September 12, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

"His Master's Voice"

HMV, a British entertainment media company whose name stands for “His Master’s Voice” (more about that later) has appointed Mark Hodgkinson to head up its ecommerce solution department and marketing efforts. Late of Asda (a British supermarket chain), Hodgkinson actually served as EMI’s (Electrical & Musical Industries) president of business development and executive vice president of global marketing and digital. This combined background in digital music and global marketing makes him uniquely well-qualified to helm HMV’s ecommerce solution and help the entertainment retailer diversify their revenue sources in this ever-changing digital age.

Hodgkinson fills the space left by Steve Napleton, who previously headed up their online sales department. He left HMV for Penguin, taking his years of ecommerce knowledge with him. Hodgkinson will need to act quickly to help HMV counter their eroding sales, which have been steadily slipping in recent years. The company lost another 15% in “like for like” sales for the 18 week period ending September 3rd. Total retail sales were down almost 22%, however, this was offset somewhat by the significant uptick in sales that their new fleet of stores, called “Fast Forward.”

HMV Fast Forward stores represent a new format-change experiment for the venerable music and entertainment retailer. These stores dedicate about 25% of their floorspace to high tech gadgets like tablet computers, iPods, and smartphones. These products tend to be high-value and convert well, a lesson they can take to heart on their ecommerce solution as well. Position pieces that are likely to sell where customers can see them, collect information, and effortlessly put them in their shopping carts is a proven key to sales.

Even as HMV moves to change their stores to reflect the increased sales at these new-format stores, how Hodgkinson will increase sales on their ecommerce solution has yet to be seen. As previously mentioned – he’ll need to work fast. He doesn’t even take the job for another month, entering his new position on October fifth. He won’t have much time to get the site ready for the busiest shopping period of the entire year. The phrase “Black Friday,” isn’t just a catchy name for the Friday after Thanksgiving, it got that name because so many stores finally went from “in the red” (not making enough money) to “in the black” (clearing a profit) for the year. If HMV isn’t poised for success on Black Friday (still a big shopping day, even at home!) and Cyber Monday (the following Monday where everyone messes around on their computers shopping from work instead of, you know, working…) then HMV could find themselves ending the year in the red.

About HMV

HMV is one of the oldest music retailers in the UK. The name actually stands for “His Master’s Voice,” which is a painting of a dog listening rather, with a rather quizzical expression on its face, to a gramophone, which is apparently playing a recording of his master’s voice. The familiar sound coming from a strange invention is obviously perplexing to the animal, and serves as a poignant reminder of the changes that technology brings about in the world as it marches forward continually. While humans adapt to different technology, paintings like this, showing how animals interact with that same technology, can serve as reminders of a simpler time. Unfortunately for HMV, the gramophone days are over, and now they’ll have to evolve or die in the changing brick and mortar and ecommerce solution marketplaces.

September 12, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

PixelMags is an online publishing powerhouse that specializes in taking your magazine or catalog for you ecommerce solution and bringing it into the 21st Century. They can help you add other media, interaction, and other advanced features to what used to be a static document. Keeping things fluid and dynamic is the name of the game for online publications and ecommerce solutions alike. We were lucky enough to sit down with Ryan Marquis, co-founder and COO of PixelMags:

So right off the bat, let’s get into this. PixelMags is unique in that you provide a powerful service for two very different groups: retailers who want fully-featured catalog apps for their businesses, and also publishers who want sleek, functional, sharp-looking publications (I’ve got that right, right?). Can you talk a little bit about the processes that your team employs when serving these two different groups, or are they more similar than one might initially think?

They are as similar as they are different in terms of magazines and catalog clients, depending on what the publisher/client is looking for. Most clients that we have worked with haven’t evolved into what we call “interactive tablet content.” This means building an HTML5 catalog, or by using a provider such as Adobe or WoodWing. A majority of publishers are sticking to the standard PDF format, and producing a replica catalog. Where we come into play with that is we take the PDF, and with our CDS (content delivery software) tool kit, we make these PDFs into fully interactive catalogs.

We like to call the tool kit we have developed “unlimited.” Clients can have videos, slide shows, catalogs, links, 360-degree product rotation and so forth. Some of the catalogs that are utilizing these features are Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, FrontGate and LampsPlus. All of our catalogs have utilized our white label solution, which is basically saying that our logo and name are taken out of the application to make it appear is if the magazine or catalog themselves made the application out of their own office. It gives the publisher all of the identity, giving the consumer more confidence to shop and buy.

We have also integrated the catalog ecommerce system, which allows people to shop and purchase products right from the application. I am not going to put any numbers out, but Pottery Barn has seen a rise in sales and has seen millions of dollars in increased revenue. You can touch a couch on the interactive catalog, read more about it, and decide if you want to buy it without ever leaving the application.

When it comes to magazine publishers, a lot of those same features are available and have been utilized by using our CDS tool kit. Being able to pull videos from YouTube is a great feature that allows readers to take the reading experience farther than before. Of course, all of our apps are compliant with Apple’s new polices for iOS5 and the upcoming Newsstand. With all the features of auto-renew subscription SKU’s, background downloading and other specifications. We put a press release out announcing this recently in August.

Magazines present their material differently than catalogers. Magazine publishers I would say are little more adventurous than others as far as trying new interactive content. That is one of the unique things about PixelMags compared to any of the providers in our space. We have designed our approach to be a digital distribution company. When I say that, I mean publishers have the choice to upload any form of content they wish. They can start with a PDF, and three months down the line they can transfer over to Adobe. Using the PixelMags destruction platform for a publisher, it allows them to start with a PDF and evolve into interactive content, meaning Adobe, WoodWing or even HTML5. Our reader within our application accepts all forms of input, which is very critical for both publisher and consumer.

We are the only provider in our space that is currently offering this evolution process. Typically, if you have been live for a year, and you try to switch from PDF to WoodWing or HTML5, you are not going to be able to just substitute one format to the other. You would have to shutdown that application completely, build an entirely new application, and then try converting the consumers that you already have to your new application. It is not an easy process, and it can have very big consequences. With our platform and distribution model, we have alleviated that nightmare of having a consumer transfer, making the process seamless.

Who are some retail clients that you’ve found it particularly interesting to work with?

Pottery Barn has been great to work with. LampsPlus is a great client, and they are doing a lot of innovative stuff, both with their digital content and even in their store. We also offer a web-based reader for our clients, where consumers can read their catalog on a website, like a page flipper. What’s unique about our platform is that whatever a publisher creates in our CDS tool kit will automatically upload to the application and onto their web base version too. They create in one location, and they can distribute it to multiple outlets. With LampsPlus, we have built a kiosk for them. So when consumers go into their store, and they do not have an iPad with them, they will be able to go to a kiosk in the store and be able to view the same interactive content on a web based kiosk that we developed for their iPad. Once again, Pottery Barn is great, Restoration Hardware is great, FrontGate is great, and same with LampsPlus. All great clients to work with as far as retail clients go.

