Official Blog » 2008 » September

Happy first day of Autumn! Can you believe it’s here already?

I’m pretty excited to let you know that I will be attending the Online Marketing World ‘08 conference next week in San Francisco, (Oct. 1-3). For those of you that aren’t familiar with the event, here is a blurb from their site:

“The constantly changing face of the Internet presents the foremost marketing challenge and opportunity for today’s business marketers.

Online Market World is the premier event for online sellers and marketers dedicated to taking their businesses to the next level. For companies that market and sell on the web, Online Market World 2008 brings together the best innovative minds in the industry, to help people learn how to market products better; how to exploit the growing list of online markets (such as Amazon, Google, Yahoo!, MSN, Facebook, Shopping.com, etc.) while implementing successful multi-channel sales and service strategies.”

For the daily program preview, please visit the link below:

Online Marketing World ‘08 Schedule Preview

I’d love to meet up with you there! If you are planning on being in attendance, please bounce me back an email and let me know!

One more thing, fourth quarter officially starts next week! Are all your ‘ducks’ in a row? In advance of what some retail experts are saying may be a tough holiday season, allowing for a depth and breadth of availability for your products just makes sense! Smarter can definitely help you achieve that extra ‘shelve’ online! And don’t forget that I am still offering our $50 in bonus clicks to new accounts that sign-up before end-of-day on the 30th!

E -me if you’ll be at Online Marketing World!

Ps/

BTW – Let me know if you are planning on taking in the My Bloody Valentine show in San Francisco on the 30th, - I’m sorely tempted, even with the $47 price tag (!):

MBV Sept 30th, San Francisco Design Center

Smarty and I would like to welcome you to the first ever “Official” Smarter Blog!

I’ll be posting here about once a week on different topics such as:

• What’s New with Smarter
• Merchant Updates
• Data Feed Optimization
• Comparison Shopping News
• E-commerce Tips
• Shopper FAQs
• Online Shopping and eTailing In the News

I’ve been an Account Executive/Sales Account Manager here at Smarter for the past couple of years now and look forward to sharing the insight I’ve garnered over that time-span with you in this space!  Also, I plan on keeping a keen eye on ‘all things future’ regarding online shopping and successful ecommerce so stay tuned!

At Smarter we believe in providing the best quality shopping experience for our shoppers as well as providing the highest educated online leads to our listing merchants. With those goals in mind, check back here often and see what’s new with Smarter.com!

This just in!

Smarter.com has just this week launched additional attributes in our Flowers, Gifts and Gourmet category! The addition of these attributes will help bring Smarter merchants more refined shopping leads!

Here are some of my favorite examples of our new attributes:

Flowers: Click here to visit Smarter’s Flower Category:

Occasion / Sentiment > Anniversary/Get Well/Prom/Thank You

Flower Type> Jasmine/Gardenia/Lily/Rose

Gifts: Click here to visit Smarter’s Gifts Category:

Collectibles>Movie Theme>Batman/Star Trek/Lord of the Rings/Harry Potter

Baskets>Gift Basket Theme>Pet/Gardening/Wine/Office/Popcorn

Gourmet (Food & Drink): Click here to visit Smarter’s Gourmet Category:

Candy & Chocolate>Chocolates>Dietary Needs>Low Sodium/Low Carb/Organic

Condiments & Sauces> BBQ Sauce & Marinades/Jams & Jellies/Salad Dressing

Coffee> flavor>Chocolate/Hazelnut/Butter Rum

Bakery & Desserts>Deserts & Sweets/Breads (!!)

**For some reason, I’m getting really stuck in our gourmet section –mmm, …must be hungry!

Feel free to bounce me an email or post here if you have any questions!

Last week’s post was a little bit lengthy, so I’m planning on keeping this one short and simple. I know that some of you are saying “we’ll see”, right? Ha! Okay, maybe you’re right…. Having said all that, there is no less a “punch” here for those that will read on!

First, I wanted to call to your attention a FREE webinar hosted by Hitwise entitled, “Retail Planning for the Holiday Season”. Here’s the blurb that caught my eye:

“The Holiday season will be here before you know it. Your retail competitors are already planning promotions and marketing initiatives to maximize traffic and sales. Make sure your promotions, content, affiliate partnerships and search programs hit the mark with Holiday gift-givers. Don’t miss this 30-minute webinar covering Hitwise data and trends from Holiday 2007 and early hints for 2008.”

Hitwise Webinar - Retail Planning for the Holiday Season
Date: Wednesday September 10, 2008
Time: 1pm EDT (10am PDT), 30 minute duration

Here is the link for Registering!

On to the second thing I want to mention here… Smarter.com is planning an exciting new roll-out in the next couple of weeks and I want you all to be the first to hear about it! We are going to be updating our category landing pages in a big way! Check an example out of a current category landing page:

Smarter’s Current Home & Garden Category Landing Page

These updated landing pages are going to really come into their own with lots of fun integration to help educate our shoppers and offer them even more value when they choose to shop for the products you offer thru Smarter! Following is our official “pre-launch” blub! (BTW – I’ll explain more about how this is a benefit to YOU, our merchants, in the next few weeks!)

“With this updated version of the Smarter.com channel and sub-category pages, we’ll be pulling all the levers to deliver a streamlined, magazine-like layout that displays content ranging from ‘Top Stores’ to ‘Best Deals’ to ‘Popular Video Reviews’, and even a ‘What’s Hot’ section updated frequently by our in-house ‘Channel Guides!’”

Hope you had a great Labor Day and I look forward to talking with you soon!