The software is central to eBay's campaign to help consumers buy the things they see on television - a concept known as TV commerce. On Monday, the company offered the features as part of its iPad application, letting users browse merchandise from shows and movies. "You'll be able to buy exactly what's there," said Steve Yankovich, who runs mobile services at the San Jose company. The new product works with TV-guide data to show relevant merchandise in eBay's store.
While the first version will only run on the iPad, the company plans to make it available on other tablets and mobile phones, Yankovich said. Getting cooperation from Hollywood may be the biggest challenge for eBay. While the concept of making it easier to buy items shown on television has been discussed for years, the foray into television commerce is part of Chief Executive Officer John Donahoe's turnaround effort for the e-commerce company, which saw sales growth slow over the past decade.
EBay is investing in new products and making acquisitions to attract more users - especially on mobile devices, where the company expects to get $5 billion in payment volume this year. Separately Monday, eBay announced the purchase of Hunch.com for an undisclosed sum. The service recommends products and services to shoppers based on their activity on social networks and other sites. EBay shares fell 3.6 percent to $28.75 at the close in New York amid a broader market slide.
EBay is trying to woo multitaskers - the 86 percent of tablet and mobile-phone users who use their devices while watching television. EBay will rely on its selection of new, used and antique items to serve up relevant products, Yankovich said.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
J.C. Penney and Esquire collaborate on an online men's store
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. and men's magazine Esquire have joined forces to launch Cladmen.com, an e-commerce site geared toward fashionable men who need style guidance when shopping for clothes.
Following a year of market research, Penney's Growth Brand Division determined the area of opportunity to grow revenue online was in men's apparel, says Cladmen's vice president of marketing, Amber Benson.
"The Growth Brand Division was looking for an opportunity to leverage Penney's knowledge of retailing and e-commerce infrastructure, and they saw a unique need in the market," Benson says.
Aimed at men ages 25 to 54, Cladmen sells apparel, accessories and grooming tools; the retailer says the average price of items on the site is $185. The retailer is collaborating with Esquire on the venture to deliver what it calls editorial commerce. Shoppers on Cladmen.com, which launched last week, will see Esquire Picks throughout the site, as well as a Damn Good Advice section where Esquire editors include instructional articles such as How To Tie a Bowtie.
Each outfit is built with items from several brands and shoppers can purchase each item separately or buy the whole outfit at once. Some issues of Esquire will include a 16-page Clad Report in which editors comment on outfits pulled from Cladmen merchandise. J.C. Penney is following in the lead of such retailers as Macy's Inc., Target Corp. and Gilt Groupe in combining editorial content with online retailing.
The campaign included social media marketing, the Clad report printed in September and November issues of Esquire, print ads in the magazine and on Esquire.com, and an interactive iPad advertisement within Esquire's iPad app.
When the site launched last week, Benson says, Cladmen sent an e-mail to those consumers who signed up and got a warm response. The retailer has mounted an online marketing campaign that includes paid search, feeds to comparison shopping engines and banner display ads. The retailer also plans to roll out a mobile-enhanced site early next year.
Fluid Inc. contributed to designing the site and imc2 LLC developed Cladmen's "Own It" digital marketing campaign.
Following a year of market research, Penney's Growth Brand Division determined the area of opportunity to grow revenue online was in men's apparel, says Cladmen's vice president of marketing, Amber Benson.
"The Growth Brand Division was looking for an opportunity to leverage Penney's knowledge of retailing and e-commerce infrastructure, and they saw a unique need in the market," Benson says.
Aimed at men ages 25 to 54, Cladmen sells apparel, accessories and grooming tools; the retailer says the average price of items on the site is $185. The retailer is collaborating with Esquire on the venture to deliver what it calls editorial commerce. Shoppers on Cladmen.com, which launched last week, will see Esquire Picks throughout the site, as well as a Damn Good Advice section where Esquire editors include instructional articles such as How To Tie a Bowtie.
Each outfit is built with items from several brands and shoppers can purchase each item separately or buy the whole outfit at once. Some issues of Esquire will include a 16-page Clad Report in which editors comment on outfits pulled from Cladmen merchandise. J.C. Penney is following in the lead of such retailers as Macy's Inc., Target Corp. and Gilt Groupe in combining editorial content with online retailing.
The campaign included social media marketing, the Clad report printed in September and November issues of Esquire, print ads in the magazine and on Esquire.com, and an interactive iPad advertisement within Esquire's iPad app.
When the site launched last week, Benson says, Cladmen sent an e-mail to those consumers who signed up and got a warm response. The retailer has mounted an online marketing campaign that includes paid search, feeds to comparison shopping engines and banner display ads. The retailer also plans to roll out a mobile-enhanced site early next year.
Fluid Inc. contributed to designing the site and imc2 LLC developed Cladmen's "Own It" digital marketing campaign.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Recruiters Seek E-Commerce Executives
The moves are being spurred by the fast growth of online sales and a realization by some big brick-and-mortar chains that they're still behind the curve.
Target Corp. is looking for a new president of Target.com after a disastrous website crash in September led the last person in the job to resign.
