63% of consumers indicate they are more likely to purchase from a site if it has product ratings and reviews. (CompUSA & iPerceptions study)

Are you missing out on the trend towards social commerce? Find out how to capitalize on consumer generated content in this informative session including a case study on NetShops’ success with product reviews and ratings.

View On-demand Webinar
User Reviews: The Power of Social Commerce
(Windows Media Player is required)

Note:
We apologize for the audio quality and will do our best to improve it in next month’s webinar: 7 Simple Ways to Boost Your Holiday Conversion Rate

Questions and Answers

What about moderating “dirty words” from reviews? How much of an effort is that?
Jason Billingsley: PowerReviews offers a profanity filter and it is basically automatic. Other review solutions like Bazaarvoice likely have the same capabilities. If you are using an out-of-the-box system included with your ecommerce software, it will vary - there will be no 1st level moderation by a service provider so you will be on the hook for ALL moderation. I have seen numbers in the 10% range for the amount of reviews that need some level of scrubbing.

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Continuing on with the Ecommerce Webinar series, … this Thursday (Aug. 16th) Andy Chen and Jay Gordman will join Jason Billingsley for a hour long candid conversation on the pros and cons of adding user generated product reviews to your ecommerce site. There is power in social commerce but there must be a catch, right? Well maybe not. Attend this complimentary webinar to find out.

That’s right - put that checkbook away because there is no charge for you! Simply sign up for User Reviews: The Power of Social Commerce and attend on Thursday, August 16, 2007 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM PDT (GMT -8).

In the presentation, the panelists will address a comprehensive list of topics including…

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I’m heading to Gnomedex shortly … here’s how you can play along at home with this special board game edition which wou’ll receive along with your year supply of Rice a Roni!

I won’t be doing on-site blogging this time (no laptop) but am taking recorder and camera and plan to document a bit but mostly soak all the fuzzy knowledge in to hone my ability to see into the future of media, communication, activism and efficiency. Excited to hang out with more amazing folks brewing up crazy goodness and catch up with the “alumni club” at this geekfest summer camp. Fortunately non-A listers like me are able to attend to keep it real ;-).

Maslow take note of all these fulfilled and almost actualized people!

photo by KK (of course)

Gnomedex video and audio live: http://live.pirillo.com/

Gnomedex 2007: http://www.gnomedex.com/2007/

Always fun to hear what Marc Canter yells aloud (careful sitting next to him!)

Gnomedex attendees aggregator: http://www.gnomedex.com/2007/attendees/

Gnomedex “it’s geeky fun” song by DKM Penmachine: http://www.penmachine.com/2006/06/free-mp3-theme-song-for-gnomedex-for.html

Gnomedex Flickr tag: http://flickr.com/photos/tags/gnomedex/

Thrasher fan Mark, Cosmo and Cap’n Ajax

Gnomedex Technorati tags: http://technorati.com/posts/tag/gnomedex/

Gnomedex 06 posts on Get Elastic:
http://www.getelastic.com/gnomedex-rolls-on-with-day-25/
http://www.getelastic.com/conversations-from-the-gnomedex-stage/
http://www.getelastic.com/gnomedex-is-underway/

Gnomedex Entomology: http://www.thenameinspector.com/gnomedex/

Gnomedex is a funny name. There’s something absurd about the word gnome, and using it to replace the first syllable of a stuffy, corporate-sounding acronym really makes Gnomedex work. Gnome makes you think of garden gnomes. And the Underpants Gnomes of South Park.They have a three-point business plan that may seem eerily familiar toyou VCs and angels out there, and cut a little close to the bone foryou web entrepreneurs:

1. Collect Underpants.
2. ?
3. Profit!

by niallkennedy

technorati tags:gnomedex, geekyfun, seattle

Over the past few weeks, I’ve research, interviewed and written a case study about one of New Zealand’s largest and oldest retailers - a sort of Sears Roebuck to make a North American comparison. I suggest Sears because the ‘over-a-century-old’ appliance and electronics retailer Bond + Bond built their business - in part - by getting products, which otherwise would only be available to urban dwellers, to the rural communities.

