Zaz Lamarr hearts Zappos. She really does.

On her personal blog Writing, Cooking, Life, Zaz gives testimony of exceptional service from an online retailer back in July:

“One bright, extraordinary note in all of the sad stuff of the last few weeks - in May we had ordered several pairs of shoes from Zappos for my mom. She’d lost a lot of weight, and her old shoes were all too big. She had a whole new wardrobe of clothes in pretty colors, that fit, so I wanted her to have some pretty shoes that fit, too, when I took her up to Oregon to stay where her sister is. Out of seven pairs, only two fit. Not bad considering she’d never been this thin, so I was winging it, and the return shipping is free.

The rest were here waiting to be returned. Because of various circumstances - lost label, my mom being hospitalized and me being away, the shoes were never sent back. There’s a time limit on the return of 15 days. Remember this. When you do a return to them, they pay the shipping, but you have to get the shoes to UPS yourself. Remember this, also.

Read the rest of this entry »

Founder of gift and gadget retailer I Want One of Those, Tim Booth chats with Dave O at eTail UK about starting his business, keeping it fresh, sourcing products internationally and forming successful partnerships for the customer’s benefit.

MP3 File

Social Media maven and e-tailer Pinny Gwinish of Ice.com makes his 2nd appearance on the Get Elastic podcast to talk about the effects on viral video on ecommerce sales. Topics include acquiring domain names, investing in equipment, forthcoming videos and raising conversion rates. See (hilarious) videos at Pinny’s World and Mr. Cupid on You Tube.

MP3 File

[Photo of Ice.com’s Pinny Gwinish at eTail UK by Dave Olson]

In London, eTail UK kicks off with Search and Analytics day and Dave O having laughs with Elastic Path’s own expert Jason Billingsley. They discuss search marketing strategies and concerns plus Google’s role in ecommerce, global payments and adaption.

MP3 File

On the eve of the Tri-Coastal E-commerce Trade Show Summer Tour, Dave O has a quick chat with Andrew, a friend of Elastic Path, about the upcoming shows.

Including:

• ACCM in Boston - booth #453 - http://www.accmshow.com/accm07
• Book Expo America in NYC - booth #1429 - http://www.bookexpoamerica.com
• Internet Retailer in San Jose - booth #1325 - http://www.internetretailer.com/IR2007/
• eTail UK in London - http://www.etailuk07.co.uk

They share some hockey stories and marketing anecdotes along the way and invite you to stop by the booth at any show to say hello and score some premium EP schwag.

MP3 File

You may remember the Get Elastic podcast conversation with Rob Weber of Intellifit from last February’s eTail West event in Palm Desert - Dressing Intelligently for Success - Get Elastic #28. If you were wondering what the machine he spoke of looks like, you are in luck since I’ve dug out a clip of their standard process in action.

The machine (if i recall correctly) measures your body’s details by bouncing some sort of spacey waves against the water on your skin - clearly I have no idea what I am talking about so listen to the interview and watch the video to see for yourself.

By the way, I was measured by the virtual ftting room tube at the show. Later, I logged in to Intellifit.com and ordered pants, choosing from the pre-measured sizes from Intellifit-ified vendors (Levi’s, Gap, Polo, Nordstrom, Land’s End etc.) and sure enough, they fit perfect!

I think we need tour t-shirts like a rock band but since that is unlikely, here’s the info about our forthcoming adventures to trade shows in Boston, NYC, San Jose and London.

ELASTIC PATH IS HITTING THE ROAD!

We are heading out on a tri-coastal tour and we want to meet with you. Come by to say a real-life “hello” or schedule a personal one-on-one meeting to discuss your ecommerce project, see a live demo, or just talk
shop. Plus, participate in some great events to energize your ecommerce operations.

Not attending one of the following shows? That’s okay. If you are located in any of the cities we are visiting, we’d still love to meetup.

Here is where you will find us:

————————————————-
ACCM - Boston, MA, May 21-23
————————————————-
Our first trip is to the ACCM conference where the focus is on helping multi-channel catalogers take sales to the next level. It is the largest conference for catalog & Internet merchants - join us at booth #453.
http://www.accmshow.com/accm07/

————————————————-
Book Expo America (BEA) - NYC, NY, June 1-3
————————————————-
USA’s biggest city is hosting the world’s biggest book show and we’ll be there. Publishers and retailers can learn how Elastic Path customers like Random House are effectively selling online - join us at booth #1429.
http://www.bookexpoamerica.com

————————————————-
Internet Retailer - San Jose, CA, June 4-7
————————————————-
Last year, this venerable show saw the debut of the Elastic Path contortionists to re-enforce our message of flexibility. We’re back again this year to visit with prospects, customers, and colleagues like our friends from PowerReviews. You won’t want to miss what we have in store at this year’s event - join us at booth #1325.
https://www.internetretailer.com/IR2007/registration_exh.asp
–> NOTE: Save $100 off registration using code EC7163 <–

————————————————-
eTail UK - London, UK, June 12-14
————————————————-
Meet with an Elastic Path SEO expert during the Search Day roundtables at eTail’s inaugural UK event. We’ll be in Piccadilly hosting the official Podcast Station and recording episodes of the Get Elastic podcast series. Also, meet with Elastic Path customers, I Want One of Those! and Electric Shopping.
http://www.etailuk07.co.uk
–> NOTE: Get 25% off the main conference using code XU95 <–

LET’S TALK
Call us to schedule a time for a personal chat on site. We can discuss your impending projects and pain points plus bring in experts from our team as needed for a quality consultation.

NOTE: CK, one of Elastic Path’s QA Engineers, pointed out a borked link on this podcast so here is a fresh version of Get Elastic podcast Episode #21 featuring Chris Anderson at eTail West. Sorry for any inconvenience and enjoy!

At Etail West trade show and conference, Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail and editor-in-chief of Wired magazine, chats about how retailers can capitalize on marketing less popular products and increase sales by optimizing for niche searches plus discuss his career path from physicist to economist (and even banter about free beer) with DaveO and Jason Billingsley.

MP3 File

[photo of Chris Anderson at
eTail West by DaveO]

Attending conferences can be an expensive proposition. Besides the cost of registration and travel, the opportunity costs resulting from being out of the office can be considerable. The shows can be overwhelming with multiple tracks of presentations and a show floor full of vendors competing for your ear. Here are 11 tips to help you maximize the return on investment from your conference attendance.

Grab the .pdf at Maximizing the Conference Experience - 11 Tips for Smart Attendees post.

MP3 File

[Poolside in Palm Desert photo by DaveO]

Couldn’t attend eTail West? Come along as Dave O and Jason Billingsley chat about the show and discuss favorite podcast interviews, interesting vendors plus the pleasure of making friends with competitors, meeting new colleagues and seeing glazed-over faces. They also ponder offering some tips for conference attendees to maximize ROI on their conference attendance investment.

MP3 File

[Photo of flamingos in Palm Desert
by Dave O]

Show notes and links after the break …

Read the rest of this entry »