Coronavirus crisis slashes H&M 2020 earnings by 90 pct

High street fashion icon H&M said Friday the coronavirus pandemic had slashed its 2020 net profit by 90 percent, with about a third of its some 5,000 stores currently closed.

For its financial year to November, the company reported a net profit of 1.24 billion Swedish kronor (120 million euros) as sales fell 20 percent to 187 billion kronor.

"Our measures to mitigate the negative effects of ongoing restrictions and closures are continuing," chief executive officer Helena Helmersson said in a statement.

"Although the situation at the time of writing is highly challenging, the H&M group stands strong."

Despite continued lockdowns and restrictions, H&M said it would not increase the number of outlets -- 350 -- targeted for closure in the current year.

At the same time, it would open 100 other stores, as planned.

The business was especially hard hit in its second quarter, the height of the first wave of the pandemic when up to 80 percent of its outlets had to close, H&M said.

Among the worst affected markets, sales in France plunged 28 percent, with Italy down 24 percent, the United States 17 percent and Britain 16 percent.

China and Germany did better, registering losses of just 3.0 percent.

H&M said that conditions had worsened again in the later part of the year as a second wave of the pandemic swept through.

For the three months to November -- its fourth quarter -- sales tumbled 15 percent to 52.55 kronor, with net profit down 41 percent at 2.49 billion kronor.

Agence France-Presse

Google faces hefty EU fine in shopping case by August: sources

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM | EU antitrust regulators aim to slap a hefty fine on Alphabet unit Google over its shopping service before the summer break in August, two people familiar with the matter said, setting the stage for two other cases involving the U.S. company.

The European Commission’s decision will come after a seven-year investigation into the world’s most popular internet search engine triggered by scores of complaints from both U.S. and European rivals.

The EU competition authority accused Google in April 2015 of distorting internet search results to favor its shopping service, harming both rivals and consumers.

The Commission and Google declined to comment. The U.S. company has in the past rejected the charges, saying that regulators ignored competition from online retailers Amazon and eBay Inc.

Fines for companies found guilty of breaching EU antitrust rules can reach 10 percent of their global turnover, which in Google’s case could be about $9 billion of its 2016 turnover.

Apart from the fine, the Commission will tell Google to stop its alleged anti-competitive practices but it is not clear what measures it will order the company to adopt to ensure that rivals get equal treatment in internet shopping results.

The regulator could set out general principles or specific instructions for Google to follow, said an observer.

The Commission’s tough line is in sharp contrast with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission which settled its own web search case with the company in 2013 by requiring Google to stop “scraping” reviews and other data from rival websites for its own products.

Google made three unsuccessful attempts to settle the case with the previous European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia in a bid to stave off a possible fine and a finding of wrongdoing.

May’s lead falls to 3 percentage points, YouGov poll shows a week before election
Almunia’s successor Margrethe Vestager, however, has shown no willingness to settle with Google.

The company has also been charged with using its Android mobile operating system to squeeze out rivals and with blocking competitors in online search advertising related to its “AdSense for Search” platform.

The platform allows Google to act as an intermediary for websites such as online retailers, telecoms operators or newspapers. The Commission has warned of massive fines in both cases.

source: interaksyon.com

Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop names new CEO, plans e-commerce push

Goop, the lifestyle blog and online shopping site founded by actress Gwyneth Paltrow in 2008, named a new chief executive officer on Monday to spearhead an e-commerce expansion that includes Goop-branded apparel.

Lisa Gersh, who was previously CEO and president of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and co-founder of Oxygen Media, will expand the site’s tie-ups with fashion designers including Stella McCartney and Diane von Furstenberg next year.

“We have a brand. Now it’s time to build the business to that level,” Gersh said in an interview.

For the next 18 months, Goop will focus on being a U.S.-based site that ships globally. Goop will also build its own advertising team to tap into the site’s loyal fan base, said Gersh, who also sits on the board of toymaker Hasbro Inc.

Eventually, Goop will launch its own label, stretching into apparel — starting with basic wardrobe staples — beauty and home, Gersh added. “We’ve seen the mistakes out there,” she said. “We’ll take small steps.”

Gersh resigned from Martha Stewart Living in December 2012 after a rocky tenure that saw her in the CEO job for less than six months. While at the company, she led the restructuring of the company’s publishing unit.

After leaving the company, Gersh began advising fitness guru Tracy Anderson, who introduced her to longtime client Paltrow, Gersh said. In June, Paltrow moved Goop to Los Angeles from London.

Goop’s expansion comes at a time when other celebrity-backed e-commerce companies are doing the same. The Honest Company, a startup co-founded by actress Jessica Alba that sells organic and environmentally friendly family products, is looking to expand in China and is planning to eventually go public.

