eRetail Association Newsletter - December 3rd 2000
from Nigel Fenwick, President, eRetail Association

Welcome to the December e-newsletter from the International eRetail Association & eRetailNews.

In this month's newsletter: A brief summary of the mini-Scorecard results from our latest report, plus a look at the impact of return policies on customer satisfaction; a few technology updates and a book review.

2000-11 REPORT

The 2000-11 report looks at how well traditional retailers are doing in the battle with the dotcoms for online customers.

2000-11: Old vs New: The battle between traditional retail and dotcoms.

......A mini-eRetail Scorecard Report on twelve leading online and offline retailers, comparing their online execution and providing a summary of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

The 12 Retailers reviewed are: amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, borders.com, bluelight.com, buy.com, walmart.com, cornerhardware.com, homedepot.com, sears.com, target.com, etoys.com and kbkids.com.

OLD VS NEW

With so much attention being given to the demise of high profile eRetailers, traditional retailers are reconsidering the merits of having their online operations set up as separate companies.

Traditional brick and mortar retailers with close links to their online operations have significant advantages over pure Internet retailers; the ability to leverage their physical stores to boost online sales, and their substantial resources to sustain and build their online operations.

There are signs the more advanced retailers are learning how to leverage their physical advantage. In the 2000-11 report we conducted a mini-research study to find out just how well some of the biggest offline names are doing when it comes to taking their brands online.

The study found that companies like Barnes and Noble have begun to surpass their competitors in terms of website design and online shopping features. When this is coupled with the ability to return purchases to local stores, they begin to show some significant customer service benefits over Amazon.com.

Read more at http://www.eretailnews.com/features/0012oldvsnew.htm

ONLINE RETURN POLICIES

Return policies can make the difference between a satisfied shopper and a frustrated ex-customer.

In our recent mini-eRetail Scorecard report (2000-11), we analyzed the return policies on the websites of traditional retailers and Internet only retailers.

In particular, we looked at four key criteria: 

1. Can the shopper return merchandise to a local store? 
2. The cost to the shopper to return merchandise 
3. Can merchandise be returned without authorization? 
4. The clarity of the returns policy and the simplicity of the returns process

Why The Returns Process Makes A Difference

Returning merchandise is possibly the most annoying facet of the online shopping experience, especially when it's the result of a damaged shipment or an error by the eRetailer.

Use this link to read the full story, http://www.eretailnews.com/features/0012returns.htm.

TECHNOLOGY UPDATES

Easy Ask - Search Engine

EasyAsk Distributed Search provides dynamic access to product catalogs and databases across multiple catalogs. For example, this allows several manufacturer's catalogs to be simultaneously searched for products that match natural language queries. (Ideal for shopping malls). www.easyask.com

Digital Impact - eMarketing Dashboard

Digital Impact recently upgraded its services to offer an online management interface called eMarketing Dashboard.

Through the eMarketing Dashboard, clients are able to submit content, manage lists, view reports and analyze customer data, all within a secure online-hosted environment. www.digitalimpact.com

NuEdge Systems - Individualized Communication Center

NuEdge Systems automates the process of designing, producing and distributing personalized customer communications across multiple channels. The system takes advantage of re-usable templates to reduce the work required establish new campaigns. www.nuedgesystems.com

Shopping For Intelligence

Toshiba recently licensed "Intellicrawl" technology from PriceNgine Technologies to monitor prices of its products on the Web.

The technology scours the Internet for matching products and enables a complete customized search of a specific model number, cataloging Web sites that sell the specific product. www.pricengine.com

BOOK REVIEW

 e-Business 2.0, Roadmap for Success, 2nd edition, by Dr. Ravi Kalakota and Marcia Robinson. Published Dec 1st 2000 by Addison Wesley

The "must-have" book for every senior executive in business today! With information technology and the Internet infrastructure moving so quickly, it's hard for even the most technology savvy executive to keep up to date. e-Business 2.0 provides an excellent guide for senior management on the complex process of re-engineering a business to take advantage of, and integrate, the Internet.

This revised edition of the original bestseller covers a broad spectrum of business processes that must be examined in light of the Internet. The authors provide sufficient information to be thought provoking without going into technical details.

Each chapter includes useful references to how many of today's most well recognized companies are taking advantage of the Internet, and concludes with a "memo to the CEO", which summarizes the key issues raised in the chapter.

Chapters are included on Customer Relationship Management, Selling Chain Management, Enterprise Resource Planning, Supply Chain Management, Trading Exchanges and Business Intelligence.

http://www.eretailnews.com/internet_retailing_bookstore.htm#0201721651 

ERETAIL RESEARCH SAVINGS
FOR CORPORATE MEMBERS

eRetail Scorecard

Corporate Members of the eRetail Association save 50% on their first eRetail Scorecard report and 20% on all subsequent reports. Custom reports can be purchased for any website, including competitors. http://www.eretailscorecard.com

eRetail+

Corporate Members of the eRetail Association save 10% off all eRetail+ website design services. http://www.eretailplus.com

Coming soon - DISCOUNTS ON RESEARCH REPORTS

 CONFERENCE DISCOUNTS

Become an eRetail Association member and receive discounts to the following events (new events are added each month).

FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER?

Although this is a copyright publication, I'd like you to send it on to your friends and colleagues. If you do, please make sure you send the full newsletter in its entirety, including the copyright statement at the end. (If you received this from a friend, you may request your own free copies at any time simply by filling out the form at the eRetailNews website or use this email link.

Copyright: 2000 eRetailNews, Inc. This newsletter may not be reproduced completely or in part without permission from eRetailNews. The entire unedited newsletter may be forwarded via email to personal contacts only; NOTE use of this newsletter as part of a broadcast mail service or SPAM is expressly forbidden. To publish excerpts on a website, please use this HTML version and include a link back to the full text at <http://www.eretailnews.com/newsletters/001203newsletter.htm>  "The WOW Factor!", "eRetail Association", "eRetailNews", and "International eRetail Association" are servicemarks or trademarks of eRetailNews, Inc or BizBrick Corporation.