Official Blog » 2008 » August

I know I talk a lot about using video in advertising in this space – But - I’m going to point to video again today since I came across this recent article that makes a great case for including video in your marketing plan. Click on the following link to see what I mean!:

Shoeline.com’s Conversion Rate Up 44% Using On-Site Videos!

If you’re not going to click on the link above, then please check out the following quote taken from the Internet Retailer article posted 8.22.08:

Shoeline.com last year tested adding 10 videos highlighting different shoes on some of its product pages. The videos showed the feet of models sporting the various styles. The items that had videos experienced a 44% increase in conversions. Now, the company is expanding the number of videos to 100.

“With such positive results on our existing videos, the goal right now is to add video to as many of our products as possible,” says Frank Malsbenden, vice president and general manager of Vision Retailing Inc., the parent company of Shoeline.com.

So how are your video plans coming along? At Smarter we currently offer more than 62,000(!) product video reviews. What that means for our merchants is that if we have a video review on-file for a product that you offer in your feed, we will link it up to your product (at no-extra cost) and indicate it’s availability with our video review icon right next to your product! What is means for our shoppers is that we offer one more way for them to become better educated before actually making a decision to purchase! Check out the Apple iPod listings here showing the video review icon here for an example:

Click on the “tv” icon next to the product to watch the consumer review video(s)!

Lastly, but certainly not least, did you know that our merchants now have the ability to submit their own product videos for inclusion in Smarter’s video review feature? I can send you the detailed specs if you are interested – and if you’ve read the article/quote above, I hope that I’ll be hearing from you soon!

Of course when it’s mid-August and you’re an online retailer staring down the calendar toward the inevitable season of green & red, the question to ask is, “is our site READY for the holidays??” If you haven’t done that yet this month, lets pause together and ask that question now…

…Okay! I know here at Smarter our answer is ‘not quite’! We have a LOT of initiatives in the queue that we are still planning on launching this fall! (Go Green! anyone? More about that later!) Of course I will let you know about each exciting feature/opportunity as soon as the information becomes available! In the meantime – what was your answer?

Here are a few articles from this week with good suggestions to help you get ready!
Turning Web Clicks Into Purchases from CNN Money

What is SEO Anyway??
It’s FREE Traffic, You Need It - click here for 10 great SEO tips!

So read on, make sure you have an account with Smarter.com – and if you already have an account with us, keep in-touch so that together we can be sure that your account is optimized for its greatest performance potential on Smarter!

I won’t wish you a ‘happy holiday’ yet – it’s not even Labor Day, but let’s just say I hear the distant sound of jingle-bells jingling!

Always trying to keep the pulse of the latest trends and information available in order to keep our merchants performing at their most successful level, I’ve decided to write a Part II on the subject of Back to School spending this year. It is the story of NOW!!

Please check out the following links:

Nielsen Forecasts Back To School Spending at a 2.6% Growth for ‘08 and Sales of Nearly $1.6B

Mom’s Predict Spending Up 8% Overall, One-Stop Stores & Footwear Retailers Take Note!

So, if you’re an online retailer (and most of you are), there are dozens of questions that are coming to mind regarding your Back-to-School, rake-in-the-dough scenarios : ) Here are just a few:

1. Are you listing your products on CSE’s like Smarter.com? Breadth & Depth!
2. Are you advertising a Back-to-School ‘Special Offer’ on your site and in your feed with Smarter?
3. If you are a Footwear retailer, are you listing with Smarter.com? Great time of year for footwear buys!
4. Are you talking front and center on your site about “saving gas” and the convenience of shopping online (- combined with your “free shipping on orders over $50” special offer above - ) and featuring loads of adorable photos of little school boys & girls in back-packs and brand-new tennis shoes??
5. If not, why not? The other news item to take note of (check the following link) is that Online Advertising spending is NOT going down! So, what are your competitors up to for BTS? I think we know:

LA Times: Online Ad Spending Doesn’t Stop for “R” - Word : )

If you are not this prepared for Back-to-School, what are your plans for Holiday and Q4?? You’d better call me quick!

It’s that wonderful time of year, filled with backpacks, #2 pencil requests, and for older kids: really cool electronic calculators! There are a number of articles out this week giving projected dollar-spend amounts for the season, I’ve chosen two to highlight following.

The first one is from our friends at Marketing Charts with information supplied by National Retail Federation:

K-12 Back-to-School Spending to Remain High

Even with economic factors being what they are right now, the dollar-amount families are planning on spending is still up, $594.24 over $563.40 reported last year! Good news! This is in categories like clothing, computer & cell phones, shoes and school supplies – staples of Smarter merchants right? One other thing to note is that purchasing online is expected to come up over last year as well, 24.8% vs. 21.4% from last year – are you ready??

The second is from PromoMagazine.com:

Back to School Holiday Spending Projected to Increase 7%

“A random phone sample of 7,500 households indicated the average household spend by category would be: clothing, $265; computers, $230, up 10% over last year; supplies, $100 (+5%), books, $25 (+14%) and shoes, $115 (+15%). The increase in shoe spending is due to shifts in footwear styles every few years, Passikoff said.”

Here’s the key; if you’re already a Smarter merchant, please don’t forget to add all your coupons, special rebates and discounts into your feed with us – this is a critical time of year for special offers! And…if you’re not a Smarter merchant, there is no better time to sign-up and ‘get settled’ in with us ….

…..because you know the big Q4 in just right around the corner!!

Happy August!

PS/

Don’t forget that Smarter.com now offers many additional ways for you to market your store and products to our over 24 million visitors each month! Drop me a line if you’d like additional details about our site-sponsorships or display advertising opportunities!