The bulk of U.S. retail sales still happens in brick-and-mortar stores, but e-commerce is growing much faster than retail sales overall. U.S. ecommerce sales will jump 15.5 percent in 2014 to $304.1 billion, according to data from eMarketer, compared to 3.7 percent for non-e-commerce sales.

source: interaksyon.com

US mobile shopping revenues top $10 billion in 2013

WASHINGTON DC - US mobile shoppers spent more than $10 billion in the first half of 2013, in a segment making strong inroads in retailing, a survey showed Tuesday.

The comScore survey showed retail sales from consumers using smartphones or tablets in the first half rose more than 25 percent from the same period a year ago and now account for 9.5 percent of all digital ecommerce sales.

"While mobile devices are already extremely influential in the overall buying process, they are also beginning to drive a meaningful percentage of digital commerce," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni.

"One out of every ten consumer e-commerce dollars is now spent using either a smartphone or a tablet, and growth in this segment of the market is outpacing that of traditional e-commerce by a factor of 2x, which itself is growing at rates in the mid-teens."

The report showed "m-commerce" revenues, which are highly seasonal, at $5.9 billion in the first quarter and $4.7 billion in the second quarter. With the largest spending likely in the fourth quarter, sales are on track to top last year's pace of $20 billion.

The report said smartphones accounted for some six percent of e-commerce sales in the first half of 2013 and tablets for 3.5 percent.

The biggest categories for m-commerce were apparel and accessories, computer hardware, and event tickets. Video game, consoles, and accessories showed the highest percentage of digital commerce spending via m-commerce at 23.7 percent, according to comScore.

More than half of US adults own a smartphone, and about one-third have a tablet computer, according to recent surveys.

source: interaksyon.com

iGrab everything you want at online shop’s new physical store

Afraid of being duped out of the money, as let’s face it, there are online stories circulating which people who cannot get the items, products, or  services that they want.

Here comes iGrab.ph a new player in the online shopping industry, which was launched in  October last year. iGrab differs from other online stores as it recently launched a physical store at the ground floor of the Newport Mall at Resorts World Manila. Situated beside the mall entrance, the site’s shoppers can redeem the items that they have bought online.

“The physical store is mainly a redemption outlet. For example you bought a watch or a perfume, and you are here in Resorts World Manila, you can claim it here,” Jay Anthony D. Padua, IGrab’s AVP for Marketing discussed. All consumers need to do is provide the coupon they have received through email, proof that they have bought from the online store and the item will be theirs. Some of the items can be purchased on the kiosk using the online platform with the computers provided for. Padua discloses, “if these products are within the store you can buy them outright.”


Just like other online shops and group buying sites, iGrab offers goods from luxury items to vacation getaways at a discounted price.  A brands page can be even viewed for people who want to know what labels plus how much price off they can get from this shopping outlet.

Apart from the usual items, iGrab also has discounted tickets to activities and events. It can give its customers affordable access to Resorts World Manila events as it has a marketing partnership with the one of Manila’s top destination.  iGrab gives discounts to upcoming shows such as Cinderella and even movie deals for PhP80, and more.

According to Padua, iGrab continues to strive to look for new merchants as well as give the consumers new campaigns.  “We thought that this (the physical store, ecommerce and group buying site) is the easiest way to get customers to easily adapt to this marketing platform and promotions for our merchants,” Padua shared.

With great discounts, anyone will definitely start grabbing deals anytime now. Browse through iGrab, and see the bargains for yourself, but if you are afraid of using that credit card, or making a deposit, then go to Resorts World Manila and check out the walloping price off.

iGrab is a virtual shopping  outlet by NetDeals, Inc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alliance Global Group, Inc.,  Alliance Global Group, Inc. is the group behind Megaworld Corporation, Emperador Distillers, and many more successful brands.

 source: interaksyon.com

Google tests same-day delivery service in challenge to Amazon

SAN FRANCISCO — Google on Thursday began testing a service for same-day delivery of toys, clothing, groceries or other items ordered online in what could be a challenge to online retail titan Amazon.

People living in San Francisco or a swath of Silicon Valley from the cities of San Jose to San Mateo were invited to take part in “a new experiment” that the Internet colossus dubbed Google Shopping Express.

“It’s a local delivery service that we hope will make it possible for you to get the items you order online the same day, and at a low cost,” product management director Tom Fallows said in a blog post.

“The pilot will expand as we work out the kinks.”

The service is part of an effort by the Mountain View, California-based firm to “bring the speed of the Web to the real world,” according to Fallows.

People enrolled in the test program will be able to shop at a single online venue for products from retailers such as Target, Walgreens, American Eagle, Toys R Us, and San Francisco’s coveted Blue Bottle Coffee.

“So hopefully, no more trips across town for simple errands,” Fallows said.

Pricing for Google Shopping Express had yet to be determined so people testing the service were being offered six months of free, unlimited orders for same-day deliveries.

Amazon entices shoppers with a Prime service that offers free two-day shipping on orders along with online streaming of films and television shows for an annual subscription fee of $79.A

source: interaksyon.com

EBay goes after Amazon with fee changes for sellers

SAN FRANCISCO — EBay Inc said on Tuesday it will overhaul fees for sellers on its online marketplace, lowering them for many sellers as it steps up competition with Amazon.com Inc.

