friday sales in both brick-and-mortar and online storefronts. According to research by comScore released yesterday, online sales in the U.S. surged on Black Friday and generated an estimated $816 million, up from $648 million last Black Friday. Brick-and-mortar retail sales dwarfed that number with a reported $11.4 billion in sales on Black Friday alone.

The report released by comScore showed that ecommerce spending on Black Friday jumped 26% this year, even though researchers thought brick-and-mortar store deals would detract from the amount of consumers opting to shop online. Also reported, overall traffic on ecommerce websites was up 35% from last year. The ecommerce solutions who boasted the most consumer traffic were Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Target and Apple.

Gian Fulgoni, comScore chairman, further explained the research:

“Amazon.com once again led the pack, with 50% more visitors than any other retailer, while also showing the highest growth rate versus last year. However, it is telling that the top multi-channel retailers also showed strong growth in visitors, demonstrating the importance of the online channel to the retail industry as a whole.”

U.S. shoppers have spent $12.7 billion online so far this holiday season, which is up 15% compared in 2010, comScore also reported. Online traffic and consumer spending online are both expected to be surpassed today, Cyber Monday.

Cyber Monday spending has been predicted to reach a record $1.2 billion, which, if Black Friday spending is some indication, will prove to be a low estimate. If profits reach $1.2 billion (and we’re assuming they will) it will mark only the second time ever that a billion dollars in ecommerce sales has occurred in one day. Last year, Cyber Monday was the most profitable day for online spending throughout 2010 and this year has already seen a 15% increase in sales from Cyber Monday 2010.

Ecommerce giant Amazon and competitor Best Buy are making a big Cyber Monday push with outstanding deal offerings. Shoppers looking for electronics, toys and other products can take advantage of deep discounts found on both Amazon and Best Buy in addition to Overstock.com and Barnes and Noble. Overstock and Barnes and Noble shoppers can take advantage of exceptional deals offered today only.

Amazon and mega-retailer Walmart are taking Cyber Monday a step further and transforming the “holiday” into a full week of online shopping. Consumers will find lightning deals on Amazon along with other discounts on Walmart.com for the rest of the week.

November 23, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, Shopcade has introduced a new social shopping application for Facebook users. Launched yesterday, Shopcade attempts to offer the millions of users on Facebook a true social shopping experience. The app allows users to browse, buy, and share products while earning cash rewards.

Shopcade has a catalog of over 40 million products from 20,000 brands in categories like fashion, electronics, books and movies, home decor, beauty and more. Users set up “Shopcades,” or personalized lists of products they want to share with friends through their social network. To assist users in finding desirable products, the application collects product data and displays trending products in real-time. Another unique feature is the product recommendation feed, which provides suggestions of products users may be interested in based on their activity and “likes” on Facebook. Also on the Shopcade home page, shoppers can stay up-to-date with information about what their friends are adding and buying.

Shopcade founder and CEO, Nathalie Gavaeu explained the application:

“Shopcade leverages the power of Facebook to the benefit of consumers and brands alike. It turns the ‘social network’ into the ‘social shopping network,’ allowing 800 million socially-connected people to shop, share and be rewarded all in one place. Rather than brands dictating what people should buy, Shopcade empowers people to share products that actually matter with each other. Now the customers are in control.”

Retailers are increasingly trying their hand at tapping into the growing social media population by creating effective “social” shopping experiences. In a survey conducted by Shopcade and YouGov 60% of social media users in the United States between the ages of 18 and 54 admitted their shopping decisions are, to some extent, influenced by their friends activity on their social networks. However, social media users usually don’t look to social networking websites to satisfy their shopping needs.

Harish Abbott, co-founder of social shopping platform Sneakpeeq had this to say regarding the difficulty of tapping into Facebook commerce:

“People don’t go to Facebook to shop. They never have.”

In order to reach social media users in a way that changes this trend, a social shopping application must be creative. Abbott suggests using “Facebook norms” and making applications game-like to spark user curiosity and interest. Sneakpeeq, which recently moved out of beta, offers an innovative social shopping experience by combining components of flash sales, gaming, and social networking. By leveraging game-like features, Sneakpeeq has captivated users and found success much success in Facebook commerce.