How was the integration with Apple Newsstand? What have your customers been saying since you brought your services to that platform?

They have all been pretty ecstatic about it actually. We have a couple hundred clients now, and it’s a very big transition. We are focusing on the bigger clients right now, like Hearst UK and other ones to help integrate into Apple Newsstand. There is a lot of confusion though on Apple Newsstand. A lot of people actually think its an application, when in essence it’s a folder that is going to aggregate auto-renew subscription SKU’s and organize your magazine subscription. We have been working with Apple now for almost three years, and recently working more closely than before, making sure that we are doing everything right for when the Newsstand launches.

But beyond Apple – your website says “Android coming soon.” The Android OS is growing crazy-fast. I know that you and your team decided to focus on the iPad and iPhone because they are such well-designed devices and use such similar operating systems (I actually read a previous interview where you talked about the complexity of writing what is essentially two different apps in one). Android has some problems in that arena: a million different devices, different versions of the OS running all over the place, etc. How are you and the team dealing with that?

Great question. Android OS is growing very rapidly, and we are getting a ton of inquires from publishers about consumers wanting the app and magazine to be available to them on the Android. You have to take a step back though, which is what we have done, and evaluate the space. To develop on Apple, Android, Blackberry or any other OS system for tablets and smart phones out there, you need to know the install base, (how many consumers have this installed) and also the user experience. Android is an open source OS that tablet manufactures no matter if you are Samsung or some random developer out of China, can run and install this OS on their tablet device. As a digital distributor, I can go to China tomorrow, have a tablet built with Android OS running on it in a few weeks. Does that mean I am going to have a big install base or quality tablet? So getting back to the question, we are focusing on Android, but we are going to developing Android OS that running 3.0 or higher, like Honeycomb, and will narrow it done to specific tablets. We will use tablets with a good consumer adoption rate and a good quality name behind it. The Samsung Galaxy tablet and Motorola zoom are the first two tablets in that market that we are going to focus on.

Speaking of the team, how big is your group, all offices included? How quickly have you had to grow? What advice can you give our readers about adding new members to your team?

We have offices in the US, UK and in the South Pacific. In the US, we have ten employees. In the United Kingdom we have 13 employees, and three people in New Zealand and Australia. We have had to grow very quickly. The company is still relatively young, we are almost three years old. It has grown from my partner Mark and I to 26 employees now.

The advice I can give to readers about adding new members to our team, or in this industry in general is that we are always looking for good people. When we interview people, we go off their work and their work history. We don’t really focus on where someone went to school; we choose to focus on performance. You need to have a strong digital background, and be on top of what is going on in our industry, especially in the tablet world. We are currently looking for Java script developers, iOS developers and Android developers.

What has been one challenge that you and the team have had to overcome that gave you all a huge sense of accomplishment? How did you do it? What was so significant about the challenge? What did you all learn through the experience?

The biggest challenge in this space is the iOS platform. When we first started the business, it was just my partner Mark and I. Our biggest challenge, to be honest and totally upfront, was just starting the business. It took us nine and half months to get our initial software application developed and approved by Apple. We probably went back and forth with Apple with dozens of revisions of how our database works with the Apple infrastructure, and how a new issue is delivered, and how notifications are delivered. Setting up the whole infrastructure, the whole content delivery network was a challenge. We actually use Amazon as our delivery method. So when someone clicks download on an application, that content is actually streamed from Amazon’s cloud streaming network. There were a lot of different pieces that had to be put together. The biggest challenge was to build the initial platform, and the ongoing challenge is of course, maintenance, and adhering to Apple’s new regulations, especially when a new OS launches. Through this process we have learned how to work hard and how to drink a heck of a lot of Redbull!

September 12, 2011
By Jennifer Escalone, Community Manager, Outright.com

Not too long ago, we announced the ability to see your sales by state. Today, we’ve made it easier to visualize this information using a map of the U.S. to show where your sales are coming from.

Wondering what’s the big deal? Well, truth be told, it could change everything about your business, from shipping to marketing. Take a look and tell us after you still don’t need to know each state’s sales!

1. Areas to Market

Your company just released a brand new toss-able toy, called a Blast Disc. It’s like a Frisbee, but way cooler. Sales are ok at first, but then they suddenly spike. What’s going? Everyone scrambles to try and capitalize on this sudden and unexpected success, but not sure how.

It turns out that the Blast Disc’s shape is PERFECT for the beach. It’s so great in fact that a brand new game has been invented. Thus, when you check your sales by state, you notice the big sales are coming from coastal areas. And now that you know what areas are buying your product, you can buy ads targeted to their location or end auctions at times conducive to their buying habits. You now have a marketing angle to make your toy and company blow up.

2. Areas to Improve

Knowing what you do about your new product, you look around the rest of the country to figure out how to sell elsewhere. You notice in the middle of the Heartland you made a few sales but nothing really stuck. After a little research, you find out the “game” invented around your company has a few followers – and they’re trying to start a league! Now you have a thousand options at your disposal to get even more Blast Discs in players’ hands.

3. Shipping Costs

After analyzing state sales data one day, you make a discovery: your sales cluster in certain geographic areas. At first you think it’s interesting, but merely an amusing coincidence, until you look elsewhere and realize shipping costs have been over budget every single month.

When you don’t know where your sales are coming from, you don’t realize how close many of them are. In this case you would want to take a look at your shipping model and find out how to get your Blast Discs into buyers’ hands at the lowest cost possible. Sales by state can make this happen by, for example, arranging for drop shipping from a central location.

4. Customer Service

After enjoying success with the Blast Disc line for several years, there is suddenly an influx of irate customer service calls. Seems tiny mechanical parts in the toy have begun to break down and are causing major problems for folks.

Again, you turn to your sales by state data. Recently, the Northeast portion of the country caught on to the Blast Disc craze. However, during certain parts of the year, there’s salt everywhere – either from the sea air or to counteract the snow and ice of winter. You now know the issue to fix and can set out correcting it.

5. Future Product Lines

Customers often shape products the way they want them to be. For instance, remember the classic kid’s game “Mouse Trap”? It’s supposed to be a board game with dice and everything – but what kid ever played it like that? They just wanted to make the mouse trap over and over again.

After using your Blast Disc product for years, customers eventually molded it into the product they really wanted. Other areas of the country didn’t experience the same phenomenon, and played with the original Blast Disc. It all depended on where they lived.

Knowing this data means you can now shape future Blast Disc releases into region-specific products. Following your sales by state means you now have even more opportunities to make money and develop a long-term relationship and following from your customers, something yearned for by every business owner.

About the Author:

Jennifer Escalona is the Community Manager for Outright.com. Outright dramatically streamlines the work involved with running a small business, by helping entrepreneurs pay the right taxes, organize their income and expenses, and keep their businesses on track. Helping small businesses thrive in the modern, connected world is what Outright is all about. With their software, you can automatically import your data from eBay and/or PayPal, and you can be looking at a detailed sales by state report for YOUR ecommerce business in just a few minutes!

