Posts Tagged ‘ecommerce’

Understanding Which Website Conversion Rate to Use

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

website-conversion-rate-which-optionWebsite conversion rates are bandied about the ecommerce industry all the time, and despite many being familiar with the concept, I consistently find that a lot of people are a bit fuzzy on their website conversion and abandonment rates. This blog is intended to define the different website conversion rates and explain how to use them—and how not to. (more…)

Amazon Customer Philosophy is behind Earnings Miss

Monday, July 26th, 2010

Normally, when companies announce a 40%+ increase in costs and miss analyst expectations, their stock takes a hit. Last week, Amazon was no exception with its stock dipping by 15% immediately after the news, but it has subsequently recovered to $118-$120 where it has been for the last month.

The earnings miss was probably more sensitive this quarter because of the launch of Apple’s iPad. Ever since the iPad launch, Amazon’s stock has been trading 20% lower than its high this year at around the $150 mark—assuming that Amazon’s Kindle reader would be negatively impacted. Amazon did not disclose its Kindle sales but is seeing strong growth for Kindle and Kindle-based ebook purchases. Kindle is becoming to Amazon what iTunes is to Apple. (more…)

Ben and Jerry’s Abandon Email, and their Fans

Monday, July 19th, 2010

The news that Ben & Jerry’s ice cream will stop sending email to their 1.3M customers is, frankly, remarkable.

What were they thinking? Are they nuts?

Their plan, announced in an email to their subscribers last week, said that they will be discontinuing email—in favor of social media. While there has been some idle speculation about whether social media will replace email, this is frankly nonsense. They are complementary channels, and understanding how to use the two together in a mutually supportive way is the key. (more…)