Shopcade attempts to produce a creative social shopping experience of their own by offering users several unique features including: Top-trending products, top-trending Shopcades, easy browsing and filtering, mutual rewards when a product is purchased from a friend’s Shopcade, personalized recommendations, and a personal URL, which allows users to add their Shopcade to blogs and other social media websites.

Launched just in time for the holiday shopping season, Shopcade is optimistic about the role social media will play in consumer spending.

November 23, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

It’s that time of year again, time for you to be thinking about what gifts to get the geek in your family this holiday shopping season. We have compiled a list of different ideas for your shopping cart, available from ThinkGeek.com, that will appeal to geeks of all ages.

Sci-Fi Geek Gifts

For the Star Trek geek in your family how about a Star Trek Enterprise Pizza Cutter? This officially licensed Star Trek collectible is a laser etched stainless steel pizza cutter in the form of the NCC-1701 Enterprise from the original Star Trek show. The Enterprise’s warp drive technology makes it the most powerful pizza cutter in the galaxy, and it looks great sitting on the counter too!

If the sci-fi geek in your life is more of the Star Wars type, maybe a Star Wars R2-D2 Folding Armchair is just what they need. The nylon camp chair is a fully licensed Lucasfilm collectible, perfect for that outdoor movie showing of one of the Star Wars films. Your Star Wars geek will feel like they are piloting an X-Wing with R2-D2 in the back when they sit down in this armchair.

Kid Geek Gifts

If your kid is going to be taking part in any snowball fights this winter, you want them equipped with the best snowball fight technology, right? With the Snowball Launching Crossbow your kid will be prepared to take on hordes of neighborhood children from behind the protective walls of a snow fort. Simply load in a snowball, pull back, and the crossbow will launch the snowball like a slingshot, sending it flying towards the enemy. This kid geek gift also comes with a plastic target sheet to train for battle.

For the growing spy in your family, you can’t go wrong with a set of SpyNet Night Vision Binoculars. The binoculars use actual infrared technology that allows the wearer to see up to 50 feet in the pitch dark. The long and short range settings make them perfect for spygames indoors and out. Every spy needs to go on night missions and having a set of functional night vision binoculars greatly increases the chances of mission success.

Office Geek Gifts

Maybe the grown geek in your life has a little trouble keeping their office space organized. They could use a Mini Shopping Cart Desktop Organizer. The shrunken down metal and plastic replica of a shopping cart is perfect for storing loose items like pens, change, or those keys they can’t seem to keep track of. It works just like a real shopping cart too, you could stack several together and wheel one out when you need more storage space.

Everyone needs a little distraction at work every now and then, this next gift idea combines two awesome distractions: zombies and bowling. Zombie Desktop Bowling is a miniature bowling set that comes with wooden pins painted like zombies and two miniature wooden bowling balls painted like bombs. Set it up on your desk and try to bowl down all the zombies without hitting the one pin that is painted like a human.

We hope you found these ideas from ThinkGeek useful and good luck shopping for the geek in your life this holiday season!

November 22, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

It’s still days before notorious Black Friday, but a series of e-tailers have already launched unbeatable deals. Amazon.com along with Walmart, Toys “R” Us, Sears, Target, and eBay are currently hosting Black Friday deals on their online stores- all of which started 4 days early! Featured deals from these ecommerce giants cover a broad range of categories including electronics, books, movies, sporting goods, and toys.

However, it should be mentioned that not everyone is as excited about these early deals as we are; a host of retailers are facing opposition from the “Respect the Bird” campaign. This group is strongly opposed to retailers who are offering Black Friday deals on or before Thanksgiving Day. Supporters of the “Respect the Bird” campaign believe the prominence of the Thanksgiving holiday is diminished by shopper’s obsession with getting the best holiday deals.

