My own piece of the Internet
 
Category: <span>ecommerce</span>

Category: ecommerce

So what went wrong?

As an IT veteran, I’ve spent many an anxious  night watching terminals waiting for the load to drop, a server to come up, or just looking for meaning in GB’s of log files. It sucks bug time. So I feel sorry for the technicians associated with Click Frenzy who right now are working feverishly to get the servers back up. They would be wondering what hit them and the marketing folks would be caught between congratulating themselves for accidentally making the right call and calling the IT folks to tell them how much money this is costing them. When the …

Will Click Frenzy work?

Inspired by the success of Cyber Monday, the post-Thanksgiving online sale in the USA, an Australian online retailer group have decided to create an Australian version – Click Frenzy. The online sale, which the promoters say will stop a nation, runs on the 20 November. With participants like Myer, Target, Just Jeans, Portmans, Dotti, Dick Smith, Bing Lee, Ted’s Cameras,  SurfStitch, StyleTread, The Iconic, DealsDirect, and Booktopia, Click Frenzy has created a pretty big buzz in the past week with reports in the print and tabloid media. Power Retail, the promoters of Click Frenzy reported that after a profile on A Current Affair, traffic to the Click Frenzy website spiked massively. Click Frenzy is an exciting …

Australian online retail suddenly got serious

The announcement by David Jones yesterday that they will make a significant investment to transform themselves into a multi-channel retailer is a bold step and a clear sign that traditional Australian business has started to listen to customers. Rather than bemoaning changing consumer behaviour like Gerry Harvey, David Jones are taking action and launching what promises to be one of the most comprehensive Australian online stores. Whilst there has been some criticism about the speed of the delivery by Smart Company, the plan appears to me to be realistic and sensible. David Jones are rebuilding their systems from the ground …

How to stop your outsourcing going off the rails

Every startup or startup wannabe has outsourced development work to India, the Philippines, or Eastern Europe. It is more than half the cost of having it done in Australia or the USA the savings mean more funds to direct to building your business. It’s easy right? Well no, outsourcing can be a world of pain if you don’t get it right. I have outsourced small development projects and here are some tips to stop it going off the rails. 1. Define your scope clearly Make sure you define what you want very very clearly. The combination of language barriers and …

Getting the most out of technology

I spent some time yesterday with a bloke who ran a web design business that has built a great platform covering all the bases for a small business website, from brochure to feature rich online store. I can’t disclose the name of the business but there were a few things that impressed me about their approach and it wasn’t their technology. Don’t get me wrong, their technology is great but it doesn’t set them apart from the multitude of businesses with mature web platforms like Adobe’s Business Catalyst, Yola, Weebly, Wix and BigCommerce. Their tech does all that you would …

Australian fashion brands and sports dominate Facebook

I was talking with a colleague about the BONDS Facebook page today admiring their 600K+ likes when she challenged me to find another Australian brand with a higher number of likes. I’m happy to say that I did. A few things stood out. Australian fashion brands dominated the rankings. Global surfing brands Quiksilver and Billabong led the charge with over 1 million likes, followed by BONDS. The NRL leads the AFL by around 30 thousand likes. Interestingly, the NRL fan site, my-nrl.com, has slightly more likes than the official NRL site. Holden has over 200K followers, no doubt on the back of …

Myer offer free shipping

I found out today that Myer have started to offer free shipping in Australia. This is a welcome step and a sign of the maturing of online retail in Australia. The large department store and big box stores have largely ignored ecommerce for the past 15 years and have started to act after being faced with changing consumer behaviour and declining profits . There is a long way to go. The David Jones online store has made big improvements but is a great example of getting a lot wrong. Some retailers like Bunnings offer only store location tools and catalogue …