Menu

Will Google Shopping Express Compete with Amazon Prime?

By
March 7, 2013

Google has begun testing its own e-commerce site called “Google Shopping Express,” with same-day delivery from stores like Target, Walgreens and Walmart. The site is expected to offer a $64 annual deal, compared to competitor Amazon Prime’s $79 service. Google’s Tom Fallows, an e-commerce product manager, is reportedly running the project, and the company is currently working with personal delivery and online services. Continue reading Will Google Shopping Express Compete with Amazon Prime?

3D Virtual Try-On: iPad App Helps You Shop for New Glasses

By
March 4, 2013

A new augmented reality e-commerce application for Glasses.com may not only revolutionize how consumers shop for eyeglasses, but could also have a significant impact on online shopping. The iOS app scans multiple angles of your face and uses a QR code (held up to your head) to determine the scale of your face. Then the app can superimpose glasses on images of your face to offer a virtual fitting room experience. Continue reading 3D Virtual Try-On: iPad App Helps You Shop for New Glasses

Google Takes Next Step to Dominate Retail with Acquisition

By
February 27, 2013

Google’s purchase this month of Channel Intelligence, a data management platform for retailer inventory, suggests that Google has plans to become the dominant player in global e-commerce. In the U.S. alone, that market is already worth $186 billion. The $125 million deal will not only impact Google’s ad business, but underscores the company’s strategy to work its way into the retail market, starting with e-commerce websites. Continue reading Google Takes Next Step to Dominate Retail with Acquisition

Amazon Growing, But Will Need to Fend Off Google in Retail

By
February 27, 2013

Back in 1990, Walmart suprassed Kmart in sales. In 1992, it passed up Sears. By 2011, it had higher worldwide sales than the combined total sales of the next six biggest retailers: Kroger, Target, Walgreens, Costco, Home Depot and CVS. That same year, Amazon was 15th on the list of top retailers. This year, it’ll likely end up in the 7th spot, just a few billion behind Target. But is Google stealing online retail from Amazon? Continue reading Amazon Growing, But Will Need to Fend Off Google in Retail

Digital Future Report: Mobile Will Lead the Charge in 2013

By
February 20, 2013

Technology predictions for 2013 are in and it’s all about mobile this year. According to comScore, the movement toward mobile is taking place everywhere from shopping to media to search — all of which combined could lead to a difficult economic transition for some companies as they struggle to stay ahead of rapidly changing consumer behavior. Continue reading Digital Future Report: Mobile Will Lead the Charge in 2013

Is the Airline Industry a Model for the Future of Retail?

By
February 12, 2013

Ten years from now, how different will the retail experience be? Fast Company takes a look at “the recent history of how we purchase and consume air travel” as a potential model for the future. While customers used to be able to buy all-in-one sort of deals, the airline industry is now “pressured by skyrocketing fuel prices and roiling global competition,” leading to added fees and decreased services. Continue reading Is the Airline Industry a Model for the Future of Retail?

Netscape Founder Predicts the Death of Traditional Retail

By
February 11, 2013

Netscape creator Marc Andreessen, who has invested in successful ventures such as Pinterest and Foursquare, recently discussed his views on the future of commerce. The tech investor believes traditional retail stores will die off, while e-commerce stores will be the only way people shop in the future. He expects a big shift in the next three to four years, a different view from those who suggest innovation in e-commerce is slowing. Continue reading Netscape Founder Predicts the Death of Traditional Retail

Shoppers Use Tools to Keep Track of Online Price Changes

By
January 31, 2013

Research from Dynamite Data shows that retailers such as Amazon, Sears, Walmart and Best Buy changed their daily Internet prices on various holiday products during 2012 much more frequently than in previous years. Since too many changes can prove overwhelming to shoppers, new tools have been developed, some of which automatically scan for changes and alert consumers when prices drop. Continue reading Shoppers Use Tools to Keep Track of Online Price Changes

Mobile E-Commerce Continues Growth, Especially Via Tablets

By
January 17, 2013

Last year, consumers spent a total of $25 billion on purchases made from mobile devices, representing an enormous 81 percent increase from the year before, according to stats from eMarketer. Even so, that total is only 11 percent of all e-commerce sales. So it seems this is only the beginning. Forecasts anticipate continued growth, with mobile sales accounting for 15 percent of all e-commerce sales by the end of 2013. Continue reading Mobile E-Commerce Continues Growth, Especially Via Tablets

Digital Music Study: Is Spotify Detrimental to Music Purchasing?