While we understand the concerns of the “Respect the Bird” campaign, we think a little pre-Black Friday shopping never hurt anyone! Although most deals started yesterday, there are still many great savings shoppers can still get their hands on. Amazon has hundreds of Black Friday deals already available to shoppers, including lightening deals. Lightening deals are extra special savings only available for a certain period of time (usually a couple hours). Shoppers will need to visit Amazon’s site themselves to check out currently available lightening deals, but there are many deals available all week long.  Below we have highlighted a few of the best Black Friday deals Amazon is offering this week.

Amazon Black Friday Deals on Electronics

Haier L32D1120 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV- For those shoppers looking for a brand new LCD High-Definition TV to fulfill a loved ones wish list, this Haier television is currently on sale for $199.99. With it’s sleek and attractive design it fits in any room of the home and has top-of-the-line features such as PC Input, USB input for digital photos and music, and multiple HD inputs.

Fujifilm FinePix F505- This camera boasts 16 MP CMOS Sensor and 15x Optical Zoom Digital Camera with 4 GB Class 10 SD Memory Card. It would be a great gift for the amateur photographers who prefer a point-and-shoot camera but don’t want to sacrifice photo quality. This week only, the FinePix F505 can be snagged for just $199.00.

Amazon Black Friday Deals for DVDs and Blue-Ray

Bridesmaids- Get your hands on one of the most hilarious comedies of the year just in time for Black Firday for only $9.99. For those without a Blue-Ray player, Bridesmaids on DVD can be picked up for only $5.99 on Amazon this week.

HappyFeet- For those with children on their holiday shopping agenda, Happy Feet (2007) in Blue-Ray can be purchased for under $10 as well.

Amazon Black Friday Deals for Toys and Games

Fisher-Price Disney’s Rock Star Mickey- This week only, Rock Star Mickey is on sale for $39.97. Mickey is the perfect gift for children between the ages of 2 and 6 years old. He jams on his guitar, says cool phrases, and can even drop down into the splits.

LeapFrog Leapster Educational Game Dora the Explorer- Select LeapFrog games are 50% off this week on Amazon, including the Leapster Educational Game Dora the Explorer.  Children between 4 and 6 can choose between 5 different learning games to help Dora save the animals. Available this week for the special Black Friday price of $12.49.

For a more comprehensive list of toys and games, Amazon’s 2011 Holiday Toy List was released at the beginning of the month.

November 21, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Just in time for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Southwest Airlines has launched Rapid Rewards Shopping, a new online program through which loyalty members can earn points by redeeming special offers from hundreds of online retailers. The launch of Southwest’s Rapid Rewards Shopping program marks the first time frequent fliers will be able to accrue rewards points from their online purchases.

Rapid Rewards Shopping operates similar to most other credit card reward programs. Once members are logged into their Rapid Rewards Shopping account, they will be presented with online sales and promotions from partnered retailers. When shoppers access one of those retailers’ websites and make a purchase, they will be granted rewards points. The Rapid Rewards website will also have useful features such as an integrated search, current promotions, price comparison tool and personalized recommendations for customers.

Southwest’s Rapid Rewards program is powered by Cartera Commerce, which provides card-linked marketing solutions. Cartera’s platform will allow the airline company to access retailer offers using its Offer Cloud. It will also allow Southwest to display offers on several marketing channels, track offer redemption, and distribute Rapid Rewards points. The Cartera platform also ensures users security and privacy.

Director of Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards, Jonathan Clarkson discussed the new program:

“We are continually looking to add ways for our Members to earn points, and what better time than the holidays to add shopping at top online retailers to the mix. We selected Cartera because they have the most comprehensive offer platform that meets our needs today and gives us the flexibility to easily expand the program in the future. We expect our Members will be delighted with the program.”

Southwest will also attempt to get their piece of the Cyber Monday pie by running a special promotion of the Rapid Rewards Shopping program. On Cyber Monday, shoppers will accumulate double rewards points when purchases are made from Home Depot, Macy’s, Sears and Barnes & Noble. With the projection that shoppers will spend an average of $516 on gifts this holiday season, millions of points could potentially be awarded to members of Southwest’s new program.