September 9, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

EasyAsk, a leader in e-commerce search and merchandising software today announced their partnership with wholesale ecommerce solution DollarDays. DollarDays is using the natural language conversion power of EasyAsk eCommerce software to get customers from the DollarDays home page to the right products they are searching for in as few clicks as possible, helping increase purchase rates and revenue.

DollarDays distributes over 140,000 products on its e-commerce site with over 5,000 categories and sub-categories. Most of these products are closesouts or sold at wholesale prices and quantities. In addition, as a small business wholesaler, the catalog is continuously shifting as the seasons change and excess product needs to be closed out.

A product catalog as diverse as DollarDays’ and with as many UPC’s creates a number of difficult challenges in effectively implementing e-commerce search and merchandising. The sheer number of products offered and the varying product diversity means that the same search term could yield different results and have separate meanings for different products. All of this leads to a bit of a headache when it comes to narrowing customers search results and getting the right products in their shopping carts.

DollarDays is hopeful that the new software implementation will help solve a problem that ecommerce solutions have had since the beginning. How do you raise conversions and sales without drowning the consumer with search results that are irrelevant to the purchaser? Often times, customers become frustrated or feel scammed when a simple search returns thousands of irrelevant results and it takes forever to sift through to the product they actually want. Essentially, DollarDays hopes EasySpeak’s software will narrow down search results to the most applicable products and thus raise sales and the quality of returned search results.

“The most successful e-commerce sites get the customer to the right products the fastest, speeding the buying process”, said Marc Joseph, president and CEO of Dollar Days. “EasyAsk natural language search allows our customers to find the exact product in a single click, increasing our customer conversion rates. EasyAsk also makes our merchandising more agile, which is essential in our business where product offerings are continuously changing.”

The EasyAsk software uses the company’s natural language search and query technology to produce better search results. EasyAsk’s ecommerce solution allows users to simply ask questions in plain English and receive refined results that are more relevant in response. The technology delivers a better website search experience and navigation/merchandising solutions that help to increase online revenue by raising conversion rates and bettering the customer experience.

The streamlining of a site’s navigation is key to running a successful ecommerce solution. Navigation must be clean and consistent from the moment a visitor arrives at your ecommerce solution all the way through the final checkout. You want to ensure that the site is easy to understand so that visitors can figure out how they find what they want. Continually refine your navigation by reviewing overlay information via your analytics software, so you can see how visitors are interacting with your site. Great navigation, that leads to a smooth conversion funnel, makes a big impact on customers, and keeps them coming back to your ecommerce site.

EasyAsk is Based in Burlington, Massachusetts, and boasts customers such as Gap, Coldwater Creek​, Hewlett Packard​, Lands End, Lillian Vernon​, Aramark, JJill, Nedbank, BNP Paribas​, TruValue, Siemens, Hartford Hospital, Ceridian, JoAnn Fabrics and Harbor Freight Tools​.

September 9, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Vintners’ Alliance offers marketing and database technology for high-end wineries so that they can more effectively reach out to consumers via the Internet.

The ecommerce solution provides technology to track and analyze purchase history data including customer location, the type of wine a customer buys, and time since last purchase. This type of sales analysis helps wineries and vineyards target specific groups of customers for special offers.

Unlike companies such as Wine.com, Vintners’ Alliance does not take control of any actual inventory. The company instead tries to establish a direct connection between customers and wineries rather than becoming a go-between. Ahin Thomas, co-founder and President of Vintners’ Alliance, had this to say:

“Many companies have tried to enter the wine industry by inserting themselves between the vintners and consumers under the guise of improving wine retailing, but they end up creating an unnecessary layer between the two. Vintners’ Alliance connects producers directly to consumers, creating better margins for our winery partners, and more efficient, relevant offers for the consumer.”

The multi-billion dollar luxury wine industry has been slow to adopt ecommerce solutions for a variety of reasons. It is a niche industry that caters to a very specific target market and involves complex regulatory laws. With the technology it provides, Vintners’ Alliance seeks to make it easier for wineries to reach their desired customers and streamline sales. In a sense the company acts as a type of consultant to help wineries and vineyards grow their business.

Wineries can use the technology to identify purchase patterns, customer preferences, and the best price-points, allowing them to determine what customers are putting in their shopping carts in order to customize offers to them. Pat Connolly, Vintners’ Alliance co-founder, had this to say:

“Everyone loves wine, but finding the right wine at the right time and price is extremely difficult.Vintners’ Alliance was founded to bring to the premium wine industry the leading edge direct marketing and e-commerce practices previously available only to the most sophisticated companies to solve these problems within this specialized, highly regulated industry.”

Connolly and Thomas started Vintners’ Alliance in 2009 with a vision to transform the way wineries connect with consumers. Connolly is also Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Williams-Sonoma, Inc. where he focuses on the company’s ecommerce solutions and direct marketing. Additionally he serves on the board of directors for CafePress, Inc.

Vintners’ Alliance announced Wednesday that it has received $1.3 million in a Series A round of funding. Kohlberg Ventures led the funding with additional participation by a group of Silicon Valley investors. Thomas has said that he will use the funding to hire more employees for the company which currently has a presence in San Francisco, Mexico, London, Uruguay, and Bangladesh.

September 9, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Seattle is full of promising young start-up companies. The Jet City has developed and fostered some impressive companies, and the city boasts start-ups with great ideas, smart people and the drive of motivated entrenepeneurs. As Marcelo Calbucci wrote in his article about showing Seattle startups some love, it’s always important to support your favorite local companies. Here’s a quick preview of some of the leading ecommerce startups hailing from the Emerald City.

Redfin: Redfin is an online real estate brokerage based here in Seattle. The site offers its services to customers in in the Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orange County, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco Bay, Seattle, and Washington, D.C areas. Redfin combines a real estate search tool with real estate agents. Much like its nearest competitor Zillow, Redfin’s map displays homes for sale in the area and information about those homes. Redfin offers buyers up to a 50% rebate (except in certain states) on the commission paid to the buyer’s agent.

Bonanza: This bootstrapped startup got its start here in Seattle. Bonanza.com offers a new approach to buying products online. According to their site: Bonanza has “created a marketplace focused on the type of items that people are passionate about: items that you can’t find mass produced on Amazon, like purses, clothing, antiques, jewelry, memorabilia, and collectibles. Then, we round up the people that are passionate about these items, and we make it easy to get back the benefits you gave up when you became faceless.” It’s a return to buying items from a friendly retailer, with the convenience of online shopping.

PopShops: PopShop offers site owners and webmasters a way to promote products through their publications, and earn commission on the sales of those items generated through their site. “PopShops’s award-winning ShopBuilder is the easiest way to earn commissions with affiliate marketing. Using the simple point and click system you can add an e-commerce section on any website instantly.” Site owners get to keep 100% of their commission, and is simple to use. You pick the products you want to promote, customize your “shop”, and add the code to your site. Plans start at $14.99 a month. It’s a great way for site owners to make extra money, especially for those who don’t want to embrace a full on ecommerce platform.

