Costume SuperCenter Inventory Lost to Superstorm Sandy

| Tim Parry

Add Costume SuperCenter to the list of ecommerce merchants whose businesses have been shut down since SuperStorm Sandy hit Oct. 29. Costume SuperCenter is located in the same Edison, NJ building as themed party supply seller Birthday in a Box, whose situation was reported Nov. 7 by Multichannel Merchant.

Google’s Paid Clicks Rise, Average CPC Drops

| Tim Parry

The number of paid clicks is way up, but the cost-per-click is down, according to the third-quarter financial report released last week by Google. Why has the cost-per-click dropped, and what does this mean for merchants as the fourth-quarter kicks into high gear? Here’s what three industry experts told Multichannel Merchant.

Gold: Filson, Limited Edition Scarlet Cruiser

| Tim Parry

The outdoor apparel retailer looked to reinforce its brand heritage and quality by offering a limited, hand-numbered edition of an historic garment; sell through the production run for this limited edition Scarlet Cruiser coat. Filson

Gold: Fairytale Brownies, Holiday 2011

| Tim Parry

Fairytale Brownies looked to generate $6.6 million in revenue from sales of brownie and cookie gifts from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31, 2011. Fall and holiday 2011 print catalogs, the brownies.com ecommerce site, email specials and affiliate marketing were used as tools to reach that goal.

Gold: Baudville, Holiday 2011 Campaign

| Tim Parry

Baudville wanted to increase its customer engagement by positioning itself as a reliable resource for year-end gifts in addition to the other products. Baudville also wanted to secure potential customers who are shopping differently during the holiday season. Baudville featured year-end gifts on its catalog cover, its Facebook homepage and marketing emails to drive sales.

Gold: Black Box Network Services

| Tim Parry

Black Box looked to generate new sales and pipeline opportunities for AV/digital signage line with the goal of $500,000 in sales. They also wanted to create a sustainable lead generation campaign with the goal of 1,500 downloads, and identify 100 new channel partner prospects with the goal of signing 25 new partners.