The Rapid Rewards program has over 700 participating online retailers and will feature deals from a variety of product categories including electronics, home improvement, clothing, music, and more. As of now the program is only available for online shoppers, but Southwest plans to expand Rapid Rewards Shopping by adding new rewards channels in 2012.

November 21, 2011
By the Zippycart Content Team

Spotzot is a deal targeting platform that allows retailers to target customers with offers and coupons based on location and intent.

The platform searches thousands of sources for in-store and online promotions every day and then categorizes the deals and delivers them through free publisher APIs. The promotions and coupons are displayed on shopping apps and websites such as ShopSavvy, Shopkick, CardStar, and Geodelic and are valid at more than 400,000 merchant locations. Spotzot’s targeting technology presents deals that are based on a user’s location, interests, and shopping behaviors. The ecommerce solution provides users with a personalized shopping experience that allows them access to in-store and online deals for their favorite brands and products and from nearby retailers.

During early testing of the patent-pending technology, 45 percent of people who clicked on a merchant page demonstrated clear purchase intent by clicking on the same deal two or more times from multiple locations. Matt Weathers, Head of Product fro ShopSavvy, had this to say:

“Spotzot’s APIs made it easy for us to quickly introduce deals into our mobile application, giving us broad control over how we display and target content.”

The company announced Thursday that it has acquired $2.2 million in Series A funding led by Cervin Ventures, Inventus Capital Partners, and TiE-Silicon Valley Angels. The new funding will be used to grow Spotzot’s ecommerce solution platform and fund sales, engineering, and operations growth. John Dougery, Managing Director of Inventus Capital Partners, said the following:

“Spotzot’s extraordinarily high consumer intent and engagement proves they have a more effective way for brands and merchants to target consumers and improve campaign performance. We believe they have the right technology innovations, domain expertise and savvy management team to make a major impact in the retail space.”

The Santa Clara-based company was founded in 2009 by Bobby Jadhav and Sanjay Mittal. Spotzot is one of the first deal targeting platforms to connect online and in-store shopping experiences to help retailers reach customers at exactly the right moment based on location and intent. Jadhav has said that the platform fills two key market needs, it fills a need for publishers by providing an accurate and dependable source of everyday shopping and dining offers to attract a broad customer following, and it allows advertisers to increase the relevance with which they reach millions of potential customers. The network of shopping apps and websites that display deals using Spotzot’s deal targeting technology is growing rapidly, providing shoppers with increased access to deals on favorite items for their shopping carts.

November 18, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

BookRenter, a college textbook rental ecommerce solution, this week announced plans to expand its local services. The San Mateo-based leader in textbook rentals provides a unique platform on which students can rent textbooks both online and directly from on-campus bookstores. The BookRenter platform allows students to rent textbooks for a specified period of time, which creates savings of up to 80% off the price of purchasing a new book. Currently, over 5,000 campus bookstores partner with BookRenter in order to offer students the best possible prices on expensive textbooks.

For increased convenience, the ecommerce solution also offers a RapidReturn service at several campus stores. RapidReturn gives students the option of returning rented textbooks to a local drop-off rather than packaging and sending them back via mail. On Wednesday BookRenter announced plans expand its RapidReturn services and open 115 new locations.

Mehdi Maghsoodnia, CEO of BookRenter, discussed the benefits of BookRenter’s services:

“Traditional online shopping provides consumers with access to better prices and a much greater selection, but sacrifices the convenience of local service. The BookRenter Platform enables college stores to offer the best in price, selection, and local service in ways no online company can match, and in the end, the students and schools reap the benefits.”

Schools have indeed reaped the benefits, reporting an 180% increase textbook rental revenue year over year. Many campus stores attribute increased revenue to the traffic lured in by BookRenter customers. The savings offered by BookRenter draws students into campus bookstores and makes them a more attractive place to shop.