In hopes of catching up with competitors, department-store chain Kohl's Corp. is bringing in a new senior vice president, a person familiar with the matter says. The company had $18.4 billion in sales in 2010, but only $717 million came via the Internet.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has said it will announce a new CEO of global e-commerce in January, succeeding Eduardo Castro-Wright, who will retire in July. Recruiters are seeking e-commerce executives who can build and manage websites and handle complex inventory management.
Jeweler David Yurman has just hired Beth Sash, a former e-commerce vice president at Polo Ralph Lauren, to run its online operations, a person familiar with the matter says. E-commerce heads-who a decade ago made $50,000 to $100,000 a year and lurked in the back offices of retailers' catalog businesses or in tech support-have joined the C-suite.
Les Berglass, the founder of executive-recruitment firm Berglass & Associates, says that 20% of his assignments now involve looking for someone to head a company's online operations. The scramble has been spurred by the strong performance of online sales, which are growing quickly even as brick-and-mortar growth remains sluggish.
When brick-and-mortar retailers took their first steps online, they typically gave e-commerce responsibilities to the executives who ran their catalog businesses, says Hal Reiter, chief executive of headhunter Herbert Mines Associates.
Coach Inc. now has e-commerce sites in three countries, informational websites in 17, and a mobile-commerce platform.
That sort of complexity is forcing companies to boost spending for both talent and infrastructure. Kohl's, for instance, plans to make large capital expenditures to increase its online sales, which are now only 5.5% the size of its regular business, Chief Executive Mansell says. This year, Kohl's added its third e-commerce distribution center, and it plans to add another in 2012.
Mr. Rohling's résumé-former vice president of direct marketing and online sales for Office Depot and e-commerce positions at other companies-is typical of what retailers and their recruiters are looking for. The company has unveiled a mobile app, has designed a tablet app and has expanded its online product offerings from 3,000 items last year to more than 40,000 this year, Mr. Boire, the CEO, says.
Julie Bornstein, the senior vice president of Sephora Direct, has an M.B.A. from Harvard. Some retailers are looking to acquire Web help wholesale. With the online space relatively new, companies are wrestling with who makes the best candidates. Reporting lines are also in flux, with e-commerce bosses reporting to everyone from the CEO to the marketing team. Retailers are under growing pressure to get it right.
Target Corp. is looking for a new president of Target.com after a disastrous website crash in September led the last person in the job to resign.
In hopes of catching up with competitors, department-store chain Kohl's Corp. is bringing in a new senior vice president, a person familiar with the matter says. The company had $18.4 billion in sales in 2010, but only $717 million came via the Internet.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has said it will announce a new CEO of global e-commerce in January, succeeding Eduardo Castro-Wright, who will retire in July. Recruiters are seeking e-commerce executives who can build and manage websites and handle complex inventory management.
Jeweler David Yurman has just hired Beth Sash, a former e-commerce vice president at Polo Ralph Lauren, to run its online operations, a person familiar with the matter says. E-commerce heads-who a decade ago made $50,000 to $100,000 a year and lurked in the back offices of retailers' catalog businesses or in tech support-have joined the C-suite.
Les Berglass, the founder of executive-recruitment firm Berglass & Associates, says that 20% of his assignments now involve looking for someone to head a company's online operations. The scramble has been spurred by the strong performance of online sales, which are growing quickly even as brick-and-mortar growth remains sluggish.
When brick-and-mortar retailers took their first steps online, they typically gave e-commerce responsibilities to the executives who ran their catalog businesses, says Hal Reiter, chief executive of headhunter Herbert Mines Associates.
Coach Inc. now has e-commerce sites in three countries, informational websites in 17, and a mobile-commerce platform.
That sort of complexity is forcing companies to boost spending for both talent and infrastructure. Kohl's, for instance, plans to make large capital expenditures to increase its online sales, which are now only 5.5% the size of its regular business, Chief Executive Mansell says. This year, Kohl's added its third e-commerce distribution center, and it plans to add another in 2012.
Mr. Rohling's résumé-former vice president of direct marketing and online sales for Office Depot and e-commerce positions at other companies-is typical of what retailers and their recruiters are looking for. The company has unveiled a mobile app, has designed a tablet app and has expanded its online product offerings from 3,000 items last year to more than 40,000 this year, Mr. Boire, the CEO, says.
Julie Bornstein, the senior vice president of Sephora Direct, has an M.B.A. from Harvard. Some retailers are looking to acquire Web help wholesale. With the online space relatively new, companies are wrestling with who makes the best candidates. Reporting lines are also in flux, with e-commerce bosses reporting to everyone from the CEO to the marketing team. Retailers are under growing pressure to get it right.
Friday, November 11, 2011
U.S. Online Retail Consumption Jumps 13% In The Third Quarter
Internet shopping continues even if the economy falters as retailers hope to enter the critical holiday shopping of the season on a strong note.
Online retail spending in the U.S. grew by 13 percent in the third quarter compared to the corresponding period a year ago, to $36.3 billion, as more people rely on the Internet to shop, according to a report published on Wednesday, by comScore, Inc., a Reston, Va. - based company in digital analysis.
