Our European team is
busy getting ready for eTail
Europe in June. The event attracts
over 280 leading e-retailing executives so we look forward to the opportunity
to share ideas on the obstacles and opportunities of creating ecommerce
websites.

We plan to give
retailers some ecommerce consulting around online communities because we have found that many of them want to do more in the area of
community, but lack the clarity in both ROI and specific implementation ideas.

One community concept
we will be discussing is private event retailing. Private events are invitation-only,
limited-time sales that enable a retailer to build viral excitement and a sense
of urgency. Check out this recent BusinessWeek
article about the concept’s booming
success.

The other ecommerce
strategy gaining traction is fan networks which are social networks for a
retailer’s most passionate and influential customers – its fans. This sort of community approach, if executed
well, can create reinforcing behavior that drives customers repeatedly back to a
retailer’s site for community interactions and transactions without requiring a
constant push from intrusive email campaigns.

Leading retailers
are beginning to successfully deploy both private event retailing and fan
networks with positive economic outcomes. See you at eTail!