Campus stores are able to better serve student needs by partnering with BookRenter. BookRenter offers 3 unique features that benefit both schools and students. These features include:

• RapidReturn. RapidReturn allows students to easily return textbooks to an on-campus store location, which helps the stores due to increased traffic and sales.
• Mobile price comparison. BookRenter offers a “Snapshot Mobile” feature, which students can use to compare book prices on their phones. This not only helps to inform the students’ purchase, but it also boosts the probability that a transaction will occur in-store.
• Pick up in-store. This feature gives students the option of picking up their online rentals at a physical store location.

BookRenter currently supports a database of over 5.5 million textbooks and serves millions of students at thousands of college campuses. The service, founded in 2006, has saved students upwards of $150 million on textbooks. Also, every time a book is rented,  the company makes a donation to First Book, an organization that gives new books to children in need.

November 18, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

BigCommerce recently announced that it now powers more than 20,000 online stores and retailers who use the ecommerce solution have processed a total of more than $350 million in sales.

Launched in 2009, the ecommerce software company has grown to nearly 100 employees and plans to hire more than 100 employees throughout the next few months. The rapid growth of BigCommerce has been supported by increased online spending and growing numbers of merchants selling online. The company currently has two offices, one in Austin, Texas and one in Sydney, Australia. Eddie Machaalani, co-founder of BigCommerce, had this to say:

“The boom in ecommerce is continuing to fuel our success and the growth of the business. We’re hiring people across all departments and we’re focused on making our clients successful by continually improving our product and by providing amazing support 24 hours a day.”

In addition to an easy-to-use store builder, BigCommerce ecommerce software provides online merchants with a set of more than 25 built-in marketing tools that allow them to do things like SEO, selling on Facebook, coupon codes, email marketing, and mobile commerce. Retailers who power their online stores with BigCommerce have sold a combined more than 30 million items to more than 230 million unique visitors. The average number of items per transaction is 7.6. Mitchell Harper, co-founder of BigCommerce, said the following:

“Our platform allows even the most non-technical business owner to really generate huge returns from ecommerce.”

The latest announcement from the company comes after it landed $15 million in Series A financing back in April. Additionally, the company recently launched its new application programming interface and is working with developers to build on the API platform. Harper had this to say about the platform:

“Ecommerce isn’t a one-size-fits-all business and our new API allows third party developers and integrators to build on the BigCommerce platform. Disparate systems such as accounting, ERP, email marketing and POS can now be tied into BigCommerce effortlessly thanks to the API and gives our clients unlimited flexibility whether they’re starting from scratch or looking to integrate BigCommerce into their existing business processes.”

A basic BigCommerce plan for online merchants starts at $25 a month making it an affordable and effective tool for both small and large businesses. A free trial is also available. The Australian-based company is currently the leading platform in the Australian ecommerce market and has partnerships with some of the country’s major vendors like eWay, Australia Post, and MYOB.

November 17, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

E-tailers are more optimistic this holiday season, according to a holiday survey conducted by Alibaba.

Alibaba is one of the largest business-to-business online marketplaces and owns Vendio and Auctiva, both of which provide online merchants with ecommerce software solutions. Alibaba recently conducted a survey of over 1200 online merchants to gain an understanding of e-tailer insights about sales and trends this holiday season.

The survey yielded some interesting results such as a majority of e-tailers are feeling upbeat and optimistic about this holiday season, women are likely to spend 4 times as much money as men and word-of-mouth marketing tactics will be the primary focus of most e-tailers.

Optimism is trumping gloom this holiday season and 64% of survey respondents said they plan to use the theme of optimism to market their holiday products. 60% of e-tailers will use an optimistic marketing theme that will employ the use of bright and bold colors and avoid conservative designs with dull color schemes. In addition, 70% said they have altered their products to reflect this trend.

Linda Kozlowski, director of global marketing and customer experience at Alibaba.com, had this to say about e-tailers using optimism as a primary marketing tactic:

“Alibaba.com understands the value of optimism. Our online community is driven by innovation, providing a marketplace for entrepreneurs with a vision of new or improved products. Despite our global economic woes, this spirit of entrepreneurship is not flagging in the U.S. – which is good news for consumers and the market as a whole.”

