http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php en martin@martinnewman.co.uk Copyright 2010 2010-08-16T04:10:12+00:00 http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/36/ Flash or not so Flash   Flash Rich Media – benefits   Rich interactive content, built in Flash, delivers a more engaging online brand experience. Users that interact with this content are more likely to purchase, and when they purchase, they spend more. The attached Savile Row press release is good evidence of this trend (they have an Aus $ version of the site)   Great applications for Flash include:   1)    Rich carousels on landing pages, that add depth and interactivity to those areas of the site, which account for… 2010-08-16T04:10:12+00:00 http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/36/ http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/34/ I am extremely proud and delighted to announce that I have been selected as the International judge of Australia's inaugural online retail awards. The awards ceremony will take place during the online retailer event in Sydney in July. http://www.onlineretailer.net/events/or10/home‘ 2010-03-11T18:36:44+00:00 http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/34/ http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/33/ I thought it might be interesting to stick my head above the parapet and speculate as to what may transpire in the world of multi channel retailing over the next few years. So let’s start with consumers: According to Verdict research, it’s likely to be 15 quarters before we get back to the same levels of growth experienced in the recent past. And they are forecasting +1% growth in 2010, +2% in 2011 in retail spend. Consumers are going through a phase of ‘rebuilding of household balance sheets’. Total consumer debt in 2009 is almost… 2009-11-17T09:10:50+00:00 http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/33/ http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/32/ Top tips for maximum trading during the Xmas/Holiday period It’s late in the day, but it’s not too late to implement or give due consideration to many of the following tips that will help you maximise the commercial opportunities for your business during the impending peak trading period as well as in the year ahead. 1.    Findability Make it easy for gift buyers to find a gift. Don’t make them have to look too hard after all, they’ve probably got a lot of gifts to buy and the reason for buying online is to make their life… 2009-10-10T18:50:28+00:00 http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/32/ http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/31/ User reviews of the big boys: Part 2 (From a grumpy old web user) So before I start the review of the remaining 3 sites I said I’d take a look at, let’s be clear, if I was that smart, I wouldn’t be writing this, I’d have made my fortune and would be off sunning myself on my yacht, or on the balcony of my villa on Cap D’Antibes. And I’d be starting the process of getting in shape for my first skiing holiday of the winter. So given that I’m sitting in Costa Coffee next to… 2009-10-01T17:00:10+00:00 http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/31/ http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/18/ Some of you reading this may have seen, read or heard my rants about the lack of synergy between the online and offline customer experience that is prevalent in many multi channel retailers (In the UK). You may also have heard me say (On a number of occasions) that very few retail sites are ‘fit for purpose’. Of course much depends upon your definition of ‘fit for purpose.’ From my perspective it’s about delivering an optimized customer experience, one that meets the needs of all key customer or user groups first time, and that… 2009-09-12T01:42:41+00:00 http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/18/ http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/17/ How long have we been hearing about ‘m commerce?’ Mobile commerce was born in 1997 when the first two mobile phone enabled Coca Cola vending machines were installed in the Helsinki area in Finland. They used SMS text messages to send the payment to the vending machines. But while it’s been threatening to emerge as a serious commercial channel for quite some time, the adoption of the mobile channel by businesses within most verticals including retail, travel and media has been mainly as an effective marketing device. Just as broadband was the driver for the explosion of sales in the… 2009-08-26T01:41:37+00:00 http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/17/ http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/16/ What causes e-commerce projects to fail? There are many reasons why e-commerce projects fail, some of the more common ones are as follows; 1. When there isn’t an experienced e-commerce practitioner on the board, this often leads to key decisions being taken without the depth of insight required to support them. Issues can include: – Setting unrealistic expectations. Forecasts are often either too low or too high and are unsubstantiated. I still hear multi channel retailers stating that their website should be their number 1 store, and that’s the benchmark for e-commerce. Surely the opportunity… 2009-06-30T01:39:33+00:00 http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/16/ http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/15/ Picture the scene; walking into your favourite retailer you’re forced to turn left to buy something, or turn right into a separate area to experience the brand, you simply can’t do both at the same time. Even better, walking into another of your favourite shops you ask a sales assistant if they sell jeans and get no response what-so-ever from them. When you do manage to find the jeans area, the sales person isn’t prepared to help you narrow down your choice by ascertaining the size, fit, style and price you’re after. Then when you eventually find a… 2009-06-12T01:38:30+00:00 http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/15/ http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/14/ I’m going to be presenting at the Ecommerce Expo North event at the Hilton Hotel, Deansgate, Manchester on the 2nd June. I’m also going to be running some e-commerce clinics and working at the Shop.org e-commerce bootcamp in Las Vegas in September (21st-23rd)‘ 2009-05-11T01:38:27+00:00 http://www.martinnewman.co.uk/index.php/blog/post/14/