EBay is simplifying its “final value fees” with the percentage fee levied on each sale determined by product categories. Currently, the percentage fee is based on an item’s price.

Some of eBay’s listing fees, a bone of contention among sellers, are also going away. Most of the changes will kick in April 16, with others taking effect May 1.

Many sellers will pay lower fees after the changes, especially those who are not volume sellers and list fewer than 12,250 times per month, according to Scot Wingo, chief executive of ChannelAdvisor, which helps merchants sell on online marketplaces including eBay and Amazon.

“These fee changes definitely make eBay more competitive,” said Wingo.

EBay’s move comes as sellers on Amazon’s marketplace become increasingly upset with fee increases.

The company’s announcement about the new fees included a table comparing its charges to Amazon’s fees, a move that Wingo said he had not seen before.

“EBay is really coming out swinging against Amazon,” Wingo added.

EBay shares rose 2 percent to close at $51.10 on the Nasdaq. Amazon slipped 0.6 percent to $256.41.

11 PERCENT CUT

For consumers who sell only a few items a year, eBay will offer 50 free listings per month. If the item sells, the company will take 10 percent of the sale price.

EBay has been using a fee structure that included a listing fee of 50 cents per item for full-price listings. The company has been offering free listings only on auctioned items.

For larger-volume sellers, eBay will introduce new final value fees ranging from 4 percent to 9 percent, depending on the product category.

Seller Phil Forman said he received an email from EBay on Tuesday morning, estimating that he would see an 11 percent decline in fees.

“I can work with an 11 percent cut,” said Forman, owner of Newtownvideo.com, which sells CDs, DVD and video games on its own website and on marketplaces including Amazon.com and eBay.com.

The reduction in listing fees should encourage sellers to list more products, getting more inventory onto eBay, he said.

“Sellers like to only pay when they actually sell something,” Forman added.

However, Forman said he was concerned because Newtownvideo.com lists many thousands of products per month, so the business may still pay some listing fees on eBay. This is because the new free listings top out at 2,500 per month for subscribers to eBay’s premium “Anchor Store” selling program, he noted.

Amazon has never charged sellers listing fees, one reason why its marketplace has been gaining strongly against eBay in recent years.

“For most of our sellers the complexity of our fees were keeping them from being on eBay and preventing them from having full transparency into their profitability from selling on eBay,” Michael Jones, vice president of merchant development, said.

“There will be some sellers who will pay a little bit more on eBay, but most sellers will be impacted positively by this,” he added.

source: interaksyon.com

Ten tips for the eBay newbie

Been looking for a DVD copy of the 1973 Hollywood musical Lost Horizon, a 1954 Omega Seamaster, a pair of Johnny Depp’s Moscot Lemtosh shades, an 11200-mAh power bank for your iPhone, or a 1988 Stipula Baracca limited-edition fountain pen? Well, I have — and I found them all, not in my neighborhood mall or ukay-ukay, but in that largest of global marketplaces, eBay.

I’ve been buying and occasionally selling on eBay almost from the very beginning, since December 1997, and now have a feedback of 520+ (thankfully 100 percent positive). In all those hundreds of transactions, I’ve had maybe three or four bum cases of sellers not delivering, or sending me bad stuff. All of those cases were sorted out and I was refunded, so I do believe eBay to be a generally safe place to shop, with lots of wonderful bargains to be had, but as with any marketplace physical or digital, it can be tricky for the unwary.

I thought of writing up this brief guide to shopping on eBay because, thanks to my recent articles featuring fountain pens, papers, and inks, I’ve been deluged with inquiries about where to find these items and for how much. In particular, vintage and premium pens seem to be in great demand — pens like the Montblanc 149 and 146, the Parker Duofold, Parker Vacumatic, and Parker 75, and 1920s Waterman pens with flexible nibs.

I’ve sold quite a few of these pens myself, having made a pledge (a pitifully weak one) to trim down my collection of about 200 pens by half. My recent acquisitions have tended to be more expensive, so to help assuage my wallet and my conscience, I’ve had to dispose some of my loot, if only to make room for more. That means that I have to find a steady and reliable source for pens both to resell and to keep, and that can only be eBay — where, at any given moment, there will be about 40,000 pens of all kinds to compete for my attention and my credit card.

So I’ve been telling my pen-seeking friends that they could save themselves a chunk of change by bypassing me and going straight to the source — where a slightly used Montblanc 149 (which sells new on Amazon for $810) might go for around $400. But I’ve also warned them that it’s going to be a slippery slope, fraught with dangers and risks — not to mention the biggest risk of all, which is to get infected with eBay shopaholia.

