If you offer products and services that generate recurring revenue through subscriptions (including software, music, games, media or wireless plans), remarketing to your existing customers is the most important part of your business – as they say, it costs 5 times more to acquire a new customer than to satisfy an existing one. An upgrade or renewal email is an effective way to keep the customer “in the fold.” Some businesses bank on existing customers taking action directly from these emails, even charging the existing customer segment higher prices than resellers or their own website. This works if consumers are content to purchase without comparison shopping – but Elastic Path’s research into the buyer trends of software consumers shows this …

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year…” OK, so perhaps I’m getting a little ahead of myself here, but having spent the last several months thinking about the holiday season ahead (much like you, I imagine), it’s good to officially launch the 2010 eHoliday Study with our partner, BIGresearch . I’m calling all retailers to participate in our annual pre-holiday survey, this year featuring 14questions across marketing, promotions, site investments, Thanksgiving weekend, and shipping and fulfillment. You can find more information about the eHoliday Study on our site. As always, …

In the last couple of weeks, there have been a couple of economic news items from China which may be of interest to readers. China Now 2nd Largest Economy The first was the big news that after three decades of continuous double-digit growth, China has recently passed Japan to become the world’s second largest economy behind the United States. Although this had been widely anticipated for some time and is largely symbolic, it confirms that despite the economic downturn caused by the global financial crisis, China is still maintaining its march to an economic superpower. The country has still a long way to go to overtake the USA. Currently, the Chinese economy is less than one tenth of the size of the US, however, many expect that if Ch…

My kids were flipping through one of our favorite family magazines when all of sudden I heard giggles. You know the giggles that mean they are doing something they shouldn’t be. I come around the corner to see what they are doing and I see an advertisement that is clearly not appropriate for children. It wasn’t horrible, it certainly could have been worse, but let’s just say I didn’t enjoy my 8 year-olds running around the house saying the word they saw in the ad for the rest of the afternoon. It got me thinking. Doesn’t this magazine realize their target audience? Why would an ad like this be in a magazine that is read by children? A magazine, a brick and mortar store, an e-commerce store…we

When you work with a full-service eCommerce development company to manage the production of your new website project, make sure you understand the overall timeline and phases before breaking ground. Your chosen eCommerce provider should present a timeline unique to your project. The phases/length may differ, but the concepts should be similar. Please note that this timeline and phase outline is geared more towards a full-service eCommerce development company. A turn-key, out-of-box system will take considerably less time to put together. To learn more about the different eCommerce solutions

It’s Fall here in Utah.. ok, not really Fall, but the kids start school in August, so from a mom’s standpoint.. it’s a little bit of Fall.. not to mention a little bit of heaven. There’s a clear sense of a fresh start in the Fall, right? I love it, it’s my favorite season, and yesterday.. it snowed in the mountains. Just a little bit, but ski season is coming : ) So I’m feeling refreshed and hopeful. I’m also optimistic today because we just installed a new module for miva called Runa (http://www.runa.com/). It’s designed to keep people from abandoning your shopping cart by offering them a deal if they try to click out. Why didn’t I think of that? I get so frustrated …

As a business owner, there are many times when you have to do it all: hire, fire, answer phones, solve UPS problems, pick & pack orders…you name it! Some of the most challenging parts of my job is not the business aspect of running the company but instead the people aspect of it. At eHobbies we have distinct roles and responsibilities for all of our staff. However, in order to be successful, you

As soon as the August 13 application deadline for the Shop.org Think Tank expired, the Judging Committee (comprised of 5 volunteers from the Shop.org Board of Directors) set straight to work, poring over the many applications to identify the 12 candidates – 6 from retail and 6 from associate member companies – who would become the Charter Members of the Shop.org Think Tank. Congratulations are due to the 12 winning candidates, but not before thanks …

[ Dave Birch ] So far as the commonly-discussed “next billion” consumers are concerned, the idea of some kind of universal payment card is vanishing. We’ve spent the last 50 years trying to make Visa, MasterCard, Amex and others into globally-accepted brands and I, like many other consumers, get off the plane anywhere on Earth and expect my UK-issued Visa debit, MasterCard credit and Amex credit cards to work without let or hinderance (except in the US, of course). But will this be true for the rest of the world? Isn’t there a “balkanization” of payments underway? The examples to study are, it goes without saying…

While practical e-commerce is celebrating five years eBay is celebrating 15 years. This amazing world of the Internet is ever-changing and growing with businesses celebrating birthdays, anniversaries and grand openings while I write this post and while you read this post too! The freedom and opportunities online are endless and Practical eCommerce and eBay and both great examples showing the proof to everyone that the possibilities are endless to online success! Practical eCommerce has come a long way with the change of the site and the new look and just like eBay staff may come and go but the bottom line is that the heart and soul of what makes a