As I was flying from from Washington, DC to Las Vegas for the Affiliate Summit West 2010 this morning, I’ve been reading this month’s Internet Retailer magazine, and here are some of the interesting things I’ve picked up so far:
- Ashford.com – whose sales saw an increase from 6 million last year to $10 million this year – believes in the importance of wide web presense. They have measured it internally and it appeared that even though 80% of their buyers make the purchase on the day of the first visit, “in 50% of the cases, it’s taking multiple views” of their “ads to convert that customer” (words of Eli Katz, the president of Ashford.com’s parent company, United Retail Group). Very interesting statistics for affiliates to take a note of.
- Over the past holiday season, the volume of email campaigns (and merchant involvement) has increased significantly this year (e.g.: 69% of major e-tailers emailed prospective customers on the Black Friday this year compared to 59% in 2008, etc), but the reach has actually suffered. Per Pivotal Veracity around 25% of emails did not reach their addressees due to packed delivery queues, and other related factors.
- This ast holiday season more mobile users than ever used their cell device “to assist them with holiday shopping”: 45% researched prices, 40% looked up product information, 32% used their mobile to get discounts, and 31% read reviews. One in four users were ready to make a purchase via their mobile.
- Mobile is going to be hot (I’ve blogged about it before), and there is an obvious niche in the m-commerce sector. It is a fast developping and changing sector, and there is plenty of room for new focused mobile commerce companies. E-tailers are willing to spend between $10,000 and $50,000 on an m-commerce website, and since only some 170 retailers currently have mobile-friendly websites, there is a growing demand in this sphere. May give some of my readers some ideas…
It has been a great, and tireing day. My presentation at the Affiliate Summit West 2010 was well-received (regardless of the conference’s computer dying two times on me – right in the middle of the session), and I am glad to have seen many friends I haven’t seen for quite some time (some – for as long as three years). Looking forward to the next two days as ASW10.
Very interesting article!
In terms of your quote: “… believes in the importance of wide web presence” —
How do you define web presence? One’s own site and the cumulative number of pages that create the site? That in addition to a social network presence [i.e. Twitter, Facebook, forums, etc…]?
Rhianna, good question. I believe Ashford includes all of their advertising efforts (paid search, banner advertising, affiliate program, etc) in what builds up their “wide web presence”.