AppStoreHQ: If you’re new to the smartphone scene or even if you’ve been around a while, the sheer number of Apps available can be overwhelming. AppStoreHQ is a Seattle start-up that has set out to make it easier to find the coolest and most “personally relevant” apps available. The site has developed its own ranking system, called “AppRank” technology, which uses data from reviews as well as download volume and ratings to make sure they show the most relevant apps to the user. AppStoreHQ tracks a blogs and other online sources on the mobile web. Whenever they find a mention of a mobile application it is added to a database. The blog or author that posted about the app is identified, so you can “click through to read the full post and develop your own list of favorite sources for news on the mobile web.” Throughout the day, those mentions are reviewed, and with other data all combined they calculate the current popularity of each app. The site offers users the ability to purchase the app directly.

Bag, Borrow or Steal: Perhaps the most interesting approach to owning luxury goods, Bag, Borrow or Steal allows users to rent designer accessories such as handbags, jewelry and sunglasses. Let’s say you’ve got a big meeting or someone to impress, and your standard apparel is not sufficient. Buying a Louis Vuitton bag isn’t cheap, so you can rent one through Bag, Borrow or Steal and return it when you’ve had your fill. Standard shipping fees apply, while return shipping is free through this ecommerce solution. Renting a Rolex runs you around $150-200 a week, whereas buying one outright would cost roughly 20 times that much! Membership fees range from $5 a month (a one year membership costs $60 and comes with a $60 rental credit) to $9.95 a month (includes a $9.95 rental credit).

Zulily: Zulily is a daily-deal site for Mom’s and babies. It’s a new online store offering “daily sales events on top-quality apparel, gear and other goodies for moms, babies and kids. Members enjoy savings of up to 90% off retail prices. Zulily loves to find deals on favorite styles, and we love introducing our members to exciting new brands, too.” The site is not a traditional store, and the sale events only last 72 hours. Every weekday, the site offers great deals on at least five items. The site also offers users a rewards program for inviting friends. When you invite a friend and they purchase something, you’re account is credited with $15.

September 8, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Chicago-based service Trunk Club caters to men who don’t like to shop but still want to look good.

Many men don’t enjoy shopping at the mall, shuffling in and out of fitting rooms, or taking the time to fill their shopping carts on the Internet. This fact of life is what inspired Brian Spaly to start Trunk Club in order to provide men with personalized outfits without the hassle of shopping.

Men can sign up for the service online to get paired with a fashion consultant who will contact them to help determine their personal style. The stylist will ask questions to determine clothing preferences as well as specifics like size. Once a customer has gone through this process Trunk Club, as the name suggests, will ship them a trunk of personalized clothing and accessories. When the customer receives an order they can then try on items and send back anything that they don’t like via prepaid packaging that Trunk Club supplies.

Trunk Club stylists keep track of each customer’s personal preferences with ecommerce software and each subsequent order will be more tailored (no pun intended) to the individual’s personal style. The company tries to understand men’s style preferences and suggest clothing in a way similar to how Netflix suggests movies and shows for users to stream based on their past likes and dislikes.

The company targets men who want higher-end casual clothing, comparable to that which could be found at a Nordstrom store. Trunk club purchases brand names at wholesale price and sells them at retail markup. Customers can still specify a preferred price range for clothing that they want picked out for them.

Trunk Club announced Thursday that it has raised $11 million in Series A funding. U.S. Venture Partners led the funding, with Greycroft Partners, Apex Venture Partners, and Anthos Capitol also participating. The new funding will go towards marketing, software development, product inventory and more. CEO Brian Spaly had this to say:

“With the new round of funding, our experts can do an even better job of providing personalized service to match our customers’ unique style preferences with incredible clothes from our vast selection of inventory.”

Spaly also co-founded Bonobos, a company that makes and sells custom-fit pants for men. He made many observations during his time with Bonobos about how men shop (or don’t shop). It was these observations that led Spaly to leave the company in 2009 to run Trunk Club.

Trunk Club also announced the launch of its new customer center. The user-friendly ecommerce solution will allow customers to request additional orders, provide detailed feedback on past orders, and manage style preferences.

The company currently has a customer base of 3,500 clients, including names like NHL player Mike Modano. Modano had this to say about the service:

“”I’m often traveling during the week and the last thing I want to do is spend my weekends shopping. Trunk Club has really helped me out, and all it takes is a quick email or call to get a new trunk.”

Trunk Club does not plan to make its service available to women anytime soon. For now ladies will just have to watch and give input as their men try on a box full of new goodies from Trunk Club.

September 8, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Everyone’s favorite online auction site, eBay, has updated their mobile app to incorporate recent feature updates, making the iPhone, iPad, and iPod application a bit easier to use. The new application is available in the App Store, and follows hot on the heels of massive mobile application updates from other big names like Facebook and Google+.

Some of the new features include a barcode scanner, which allows eBay users to scan UPC’s at a local store and find better deals on the ecommerce solution. This relatively new technology was pioneered by RedLaser, an application that scans barcodes and links users to online stores selling the same product, some of which may be offering a better price. RedLaser was acquired by Ebay in 2010, and the application has been tremendously successful in the ecommerce world. According to TechCrunch, RedLaser has seen more than nine million total downloads of its iPhone and Android apps, a dramatic increase from the 2 million downloads at the time of the acquisition. eBay also added QR Code scanning to RedLaser. eBay says that more than half of RedLaser scans are in the U.S., and the top five U.S. regions using RedLaser are New York City, New Jersey, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and Houston. Ebay’s new iOS app features the same technology, and eBay hopes it will bring in new users who are unfamiliar or wary of the auction site.

eBay has also incorporated their “Instant Sale” feature into their iOS app. This new feature allows eBay users to sell their items directly to eBay, no auction or negotiation necessary. The ecommerce solution pays for shipping, and the eBay user receives payment in their PayPal account. This feature was previously only available via the ecommerce solution’s web platform. So now, if you want to sell the iPhone or iPad you’re using to browse the new eBay App, you can do that instantly through the eBay Instant Sale feature.

Sellers who utilize the ecommerce solution’s mobile app can now see how much a particular item is currently selling for. The app also features social networking integration for Twitter and Facebook. The site says:

“When listing items for sale, use the research feature to find out how much your item is going for, then save time by pre-populating your listing. Editing, adding your own iPhone pics. Sharing items you are selling or buying with Facebook and Twitter friends is quick and easy with the eBay for iPhone app.” Sellers can now also track their shipments through the mobile app, which used to require tracking via third-party sites.