The results showed of the best types of categories were digital content and subscriptions, tickets, jewelry and watches, consumer electronics and computer software - with each category will increase by at least 15 percent of the previous year.
Solid performance marked the eighth consecutive quarter of positive year after year growth and the fourth consecutive quarter of double digit growth.
"The third quarter of 2011 saw a continuation of the year's strength in U.S. retail e-commerce spending, even in the face of renewed economic headwinds and uncertainty facing the U.S. consumer," said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore. "As we approach the critical holiday shopping season, we are optimistic about the continued health of the e-commerce sector despite other factors -- including stubbornly high unemployment and volatile financial markets -- currently weighing on the economy."
The last time Internet sales rose at a 13 percent clip was for the second quarter of 2008. Online sales have been stable for a return trip in 2008 when the recession prompted an e-commerce sales decline for the first time in history. E-commerce did not begin to grow again until the fourth quarter of 2009.
Growth of 13 percent in the fourth quarter was primarily a function of an increase of 22 percent in the number of buyers, with 74 percent of all Internet users to make at least one purchase online in the quarter, comScore said.
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Online retail spending in the U.S. grew by 13 percent in the third quarter compared to the corresponding period a year ago, to $36.3 billion, as more people rely on the Internet to shop, according to a report published on Wednesday, by comScore, Inc., a Reston, Va. - based company in digital analysis.
The results showed of the best types of categories were digital content and subscriptions, tickets, jewelry and watches, consumer electronics and computer software - with each category will increase by at least 15 percent of the previous year.
Solid performance marked the eighth consecutive quarter of positive year after year growth and the fourth consecutive quarter of double digit growth.
"The third quarter of 2011 saw a continuation of the year's strength in U.S. retail e-commerce spending, even in the face of renewed economic headwinds and uncertainty facing the U.S. consumer," said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore. "As we approach the critical holiday shopping season, we are optimistic about the continued health of the e-commerce sector despite other factors -- including stubbornly high unemployment and volatile financial markets -- currently weighing on the economy."
The last time Internet sales rose at a 13 percent clip was for the second quarter of 2008. Online sales have been stable for a return trip in 2008 when the recession prompted an e-commerce sales decline for the first time in history. E-commerce did not begin to grow again until the fourth quarter of 2009.
Growth of 13 percent in the fourth quarter was primarily a function of an increase of 22 percent in the number of buyers, with 74 percent of all Internet users to make at least one purchase online in the quarter, comScore said.
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Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Target Trying To Fix Website Malfunctions by Black Friday
The new Target.com has crashed six times since it went live on Aug. 23, and accounted for more than half of the major outages this year at the top 100 sites in the U.S. by revenue, according to Web monitor AlertBot. Baird & Co. The chain, based in Minneapolis, decided to bring Target.com in-house to improve the experience, eliminate the commissions to Amazon and integrate it with Target’s more than 1,700 stores.
That meant it had to go outside its comfort zone by hiring developers and working with several partners to build a new site from scratch that generated more than $1 billion in annual sales. Target’s problems aren’t unique and point to larger obstacles within the industry to improving e-commerce, according to Sucharita Mulpuru, an Internet analyst at Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Forrester Research Inc. "This isn’t a-list development talent."
Adding to the pressure on Target to make the transition to running its own site is that several of its largest rivals, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have already gone online. Its shares have fallen 12 percent this year.
In the press release announcing the debut of the revamped site, Steve Eastman, president of Target.com, said the new platform would create a “more user-friendly, reliable experience.” So far, that has not happened.
The first major sign that Target.com was not ready came on Sept. 13, three weeks after its launch, when the release of a collection from Italian fashion house Missoni brought a rush of visitors to the site that rivaled the traffic on Black Friday and crashed it for most of the day.
A month later, on Oct. 13, the site went down again during peak shopping hours. Later that day, Target announced in a one-sentence statement that Eastman left the company to “pursue other opportunities.” Eastman joined Target in 1982, and was head of merchandising for consumer electronics when he moved to president of Target.com in June 2008. Target refused to comment on the departure and Eastman could not be reached.
Since Eastman’s departure, the site has crashed four more times, including once last week, and when it has been running shoppers have complained about problems with checkout and gift registries. Eastman’s position has not been filled and the site’s staff is reporting to Kathryn Tesija, executive vice president of merchandising, Morgan O’Murray, a Target spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. “We have a team dedicated to addressing concerns, and are working diligently to ensure that the site is operating efficiently for the holiday season,” O’Murray said.
Target is trying to improve its website as shoppers this holiday season plan to go online more than ever. Forrester estimates that while 90 percent of buying still takes place in stores, more than 40 percent is swayed by the Web.
The Web generates about 2 percent of Target’s almost $70 billion in annual sales, and many more purchases are influenced by browsing on Target.com, the company has said. The performance of its site won’t make or break the holiday season for Target because its stores matter more, and yet “if anybody’s Web site keeps crashing, it will be bad for the holidays,” it has been said.
In any case, Sebastian of Baird says that, in the long run, Target made the right move.
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