The survey also confirmed something most of us already know- women are better planners than men. Responses showed men are much more likely to make last-minute expensive purchases, while women will ask more questions before purchases, are more price-conscious, and buy earlier. However, women are expected to spend four times as much as men this holiday shopping season.

Another trend the survey found is that shoppers will spend more on themselves than on gifts for others while holiday shopping this year. Even a majority of e-tailers surveyed admitted they will spend more on themselves; 62% of respondents agreed that they will spend the same amount or less on gifts for others compared to how much they will spend on themselves.

Also, a good portion of online retailers will be offering deals on shipping; 47% will give customers free ground shipping and 43% promise deals of expedited shipping. For those shoppers looking to snag some great deals, you better start shopping today. Most e-tailers responded that deals will begin mid-November and drop-off by mid-December.

Below is an infographic produced by Alibaba that highlights the most notable results:

November 16, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

The Recording Industry Association of America is demanding that ecommerce solution ReDigi entirely shuts down their recently launched website.

ReDigi is an online marketplace for the buying and selling of legally downloaded “used” digital music tracks. The company’s vision is to enable users to sell their legally purchased digital music tracks to others. Just as people could sell their used CDs and cassette tapes in the past, RiDigi wants to provide a platform for the same commerce only with digital music files.

ReDigi currently has 8,500+ digital music files available for purchase at $.79 each, which is up to $.50 cheaper than songs available on iTunes. The company also has plans of creating a similar ecommerce solution for the resale of used e-books.

A cease-and-desist letter was sent to ReDigi from RIAA on behalf of Universal Music, Warner Music Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment and EMI Music North America. The RIAA claims ReDigi’s practices constitute copyright infringement and must be shut down. However, the RIAA is not stopping there. They are also insisting that ReDigi detain copies of sound recordings and erase all mentions of artists signed to RIAA members. Additionally, RIAA stated they need “an accounting of all sales achieved and revenue generated” from RIAA member digital recordings through the ReDigi platform.

ReDigi maintains that their business practices are perfectly legal and are actually fighting against music piracy and copyright infringement. The company stands by their use of a “patent-pending technology” that makes the verification and transfer of digital tracks possible. This technology has the capacity to ensure digital tracks come from a legitimate source and are erased from users computers once they are sold to the site. However, with no specific explanation of how the “patent-pending technology” does this, the RIAA is not convinced ReDigi’s practices are legal.

The major point of contention is whether ReDigi is operating in compliance with the “first sale doctrine”. Section 109 of the copyright act outlines the “first sale doctrine,” which is what allows the sale of a copyrighted work without permission. The RIAA argues that ReDigi breaks this copyright law because transferring digital files generally requires a copy of the material to be made, something not permissible according to the “first sale doctrine”.

However, ReDigi claims its system does not require copies of copyrighted material to be created. Their process is allegedly an instantaneous transaction from the buyer to the seller and completely adheres to the “first sale doctrine” because no copies are made. But, as previously mentioned, their “system” is still awaiting a patent and has only been described in vague terms.

The statutory minimum for willful music copyright infringement is $150,000 per infringement and could be a devastating blow to ReDigi which is still in beta.

November 16, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

A recent survey of retail CEOs revealed that retailers are currently increasing their investments in a variety of multi-channel growth strategies including ecommerce and international expansion.

The study, conducted by PwC Canada Retail Consulting Services, surveyed CEOs of 21 U.S. and Canadian specialty and department national retail chains. The study asked questions regarding five key areas: growth strategies, ecommerce, international sales, industry game changers, and economic environment.

90 percent of CEOs surveyed stated that they will increase their use of ecommerce solutions as part of their multi-channel growth strategies. Online sales are expected to significantly increase during the 2011 holiday shopping season, CEOs expected their ecommerce business to grow 5 to 20 times more than their brick-and-mortar business. 62 percent of CEOs interviewed said that they plan to increase their use of social media as part of their online marketing strategies.

