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Tag Archives: holiday season
Facebook’s Merry Christmas: Becomes Most Visited US Site
According to new statistics from Hitwise, a lot of people may not have done the Norman Rockwell thing this holiday season, gathering around a fire with family members. Continue reading
New Google Phone Has Tech Community Licking Chops
The tech industry was abuzz about a new phone from Google over the weekend. After months of speculation, it was discovered that Google does indeed have a new smartphone, and now more details and images have surfaced. The phone is being called the Nexus one (so far, at least), and will run the Android operating system. The hardware comes from HTC. Most details about the phone are only speculative at this point, as the only people that have access to them are Google employees. The company has given a number of its employees the device to mess around with over the holidays. Mario Queiroz, Vice President, Product Management writes on the Google Mobile Blog : At Google, we are constantly experimenting with new products and technologies, and often ask employees to test these products for quick feedback and suggestions for improvements in a process we call dogfooding (from "eating your own dogfood"). Well this holiday season, we are taking dogfooding to a new level. We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe. This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it. Queiroz also said that Google cannot share any specific product details, but that hasn't stopped the leaks of photos. Engadget dug the following one up on Google's Picasa Web Albums photo sharing site: Greg Sterling at Search Engine Land has a source , who he says is not a Gooogle Employee, that claims to have held one of the devices and messed around with it. He said that the resolution on the phone is "at least twice as good" as the iPhone. According to the Wall Street Journal , Google designed the entire software experience on the device, which makes it unique from other Android phones. Apparently people will be able to purchase the phone directly from Google, rather than a carrier, and according to Pete Cashmore at Mashable, users will be able to choose their carrier from a menu, once they receive the phone. He says the phone will be "sold online and unlocked," and that Google is partnering with T-Mobile to push the phone. He says Verizon declined. Some rumors suggest that the Nexus One could be released to the public as early as next month. That could just be wishful thinking, but whenever it does come out, it will be quite interesting to see how the public responds. Continue reading
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Tagged dogfood, google-mobile, holiday season, nexus one, phone, phones, photo sharing, search
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Online Holiday Spending Hits $16 Billion
Online holiday spending has reached nearly $16 billion, marking a 3 percent increase compared to the same time period last, according to the latest data from comScore. The most recent week ending December 6 reached 4.6 billion in holiday spending, heavier than any individual spending week in 2008 but still below two individual weeks in 2007. The week began with strong weekday spending, led by $887 million on Cyber Monday, but ended on a quieter note with negative year-over-year growth rates during the weekend. "After a strong beginning to the week, we saw growth rates decelerate over the weekend to put this past week of holiday shopping in line with our 3 percent growth forecast for the season," said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. "We are anticipating heavy spending for the current week, making it an important determinant for how the holiday season as a whole will perform. Hopefully, we'll see a return to the growth rates we observed during the earlier part of this past week and that the weekend softness was just a temporary hiccup." comScore also found that social media is having an impact on holiday shopping behavior. According to its holiday survey, 28 percent of those who have begun their holiday shopping this season indicated that social media has influenced their purchases. User-generated product reviews were the most common form of social media that influenced holiday purchase (13% of respondents), followed by expert product reviews (11%). Seven percent reported they have followed a fan page on Facebook to take advantage of special offers and deals, while 6 percent said they have been influenced by a friend's Facebook status referring to a particular product. Five percent of respondents said they had followed a company on Twitter to take advantage of special offers, while 3 percent indicated that a friend's tweet about a product influenced their buying behavior. "Social media really appears to be emerging as an important marketing channel this holiday season," added Mr. Fulgoni. "On the one hand, its emergence is being driven by increased consumer adoption of these technologies and the exponential growth in digital word-of-mouth that is occurring over this medium." "On the other hand, having a social media marketing strategy makes sense for retailers in this environment because it's cost-effective and shows an effort to get closer to one's customers. I think we are getting our first real glimpse at the impact social media will play on commerce as we enter the next decade." Continue reading
Businesses Benefit From Reviews On Their Website
Small businesses that features reviews on their website are seeing significant returns, according to a new survey from RatePoint. Among the 30 percent of small business retailers who had product reviews on their websites, 43 percent said reviews had led to more sales, while 28 percent indicated they had resulted in more traffic. "Reviews help small business owners learn more about how customers use their products, find latent issues with their site or shopping process they hadn't yet discovered and most importantly, find satisfied customers whose positive feedback will build trust with potential customers," said Neal Creighton, CEO of RatePoint . "Missing out on all of the information and opportunities that reviews provide is something that small businesses simply can't afford to do." Some small business owners have the perception that reviews can be damaging to a brand, but data has shown that reviews are much more likely to impact a business positively than negatively. RatePoint survey data released in July found reviews were six times more likely to impact a business positively. Research from Deloitte & Touche, found more than 82 percent of those who read reviews said their purchasing decisions have been directly influenced by those reviews. In addition, 69 percent of consumers who read reviews share them with friends, and family. "Research clearly shows that peer reviews increase consumer trust when shopping online," said Creighton. "Small businesses who have implemented reviews on their site are uniquely positioned to stand apart this holiday season as shoppers look to transact with sites and brands they can trust." Related Articles: > Online Retailers Seek To Improve Checkout Process > 5 Less Obvious Online Reputation Management Issues > Online Retailers To Focus On Facebook And Twitter During Holidays Continue reading