Even if you care nothing about pens, there are literally a million more things to be found on eBay.com and on its local site, eBay.ph — everything from a mummified monkey’s paw (which you can buy without bidding for $13.00) and an 1864 autograph of Abraham Lincoln (bidding starts at $4,995.00) to a 2012 Lamborghini Aventador (yours for $469,991.00). Very likely, they’ll be things you don’t need but will soon want — and want badly, so mind the following tips if you plan on shopping on eBay without risking your children’s inheritance or your marriage. I’m going to use pens to illustrate my points, but these tips can apply as well to cameras, shoes, bags, bikes, or whatever floats your boat.



1. Know what you’re looking for — know the product and its current market value. Do some research beforehand and establish what possible issues there might be with the item. For example, if you’re looking for a Montblanc, understand that vintage celluloid ones in good shape could command more than new ones in “precious resin” — but also that the 149 and 146 are the most faked pens in the world (along with the Parker Sonnet); eBay actually has a guide to determining fake MBs (which means, know your way around eBay as well). EBay’s “completed listings” is a great way to determine market value — look for the median price (discard lowest and highest prices) for a better sense of what you can expect to pay. Check other websites (Amazon, BestBuy, etc.) as well, because their special deals and offers could undercut eBay. I do most of my gadget shopping, for example, on dealmac.com.

2. Condition, condition, condition. In your enthusiasm for an item, you might forget to probe its condition. Read the description very well and look out for any flaws. Especially scrutinize all the pictures. (This also allows me to spot special features that others might miss — a broad stub on a nib, for example). I think I know pens well enough that I can tell make, model, year, and approximate value for most major brands on sight, but every pen is still unique once it’s up for sale. Keep an eye out for cracks, glue, broken tines, mismatched caps and barrels, discoloration, etc.

3. Set up a PayPal account. It will make your life a whole lot easier on the Internet, since PayPal has become a global standard for electronic payments. I’ve tied my PayPal to a specific bank account I use only for eBay transactions. Is it safe? Of course you’ll hear a horror story here and there, but in my own experience, eBay and PayPal have served me very well, settling questions and disputes and sending refunds very quickly in the rare cases of non-delivery I’ve encountered.

4. Keep looking. Since I now buy and sell pens, I check out eBay many times a day — I have it on my phone—and have set up search terms for my favorite items, like Parker Vacumatics. This enables me to find what I like quickly, in a marketplace where millions of items are up for sale at any given moment. Some of my best bargains have come when buyers in the US — my chief competitors — are literally asleep. I also check out ebay.uk and ebay.ca (the UK and Canada) and have found some of my best bargains there. The first thing I check is “newly listed”, further narrowed down to “buy it now” — this way I can catch the real bargains before anyone else does. Then I check “ending soonest.” You can also refine your searches, for example by looking just for “149” under “Montblanc” under “fountain pens.”

5. Check the seller’s feedback. I’d be wary of a seller with less than 95 percent positive feedback. He or she may not be a cheat, but has a poor service record (delayed mailings, no response, etc.)

6. Establish your bidding threshold early on. Don’t get caught in a bidding war with another bidder. These days, since I could be bidding on 20 items at any given moment (expecting to win maybe two or three), I just bid my maximum and forget about it until the last two minutes, which are really all that matters on eBay. Some people use sniping programs that let the computer make a last-second automated bid for them; I should, but have been too lazy to set one up, and I rather like the excitement of making the last-minute bid myself.

7. Figure out and factor in your shipping options. Since most of my purchases are made in the US, I use a US shipping address (my sister’s in Virginia) and aggregate my purchases there. When I’ve gathered a boxful, I ask my sister to ship them to Johnny Air Cargo in NYC, which forwards them to me in Manila a week later. I’m sure many of you have US relatives who can do this for you (just make sure that they’re willing — be very nice to them at Christmas). I’ve educated my sister on pens so she’ll know how to check out a pen when it arrives and how to handle and package them properly; and yes, I’ve given her a nice pen or two.

8. Pay promptly, and leave feedback. You’ll see how your own feedback will improve once you become a good eBay netizen.

9. If and when you encounter a problem, report it to eBay. They have mechanisms for dealing with problems like getting a defective item (unless it was so described) or not receiving an item you paid for at all. Take note that there’s a time window (45 days, I believe) within which complaints can be filed.

10. Don’t lose hope. I’ve lost out on bids for items that I’d coveted for years, but then found another one a week later, for cheaper. If you can’t find it on eBay, it probably doesn’t exist, or is illegal to own. For me, it’s fountain pen paradise, and another reason to wake up in the morning for.

article source: philstar.com

Online sellers tailor prices to geography

U.S. online retailers use their computing power to tailor prices to where their customers are located, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The newspaper said it found Staples.com charged $15.79 for a stapler that another customer just few miles away got for $14.29. The Journal said it found Staples appeared to factor in a customer's distance from a rival brick-and-mortar store, such as OfficeMax or Office Depot, when quoting a price.

"How can they get away with that?" asked Trude Frizzell, the Bergheim, Texas, customer who got the lower price.

"I think it's very discriminatory," said Kim Wamble, the customer in nearby Boerne, Texas, who was made to pay the higher amount.

The Journal said its investigation found areas that tended to have discounted prices had a higher average income than places that tended to get higher prices.