The updated iOS app also included new support for international payments. Users in Canada, Germany, France, and Italy can now pay for purchases by using the app. Additionally, the app now supports payment via eBays rewards program, called eBay Bucks. When buyers purchase items on eBay, they receive a percentage of their final purchase price back as an eBay gift certificate applicable to future purchases. Finally, the iOS app’s Checkout page now supports eBay gift cards, coupons, shipping addresses, and shipping options where available. All these new features are sure to make using the ecommerce solution much easier in the future, and with all the hype about mobile apps becoming the future of the technology world, eBay is taking steps in the right direction by incorporating new features and updates into their mobile offerings.

September 8, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Attention ecommerce solutions, startups, public figures, cities, and other things with names: if you don’t want to see yourself associated with a .xxx domain, now is the time to act. The sun rose Wednesday on ICM Registry’s sunrise period (see what we did there?), giving trademark owners through October 28 to reserve the new porn-specific domains. Sunrise B applicants with reputations to protect can reserve their domains to protect from misuse. (We here at ZippyCart don’t want to imagine what sort of content a “zippycart.xxx” would hold.) Sunrise A applicants in adult entertainment–owners of an active trademark or adult website on another TLD–can protect their brands as well, by reserving the domains for their own use.

If a Sunrise A and Sunrise B applicant vie for the same domain, both parties will be notified of the overlap and given a chance to rescind their application. Further conflict will be mediated until an agreement is reached. However, if two Sunrise A applicants try to register for the same brand, the domain will be auctioned off with no consideration as to who applied first.

From November 8 to November 25, those in the adult Sponsored Community who didn’t qualify for Sunrise A will have an opportunity to apply for their desired adult domain names before the general application period. After December 6, whoever applies for a .xxx domain first can purchase the rights to it, within reason.

The ICM Registry releases domain names to third parties like GoDaddy.com, which will be charging a $209.99 non-refundable fee for all sunrise applicants, with $99.99 a year to renew after that. The fees vary from registrar to registrar. The brand will be protected for at least the length of ICM Registry’s contract with ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers)–about 10 years.

Brand owners purchasing their .xxx domains in order to opt out from associations with the adult industry are assured no website or e-mail under their registered brand. Anyone typing in a protected brand, like amazon.xxx, would be redirected to a page stating that the character string is blocked via ICM’s Rights Protection program.

ICM Registry CEO Stuart Lawley weighs in on the likelihood of brand misuse.

“The truth is, no one is going to be going to coca-cola.xxx, but some may not want their brands associated [with .xxx domains] in any way.”

It could certainly be detrimental to your ecommerce solution to be confused with an adult entertainment website. The question is, are you willing to pay upwards of $200 so that someone else doesn’t claim your trademark as their own? Will it really be damaging to your company if there is a .xxx domain registered with your brand? The risk is probably best assessed on a case-by-case basis. If your brand is extremely unique, like perhaps your full name, unwanted associations might certainly be made.

September 8, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Spanish fashion retailer Zara launched its first ecommerce solution in the United States Wednesday.

To celebrate the launch of Zara’s online shop in the U.S. the company enlisted a variety of photographers to create a collection of 50 unique photographs representing each state. The collection is called “Dear America” and features retro-looking images of classic American landscapes and scenes.

The online shop offers the same apparel for men, women, and children that is available in Zara stores, as well as free standard shipping across the U.S. Express shipping, providing delivery within 24-48 hours, will cost $9.95. Another option is for shoppers to have clothing delivered to a store of their choice where they can then pick it up. Returns and exchanges can be made at no cost up to 30 days after purchase either in stores or via FedEx.

The website has an easy to use search functionality that allows users to find items to add to their shopping carts. There is also a store search tool that allows shoppers to locate a store close to them to pick up items or make returns and exchanges. In addition to these functions, the website also features photos and lookbooks displaying the range of fashion collections available to customers from Zara.

Zara’s U.S. online shop is its first outside of Europe, where it launched ecommerce software in 16 countries last year. Total online sales for the company throughout Europe in 2010 amounted to 22.2 million euros, or $33.1 million, according to Internet Retailer. Swedish fashion retailer H&M is Zara’s top European competitor and has announced plans to launch its own online shop in the U.S. in early 2012.

About Zara

Zara is part of the Inditex group that also includes the fashion concepts Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home, and Uterque. The Inditex group has more than 5,150 stores in 78 countries across five continents, making it one of the world’s largest fashion retailers.

Shoppers have been filling their shopping carts at Zara stores since the first one opened in Spain in 1975. The fashion retailer is known for the speed at which its creative team puts out new clothing designs, with fresh items hitting stores every two weeks. By the end of the 1980s the company began to expand internationally, first in Portugal then elsewhere throughout Europe.

Zara opened its first store in the United States in 1989 at 750 Lexington Avenue, New York. The company currently has stores in 30 U.S. cities. In addition to New York it has flagship stores in Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago and Houston. The Chicago store is the biggest in the U.S.

September 7, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Amazon's Lockers As Seen at 7-11 in Seattle

If you’ve ever ordered an item from Amazon, or from any ecommerce solution, you’re likely familiar with the anxiety of waiting for the package to arrive. Sometimes you can’t be around to sign for your items, or you’re away from the house and don’t want your brand new computer delivered to your doorstep. Amazon has heard the feedback from its fanbase, and has decided to implement a trial-run of in-store deliveries at a 7-11 in Seattle. The program has not officially been announced, but the lockers have been spotted in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.

Here’s how it works: You order a product from Amazon’s massive online store. When checking out, you realize you won’t be around to sign for the item, or you’d just rather it be delivered somewhere else. Maybe you need to leave town right after work or need the item for a presentation that day. You can then choose to have your products delivered to Amazon’s locker cluster in a local 7-11. You’ll receive an email from the ecommerce solution that includes a barcode. Much like a QR code, the locker cluster will then scan the barcode, provide a PIN number for the assigned locker, and you walk away with your shiny new Amazon purchase.

The program, which will expand if it sees success in the Seattle area, seems to be a step in the direction of “in-store pickup” for Amazon. Many other ecommerce solutions have started to allow customers to pick up their online orders from local brick-and-mortar establishments. Best Buy and Wal-Mart are the two largest retailers who have implemented an in-store pickup policy, which allows customers to save on shipping when purchasing online.  It is still unknown if there will be a reduction of shipping costs to have Amazon packages shipped to a locker instead of to an actual address.

The cost of shipping is a hurdle that every ecommerce solution has been working to overcome since the advent of the Internet. Recently, Nordstrom announced that they would be offering free shipping on every order from their online shop. Amazon itself has started its Prime membership, which offers free Two-Day shipping on orders fullfilled by the company and also offers movie and TV streaming similar to Netflix. eBay offers sellers a better deal on listing items if the seller offers free shipping. Zappos.com also offers free initial and return shipping to the purchaser.

Compete.com released results from a recent Online Shopper Survey citing that free shipping would encourage 93% of respondents to purchase more online. According to the LA Times: “The cost of shipping is seen by many shoppers and retail analysts as one of the biggest drawbacks of shopping online (along with not being able to see the product in person and having to wait a few days for your purchase to arrive).”