In the case study, Linda Geary (business development manager for parent company Noel Leeming Group) emphasized time and again the reason for building out the website the way they did - the customer.

As she points out (in no uncertain terms):

“The long term holistic view of retail suggests that customers will choose their natural channel at the time of purchase and may change at will using a hybrid or mixture of channels. The point is, it’s the customers choice.”

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At Book Expo America in NYC, host Dave O learns how retailers can advertise on popular blogs to reach their preferred demographic. Lanae and Nicole from Blogads.com (Blogads blogs - natch) also explain the myriad benefits to retailers resultant from targeting early-adopters and taste-setting consumers on niche blogs.

MP3 File

Get Elastic host DaveO chats with Lanae and
Nicole of Blogads.com at Book Expo America in NYC

See also:

Book Expo America blog by Event Director Lance Fensterman
Blogads’ blog
Perez Hilton (celebrity gossip blog)
Chris Pirillo - Gnomedex (geeky fun)

View full screen via SlideShare

Elastic Path’s Jason Billingsley and Netconcepts‘ Stephan Spencer. (along with a cameo by EP’s Gord Janzen) presented this webinar to accompany the white paper and research series called The Ecommerce Checkout Report (free download).

The report inspected the Top 100 online retailers and reviewed for 23 tactics commonly used in Checkout. The results attempt to begin a dialog in order to answer questions like: Does a shorter checkout process really decrease shopping cart abandonment? Should you use an order confirmation screen? Does live chat improve conversions? Study samples included a variety of vertical market groups including apparel and accessories, computers and electronics, and both high and low ticket value product retailers.

See also:

nitobi’s Robot Replay

Jason’s post on travel “Stop the checkout to save the customer money?“

Everyone gets distracted when shopping online. That’s one of the nice things about shopping via the web - you can take a phone call, refill your coffee, walk the dog, quick nap in the hammock … then come back and your order is still there. The flip side of this scenario is the theme of sorts for Crazy, Messed-up World of Ecommerce video #7 “Abandoned.”

Video #7 - Abandoned

For online retailers though, abandoned carts are the root of endless worry and concern. These conversion killers piling up in your logs beg questions like: Why did they leave? Were they just comparing prices or features or is it something I did? Maybe there’s something wrong with my site’s usability! How can I make it better? How can I get them back? How can I raise my conversion rates? Would adding “wishlists” or “saved cart” features reduce cart abandonment? and so on …

Well for sure usability is important (check The Ecommerce Checkout Report for more on best practisesc) and certainly retailers loathe leaving money on the table, but sometimes, cart abandonment just happens. Just hope they come back, right?

View full screen version at SlideShare

Webinar featuring useful tips, tools and best practices for optimizing your ecommerce site for search engine rankings presented by Elastic Path Ecommerce Software’s Jason Billingsley and Founder of SEO firm Netconcepts, Stephan Spencer.

See also: Secrets of SEO Webinar - Live Blog and Q&A Recap.

Why is a printed magazine about websites relevant? Why do websites matter anyhow? Is a social network page a website? Is a blog a website? and, What will become of websites as technology evolves? These questions and more are posed to Website Magazine’s Christian Wilson by Get Elastic host Dave O while at Internet Retailer 2007 in San Jose.

MP3 File

Dave O talk websites with Website Magazine’s Christian Wilson
at Internet Retailer 2007

Bonus: Get a complimentary subscription to Website Magazine.

All buzzwords aside, companies really want something that will work with their business model and manage to do so at a cost which allows a reasonable chance of reaching profitably goals. In a comprehensive editorial package of articles and related resources about Service Oriented Architecture in Ziff Davis’ Baseline Magazine on July 12th 2007, David F. Carr explores Aeroplan’s use of open source and standards-based components - including Elastic Path - in their complicated business scenario.

Carr’s report, “Improving Ties to Business Partners” explains Aeroplan’s modus operandi, “Aeroplan “sells” mileage credits to partners, such as credit card issuers—who then offer them as rewards to customers. These customers can trade credits for air travel, car rentals and merchandise. SOA enables Aeroplan and its partners to exchange customer and other data in legacy systems to make the rewards program work.”

More after the break …

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