Staples told the newspaper its online and in-store prices vary by geography based on "a variety of factors," including "costs of doing business."

The Journal said companies such as Discover Financial Services, Rosetta Stone Inc. and Home Depot gather information about visitors to their websites and use it to develop different pitches to different people -- with prices, products and advertising shaped for specific geographic areas.

Companies that do it say online price differences are no different than those for bricks-and-mortar stores.

source: upi.com

Keep Your Credit Card Safe While Shopping Online

I was at Home Depot at 6:07 a.m. on Black Friday. I needed new Christmas décor, and Home Depot had exactly what I wanted at low prices.

So I got up early, thinking that if I didn’t get there by 6:15 a.m., the stuff I wanted would be long gone. You can imagine how surprised I was when I got there and the store was fairly empty. The employees practically greeted me at the door and offered me coffee and donuts.

Well, of course I said yes to the coffee and donuts. I had the sales flyer with me, so I pointed to what I wanted and the employees collected it all for me in a cart. I was back at my car at precisely 6:17 a.m., happy and on an exquisite sugar high.

I went from Home Depot to Target and had a similar experience, but without the donuts (get with the program, Target!). It was clear to me that folks had decided to shop online. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw the recent numbers from comScore, a company that analyzes the digital world.

Their research showed that consumers have already spent $10.1 billion online, which is a 16% increase over last year. They predict, for the entire season, that consumers will spend $43.4 billion online, which is up 17% from last year.

But enough with boring stats. The fact is, if you shop online, you need to protect yourself. It might be the season of holiday cheer, but it’s also the season of credit card scams.

Here are some things you should keep in mind while clicking your way through the holidays. (See also: The 50 Best Deals and Coupon Sites)

Check the URL

Make sure you see "https" instead of just "http" in the web address. The "s" means it’s a secure site.

Now, according to the FTC, having the “s” isn’t a fool-proof method for identifying a fake website because some scammers try to create a fake “s". Good grief! But at least checking for an “s” is a step you can take to make sure you don’t enter delicate information onto a site without the “s” in the address.

Use a Credit Card

Don’t use a debit card for online shopping. A debit card is linked to your bank account, and if the website gets hacked, the thief will have access to your cash.

Sure, you can probably get most of the cash back over time, but you don’t need such trauma during the holidays. With a credit card, you have much better consumer protections, plus your cash accounts aren’t in jeopardy.

Don’t Fall for Phishing

If you get an email asking you to send your credit card account number and password, don’t take the bait (sorry, I had to get in at least one lousy pun related to fishing).

The email might say you need to update or validate your account due to a variety of issues, including suspected fraud. The email might even look like it came from your bank. No legitimate company will ever ask for this type of sensitive financial information via email.

You have to be alert because scammers get more sophisticated all the time. I got an email that appeared to come from my daughter, who is at college. There was a link in the email, and I caught myself just in time. The scammer was clever to know that I might open the link quickly since it came from my kid. That was a close one!

Check Your Accounts Online for Fraud

This an oldie, but a goodie. I know you’re tired of hearing it, but think about how often you use your credit card at a restaurant and your card leaves your sight. Even if you’re shopping mostly online on a secure, well-known site, you’re still exposed in other areas of your life. And what if the reputable, well-known site gets hacked? It happens.

Avoid Public Wi-Fi

It might be tempting to kick back with a latte in your favorite coffee shop while making purchases online, but it’s not a good idea. Hackers are capable of breaking into Wi-Fi connections at hot spots. Better to get the latte to go and shop at home than take the risk.

Use Virtual Credit Card Numbers

These are also sometimes referred to as “disposable” or “one-time use” numbers. Some issuers offer this service and it allows you to use a temporary number that's tied to your actual credit card account. When you buy an item, you use the temporary number assigned to your account.

So if the site you shopped on gets hacked, the thief can't access your real number. They get a bogus one. This keeps your real account number safe. Now, the details for this service vary by issuer. Visa offers this service, and they call it “Verified by Visa.”

It might sound a little tricky to use virtual numbers, but trust me — the steps are usually pretty simple, and best of all, it’s free.

source: wisebread.com

Microsoft, Google in catfight over online shopping

WASHINGTON — Just in time for the holidays, Microsoft and Google have become embroiled in a bitter dispute over who is the fairest of them all for online shopping, stepping up the battle between the tech giants.

Microsoft threw the first punch when it launched a campaign for its Bing search engine “to highlight Bing’s commitment to honest search results.”

The campaign also seeks “to help explain to consumers the risks of Google Shopping’s newly announced ‘pay-to-rank’ practice,” a Microsoft statement said.

Microsoft created a Web page called “Scroogled,” which points out that its rival has reversed course on its pledge at the time of the Google stock offering to avoid paid ad inclusion for search results.

“Google Shopping is nothing more than a list of targeted ads that unsuspecting customers assume are search results,” Microsoft claims.

