Online Transactions - Fear or Fear Not?

When purchasing items from merchants online, you want to be assured that your credit card information is safe. I was recently a victim of online fraud, and fortunately my bank was able to credit the transaction and replace my card with a new account number (since the charges were recurring). This process is frustrating and can put a significant dent in your account until your bank figures out how to best deal with it.

Here are some quick tips and recommendations for making sure your online transactions are safe and secure. Note: This doesn't cover EVERY possible transaction, so be sure you read the fine print before processing payment with ANY unfamiliar merchant!

- Once you are asked to enter payment info has a secured (SSL) feature. An easy way to check this is to look at your browser bar and make sure it begins with https, not http.

- Look for verified merchant credentials such as Verisign, usually on the home page.

- Be skeptical of miles of agreement forms. Those lengthy forms can contain 3rd parties (such as safedebits.com) that will be given consent to charge you a fee (sometimes upwards of hundreds of dollars) in order to process your transaction.

For more info on risk of frauds and scams on Craigslist and eBay, check out the following links from the Geeks:

Does Craigslist Need Better Regulation?

Fraud and Scams on Craigslist Pt. 2

April Fools Day: Best Practices - Whole Foods Market

In honor of April Fools Day, I thought I'd share a retail site that really took advantage of this opportunity. Whole Foods - also known as Whole Paycheck - has been notorious for charging a premium on their organic products. They have decided to poke some fun at themselves on their home page, offering "Organic Air" in a 0.02-oz spray bottle for $6.99, with scents such as Mountain Air, and Salt & Vinegar. But that is just one of the many playful anecdotes they gave visitors to their site.

The recent spider controversy was also elaborated upon, with the retailer offering "one free spider with every 50-lb. purchase of organic bananas." They even offered playful recipes such as Toast and Chianti-Gorgonzola Popsicles. Now if you click on these fake items, you will be taken to actual foods and products that are being offered through their store.

What I really like about this is that the retailer has found a way to poke fun at themselves - in a twisted Onion-style sort of approach. This is good because it shows how a corporate retailer can have a sense of humor. It grabs your attention and piques curiosity. That is what every landing page should do. Does yours?

Happy April Fools Day!

Mobile Tagging - Instant Interactions & Transactions

The future of advertising is here. Well, actually it's in Japan, and gaining traction in Europe. When this technology evolves to the states, it will change how we view ads with the click of a button - on your phone.


Mobile tagging simply means reading out a 1D- or 2D-barcode using a camera in a mobile device. Currently about 70 different types of barcodes and their specific versions exist and are mostly in use in the field of logistics. In terms of mobile tagging, the number of codes is essentially restricted to a dozen types. For reading out 2d-barcodes it is essential to install specific software, a reader, on the mobile device. How does it work? See below.

Now, how can this be applied to marketing or even shopping? Easy. With its seamless interaction, content can be delivered instantly to the consumer. Whatever the transaction (pushing a URL, video/media, "add to cart") this enables anyone with a camera phone and data plan to view content in a more interactive way. Imagine what this will be like once the program moves over to webcams - any camera is a barcode reader and any barcode can be printed out on a sheet of paper and scanned. What if these barcodes were on product packaging? Then you could interact even more with the product, even while consuming it. Talk about interaction.

New Tool for Putting Music on Twitter

(re-posted from Wired Magazine - 2/11/09)

MixMatchMusic impressed us mightily with its online remix contest platform, but we're not so sure about its latest venture -- a URL shortener designed to make it easier to promote and discover music on Twitter.

On the one hand, Twitter has grown into a communication tool for everything from houseplants to washing machines. Why shouldn't people be working on ways to make it a better platform for music too?

On the other hand, one might question the utility of another tool for shortening URLs. Does anyone really need this?

MixMatchMusic justifies tra.kz' existence in three ways:

1. "URL links are often too long to include in tweets."

That may be the case, but Twitter already does a fine job of automatically shortening URLs in many cases, and other tools (redirx, tinyurl, etc.) already exist for that purpose.

2. "By being given the visual cue of 'http://tra.kz/,' music lovers will know that the link will take them to music related content."

Again, true, but tra.kz doesn't verify that you're linking directly to a music file. For instance, here's a link to this blog that I ran through the engine: http://tra.kz/147e. Technically speaking, your usage of tra.kz merely tells readers that you decided to use it rather than something else. Still, if you're a fan who subscribes to a band's twitter feed, and you notice that two of their tweets have tra.kz URLs indicating that they link to actual music, that's useful information to have.

3. "Fans browsing Twitter feeds will be able to... play music files directly through tra.kz's player."

Now we're really getting somewhere. This feature, pictured above, could prove beneficial for labels, artists and users looking to distribute music on the Twitter platform, as well as Twitter users looking for new music. The player includes play and pause, a short version of the song's URL (of course), and, perhaps most importantly, buttons that let listeners to re-tweet or otherwise share the song. (Bands must host the MP3s themselves.)

One label, Controlled Substance Sound Labs, is already using the service on Wednesday -- the day it launched. "Our bands are increasingly using Twitter to stay in touch with their fans," stated label co-founder Jon Phillips. "Tra.kz is simply the best way to use Twitter to point them to new releases, B-sides or special content."

As David S. Hubbins of Spinal Tap once said, it's a fine line... What do you think?