57 percent of respondents also plan to focus on tapping into international markets as a growth strategy. This expansion could take place directly in some cases or through license or franchise partners. 24 percent of respondents expected that within five years more than 15 percent of their sales will be international. Antony Karabus, PnW Canada Retail Consulting Services Leader, said the following:

“Among retailers expanding internationally, there was a shift towards franchise or licensee models rather than employing their own capital internationally.”

All retail CEOs surveyed agreed that seamless cross-channel integration is the top industry game changer right now and for the future. This includes the integration of all things digital, especially ecommerce solutions and smartphone and tablet mobile commerce. 47 percent of respondents believed that in five years ecommerce could account for up to 10 percent of sales. Karabus had this to say:

“Retailers are increasingly focused on growth strategies that differentiate them and provide new, exclusive and differentiated value, thus providing a more compelling proposition to keep customers coming back.”

In addition to expanding online growth, 76 percent of CEOs said that they plan to introduce new brick-and-mortar stores, undergo major renovations of existing stores, or introduce new store concepts as part of a multi-channel growth strategy. The majority of retailers in the study are growing organically, with only 20 percent stating that they will grow through acquisition. Of those who do plan to grow by acquisition, many plan to do so opportunistically by buying stores out of bankruptcy from other retailers.

Despite continuing economic uncertainty, CEOs are taking note of trends in the changing retail industry and investing accordingly. Major integration of cross-channel platforms will both propel and be propelled by a continued increase in online sales.

November 15, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Groupo the Bargain Bird is back and that can only mean one thing:  It’s Grouponicus time!

For those of you who missed it last year, Grouponicus is a holiday created by daily deal site Groupon in 2010. It is symbolized by Groupo the Bargain Bird (nothing says “great holiday deals” like a dapper bird with the tail of a snake) and is described as a “brand-new, ancient wintertime holiday that’s celebrated all over the world.”

The special Grouponicus deals were only available in 15 cities in its first year, but this year the holiday deals are spreading cheer to 41 cities throughout the U.S. and Canada. Grouponicus officially began yesterday (11/14) and will last 7 weeks. Featured deals will focus on encouraging consumers to give the gift of experience. The Grouponicus holiday differs from regular Groupon deals by offering specials that last 3 to 5 days instead of the usual single-day deals.

There will be a variety of deals for a range of consumer budgets. Grouponicus will also launch “Epic Deals,” which will be exclusive deals that become available at unannounced times and have very limited quantities. Some of the upcoming “Epic Deals” include:

• A 3-day trip to the taping of The Ellen DeGeneres Show’s Twelve Days of Giveaways episodes with a a behind-the-scenes tour
• A package deal that includes a cooking lesson with Todd English in the kitchen of one of his New York City restaurants, a private dinner with English and your friends, and a signed copy of his book, “Cooking in Everyday English”
• Trips to various destinations across the United States, Asia and Europe with exclusive activities curated by Groupon

Other large-scale Grouponicus offerings this year include great deals on the best “local gems” such as cooking classes, concert tickets, and museum memberships and “Giftable Getaways,” which are vacations sponsored by Groupon and Expedia.

Even though this is the second annual Grouponicus promotion, Groupon’s main competitor LivingSocial has not attempted to create any type of special holiday promotion to compete. LivingSocial recently expanded into several new markets, but has not shifted its focus towards the holiday shopping season hype.

Groupon continues to hold the top-spot in daily deal ecommerce and launched an initial public offering on November 4th. Although the ecommerce solution has faced much criticism this past year, things seems to be looking up. Since the launch of its IPO, Groupon has raised around $700 million and is valued at $15 billion. The company also recently launched a high-end deals service called Groupon Reserve.

November 14, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Some businesses will go to unusual lengths in order to make a profit. Several southern-based websites have taken their ecommerce solutions to a dark and twisted place by collecting and selling “murderabilia”.