Google announced earlier this year it would revamp its product search to become a shopping service with paid listings. This eliminated merchants which opted not to pay, including some notable ones like Amazon.

Google said it completed the transition October 17 in the US, and will be rolling out the same model in Britain, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Brazil, Australia and Switzerland.

“We think this will bring the same high-quality shopping experience to people — and positive results to merchants — around the world,” a Google blog posting said.

Microsoft is promoting its campaign online and offline with ads “demonstrating why consumers should be concerned and helping them take action” on the Google shift, a Microsoft statement said.

“We’re also calling on Google to stop this ‘pay-to-rank’ system for their shopping results and give shoppers what they expect — an honest search.”

Google maintains that merchants cannot improve their rank simply by paying more, and that sellers who have a financial stake in the results will keep their information up to date.

“Google Shopping makes it easier for shoppers to quickly find what they’re looking for, compare different products and connect with merchants to make a purchase,” said an email from a Google spokeswoman.

But some analysts say both companies are less than transparent about how their shopping engines work, and that Microsoft is not without blame.

Danny Sullivan, analyst with the website Search Engine Land, said of the Microsoft effort: “Great campaign, if it were true. It’s not. Bing itself does the same things it accuses Google of.”

Sullivan told AFP that “at least Google has the fine print that you can read; Microsoft doesn’t have it at all.”

Microsoft, according to Sullivan, excludes new merchants from Bing search results if they don’t pay for inclusion with its partner, Shopping.com, even though this is not fully transparent to consumers.

“Payment is a factor for ranking,” in Bing, said Sullivan, who maintains that Microsoft’s campaign is misleading.

Microsoft said its own shopping results through Bing are not influenced by payment.

“Bing includes millions of free listings from merchants and rankings are determined entirely by which products are most relevant to your query,” said Stefan Weitz, senior director at Bing, in an emailed statement.

“While merchants can pay fees for inclusion on our third party shopping sites and subsequently may appear in Bing Shopping through partnerships we have, we do not rank merchants higher based on who pays us, nor do we let merchants pay to have their product offers placed higher in Bing Shopping’s search results.”

Sullivan argues that Google, ironically, may have moved to paid listings to deflect attention from regulators and others who complain it had been skewing its search results.

“If you have people complaining you search results are unfair, you can turn them into ads,” he said.

But Sullivan noted that Google merely adopted the same policies of most shopping sites, which use paid listings even if they appear to be an impartial search.

The overall message from the latest row, according to Sullivan: “You need to shop around. Use multiple search engines. All of them that suggest that they are gathering stuff from across the Web but may not be doing that.”

source: interaksyon.com

Markco Media founder launches online department store

Mark Pearson launches online department store, HushHush.com, that discounts some of the top clothing brands. The site saw more than a quarter of a million people sign up before it was even launched, according to the Markco Media Chairman and Founder.



HushHush offers up what it says are a handpicked collection of popular brands including Calvin Klein and Dolce & Gabbana. Whilst fashion is the site’s core proposition, it also seems to offer various home furnishings too.

At first glance, HushHush looks like an aggregator of high-end, fashion and home-related, daily deals. Indeed, this is the general idea behind the concept. Pearson said that products are on the site for few days, meaning consumers must be quick to grab a bargain.

Satisfying retailers' cravings

Pearson told A4u that he came up with the concept earlier this year after being badgered by merchants. “While I was over in the USA this Summer I started to think about how a lot of retailers over the years have asked us how we can promote their products more,” he said. “Everyone always wants more!”

One feature undoubtedly helping HushHush to entice consumers is the offer of free credit. Pearson confirmed new users will receive £10 after registering, plus for every friend that signs up and buys, they will receive another £10.

Support for all the major social networks is available on HushHush. Pearson also alluded to integration with Facebook’s new Want feature set when it becomes more widely available after its initial testing period in the USA.

“We are keen to be a very accessible, social site that allows users to easily share their favourite products on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, as well as to create HushHush wish lists so they can browse the site and have a look at all of the collections before they decide to buy,” he revealed.

source: affiliates4u.com

Online sales jump on Cyber Monday, eBay shines

SAN FRANCISCO — Online sales jumped on Cyber Monday, sending e-commerce retailers’ shares higher and suggesting strong growth from earlier in the holiday shopping season is continuing for now.

Sales on eBay Inc’s online marketplace were particularly strong and Amazon.com Inc continued its rapid holiday shopping season growth, according to early Cyber Monday data released by e-commerce firm ChannelAdvisor.





EBay’s shares climbed 4.9 percent to close at $51.40. The stock hit an intra-day high of $51.78, the highest level since early 2005. Amazon’s shares gained 1.6 percent to $243.62.

Cyber Monday has been the biggest online shopping day in recent years, as workers return to offices and use computers to make holiday purchases. ComScore expects online sales to hit a record of about $1.5 billion by day’s end.

Online sales were up 25.6 percent as of 3:00 pm EST on Monday, compared with the same period a year ago, according to International Business Machines Corp which tracks transaction data from 500 U.S. retail websites. In 2011, Cyber Monday year-over-year growth was 15 percent by 3:00 pm, IBM said.

