In an attempt to close the gap between private-sector rivals FedEx and UPS, The U.S. Postal Service is seeking advice on how to create a new, high-technology system for routing mail and packages. The financially struggling USPS said it wants a “dynamic routing” strategy that can help it offer new products that could boost revenue such as same-day delivery and pickups at retail locations.
Google has made two announcements in February that leads to speculation that it will try to make Google Shopping a cross-device comparison shopping engine and a full-fledged ecommerce marketplace. The first involves enhanced AdWords campaigns, the second the acquisition of ecommerce data firm Channel Intelligence. See why this may mean a move to the marketplaces for Google Shopping.
Amazon Web Services Inc., announces its making available its data warehouse Amazon Redshift to customers. Redshift was first introduced in November of last year and could pose a possible threat to its competitors.
Williams-Sonoma top the list for the e-tailing group’s 15th Annual Mystery Shopping Study For the Fourth Quarter of 2012. The e-tailing group released their Customer Experience Index results this week. Williams-Sonoma was followed by Nordstrom and Amazon in the top three.
Online shoppers are finding more and more ways to shop than ever before. They are using smartphones, tablets, traditional PCs, and most often, a combination of the three. This modern shopper is ready to buy whenever and wherever they chose, even if it means while at work. In this infographic from Monetate, the ecommerce personalization company, you will see the various trends of this shopper including the days and times of the week they shop, and the types of devices they use to make online purchases.
Ebay’s CEO John Donahoe said during the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference that he believes the ecommerce company can provide same-day delivery at scale. Donahoe said it can be done in a similar to the way the on-demand private driver company Uber conducts its business where private driving companies attempt to outbid each other for fares.
American Express announced in a release that Twitter followers of the credit card company can turn certain hashtags into online purchases.
Amazon extends its domination of ecommerce into the mobile platform, according to the ForeSee Mobile Satisfaction Index: Holiday Retail Edition. In the survey, which was conducted of more than 6,200 consumers during the peak holiday shopping season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the online marketplace scored highest among 25 of the top mobile commerce companies.
While most, if not all, holiday ecommerce reporting ends after Cyber Monday, EQ4 2012 examines trends through Christmas Eve, including an analysis of key performance indicators such as conversion rates and average order values by device and inbound referrer.
ComScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, released its Full Year and Q4 2012 U.S. retail ecommerce sales estimates. For the full year, U.S. retail ecommerce sales reached $186.2 billion, an increase of 15%– the strongest annual growth rate since before the recession. Q4 2012 sales grew 14 percent year-over-year to $56.8 billion, marking the first ever $50 billion quarter.