The Istobe eCommerce Analytics Blog

Though Kevin Hillstrom believes that the low variable cost is the real factor in the “killer ROI” that email affords multi-channel retailers, I would also mention that it’s low variable cost also contributes to the low amount of effort that retailers put into their email marketing. That is, retailers don’t put the money they should behind email because they view the low variable cost - and low marginal cost - as a license to spam. The way this manifests itself in the marketplace is that spending on email optimization technology trudges behind other technological spending like, say, search engine optimization (SE0).

Read Targeted Email Campaigns Only Way to Recapture Email ROI »

With the holiday season upon us, and with the specter of economic downturn no longer looming but now in full unfurling, the hue and cry for free shipping to draw customers has never been greater. Almost everyone insists that drastic price cuts and coupon-like free shipping are necessary evils to keep your customers from the competition. But I would urge smaller retailers to resist giving up margin and making deal-seekers of their entire housefile. Instead they should get more personal.

Read Retail Marketing Strategy Should Rely More on Personalization, Less on Free Shipping »

I had planned to write about new businesses and business concepts that I observed at the unConference last week. But given the economic meltdown that only seems to be accelerating, I thought that I’d better continue along the lines of Chris and Doug the last two days and address how multi-channel retail businesses can profit from customer analytics in an economy where consumers are wary of spending money. The truth: customer analytics will better help you protect your customer base from larger retailers who dangle lower prices.

Read Protecting Your Customer Base in Bad Economic Times »