Customer Experience

Five million people use Twitter every day. Each month, more Americans visit YouTube than watch the Super Bowl. It's clear that the Internet is fundamentally changing. What does this change in online behavior mean for e-commerce?

With a name like “negative option billing” it should come as no surprise that this practice has received a lot of negative attention lately from the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), various state attorneys general and other regulatory bodies. Despite this trend, marketers and consumers alike have found this billing method to be a convenient and useful payment option over the years.

Despite the gloom hanging over the holiday shopping season, affiliates can boost sales by giving consumers what they crave: value. Last year, Kim Berry gave her husband Dennis a miter saw and a massage chair pad. He gave her a high-end juicer, a DNA test for their mixed-breed dog and jewelry. There were also plenty of smaller gifts under the tree, and they spent $1,200 on gifts for their parents, a grandmother, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews.

Whether the worst is behind us or yet to come, we know for a fact that people’s spending habits have changed and won’t be changing back for some time. Everyone is watching their wallet and pinching pennies – making every dollar count. So what does that mean for us as marketers?

We still have products and services that people want and need, we just need to make sure our website visitors understand why they still want what we’re offering – tight pockets or not.

Everybody’s favorite media professor says we’re getting bored with new media. And that’s a good thing, especially if you want consumers to click on your ad.

It’s been about 15 years since the browser Mosaic unlocked the World Wide Web for millions of people. But most of them – most of us – still stumble around cyberspace wide-eyed, knowing we’re in the middle of something very cool, but not quite sure what it is or how to make the most of it.