Retail Shopping Goes Mobile

The 2008 holiday season brought many new challenges to retailers. First off, how to you compete with other stores offering the same merchandise at the same cost? Here's one answer: Problem-solve at the customer's fingertips. On November 9th Sam's Club launched their Gifter Stress Lifter online application which allowed the customer to find additional products that they might not think about during the holidays - at Sam's Club. This helped them change their perceptions of what they can buy at the store. Customers who download the app - available online or on iPhone - are asked to build a profile of a friend or family member. Six questions are asked to offer an insight to the person's behavior. Sam's suggests recommended products for each profile. Products can be shopped via a link through the app store to the wired web site or customers can take their iPhone to the store to buy those items (like a shopping list).


In addition, Meijer has introduced its Meijer Mealbox which helps consumers plan meals, find recipes, and save money. How? It finds recipes based on ingredients that are on sale at the store. The mobile application is tied to the store's inventory and sales. The user can save a list of coupons and when checking out at the store, can scan their phone for instant discounts.


Both of these mobile apps are great for reaching your customers through online channels and increasing sales and traffic to your brick-and-mortar store. What I find really compelling is how sensory and emotional factors play into the online shopping experience, which has proven to be difficult in the past. Now the connection is effortless.

Attention E-Shoppers: Thursday Is Free Shipping Day

One of the most dependable draws for online shoppers is free shipping -- but that can be trumped by fear that gifts won't arrive in time as the holidays draw near. Free Shipping Day is designed to quell that worry and encourage consumers to place online orders with confidence that they can get both a deal and just-in-time delivery.

Move over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and make room for yet another retail-inspired shopping event. Free Shipping Day is here -- or rather, it will be here on Thursday, Dec. 18 -- the last day someone can order a gift online and have it guaranteed to arrive on Christmas Eve with free shipping.

Free Shipping Day is the brainchild of Luke Knowles, who hatched the idea just a few weeks ago. There are now 250 retailers participating in the campaign.

Knowles seized upon the idea when he realized that online holiday shopping peaks weeks before offline shopping because people are afraid their gifts will not arrive in time.

Last year, for example, the online shopping season peaked on December 10, with US$881 million in sales, he pointed out. However, shoppers at brick-and-mortar stores continued to spend heavily during the weeks before and after Christmas.
Big Money

Free shipping has proven to be a reliable inducement for online shopping. Shortly after Thanksgiving, Knowles floated the idea of highlighting it with a special "last day" promotion and was amazed at the reception it received.

"Judging by the interest and excitement, I think this could be as big as Cyber Monday in a few years," he told the E-Commerce Times.

If the reaction of Lisa Christopher, a public relations account manager in Winchester, Calif., is any indication, he may be right.

"I only shop where and when I can get free shipping," Christopher told the E-Commerce Times. "Disney online for example, will offer free shipping if you spend a certain amount of money. I always make sure I hit that minimum; I'd rather get something for my money than not. This holiday season, I haven't paid for shipping, and 95 percent of my gifts have been purchased online."

Within a few years, Free Shipping Day will become so popular that it will increase online holiday sales by hundreds of millions of dollars, Knowles predicted.
Something for Free

There is little doubt that free shipping does help to increase sales, Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, told the E-Commerce Times. Offering free shipping for both purchases and exchanges, he added, "really helps to drive sales and customer loyalty."

Free shipping is even more important this year because of the economy, Carolyn Groobey, vice president of consumer marketing at Bill Me Later, told the E-Commerce Times. "Our recent research with Ipsos Insight determined that holiday deals are proving more popular than ever. One third of survey respondents say that they will only buy items for which they can find holiday deals."

Indeed, even for products that would cost very little to ship, such as jewelry, the inducement is important. "In this economy, people are trying to save a penny any way they can -- and free shipping day gives them that opportunity," Yomesh Shah, President of B2CJewels.com, told the E-Commerce Times.

Who's Participating?

Bloomingdale's, JC Penney, Kohl's, Macy's, Nordstrom, Sears, Circuit City, Crate & Barrel, Eddie Bauer, Kmart, Sears, Sur La Table, Target and Zappos are among the retailers participating in Free Shipping Day.

This year, the event was put together hastily. Next year, however, Knowles will begin planning far in advance and will consult more with participating retailers to determine what is the latest possible shipping day.

Free Shipping Day 2009 will be selected in January, he said. It will likely fall around the same time as this year, give or take a day.

Text to Purchase - Buy It?

In light of the hysteria surrounding CyberMonday I thought I'd share a new purchasing tactic that is being used by Amazon this holiday season - using text messaging to buy products from your mobile phone.

TextBuyIt was first implemented by Amazon in April 2008. As consumers are dealing with an economic crisis, this method allows them to do their comparative shopping while in store. Unlike surfing the web at home where you only find deals at online stores, you can actually text the product as you see it on sale in the store. You can search on any keyword (e.g. item name, author, artist, etc.) or ISBN/UPC code. This applies to any item that you'd typically search for on Amazon. Google's new phone, G1 allows you to scan a UPC which you can send to Amazon and they'll find the product for you.


Save a bit this holiday season with free shipping and no sales tax while doing your in-store shopping. Sure Amazon may not have the best deal on every item but then you'd be wasting your time. Cool stuff.