Google is rumored to be rolling out a “Nexus 2” — or if it were a movie sequel “N2” — on November 8 with Samsung. Google’s Nexus One (built by HTC) was a failed experiment in direct selling to the public rather than through carriers. Despite public statements to the contrary, the move angered carriers […]
Louis Gray reports that Google has opened up a physical retail store, to compliment their online store. The physical store is located on the Google Campus at 2000 Charleston Road building, known as the 2000 Alza building. The building houses the Google Buzz team and “consumer-facing products” according to Gray. When Gray visited Google recently […]
Will this year be the year when online holiday sales return to double digit growth? Or will the holidays once again deliver lackluster growth in the low single digits for online advertisers? While predicting how much consumers will buy may be difficult, predicting how they will likely behave is not.
A new study about the buying habits of computer and consumer electronics shoppers shows the importance of search to the online shopping process. Search engines, in particular, are relied on much more heavily than social media — but the study also speaks to the importance of on-site search boxes. The report — which can be […]
When Google started selling its Nexus One android phone earlier this year, it raised many issues. Was Google now competing with people it depends upon for distribution? Would consumers buy from an online-only store? To the latter, apparently no. Google’s closing its shop, and perhaps never offering another Google-backed device in the future.
Search engine marketing — both pay-per-click and SEO — remains a strong source of traffic and sales for retailers. That’s according to an Internet Retailer survey conducted in April of 102 web-only retailers, chain retailers, catalogers and consumer brand manufacturers. According to the survey, 27% of respondents say that search engine marketing is responsible for […]
Recent research reports that eighty percent of all product searches begin online, whether the product is to be purchased online or in-store. The web influenced $937 billion in U.S. store sales in 2009 and projected to reach $1.3 trillion by 2013, or about one-third of total retail sales, according to Forrester Research. With more activity […]
In the range of thigs discussed at Google’s Search Evolution event in December Engineering VP Vic Gundotra demonstrated mobile shopping with real-time inventory information. Now Google has announced that product is live. Google is working with a limited number of retailers for the time being but is inviting others to apply to become part of […]
Three of every four paid search clicks happen on Google, and 75 cents of every paid search dollar is spent on Google. That’s according to the latest quarterly report from Efficient Frontier, a search advertising agency that manages more than $750 million in annual digital spending annually. The stats cover Q4 of 2009, and show […]
Data driven anticipatory bidding can turn an ordinary holiday bump into something extraordinary. Here are some tips for how to take apart and act on the data.
As we are on the verge of the fourth quarter, a make or break time for many merchants and retailers, I decided to take a look at how some large and small merchants and retailers are using twitter. BestBuy BestBuy has a multi-pronged approach, the main account @BestBuy provides interaction for BestBuy’s employees. A secondary […]
Ah, the holidays—the most wonderful time of the year for retailers. Even though the uncertain economy has retailers only cautiously projecting an uptick in sales this holiday season compared to last year’s dismal downturn, the truth still holds that most will make 25-40% of their yearly sales in November and December. What is unique for […]
With more products, features and prices available in comparison to physical stores, the sheer time and transportation savings are making the Web an increasingly preferred shopping venue. In fact, according to the latest Forrester research, online shopping is growing five times faster than brick and mortar stores, with a projected growth of 14 percent by […]
I have been fascinated watching how the search ad space has been impacted by the current global recession. Rimm-Kaufman has posted early first quarter PPC data showing the weak trends in retail for search advertisers. Let me summarize his retail client data: Approximately 20% reduction in sales from search ads from last year Approximately 20% […]
Search marketers are pretty good at claiming credit for online sales, and they’re getting better at measuring phone sales as well. However, there’s a huge amount of activity in brick-and-mortar stores, in terms of walk-in sales in the offline world, which is not properly attributed to online search. How can we get some of the […]
Search marketing firm Internet Engine released findings from a new “Retail Search Presence Study,” which analyzed paid search results in ten product categories over the past three holiday shopping seasons. What the study found was the following: The results show that on-line retailers have a very strong presence, representing well over 30% of the listings […]
The holiday season is almost upon us. It’s time to start looking over the inventory, keywords, and offers to make sure you’re ready for Cyber Monday. In today’s column we offer several things to do and important don’ts that will help you have a successful holiday season. Don’t… Blindly test Traffic in December is unlike […]
The chain-reaction of foreclosures, mortgage company failures, banking sector woes, and see-sawing stock market are making for a very scary-looking retail season here in the fourth quarter. The U.S. Department of Commerce recently said that business sales have dropped the largest amount in two years, further fueling speculation that the holiday shopping season might not […]
For some time I’ve tried to argue that product search is part of “local search,” because 90 percent or more of all products searched for online are purchased in physical stores. This is a neglected part of the local search story, which has heretofore largely been about “plumbers and pizza.” But the internet is fundamentally […]
As the competition in search becomes more sophisticated, refining tactics becomes more important than ever. For online retailers, bidding by margin is all but essential. Every firm has a different marketing objective: some look for maximum ROI and some are willing to spend to break even in hopes that future orders will drive the profit, […]
In The Trenches is a weekly spotlight of tips, tricks and news about the tools search engine marketing professionals use to give them a leg up on the competition. Today: News from the search engines, today’s in-depth look, “Geo-Targeting On The Engines,” and this week’s free tips and tools.
