Newsletter
April 1, 2006
Greetings, and
this is not an April Fools joke !!
The numbers are in from the
holiday season. Use this information to prepare for the coming
holiday season, as it will be here before you know it?
Holiday Internet Shopping Report
2005
Where the Holiday Money
Went
According to the Holiday eSpending Report, 2005's
online holiday shopping totaled $30.1 billion (excluding
travel), from October 29 to December 23. This was a 30% increase
from the 2004 holiday season. Below is a breakdown of what
consumers bought with their hard-earned cash.
$5.3 billion Apparel and
Clothing
$4.8 billion Computer Hardware/Peripherals
$4.8 billion Consumer Electronics
$3.0 billion Books
$2.3 billion Toys/Video Games
Analysis: If you
are an affiliate marketer and you are NOT in one of the above
markets and you are struggling, it is time to redo your business
plan. If you want to be an affiliate marketer this is a solid
program for both affiliates and merchants
http://www.roncastle.com/affiliate-tracking-software.htm
Searching For Gifts
When it comes to gifts, the Internet is the place to
search. And using search engines is the easiest way to find what you
want. Below are the results of a Hitwise study comparing the origins
of visits to shopping and classified sites for the month of December
2005.
Google 11.1%
Yahoo! 4.05%
MSN 0.79%
Analysis: Google
continues to dominate across the board with nearly a three fold lead
on Yahoo!. MSN is still insignificant. This shows you why AdWords
beats Overture in driving qualified traffic. This also explains why
I recommend optimizing your web for Google and let the chips fall
where they may with Yahoo! and MSN.
http://www.roncastle.com/become-number-one-google.htm
Silent But Deadly
Consumers are so passionate in their dislike of the user
experience at retail websites that 70% reported that they would be
unlikely to purchase or even return to a site after experiencing the
following problems. Unfortunately, only 25% of consumers report
these annoyances to the retailer, so it's unclear to the retailer
why they're losing business. This is why a web analytics program on
your server is so important. I use, recommend and market
AxROI.
[ You can
have 10 gb of server space, huge bandwidth, PHP, MySQL, 2,500
POP email addresses and much more for $8.95 per month at the
same place I host my webs and over 100 client webs.
Take a
look. Let me know if you sign up and I will
PayPal you a $25 signup bonus. ]
34.9% Pop-up advertising (I
hate popups unless they are on command)
16.7% Registration log-on pages
(let them look before they buy - don't make them register)
15.7% Software installation (this
is a killer)
9.1% Slow-loading pages (this is
easily fixable)
Analysis: Stop
pissing off your customers and your revenues will increase. Read
Customer Service - Getting
Better?
Has the sheer volume of people
shopping online via the Internet caused customer service to
decline? According to one study of online retailers, customer
service hasn't gotten better, it's gotten worse.
Average Response Time to Customers
email in Q4
Analysis:
If you have a customer service department, make it a priority to
handle all queries, not within 24 hours, but within an hour. You
will be 20-30 times better than your average competitor.
Killer Viral
Marketing Idea: Offer customers a totally unusual
highly personalized customer service response that will have
them telling everyone they know about your business.
http://www.roncastle.com/viral-marketing-video-email.htm
Send them a video reply to their inquiry. You can do this as
fast as you can type an email. Cost is minimal. 21 day
free trial.
The holiday shopping season didn't
end with Christmas this year. Whether it was bargain-hunters
shopping the sales, recipients redeeming their gift cards or
people just trying to avoid the in-laws, web users stayed online
in droves right through the new year.
60.2 million unique visits to
retail sites the week ending December 25
61.2 million unique visits to
retail sites the week ending January 1
Analysis:
This is the fourth holiday season in a row that the week after
Christmas was as strong as the week before in terms of sales.
Remember this as you plan to plan for 2006. Don't plan on taking
off or under staffing the week between Christmas and New Years
if you are in a consumer sales market. Have a dynamite holiday
season and then come spend a month in New Zealand in
January-February!
New Do-It-Yourself Website Design
Program
This is the best do-it-yourself
system I have seen and the price is about the same as what you
pay for decent hosting. You can have a 2 page web for $2.50 a
month with your own domain name email address, a 50 page web for
$8.95 a month or an ecommerce web for $19.95. The graphics are
excellent. Go take a look. Also, these webs have full
optimization capability. 30 day free trial.
Bragging Rights and SEO Write On
small business web publicity
viral marketing video email
and see who is # 1? I have added
lots of new highly informative web marketing content to my web.
Check me out.
New Web Coming Online - You need
Cell Essentials !
Check out
www.mycellessentials.com and look at OPC Factor and Restore
Creme. These are highly effective antioxidant rich products, a
nutritional supplement and a terrific face cream. The web will
be open for business shortly.
YOU NEED THESE PRODUCTS.
I have been taking OPC Factor for a couple of months, I love it,
and Pam loves the Restore Creme. If you are interested in a
sample, email me back and put Cell Essentials
in the subject of your email. I will add you to my announcement
list when the store is open and I will get you a deal, maybe
even a freebie. OPC Factor for your good health and Restore
Creme beauty to the ladies. 100% money back guarantee.
Want to Earn A Few Bucks?
It looks like we are going to be
doing some online usability and marketing impression and
messaging analysis testing for the
www.mycellessentials.com web site. I am looking for about
25 testers to tour the new web (not the one you presently see
online) and complete an online questionnaire. Compensation is
not yet determined but I know it will include free product
samples and perhaps a cash bonus. Our preferred demographics
for the test, about 70% female, 30% male, 70% over 40 years, 30%
under, resident of the USA. If you are interested send a reply
email with Cell Essentials Test in the subject
line. Please advise your age and sex. I will get back to you
SAP once the decisions are made regarding how we are going to do
this. Thanks.
Search Engine Optimization and
Strategic Web Marketing
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