Unexpected Customer Appreciation Hits the Spot

Today I went to the post office to check the mailbox and found a nice albeit unexpected surprise waiting for me.

Let me briefly set the stage. I write and contribute a number of monthly articles for both online and offline publishers and have been doing this for sometime now. One of those online publishers EzineArticles.com knows a little something about customer appreciation.

I get to the post office and along with the other mail I find a small square box with the Ezine Articles logo on the outside. My curiosity is piqued by now and I’m wondering what I ordered?

I open the box and to my surprise I see a nice coffee mug, a bag of coffee, and a note thanking me for being a part of the community and contributing to Ezine Articles.

Ecommerce store owners take note—this type of pro-active customer interaction works! I’m not saying you have to send free gifts to all your customers, but I have said in previous posts that a simple and unexpected hand written note or “bonus” here and there won’t hurt. It builds loyal customers not to mention happy customers.

Not that I needed it to keep writing for them, but it certainly cemented my relationship with Ezine Articles.

Do you reward or surprise your customers? If so how? If not, why? Part of customer retention is keeping your current customers happy. What would happen if you sent an unexpected gift to your current top customers? I’m sure the impact of that small gesture would reach far beyond what you think.

Just look at this case, EzineArticles.com probably had no intention of getting mentioned for their efforts. But their simple gesture of appreciation did just that.

Thanks guys!

Move to new Server Complete

Just a quick notice here that the move to the new server is now complete. Some of you may notice periodic inaccessibility while the new server information propagates throughout the Internet. This can take between 24 and 48 hours at times.

The move was needed in order to keep up with the growth of the site. The new server should be faster and provides for greater flexibility as well as scalability. Both important features going into the future.

Thanks for your continued interest. I’ve got a number of exciting items planned for this year and as always, look forward to providing you with revealing new information that helps you build your business.

New Design Released This Morning

As you can see, I’ve finally got my new design in place for the site this morning. I developed as much of it as I could on a test server, but the only true way to find how it operates was to launch it and work with the minor alterations that may come up as I see fit.

I have noticed a few posts might need to be realigned etc… and in some cases a few headlines etc… will also need adjustment (not to mention a number of other items).

I will be adding a number of items and moving others around over the coming weeks to make room for some exciting new elements that are going to be added to bring you even more content that will help you grow your ecommerce business.

Bare with me as I work out any kinks that may arise and feel free to drop me a line if you see anything that needs tweaking. There is about 2 years worth of content here and it would take me forever to get to it all.

To your success!

eCommerce Food for Thought

As more and more retailers feel the effects of this difficult economy, there is a ray of hope that radiates to those utilizing the internet for a source of sales (often called etailers).

Keep in mind that operating a store on the internet can have its tough times as well — after all, operating a successful business online is not a whole lot different in principle than offline. It’s the implementation and approach that distinguish the two.

Having said that I recently received a catalog in the mail which had he following quotation printed on the front:

“E-Retailing remains a bright spot in a dark economy but only web sites that improve performance will continue to shine.”

I read it and thought ya know, that’s what I have been saying all along and it couldn’t be more true.

I have encountered or worked with many etailers that are very successful online — even now. The key factor that differentiates the successful ecommerce businesses from those that are struggling is that those who are not only surviving, but thriving, are making sure they continually focus on improving the performance of their website. It’s an ongoing process that involves continual investment, patience, and analysis.

If you are one of those ecommerce store owners that is scratching your head wondering why you are having such a hard time generating sales, ask yourself what amount of real continual investment and analysis is being put into the business. How much patience do you have? Are you expecting noticeable sales increases overnight?

Remember, you only get out of something what you put into it. Put half in, get half out. Start a process and don’t finish, the business won’t finish. It’s that simple.

I often here store owners say they start a process to build their business and then 3 months into it wonder why it’s not “working”. The mistake they are making here is that they are looking at the end goal as the measurement factor for determining success. In fact, although the end goal is what is sought, the path along the way should be measured by small incremental improvements which all move the business closer to that end goal — not measured by the end goal itself.

“It’s not about how fast you get there, it’s about getting there at all.”

Sustainable business is not built overnight. It takes careful planning, implementation, dedication, and most importantly time. Rome wasn’t built in a day — your ecommerce business is no different.

Top 100 Retail Websites of 2009

We can all learn a lot from what those around us are doing. One thing I tell the clients I work with is if you can’t lead, then follow a leader. Often (not always) you can learn a few tricks by looking at some of the “big guys”.

The list of top 100 retail websites for 2009 was released by Internet Retailer and it includes a variety of sites across numerous industries. I’ve listed the top 100 and the industries they are each in so you have a resource you can come back to and look at from time to time. There should be something in here for just about everybody.

Here’s the list of the top 100 in order of industry from A-Z.

Apparel & Accessories

American Apparel
American Eagle
Antrhopologie
Athleta
Avelle
Bluefly
Cusp
Design by Humans
Eddie Bauer
Gap
Karmaloop
Lands’ End
Levi’s
Martin and Osa
NikeID
Nine West
Shoe Line
Roxy
Under Armour
Under Gear
Vans
Wet Seal
Zappos

Books / Film / Music

Blockbuster
Borders
Chapters Indigo
iTunes
Pop Cuts
Scholastic

Computers / Electronics

Best Buy
Cable Organizer
CDW
Crutchfield
Garmin
Ritz Camera

Flowers / Gifts / Jewelry

BlueNile
Delight
Gold Speed
jtv Watches
Organic Bouquet
Think Geek

Food / Drug

Avon
CVS
Dunkin’ Donuts
Estee Lauder
Fragrance Net
Godiva
Gourmet
King Arthur Flour
M&M’s
Scentiments
Stila
ULTA
Walgreens

Housewares / Home Furnishings

CSN Stores
Land of Nod
Max Furniture
Smith and Noble

Mass Merchants / Department Stores

Amazon.com
Buy.com
ElderLuxe
Meijer
Overstock.com
QVC
Sky Mall
Walmart

Specialty / Non-Apparel

Action Envelope
Beckett
Diapers
Doctors Foster and Smith
eBags
Expressionery
Eye Buy Direct
Fat Brain Toys
Fathead
Faucet
Gaiam
Gardener’s
Lion Brand Yarn
MoMA Store
Music Notes
Muttropolis
Novica
Oakley
Organize
Dog.com (Pets United)
SamAsh
Staples
Sweetwater
Timbuk2
Tool King
VistaPrint
Zazzle

Sporting Goods

Gander MTN.
Journeys
Nascar Superstore
Orvis
Running Warehouse
Skis
The North Face

So the next time you are stuck trying to figure out how to approach your website marketing strategy take a look at each of these. This list should stir your ideas and get you moving in the right direction … even if that means asking the right questions or getting the right help in place to implement.

Remember though, plan carefully, choose your course wisely, and always test before saying “it works”. What is good for one industry may not work in another.

PRWeb – Get your news to consumers, journalists and bloggers. Get seen on Yahoo! News and Topix. Drive traffic to your website.

To your success.

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