Twitter Better for Nonsense than Business Sense

| Tim Parry

Are you still thinking about using Twitter as a channel to communicate with your customers? If so, keep in mind there’s a lot of clutter to cut through. More than 40% of all tweets are “pointless babble.”

BabyAge.com Learns to Listen to its Customers

| Tim Parry

Customers may be are changing their spending habits, says Jack Keifer. But if you listen to them and stock what they want, they’ll keep buying, the president/CEO of baby accessories and equipment merchant BabyAge.com said earlier this month at eTail in Baltimore.

Talbots Signs With Li & Fung

| Tim Parry

Woman’s apparel and accessories merchant The Talbots has entered into a buying agency agreement with Li & Fung that will make the Hong Kong-based global consumer goods exporter the exclusive agent for substantially all Talbots apparel products.

When is it Time for a Redesign?

| Tim Parry

When do you know it’s time to redesign your e-commerce site? That question was posed to a panel of three merchants during a session at eTail in Baltimore last week, and no one person had the same answer.

Sinking Your Teeth Into Twitter and Facebook

| Tim Parry

You’ve got your company on Twitter, you set up a Facebook page, and think you’re reaching your customers in a whole new way. But do you really know what you’re doing with social media? Or are you just on Twitter and doing Facebook because the boss told you to do it because the competition is doing it?

Live From eTail: Clearing the Path for Conversion

| Tim Parry

Kevin Ertell, VP-retail strategies for customer satisfaction surveyor ForeSee Results, says that about 20% of all e-commerce customers go to a Website with the intent to buy. The problem is, the conversion rate for e-commerce is about 3% to 4%.

Live From eTail: Alternative Payments Becoming Mainstream

| Tim Parry

Speaking at eTail on Tuesday, Brad Wolansky said even though Orvis had made a deal with the alternative payment service provider, he felt an association with Bill Me Later was sort of low-brow for the upscale outdoor apparel and home goods retailer

Sad Ending for Smith & Hawken

| Tim Parry

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. is Pulling the Plug on Smith & Hawken. The catalog and Website of the high-end home and garden merchant stopped taking orders