Strong online sales growth on Thanksgiving Day and “Black Friday” sparked concern that shoppers were just buying earlier, threatening revenue later in the season.

“So far, that is not the case,” said Jay Henderson, the strategy director for IBM Smarter Commerce. “Extending the shopping season has really just fueled additional online spending rather than cannibalizing days later in the season.”

ChannelAdvisor said client sales – or sales generated by third-party merchants using the company’s software – soared 57 percent on eBay.com early on Monday, compared with the same period in 2011.

The growth rate was five times higher than during the same period last year, said ChannelAdvisor, which helps merchants sell more online.

“The early eBay numbers are impressive,” said R.J. Hottovy, an equity analyst at Morningstar. “They put together an effective marketing plan across several channels this holiday season – online, television and print.”

EBay has been trying to move away from its online auction roots, emphasizing new items selling at fixed prices to better compete with Amazon.

“The numbers suggest they’re having success reintroducing consumers to the ‘new eBay,’” Hottovy said.

PayPal, the payments division of eBay, said the volume of mobile transactions it processed by 2:00 pm EST on Cyber Monday almost tripled versus the same period last year.

Client sales on Amazon.com were up 52 percent during the first part of Cyber Monday, ChannelAdvisor also reported.

“Amazon continues to look impressive to us since it is building on top of large numbers,” said Scott Tilghman, an analyst at Caris & Company.

Discounts

Online retailers held back some of their best promotions and biggest discounts until Cyber Monday, which helped spur sales, IBM’s Henderson and ChannelAdvisor’s Wingo said.

Amazon offered $30 off its 7 inch Kindle Fire tablet, which usually sells for $159. The deal was only available on Cyber Monday and was still available at 5:00 pm EST.

EBay promoted Cyber Monday deals on iPads, made by Apple Inc, and Nook devices from Barnes & Noble.

These types of discounts attract shoppers to Amazon and eBay’s websites, where they may purchase other items too, Wingo explained.

‘WII U’ sells out

EBay has also benefited as some hot holiday items sold out this year at some retailers. When that happens, shoppers often turn to eBay, where third-party sellers are usually still offering the items at higher prices.

Nintendo Co Ltd said on Monday its new “Wii U” video game consoles sold out at retailers in the United States.

The devices were still available on ebay.com on Monday at 10 to 20 percent above the suggested retail price, according to Jesse Divnich, an analyst at video game research firm EEDAR.

Margin question

Despite strong sales data, analysts are concerned that heavy discounting may pressure retailers’ profit margins, online and offline.

The average online order size on Cyber Monday was $130.30 as of 3:00 pm EST. That was down from almost $200 during the whole of Cyber Monday last year, according to IBM.

Online order sizes are shrinking as consumers buy more digital goods, such as e-books, music and video, which generally cost less. However, discounting is also pressuring order size and that could feed through to lower margins, Morningstar’s Hottovy said.

EBay margins should be relatively well protected because the company charges a commission on sales by third-party merchants and retailers.

Amazon operates like this, but, unlike eBay, the company also has its own product inventory so it may be exposed to margin pressure, according to Colin Sebastian, analyst at R.W. Baird.

source: interaksyon.com

eBay targets growth in China with a new partnership

The operator of the world's biggest online marketplace, eBay, has agreed to partner with a Chinese firm to boost its sales in the country.

It will launch a localized shopping portal, eBay Style, in collaboration with Xiu.com, a Chinese online retailer.



Foreign firms are looking to tap into China's booming internet market, amid sluggish growth in developed nations.

With more than 500 million users, China is the world's biggest internet market.

That is expected to grow even further in the coming years as more people in rural areas get access to the internet.

And with growing popularity of online shopping in the country, China has become a key market for e-commerce with internet firms.

According to various estimates, total online retail trade volume in China was about 800bn yuan ($129bn; £80bn) in 2011 and is expected to increase further this year.

Melanie Tan, the vice president of eBay, said the firm had seen a rise in its sales in China and was keen to explore further growth options.

"Chinese consumers are increasingly coming to eBay and we have seen a 40% year on year increase of goods bought by Chinese consumers navigating eBay.com in English," she said.

"We believe that in the future Chinese consumers will use eBay as a passport to global Fashion styles, especially for leading women's brands and accessories, and menswear," she added.

source: bbc.co.uk

Target Rolls Out QR Codes for Holiday Shopping

The anonymity of online shopping will soon be available in real time.

Starting Oct. 14, Target will tag the top 20 toys of the season in its stores with QR Codes. Perfect, the company says, for secretive mobile shopping.

All shoppers need to do is download the Target app and scan whichever marked toy they’d like to buy. They can opt for free shipping, too.

source: mashable.com

ONLINE SHOPPING

EBAY Inc., once a scrappy auction site for mom and pop sellers, is enticing some of the world's largest retailers by arguing it can help them compete better against e-commerce leader Amazon.com, Inc.