Day two is pretty much over now. We still have the Google Grove later, but the sessions are now complete. Here is coverage of the conference, picking up from where we left off last night.
I can imagine two possible consumer reactions to MediaCart, a smart shopping cart that offers video displays, personalized services, and targeted advertising to shoppers in retail stores: amazement or horror. Microsoft has teamed up with MediaCart to offer in-store ad targeting that is both behavioral and takes the concept of “location-based services” to the store […]
If you can believe it, the holidays are almost over. Turkey Day is now long gone, and in less than 2 weeks, the big man in the red suit will be making his way back to the North Pole. Wondering where the time went? Better yet, wondering how you’ll fare this holiday season? Well, you’re […]
Every year, at this time of year, economic analysts, pundits, and the media pore over the fresh-from-the-till economic data to gauge how Black Friday turned out, as it is the traditional starting point for the holiday shopping season. After all, who can ignore the compelling news visuals of shoppers across the land, stacked up in […]
“Black Friday,” the day after Thanksgiving, is the biggest shopping day of the year for U.S. brick-and-mortar retailers. But, for each Monday after Black Friday, consumer searches spike up on the internet and online retail websites enjoy their highest traffic and associated sales of the year. Search engine use is directly impacting businesses during this […]
This Thursday is the US Thanksgiving holiday, so Friday marks the official start of the holiday shopping season for a large percentage of US consumers. Infamously known as “Black Friday” (for profit potential), many “big box” retailers will open at midnight or in the early morning hours to long lines of consumers hoping to capture […]
Product search engine Krillion has launched a feature, called “Stock Check,” that enables consumers to see if products (starting with TVs) are in stores locally, buy them online and pick them up at a range of major U.S. retail chains, including Sears, Best Buy, Circuit City, and others. Krillion had been using “click to call” […]
Often when people discuss local search they’re referring to finding restaurants or plumbers. But the concept of “local search” should include goods and product purchases as well. Whenever I discuss products and retail as part of the definition of local search people are often a little skeptical. Yet again and again studies show that consumers […]
Prediction: Any day now, you’re going to walk into a retail store and see Christmas products for sale. I know it’s only August. I know the holidays are more than four months away. But that won’t stop your favorite store from getting a jump on the shopping season. And it shouldn’t stop you from preparing […]
Just two days after Yahoo released research that showed how the Internet is driving offline retail transactions in increasing numbers, ad agency TMP Directional Media conducted an online survey with comScore that showed a parallel phenomenon in the service sector. The survey, which had 3,000 respondents, sought to capture consumer attitudes and behavior toward traditional […]
Earlier this week, Yahoo released the results of a major study of online advertising and consumer retail purchase behavior. Conducted in conjunction with comScore between April, 2006 and January, 2007, the study sought to quantify “the impact of search marketing and display advertising on consumer shopping behavior and the in-store sales of major retailers.” It […]
Krillion, a shopping engine that directs people to local stores, has launched its second category, televisions. The site went live in February of this year (with appliances), under the leadership of co-founder and CEO Joel Toledano, former Director of Business Development for Yahoo Search. While the Internet continues to rapidly expand its influence over consumer […]
Bob Tedeschi’s NY Times e-commerce column today discusses a number of companies, NearbyNow, GPShopper, Krillion, ShopLocal and StepUp seeking to make the online-offline shopping connection. The article’s hook is wireless shopping tools from NearbyNow and GPShopper.
“Company X could be the next Google” is a platitude often bandied about by financial journalists or investment analysts touting typically obscure companies that could, potentially, score success on a Google-like scale. Most companies never come close to achieving Google’s financial or commercial success, of course. But say you were interested in finding one of […]
Joining the ranks of a small but growing list of companies trying to connect online product research and offline buying, Krillion launched this morning. Other companies offering local product information to varying degrees in this segment are ShopLocal, StepUp, NearbyNow, Yokel, CNET, Froogle, Become.com and data provider Channel Intelligence.
Marchex and its TrafficLeader subsidiary have published the 2007 Search Marketing Insights for Retailers, a 19 page whitepaper that offers strategies for online merchants to improve search visibility in the major shopping search engines. There’s also some interesting data about traffic to each of these services, and a useful table that compares the data feed […]