It’s entirely feasible that Amazon could partner with 7-11 to allow its own form of “in-store” pickup in the future. Its lack of physical presence, apart from its headquarters in Seattle and numerous warehouses throughout the country, has held Amazon back from offering in-store or local pickup. By largely reducing the cost of shipping for consumers, Amazon would make headway in the shipping headache that has haunted ecommerce solutions who are solely online, those site that have no brick-and-mortar presence.

September 7, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Do you remember those old InventHelp commercials with the Gary Larson-esque caveman chiseling away at a stone wheel? They had an “anyone can invent” vibe, the way The Joy of Painting (with the beloved afro-wearing, tree-loving Bob Ross) promised anyone can paint. (Don’t believe either of them; the ZippyCart offices are filled with wrecked canvasses of botched mountainscapes and sad little trees, and the InventHelp people couldn’t invent a better name than “Cavey” for their caveman.) But enough of the 90s. In the 21st century, Manhattan-based ecommerce solution Quirky is rooting for consumer inventors, and the Sundance Channel is taking notice.

CEO Ben Kaufman, a child of the 90s himself at just 24 years old, launched Quirky in 2009 after testing out his love for invention. By his high school graduation, he had invented and produced his own design of iPod headphones, financed by a second mortgage on his parents’ home. Kaufman’s first company, mophie, won Best of Show at Macworld 2006 for its iPod accessories. He sold mophie in 2007, spearheaded a second company, and later pursued a larger goal: assisting others in the approval, design, and production of their own inventions. Thus, Quirky was born.

Last week, the company made its TV debut in a new Sundance Channel show cleverly titled “Quirky.” (Did they get InventHelp’s assistance on the name?) “Quirky” is a six-show miniseries documenting the start-to-finish process of product invention. The show comes complete with cheesy commentary sections like you might see in The Real World, and the requisite amount of disagreements and tension to make any reality show watchable. Luckily: “I love manufactured drama,” says Kaufman. “It shows the world that we’re going to make something happen here.”

Some believe that Kaufman’s optimism interferes with realism, as with a physics-defying can opener that Quirky continued to rework. Hovering over the prototype of the CanDo, several staff members remark that it barely resembles the idea Jon Corral, a copywriter by trade, proposed. This extensive revision process doesn’t phase Kaufman. “The world’s negative,” he says. “I like it, because it just allows us to be the positive ones.” It remains to be seen whether ceaseless positivity can result in successful inventions or not, but with revenue expected between $6 million and $10 million in 2011, he may be on to something.

Regardless of structural flaws and design tweaks, the original inventor walks away with about twelve cents on every dollar of revenue through online shopping cart systems, and four cents of every dollar in physical sales, according to Quirky. People who contributed critical ideas to the development of each product also get a cut, as do indirect retailers like the Home Shopping Network.

Quirky releases two new products into pre-sale each week; when enough consumers buy into the pre-sale, the company outsources the production to a 15-person manufacturing center in China, where the completed invention is shipped back to the States and finally sold on Quirky’s website. Quirky charges a $10 fee for all inventors to submit their ideas electronically, unless the idea fits into a category the website currently features (for example, pool/beach accessories), in which case the submission is free.

September 7, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

On Monday Netflix launched its ecommerce software in Brazil, the first of 43 countries and territories throughout Latin America and the Caribbean that will begin receiving the Internet movie and TV streaming service during the next week.

Rochelle King, Netflix VP of User Experience and Design, had this to say:

“Starting today, people throughout Latin America and the Caribbean who love watching movies and TV shows can enjoy a service that has revolutionized the viewing habits of more than 25 million North Americans by letting them watch what they want, when and where they want.”

There are approximately 200 million Internet users in Latin America who will now have the option to subscribe to Netflix for a low monthly fee. The next countries that will begin having access to the ecommerce software, on Wednesday, are Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay.

The combined population of Latin America and the Carribbean totals more than 600 million, a market roughly twice that of the United States. Many economies in the region are projected to boom over the next several years, particularly those of Mexico and Brazil. Those two countries alone account for 105 million, more than half, of the total number of internet users throughout the region.

Miramax will remain a digital content partner for Netflix’s Latin American launch, after signing on with the Internet movie and TV provider back in May. This is the first time that Miramax has licensed its films internationally, making 140 of its movies, including classics like “From Dusk Till Dawn” and “Pulp Fiction,” available to the millions of potential users in Latin America and the Carribbean. Miramax will be adding dozens of new titles to the streaming service on a rotating basis.

The announcement that Miramax will be sticking with Netflix for its international expansion comes just a week after Starz announced that it will be pulling its content from the site when its contract expires in February 2012. Netflix will lose approximately 1000 titles that Starz currently supplies for streaming.

Despite recent contractual conflicts, the Latin American expansion looks like a positive step in a new direction for Netflix. King also had this to say about the launch:

“Getting to this day has been incredibly rewarding for everyone at Netflix – the passion and energy that have gone into building our Latin American service is amazing.  Over the last few months, our team has spent countless hours in the region learning as much as we can about how Latin Americans think about, and enjoy, movies and TV shows. We’ve licensed thousands and thousands of hours of feature films, classic favorites, gripping telenovelas, documentaries and kids shows we know you’ll enjoy.”

With the great success of the ecommerce software in the U.S. and Canada over recent years it is no surprise that Netflix is seeking out more audiences internationally. Sources report that the company’s next global expansion efforts will be into Europe starting with Spain and the U.K. sometime in 2012.

September 6, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Having high-quality videos on your ecommerce solution can be a great way to increase conversions, get picked up in Google searches, boost SEO, and just add value to your site. However, what service to use can sometimes be tricky. YouTube is the biggest video-sharing website on the net, so for most entrepreneurs, that’s their go-to spot. Many ecommerce software packages have video hosting capabilities, but may not be optimized for search or ease of use. Plus they eat into your bandwidth, which, if you are running your store well, you should need all of to facilitate product, page views, and other user traffic.

So what is an ecommerce solution owner to do? Well, Vimeo suggests using their new “Pro” service. Vimeo is smaller online video sharing service than YouTube, but it has its own tight-knit community. Think of it as quality over quantity. Whereas YouTube has tons of users, Vimeo finds that their users are more likely to interact in more meaningful ways.

The service already had a “Plus” feature with an annual subscription fee with a number of expanded features. For starters, Plus users can upload higher quality videos than the Basic members (who already have pretty decent stats). They also get ten times the uploading space per week, unlimited HD uploads and embeds, and much more.

Vimeo Pro, however, goes beyond these features and is customized for ecommerce solutions and other online entrepreneurs. Billing it as “the best service in the Universe” (quite a boast!), probably one of the most useful features for the entrepreneur would have to be the branded video player. Users can customize their video player to match their product and corporate branding, keeping their look and feel uniform and adding to that visual brand recognition that users find so inviting.

