retailers

Even when consumers aren't showering them with cash, retailers need to stay in touch, according to a new report.  And Rockbridge Associates and the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business recommend that they do so by maintaining presences on social networking sites.

The economy is making online retailers change their marketing tactics in order to acquire and retain customers, according to findings from the "State of Retailing Online 2009," the 12th annual Shop.org study conducted by Forrester Research.

If there’s ever been a time when email marketers need to be on the ball with their communication, it’s right now. Consumers are harder to part from their cash and the competition for sales is hotter than ever. However, dotMailer’s annual benchmark study, “Hitting the Mark”, shows that the overall email marketing performance of the U.K.’s leading retailers is actually down on last year.

Online retailers such as Amazon are doing well with their search presence compared to traditional retailers, according to a study from Internet marketing firm Internet Engine. "The Retail Search Presence Study" found that online retailers have a very strong presence, representing over 30 percent of the listings shown, while bricks and mortar retailers consistently have had the weakest presence of any group showing up only 12 percent of the time.

Independent interactive marketing agency Rosetta released a study today that shows that 59% of 100 leading retailers have fan pages on Facebook. This is a testament to how social media is truly consuming the way businesses market themselves.

Multi-channel retailers increased their U.S. paid search spend in Q4 08 by 12 percent compared to Q4 07.Consumers continued to convert online at a steady rate, although they spent 10 percent less on average per transaction compared with the prior year, according to a report from SearchIgnite.

The news may be a little hard to believe today - the Dow has closed down about 221 points - but a fresh report from Compete says that online retailers aren't having such a bad holiday season.  In fact, thanks to a charge led by Amazon, the latest unique visitor stats are pulling ahead of the levels set in 2007.

While the economy boded poorly for brick-and-mortar stores over the holiday weekend leading up to Cyber Monday, Hitwise says business was pretty much booming for online-only retailers.