By
November 22, 2011
  • A recent survey of dedicated music demographics indicates access to music from services like Spotify, YouTube, Grooveshark and others significantly decreases the interest in purchasing across all groups except the least dedicated.
  • “Services like Spotify increase access, but also decrease spending in many situations.  Which means less money from higher-returning formats like iTunes downloads, CDs, and LPs,” according to Digital Music News. “But free access also includes a range of other services, including YouTube, Grooveshark, and various freebie competitors.  And all of these are sapping the juice out of higher-end impulse buying, once a music industry lifeblood.”
  • The recently released findings from NPD Group and NARM have already had an impact. “Following a study that claims that streaming music is damaging to record sales, a distributor representing more than 200 labels has withdrawn its entire catalogue from Spotify, Napster, Simfy and Rdio,” reports Huffington Post.
  • “As a distributor we have to do what is best for our labels,” STHoldings explained in a statement. “The majority of which do not want their music on such services because of the poor revenues and the detrimental affect on sales. Add to that the feeling that their music loses its specialness by its exploitation as a low value/free commodity.”
  • In a related All Things D story, Spotify announced it has new things on the horizon, but has yet to provide details. “In New York on November 30th, we are holding our first press conference to unveil the latest major development from Spotify — and a new direction for the company. The press event will be hosted by CEO and Founder Daniel Ek, along with special guests,” wrote the company’s PR unit.
  • All Things D speculates Spotify may be releasing a U.S. service to buy songs (already available in Europe) or an iPad app, but “it is courting the risk of overpromising” if these are the only developments to be announced.

Shopping Trend: Retailers Find that Consumers Prefer Apps to Websites

By
November 22, 2011
  • New iPad apps are rolling out this holiday season to entice the eight percent of online shoppers that own tablets.
  • That percentage may seem small, but Forrester Research found that 60 percent of tablet owners use their devices to shop and many prefer them to smartphones or computers for shopping. For clothing company Anthropologie, iPad shopping accounted for six percent of sales this year and is expected to rise to 20 percent with the introduction of their new app.
  • These new apps aim to provide a more interactive experience and capture some of the in-store essence by revamping their electronic catalogs and adding new features to their shopping pages.
  • Revel Touch has built apps for multiple companies including functions like a “virtual dressing room,” that allows users to create outfits and the ability to share choices on social networks. Apps allow tablet shoppers to zoom in, see videos and find the sizes they want with ease.
  • “You can bring the objects to life on an iPad and you can’t do that on paper — and you don’t have to chop down a tree,” the CEO of Catalog Spree told The New York Times. The company also reported that, on weekends, its users spend almost eight times as long on the retailers’ app as they do on the retailers’ Web sites.

Risk-Taker: Amazon Betting Big on Prime Customer Loyalty Program

By
November 16, 2011
  • Amazon is willing to lose hundreds of millions of dollars annually on the Amazon Prime customer-loyalty program because of the increased consumer spending it creates.
  • “The cost of Prime underscores the willingness of Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos to shell out money as he continues the company’s transition from an online retailer of paper books, to an Internet megamall that sells an array of products from various companies, to a seller of digital goods and even its own devices, such as the Kindle Fire tablet computer,” reports The Wall Street Journal.
  • “[Fiona Dias, VP of rival service Shoprunner] estimated that after joining Prime, members tripled the amount of money they spent on Amazon to $1,500 a year,” the article indicates. “She estimated up to 40 percent of Amazon’s domestic revenue, which totaled $18.7 billion in 2010, comes from Prime members.”
  • Some investors look unfavorably on Amazon’s subsidizing (the company loses $90 a year on each Prime subscriber and sells each Kindle model at a loss of $10+), but analysts say the costs are offset by Amazon’s profitable website.
  • Prime will be offered free for 30 days on the new Kindle Fire.

Top Stories
More News