There are currently six different ecommerce solutions focused on the selling of memorabilia from some of the most notorious murderers in the United States. Items for sale include a signed Christmas card from Charles Manson, handwritten letters from the Green River Killer, Gary Ridgeway, and a sketch of the Charlotte Strangler Henry Wallace’s hands. This seems to be a pretty sick and twisted business to be in, but apparently is highly profitable. The Christmas card from Manson was sold for $170 and a lock of his hair is currently being auctioned off with the starting bid at $2,500.

The owners of these macabre ecommerce solutions don’t see any problem with what they are doing because it is perfectly legal. Although the Son of Sam law prevents inmates from making any profits from their crimes, only a handful of states have laws preventing a third party from profiting from the sale of memorabilia. The 8 states that have laws against this kind of commerce include California, Texas, Alaska, Montana, Utah, and New Jersey.

Popular ecommerce solution eBay banned the selling this unusual and perverse “murderabilia” in 2001, but the market forged on with the 2005 launch of Murder Auction. Murder Action was the first site of its kind and since its launch even more sites have sprung up including SerialKillerInk.com and several others.

The owners of these sites do not show concern about being viewed insensitive and immoral businessmen. However, on one popular “murderabilia” ecommerce solution, this message is posted:

“We do sympathize with the families of victims. We’re sure they have a tremendous amount of pain to bare, but we make no apologies for our business. We do not solicit anyone. People seek us out with an interest in purchasing true crime memorabilia. If you are offended by what this website has to offer, you simply do not have to visit.”

Owners of the “murderabilia” websites discuss how they build relationships with incarcerated murderers in order to get items from them to sell. Eric Gein, owner of Serial Killers Ink spoke about how he writes letters to serial killers and befriends them. He said the relationships take time and rely on trust. Gein believes that most killers send him items to sell because they thrive on the attention.

As far as the target market for this macabre material, Gein said customers come from both the United States and Europe. Some customers are collectors, while others are military personnel and university professors who use the items as lecture material.

November 14, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Online holiday spending, aided by mobile and tablet commerce, is expected to grow 15 percent this year.

Forrester released a report predicting that online sales during the 2011 holiday shopping season will amount to $59.5 billion, compared to $51.7 billion last year. Although consumers are more deal-conscious than ever this year, 12 percent of the 15 percent total growth is projected to come from increased spending by shoppers.

There has been a significant rise in online retail traffic this year, in large part due to consumers accessing ecommerce solutions from their smartphones and tablets. Forrester reported that 30 percent of shoppers who own a smartphone use it to research purchases monthly and 50 percent of people who own a tablet use their device to research purchases. Retailers need to take this into account this holiday season and make sure that their websites are fully ready for mobile commerce.

Some brick-and-mortar stores are even embracing tablets to aid the shopping experience. Sears is apparently beginning to provide tablets in their stores for shoppers to look up products and order items that are out-of-stock. Shoppers may not necessarily be using their smartphones and tablets to actually make purchases but they are using them more than ever to hunt for deals and compare products.

Online deals are more influential than ever this year in determining what items consumers are putting in their shopping carts. Forrester noted that 50 percent of shoppers surveyed stated that they had found the best deals online and 30 percent of those surveyed had used a daily deal site like Groupon at one point. With holiday shopping at brick-and-mortar retailers getting crazier every year on days like Black Friday, many consumers are opting to avoid the mayhem and shop from the comfort of home. Besides finding the best prices and deals, consumers indicate that the perks of online shopping also include better inventory and selection, no lines, and avoiding spending money on gas.

Cyber Monday is the biggest day of the year for online sales, last year online spending on Cyber Monday surpassed $1 billion which was a 16 percent increase from 2009. Thanksgiving day is another huge day for online spending. Online sales on Thanksgiving last year amounted to $407 million, a 28 percent increase from the previous year.

Retailers should be expecting a lot more online traffic this year and keep in mind that a significant portion of visitors will be using a smartphone or tablet browser. If merchants have been paying attention to the trends this holiday season and prepared their ecommerce solutions accordingly it could be the most profitable year ever for online sales.