Their “Portfolios” option allows businesses to create standalone websites filled with their videos to promote their products, services, or website. No coding is necessary, there are plenty of themes to choose from to match your ecommerce solution, and there’s no Vimeo branding at all. You can even take advantage of custom domains and built-in video SEO functionality.

Using the right tags with your videos is a key to boosting your SEO efforts. Getting your videos attention in the Vimeo community is also important. While Vimeo originally had safeguards in place to prevent people from selling on their non-ecommerce service, now they are willing to let art and commerce mingle, but only if you get a Community Pass that will allow business-specific videos cross over into the larger pool of the community.

With all these expanded features, Vimeo could be just the video-hosting service that you’ve been looking for. If your goal is to increase your site’s video presence online, drive SEO efforts, and drive conversions, then this could be the service for you.

September 6, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Ecommerce giant Amazon.com is trying to back out of a new sales tax law. In June, Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill requiring online businesses outside of California to collect taxes on sales made through in-state affiliates. The tax went into effect July 1, but it appears Seattle-based Amazon has failed to comply with the bill so far. This week, they’ve devised a counter-offer: hold off the tax until 2014, and Amazon promises to hire 7,000 California employees and open no fewer than two large distribution centers in the state. (This comes a few weeks after the company threatened to cut partnerships with all its California affiliates if forced to comply with the bill.) The company is currently gathering signatures for a referendum in opposition of sales tax collection.

Since California’s unemployment rate rolled in at 12 percent in July (with no significant relief in sight), the offer may seem tempting, but the California Retailers Association believes that 18,000 jobs have been lost as a result of companies’ failure to pay taxes. (In other words, “we see your 7,000 jobs and raise you 11,000.”) Amazon is rejecting the tax, and California is rejecting the rejection.

While state leaders drastically reduced spending to recover a $10 billion deficit in June, Amazon’s back taxes and the support of local government and state businesses are reason enough for California to keep vying for compliance. Amazon isn’t the only offender, and brick-and-mortar businesses are suffering as a result. Since the popularity of online shopping cart systems has risen, consumers increasingly “try out” products in-store and then go home to purchase them online. Not only are ecommerce solutions getting more business, but they are paying less in taxes–it’s easier for them to evade sales tax requirements.

Lawmakers are pushing for Assembly Bill 155, which would overturn Amazon’s referendum and allow the state to collect taxes. AB 155 would need to pass with a two-thirds vote, and Amazon has until September 27 to gain enough signatures for its referendum. California Retailers Assn. President Bill Dombrowski says of Amazon’s bargain:

“A special deal for Amazon is nothing more than a Trojan horse for California. [...] It may look appealing at first glance, but the resulting long-term loss of jobs and economic activity makes it a terrible proposition for our state.”

This is not an isolated incident for Amazon. In late June, they made an extremely similar proposal in Texas. If Texas granted them a four-and-a-half year absolution from sales tax, Amazon promised 5,000 new jobs and $300 million in capital investments. When Texas replied that Amazon owed $269 million in taxes to the state, Amazon threatened closure of a distribution facility and laid off 119 workers. Similar situations have occurred in Illinois, Colorado, and South Carolina (where the company’s bid was successful).

September 6, 2011
By Matt Bramowicz, PR Writer, Translation Services USA

For any small business, the web serves as the great equalizer for a company’s presence. Whether you have a sprawling three-story storefront on 5th Ave., or a small 100 sq. ft. retail space on a deserted back alley street in Anytown, USA (or no physical store at all, for that matter), when it comes to the web, everyone has the same virtual bricks and mortar to build their storefront.

It doesn’t matter how big a company may be, everyone can still have the same size website.  The only thing these big business companies have over your small business is name recognition. But that doesn’t have to be a major discouragement if you follow a few key guidelines when building your virtual storefront.

Bottom-line, you want to create the best possible homepage to represent your company.  That is pretty obvious.  But what isn’t always obvious is how to do that successfully.  Oftentimes, new or small businesses get caught up in that cloudy haze of design and functionality.  They end up choosing either to play it safe by creating a plain and function-focused website, or try too hard to stand out by going the completely opposite direction in their attempt to reinvent the wheel with unusual or outrageous designs.

Neither case is the optimal solution.  If the website is too plain, it won’t be interesting for some visitors, and could turn some people away.  If there is too much design, it might be overwhelming to others and frustrate users who cannot access your information easily, or load the page fast enough. What you need is a balance:  Simple enough that navigation is easy and intuitive, but creative enough so it still conveys the image and feeling of your company. Ultimately, the website should set you apart from your competition in a pleasant manner for your visitors.

That being said, there are certain design aesthetics that should be taken into account when considering the overall look of your site.  As a graphic designer for a start-up company in Manhattan who recently helped to redesign our company website, I can attest to the fact that there is an art to striking just the right balance. Going over some of my notes from our discussions during our re-design phase, I thought I would compile a general list of what was determined to be the most important elements to focus on when designing a site for a small business.

Keep Your Audience in Mind

Depending on your company and what product/service you are selling, your audience will vary significantly.  So therefore, how you display your content is just as important and diversified as the audience.

Are your customers likely to view your website on the go?  If your company is a restaurant or bar, for example, chances are people will be using apps to search for local places to dine when they are out, and if you just so happen to be one of those choices, you want to make sure your website is set up to give your audience the information they are looking for easily (menu, contact information, business hours, etc.).

You also want to make sure you include that information in the right format.  Not all mobile devices display all formats of content.  For example, Apple i-Phones and i-Pads do not natively support Adobe Flash.  If you use Flash to display your menu, you will lose out on a lot of potential customers who will move on to a different restaurant whose menu they can see.  A good example of a restaurant website that address these issues is Squid Ink (http://www.squid-ink.biz/).

Flash, although a great tool to add animation to your website, does take longer to load, and may therefore cause your audience to grow frustrated.  If you are going to use Flash, it is advised to use it in small doses.  Think of it like a spice.  A small amount can be the perfect touch to make your website great, but too much can spoil the entire experience.  Keep in mind as well, that Flash content is often image-oriented, and therefore is not search engine optimized.  Which leads me to my next suggestion.

Keep the Search Engine in Mind

Since this list is geared towards small businesses, and search engines are often a major contributor to their success (since name-recognition is usually not very high, people will usually find you using search engine key words), it is a good idea to make your site as search engine friendly as possible. How do you do that?  For one thing, keep as much key text as possible on your home page.  Search engines scan the text and keywords in your website to use for descriptions and search functionality.

Therefore, make sure you have the type of unique and relevant text that you want your users and search engines alike to attribute to your company.  For our company, Translation Services USA (http://www.translation-services-usa.com/), we knew search engine optimization (SEO) was going to be important. We decided to include a footer navigation for search engines to easily read when they scan the content on the homepage.  By doing this, it adds a level of importance to the linked pages for Google PageRank, thus helping the website as a whole.

