As the economy continues to turn around, there are some elements that retailers should apply to better leverage the comeback. From a paid search perspective, Gibson recommends that retailers update their keywords based on incoming inventory.

During the recession, many retailers cut back on their inventory. Now that the economy is starting to improve, they are ordering more products. Gibson says retailers need to make sure that their new inventory is represented in paid search. He also adds that retailers need to optimize pages to guarantee that they are found in the search engines. Ultimately, no one will benefit if the new inventory cannot be found.

Gibson also tells WebProNews that The Rimm-Kaufman Group is adding products. In the past, the company focused primarily on paid search. As Gibson explains, it is now adding an attribution management component that will help its clients understand what is happening outside of paid search. RKG will talk with clients about the data it collects and help them build an attribution model.

First of all, there is no question that mobile is currently one of the hottest topics, since it provides users with accessibility anytime and anywhere. On the search side of mobile, Goodman explains that most searches are done at a local level; however, he expects search behavior to extend beyond that trend in the future.

He also points out that, in many cases, mobile is the only way other countries are able to access to the Web. As a result, these countries have produced many innovations. Moving forward, he believes these countries will have a strong influence on the U.S. in the area of mobile.

On the topic of retail, Goodman indicates that it is picking up after the downturn in 2008. Although small-to-medium sized businesses had an especially hard time during the recession, they are rebounding as well.

In order for the SMBs to compete successfully against large retailers, Goodman advises them to establish loyalty, quality service, and personal understanding. He says they can do this by being active in social media.

Lastly, if you haven’t heard about Chatroulette yet, you probably will see it soon, since it is a growing trend. Essentially, it is an online video streaming service that allows users to connect randomly with other users from all over the world. comScore became interested in the service when it grew from 109,000 users in January to 960,000 users in February.

Interestingly enough, males are the largest users of this trend, primarily the 18-24 year-old males. comScore data also indicates that Chatroulette is driven by college students and the unemployed. As for the future of this latest phenomenon, Goodman says, “[the] jury’s still out.”

Keep watching WebProNews for our next segment with comScore’s Eli Goodman in which he talks about the future of search and how personalization and social media will influence it.

For starters, there is a big disconnect in the terminology that retailers and consumers use. Historically, retailers use terms such as “apparel” and “kitchen electrics.” However, consumers use terms such as “clothing” and “small appliances” instead. Secondly, Spencer suggests retailers think about their internal linking structure as they design their taxonomy.

Since retailers are hustling to deliver a strong Q4, Spencer also shares some quick tips they can implement now and still be successful. He says they should focus on the following areas:

-    Title Tags
-    Anchor Text on Internal Links
-    Meta Descriptions (Make sure they include value propositions and calls to action)

It is a little too late to try to launch something like a link building campaign, but the above factors can be integrated easily for speedy results.

As Matt McDowell, the Director of Business Development at Litle & Co., tells WebProNews, they are advising retailers to focus on as many consumers as possible. To do this, retailers need to authorize traditional payment methods such as credit and debit cards. In addition, they should encourage alternative methods such as PayPal and Bill Me Later.

As a result of the credit crunch, some consumers are trending away from credit and debit cards. However, since 90 percent of consumers are still using them, it is important that retailers authenticate them.

Litle & Co. provides business intelligence tools to help retailers manage payments, protect against fraud, and more. If you would like to learn about how they can help you minimize your costs while increasing your revenue, visit their site.

For consumers, Price Protectr’s Priceless Alerts System allows consumers to track price changes before and/or after they make a purchase. As  James Wallace explains, Price Protectr saves the consumer both time and money by doing the comparative shopping for them and sending them email notifications containing the comparisons and any price adjustments.

It should be noted that the system is user-requested only. Price Protectr does not send unsolicited emails.

For retailers, the solution provides many marketing opportunities. First of all, it helps reduce shopping cart abandonment. Secondly, it helps retailers build a long-term relationship with consumers.

If you would like to learn more about Price Protectr’s Priceless Alerts System, visit their Business Solutions.

IMshopping is providing a solution by allowing merchants to add a human-assisted shopping community to their site. By simply designing a button and adding a bit of code to their site, a retailer can have the IMshopping community available for their customers in under an hour.

Merchants go through a recruiting process to find guides that are experts in their particular business to have them answer customer questions. IMshopping’s ability to drive traffic to your site should not be overlooked either. All discussion topics and questions are archived for customer reference which means more links to your site!

It is important for retailers to provide customers the community feel that they crave, and in this interview Mary Piontkowski and Kevin Wray discuss the value IMshopping provides for both retailers and their customers.

If you are a merchant or a curious shopper you can find out more information about IMshopping by visiting their site at www.imshopping.com.

As the economy appears to be turning for the better, retailers’ expectations are hopeful for the coming year. However, they realize that they must ensure a better consumer experience. Sheik says one method of meeting that goal is through personalization. While the Web provides many opportunities for retailers, those opportunities also mean that consumers are only 1 click away from a retailer’s competitors.

Sheik suggests that retailers build customer loyalty through a personalized and targeted experience. In addition, he says retailers need to learn to segment and microsegment across multiple channels online. Retailers have segmented successfully in brick and mortar stores and catalogs, but they also need to do it online.

Other key areas retailers should focus on for 2010 are social media and mobile. Both areas give retailers many valuable opportunities to connect with consumers.

What are you doing to prepare for 2010?

He says, “The key really is to integrate social media into your overall marketing campaigns.”

Retailers need to connect with their customers, listen to what they are talking about, and strive to meet their needs. Prasad explains how 1-800-Flowers integrated social media into their Mother’s Day campaigns and created all sorts of buzz through Facebook, Twitter, and mommy bloggers.

As retailers connect with their audience, they must remember to speak with a “conversational voice” and not a “corporate voice.” Consumers control the purchase process now and expect the merchants to come down to their level.

Online display advertising has, traditionally, not been very measurable. Shamim however explains how ShopperConnect combines the effectiveness and measurability of search engine marketing to online display advertising. The advertising platform helps merchants put their ads in front of past, current and, most importantly, new customers.

Since the company is focused on reaching the needs of retailers, Shamim says their solution provides them with a different reach than the major search players provide.

To learn more about Permuto and their advertising platform, visit their site.

Offline marketing interactions with customers involve TV, radio, print, direct mail, or catalogs. Online marketing interactions include social media, content/display, search, and email. Offline conversions come by phone or by going into the store. Online conversions occur through a website or by email.

In a perfect world, all customers would either react only to online marketing methods or only to offline marketing efforts. Unfortunately for marketers and retailers, it’s not a perfect world and customers mix it up. Customers may search online, place a call to the calling center, go to the website, or go into the store before they take action. Every customer behaves differently which makes if difficult for marketers to track their online and offline marketing programs.

Ryan says marketers and retailers have to understand their customers. Observe the customer and be aware when they’re talking about you. If they are talking about you on social media sites, listen to them first and maybe even connect with them.

Do not however, forget about offline marketing efforts. Understand the customers sequence of action and which programs they are using to find you. Once you realize where your value lies, maximize those programs to their fullest potential so that you do not miss out on any profit.

Video Length: 50 sec.