I encourage you to read this insightful post from Sally McKenzie in part reflecting on what has happened to so many of our friends and former colleagues at Eddie Bauer this week. The evolution of the eCommerce channel inside many retailers is having some unfortunate effects and by-products of it's success.

- Brian

Great post at the Center for Media Research blog about the importance of multi-channel coordination and synchronization which is going to be covered in more detail in the DMA report "Channel Integration and Benchmarks in the Retail Industry”.

Here is a good snippet from Eugenia Steingold, Ph.D., DMA senior research manager and the report's chief author, "To be successful, retailers need to merge and synchronize all channels in terms of consistent brand message, timing, creativity of promotions, loyalty programs, and fulfillment.”

She also concludes that, “To achieve such a level of integration, organizational support and restructuring might be necessary." I agree this is the case in a larger retail organization, having seen this first hand. But for many of our clients it a matter of planning and having the right content support, which can be just as hard.

Another interesting point made in the report is the importance of the web-site as a direct marketing channel, not just a sales channel, for multi-channel retailers. While intuitive, since this is so hard to measure this is often overlooked.

- Brian

(And yes, I did go back and look at The Police’s 1983 Album to see if there was a clever way to include that, but I decided to spare you...)

This is the kind of feedback from customers we just love. Thought we would pass this email along from Nick at Claude Lakey Mouthpieces:

“Hi guys,
Just wanted to say Hi and let you know that things are going great at the trade show. I have had many people complement me on the new Web-Site, even competitors! Everybody loves the legacy page and I know that the history really helps sell mouthpieces. I really am happy with the response and tell everyone that I know of a great company in Seattle that can build a great site!
Talk to you soon, Nick”

Nick has had a great jump in business with the site, and we’re really pleased the site is also helping convey the legacy and rich brand that accompanies his great products - both online and with his offline business. A great site should bring benefit not only in creating a new channel, but in lifting the overall profile of a brand and company.

But it still comes down to a great product and customer expereince, something Nick does so well for his passionate clientele. No anyone into jazz saxophone or clarinet? These are the mouthpieces to have.

Go get 'em Nick!

-Brian

I really enjoyed Patti Seybold’s recent post on findability, and I have to agree that this, if not the top priority, should be in the top three for large companies in 2008.

Her view is that companies that excel online typically:

1. Prioritize search, navigation, and findability as a core competency.

2. Invest in people, skills, and technology to continually improve the quality and reach of search and navigation for their company’s Web presence and cross-channel customer experience.

3. Invest personal time and energy in ensuring high-quality search and navigation results on all their companies’ Web properties and e-enabled products (software, services, content).

I would like to tag on to Patti’s thinking by adding that these initiatives are not only beneficial inside a site, but search and navigation done right will drive traffic to your site [SEO], engage customers, and lead to viral benefits through great experiences.

- Brian

I want to pass on a great eCard dealing with usability and New Year's resolutions. This eCard from Cooper Design expresses common usability issues and the New Year's resolutions of common product's. I especially loved the mobile phones. Enjoy.

- Brian

Clutch, a site recently launched by Swallowtail, was named "shop of the day" by Jaded Pixels January 9th. Jaded Pixels is the company behind the innovative Shopify hosted eCommerce platform. This is an honor they bestow on the top sites that showcase and leverage the capabilities of customization and design that Shopify offers. Thought we would share the good news...









We have some additional clients we will be creating great branded sites for on Shopify. We will let you know as those launch. Stay tuned.

- brian