EBay Chief Executive John Donahoe and other executives have been telling retailers that Amazon is their enemy, while eBay is a friend because, unlike Amazon, it holds no inventory.

Amazon buys products wholesale, stores them in inventory, and sells them to consumers at higher prices – like all retailers.

EBay says it just matches buyers and sellers.

That message is sinking in, especially among brick and mortar retailers that are losing market share to Amazon.

''As retailers look for new vehicles for growth eBay becomes a natural partner – a better partner than Amazon,'' said Sucharita Mulpuru, an e-commerce analyst at Forrester Research.

When RadioShack Corp., reported a surprise quarterly loss last month, Chief Executive Jim Gooch told analysts that the electronics retailer had set up an eBay storefront to help the company reach new customers online.

Barnes & Noble, Toys ''R'' Us, GNC Holdings, Aeropostale, and Neiman Marcus are among other big retailers that now have storefronts on eBay.

Best Buy Co., Inc., sells mobile phones and wireless plans on eBay.

On Monday, eBay said it was testing a same-day delivery service called eBay Now with Target Corp., the second-largest US retailer, and other big retailers including Macy's, Inc., Nordstrom, Inc., and Walgreen Co.

Amazon offers same-day delivery in some areas already.

The foundations of eBay Now rest on Milo, a start-up eBay acquired in late 2010 which lets merchants upload in-store inventory onto eBay's online marketplace. When shoppers search on eBay now, they see what online sellers are offering, but also which nearby physical stores carry the product.

More than 50,000 stores in the United States have uploaded inventory to eBay, via Milo, including major retailers Home Depot, Inc., Ikea, Lowe's Companies, Inc., Sears Holdings Corp., and J.C. Penney Company, Inc.

''It's simple: location, location, location,'' said Ben Schachter, an analyst at Macquarie. ''Sellers have to go to where the buyers are.''

EBay has more than 100 million active shoppers on its online marketplace, he noted.

''Retailers don't have those kinds of numbers coming to their sites and buying,'' Schachter said. ''They would love to only sell through their own site, but they have to go where the buyers are, and many are on eBay.''

Amazon has a lot more active customers – about 180 million – but some retailers steer clear still.

Barnes & Noble, which has been hammered by Amazon, has had an eBay storefront since late 2010 and mostly uses it to sell refurbished Nook gadgets. Toys and books were added in May 2011.

''EBay has been an exceptional partner, working with Barnes & Noble to effectively promote Nook to its massive user base,'' said Barnes & Noble spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating. ''Amazon is a competitor. We don't sell on Amazon and have no plans to do so.''

Toys ''R'' Us does not sell on Amazon either. More than a decade ago, the largest toy retailer had exclusive rights to supply some toys on Amazon's website. That partnership ended in litigation and Amazon is now a leading toy retailer in its own right.

''It's the worst-kept secret in the retail industry,'' said Mulpuru. ''When you partner with Amazon, they are looking at your data, learning your business and have ambition to get into every category.''

Among the 100 largest retailers in the United States, most are choosing eBay over Amazon, according to Scot Wingo, chief executive of ChannelAdvisor, which helps merchants sell on both online marketplaces.

An Amazon spokesman declined to comment.

Amazon's marketplace for third-party sellers is growing rapidly and Wingo said that would not be happening if all retailers thought Amazon was the enemy.

The lure of Amazon's massive customer base is still powerful for many.

''We take any chance of getting new eyeballs and Amazon is just so large in the world of e-commerce,'' said Jerry Deboer, senior vice president of marketing at Jos. A. Bank, which has Amazon and eBay stores.

RadioShack also has both, and big retailers including Office Max and Sephora run Amazon stores.

Adding large sellers to eBay's marketplace helps the company in several ways.

EBay takes a cut of sales, so higher-volume sellers may help the company generate more revenue and profit.

EBay and retailers declined to discuss fees. However, eBay charges less for top sellers and negotiates individual deals with the biggest and best, according to Wingo.

EBay has struggled in the past because some of the products on its site were listed poorly or of questionable quality, and customer service from small sellers is not always what it could be. Big retailers are more likely to sell higher-quality products, categorize them more and provide better service.

DIFFERENT SHOPPERS

Retailers say eBay storefronts attract different shoppers than the ones who come to their own websites and physical stores.

EBay shoppers often search for deals, so some retailers use eBay to sell end-of-season or outlet products at lower prices.

Neiman Marcus' eBay storefront sells apparel, shoes and accessories under the Last Call brand, its outlet business.

EBay provides data to retailers to help them check if the shoppers who come to their eBay storefronts overlap with their existing customer base, according to Michael Jones, vice president of merchant development at eBay.

''By and large, people see this as a very significant incremental channel for them,'' Jones said.

In early 2010, eBay started including storefront inventory in results when shoppers searched on the website's front page.

That has helped retailers place their products in front of more consumers, according to Jo

source: mb.com.ph