One design feature we added which corresponds with guideline #4 below, is a mini scrollbar with content on the top part of the page. We wanted to showcase all of the different formats we work with, a major selling point for our company.  Including them in a mini scrollbar section allows us to showcase all of the formats, but at the same time, be able to keep the content area concise and clean.

This is just scratching the surface of SEO and Google PageRank  For more comprehensive information, you can read this article which explains how Google PageRank works: Understanding Google PageRank: A Graphical Guide (http://www.zippycart.com/infographics/google-pagerank-defined.html).

Regardless of the elements you choose to put on your site for search engine optimization, you need to make sure that you have clean and correct coding.  That means, no broken links, using proper end tags, etc.  If Search engines read bad code on your site, it can negatively affect your ranking, as well.

Keep the Design Clean

There is a difference between “plain” and “clean” when it comes to website design, and sometimes it can be tricky to create the latter over the former.  Most companies, especially small businesses, should stick with a clean looking site.  When I say clean, I mean the site should not be cluttered or confusing, the navigation should be straightforward, and the page should showcase your product and service with a focused design.  As functionality is majorly important for a small business (again, since name recognition is not very high), a clean design is one that enables this functionality, not detracts from it, in a manner that is pleasing to the eye.  A good example of clean design is Harrison Metal (http://www.harrisonmetal.com/). Their site offers a sleek, clean design, with accent colors and just enough well chosen images to keep your attention.

A.  Place Content Appropriately

As you may know from your own business(or maybe Marketing 101), in your store you want to showcase the best and most eye-catching products in front, directly at eye level.  This practice is the same for online, as well.  However, website space is set up a little bit differently than typical shelves and aisles.  The rule of thumb for website design is to place important content high enough on the page so that it is visible without having to scroll down to see it.  Naturally, this is the prime ‘real-estate’ for content.

In conjunction with this rule, you also don’t want to include an overload of information on the home page.  Chances are, users of your site aren’t going to read every bit of information on your home page, especially if there is an over abundance of it.  Keep it down to what is essential to relay the essence of your company, the most important goal or focus you are promoting, and important elements of your company.  You may want to include, for example, a brief company description.  However, make sure it is brief.  Browsers do not spend much time on a site before they are clicking on to the next one, so you must be concise and to the point about what your company offers.

Another important element that gives your company credibility is the inclusion of names, or better yet, logos by some of your well-known customers.  There is nothing better than ‘word of mouth’ promotion, and by including this, it lets the viewers think, “Well, if X company uses these services, then they must be good.”  If you don’t have any well-known customers, then a list of lesser known customers or positive feedback quotes also serve the same purpose.

You also want to include is a fast and easy way for customers to interact with your site.  For instance, a link to sign up to become a member, or for email news/promotions, or to offer a free quote for services can help to keep potential customers on your page and invested longer.

B. Use Links

Part of placing content correctly is being able to use links effectively.  You want to utilize other pages in your site for various reasons.  First, you don’t want to overload your home page with too much information for reasons we already discussed. Second, links increase website traffic to and from your home page, which in turn is picked up by search engines.  Third, it is the best way to organize your site by categories of information.  A good example that showcases these examples is Emeril’s Holiday to Go (http://www.emerils.com/holidaytogo/).

Typically, you will want to have an About page.   The About page explains in detail for your visitors what your company is about, its history, goals, and any other information you want your customers to know about your company.  Spend some time on this section because believe it or not, if people are actually interested in your company, they will read it.

You will also want to have a News page.  Visitors to your site want to know the latest happenings of your company.  By listing any news in the News section, it gives visitors (new and old) a direct place to go, plus it lets your customers know that you are actively involved with the website.  That being said, be sure to keep the news, actually new.  There is nothing worse than a visitor going to your News page only to discover the “latest news” is a promotion from two years ago.  It could cause them to think your company is not being managed, or even worse, not in operation anymore.

Another essential link is for your Products/Services.  Although you want to advertise your services on the home page, you want a separate page in order to go into detail.  Depending on the type of business, this page can be as large or small as necessary.  Often, the products page will be broken down further into subsequent pages based on various categories of items.  If that is the case, let the Products page stand as the go-to link from the home page.  It keeps your website clean, concise, and easy to navigate.

Get Creative (Not Crazy)

Despite all of these “rules”, there is still room for creativity.  After all, you do want your website to be attractive and interesting.  This is where the importance of design creativity comes into play, and where you need to learn to be a critic as well as an artist.

The first thing you need, however, is a solid concept of your company’s image and identity.  You need to have a thorough understanding of this first because the design of your website needs to remain an extension (or enhancement) of that identity.

A good example is the website for Beauty Bar, a hair-salon themed bar, with locations all across the U.S.: http://thebeautybar.com/. They are able to incorporate the same retro-feel of their bars into the style of their website.  It helps to create a unified experience and promote the style of their bars through their website.

Keeping your company identity in mind, try to brainstorm ways in which you can use the functionality of the website to convey this identity.  It is best to sketch out the bare-bones first.  How big do you want the header to be? Where do you want your logo to go? Do you want multiple sidebars or just the one main content area?  Feel free to search around the web for examples to inspire you.  Don’t worry about feeling like you are cheating, even the greatest artists were inspired by works of others.  As long as you aren’t copying the layout exactly, your site will still be original because of your content and your unique company identity.

Once you have an essential blue-print of the layout of your site, you can start imagining how to incorporate your design into the layout.  Chances are, you probably already envisioned how some design will fit into your site when you were brainstorming.  Now you have to flush out the details.  A good idea is to create a mock-up of the site using Photoshop or some other design program.  This provides a quick way to visualize what your site will look like, without going through all the work it takes to make it functional.

After you come up with a design you like that addresses the many important concepts we’ve discussed, you’re ready to create the individual elements (images, buttons, etc.) and build your website.

Whatever elements you choose to include (and where) in your site, the important thing to remember is that your site is there to promote/increase your business.  A great company website is a balance of functionality and design.  Ask people what they think of your site, what they like/don’t like, and what changes they would like to see.  Although the website is for your company, the opinions that matter the most are those of the public;  your potential customers.  Don’t be afraid to revise and change your website after it has been posted on the internet.  Changing what doesn’t work, or adding elements that are now important to your business is perfectly fine, and even a welcome change for your customers to see new and relevant updates.

However, you don’t want to constantly be changing the entire layout and theme of your site.  This can lead to a lot of confusion for your audience, and a lack of a stable brand identity.

You want to make it easy for your customers to trust you and to want to do business with you. If you are able to accomplish this, then you have succeeded in creating an effective website.

About the Author

Matt Bramowicz grew up in New Jersey and attended Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, where he received a degree in English and minored in Fine Arts.  He now works as the head of PR/Marketing and as a graphic designer for Translation Services USA, a startup translation and technology company located in New York City.

Translation Services USA has developed social networking applications such as TranslationCloud.net and Ackuna.com.