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| 2009 Shop.org Annual Summit Preview | Shop.org is on track to make this year's Summit the biggest ever, offering all the knowledgeable industry speakers, inspiring keynotes and educational events you've come to expect. The Summit will be held Sept. 21 to 23 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Hotel.
The Summit kicks off with an all-day event: Online Boot Camp. You'll learn the "7 Tips for Success" in e-commerce and explore tenets of the industry, including search, e-mail, social networking, analytics and merchandising for conversion.
Don't miss the opportunity to listen to Macy's Chairman, President and CEO Terry J. Lundgren or eBay President and CEO John Donahoe deliver their very anticipated keynotes or hear from Forrester Research's Sucharita Mulpuru as she discusses Shop.org's State of Retailing Online. Additionally, executives from Gilt Groupe, woot!, 1-800-Flowers.com, Best Buy and more will discuss their e-commerce strategies, insights and inspiration. View the agenda.
In anticipation of the Summit, we are pleased to offer Shop.org SmartBrief subscribers and Summit attendees a glimpse into how the trends and analytics that will be explored at the Summit relate to the latest news about online retail.
If you are not already a Shop.org SmartBrief subscriber and this kind of timely, relevant summary of the most important digital retail news is what you need, sign up to receive our daily Shop.org SmartBrief -- FREE. | | Multichannel and Cross-Channel Strategy |  |  | | - Shop.org Summit predicted to be the biggest ever
Shop.org's Annual Summit, slated for Sept. 21 to 23, is set to be the biggest ever, which shows how resilient e-commerce has been during the recession, Shop.org's Scott Silverman writes. Not only are more people attending than ever before, but there also will be more brands and other participants. Shop.org Blog (9/2)      - Tips for helping multichannel retailers manage inventory
Curt Barry, president of the consultancy F. Curtis Barry & Co., offers multichannel retailers 10 suggestions for improving the management of their stock. First of all, Barry says, companies must have a "single version of the truth" in regard to inventory rather than using a variety of systems for inventory, sales, purchases and other data. Multichannel Merchant (9/1) - Chico's aims to spur sales with new campaign
Chico's, the multichannel apparel merchant whose brands include White House/Black Market and Soma Intimates as well as Chico's, is planning to increase catalog prospecting and will launch a new TV campaign to maintain its second-quarter sales momentum. The retailer also invested in new ATG e-commerce software as well as other tools to enhance its direct-to-consumer business. DMNews (8/25) | Emerging Retail Technologies | | | | - Drugstore.com CEO to highlight online strategy to drive profits
 While retailers have been experiencing one of the toughest periods in history, drugstore.com has continued to grow, reporting record revenues during the recession. In CEO Dawn Lepore's remarks, she will offer observations on how to optimize online retail to drive profitability and how technology will continue to drive retail innovation. She also will discuss the lessons she has learned from careful observation of customers. Lepore will speak at 11:15 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22. - Fashion, footwear firms tap into mobile-phone market
Zappos.com, Foot Locker and other footwear and fashion retailers are dipping a toe into the mobile-commerce marketplace, although whether the ventures will spur sales remains unclear. "The penetration of people using mobile is growing, so we've got to integrate that in a unique way," said Tom Aiello, vice president of public relations for Sears Holding Corp. Women's Wear Daily (subscription required) (8/26) - Summit's Cutting Edge track focuses on new technologies
Several sessions are available for attendees interested in learning more about new technologies: - Mobile Commerce: The Next Frontier for Retail. This session will take place at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22.
- Twitter and Social Media All-Stars. This session will take place at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22.
- Retail Widgets and Apps: A Guidebook for Success. This session will take place at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23.
- The New Rules of Relevance: Improving E-mail Marketing in a Fragmented World. This session will take place at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23.
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| Natural and Paid Search Tactics for Conversion | | | | - Column: Shop.org Summit to include sessions on SEO
Larry Joseloff, vice president of content at Shop.org, says online retailers are always searching for the latest information available concerning SEO as well as ways to improve their efforts. The Shop.org 2009 Annual Summit will include several sessions on SEO strategies and tactics to address members' questions. Shop.org Blog (8/28) - Create the optimal balance of customer experience, SEO: In the session Creating the Optimal Balance of Customer Experience and SEO (3:15 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22), attendees will learn from real-life examples and experts in the field on how to fully optimize sites without compromising a brand, including discussions on:
- Understanding how SEO affects the user experience, and vice versa.
- Tactical information such as product descriptions, site design options, usability, site structure and category setup.
- Column: Brand is powerful tool in online searches
Columnist Armando Roggio explains how brand knowledge influences consumers' online searches and why more specific searches return better results for shoppers. "No doubt some of your site traffic already comes from very specific keyword phrases. By making brand-influenced search part of your marketing strategy, you could potentially increase traffic even further," Roggio writes. "Exactly how to do this will vary from operation to operation, but remember that brand is a powerful tool even where search engines are concerned." Practical eCommerce (8/25) - How to make more money next week
This session (3:15 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22) is about specific, actionable tactics you can use to make money NOW. Our panel of experts is going to give you killer tips to improve your social marketing, e-mail marketing, Web 2.0, shopping feeds, technology issues, site optimization and more. We're going to be moving quickly, so we will have a handout for session attendees with all of the gory details. This is the session you want to attend if you want to get your hands dirty and improve the bottom line.  | Customer Retention | | | | - Sears plans multichannel promotion for club cards
Sears Holding is working on a multichannel promotion for its new Christmas Club gift cards for Sears and Kmart stores. The cards will be promoted in network and cable TV spots, banner ads online, e-mail, point-of-sale signs and circulars. The Christmas Club program targets cost-conscious consumers who don't want to sacrifice their holiday gift-giving, according to Tom Aiello, vice president of PR at Sears. DMNews (8/31) - Online retailers must approach customer loyalty differently
Michael Greenberg, chief operating officer at the loyalty marketing firm Loyalty Lab, explains how customer loyalty differs for online retailers compared with traditional merchants. "Understanding how these differences impact marketing is crucial to the right approach to developing more customer loyalty in an online world," Greenberg writes. Multichannel Merchant (8/25) - Session to drill down on power of alternate payments
In an environment in which attracting new customers has become more expensive, retailers are looking for the most effective ways to increase conversion and to maximize the influence of their existing customers. While numerous alternate payment methods are available, the effect they have on consumer behavior has not been entirely understood.
This session, at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, will provide an analysis from Javelin Research on the different payment types and how alternate payments can influence purchasing behavior. It also will offer a real-world look at how several retailers are using alternative payments to pave the road to profitability. - Retailers can boost customer confidence in online security
Online shopping is becoming increasingly popular and with it, the risk of fraud. Retailers need to ensure their Web sites are secure and then reassure consumers. PayPoint.net offers eight tips for helping to increase customer confidence in a retailer's site. For example, online retailers should have a clear link to their security policies and make sure to display security or accreditation logos. The Retail Bulletin (8/24) | | | 
Product announcements appearing in SmartBrief are paid advertisements and do not reflect actual Shop.org endorsements. The news reported in SmartBrief does not necessarily reflect the official position of Shop.org. | This SmartBrief was created for fashionarchive@gmail.com | | | | Advertise | Sales Account Director:
Dena Malouf 202.737.5500 ext. 282 | | | | | | | | | | Recent Shop.org SmartBrief Issues: - Tuesday, September 08, 2009
- Friday, September 04, 2009
- Thursday, September 03, 2009
- Wednesday, September 02, 2009
- Tuesday, September 01, 2009
| | | Lead Editor: Megan Conniff
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