Omniture Articles

To Marketers, Holiday Lockdown Is No Longer Relevant
There's an old saying that no battle plan survives once the first bullet has been fired. And I would argue that no holiday season merchandising plan, no matter how well-informed, survives once the first product has been purchased. So why would you firm up a plan in advance, without ever knowing, for sure, just what will happen once the "battle" commences? Marketers are already beginning to gear up for the holiday buying season, and for many, that means they're putting into place a merchandising calendar: We're planning which promotions we'll offer. We're deciding on what date we'll stop offering free shipping. And we're nailing it all down now, because we know that, come November 1, lockdown begins and we will not be allowed to make any unplanned changes to the site. Instead of planning testing and targeting tactics that will maximize conversions and purchases, tactics that will take advantage of the special buying behavior consumers exhibit just prior to Christmas, we're preparing to hunker down and hope for the best. I'm going to let you in on a secret: Those of us who plan their holiday season this way are taking an enormous risk. We are potentially leaving countless dollars on the table by forcing our customers into a game plan that may not even work. And we're doing it during a season of utmost potential.

Peet's Tests Email Promo - 21% Net RPV Lift
How Peet's tested an email promotion and reinforced it on the website -- without being derailed by problematic user experiences or delivery issues -- for a fast and effective lift in RPV.

Tests Bring 267% Lift In ROI For Restoration Hardware
5 important lessons from a usability case study.

Top 10 Tips To Boost Holiday Sales
The holiday sales season is drawing near - a time when some marketers halt their testing process for fear of jeopardizing a boost in traffic. Giving in to fear and avoiding such a smash-hit tactic as testing, however, can be far more risky during the holidays than continuing to test. So rather than avoiding testing because of fear, take control of your site and your traffic by testing any or all of the following things.

The Merchant Versus The Machine
Who is better at merchandising: the merchant or a highly evolved algorithm? The truth is, neither can operate effectively without the other. Here's why.

Invite The Campaign Right Into The Store
By taking control of some "free media" on their website, marketers can bring an ad's message from the landing page into the site and straight on through conversion.

Do This Now: Restate Your Offer On Every Page
Most advertisers drop the ad message at the exact place where a consumer enters a site. Stop doing that immediately. Here's how.

Take The Gray Out Of Black Friday Through Testing
Both traditional and online retailers spend the months running up to Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) planning their strategy for what is historically the busiest shopping day of the year. When Black Friday comes, will you make the right bets?

Do This Now: Build An "on-deck" Circle For Holiday Promos And Products
It would be great if your foolproof holiday promotion and merchandising plans were actually, well, foolproof. Think of how joyful the season would be as your well–researched ideas blossomed into record growth.

7 Cross-sell Tips That Work
Cross-selling works -- so it is not a surprise that 80 percent of merchandisers offer some version, according to a 2004 Merchandising Survey conducted by the e-tailing group. But too often merchants are offering too much.

How Do I Cross-Sell Successfully?
Here's a secret we have learned: conversion rates drop drastically when merchants cross-sell more than one or two items. Consumers who are offered an over-abundance of information tend to block it out. It's true.

How Do I Reinforce My Promotions On Multiple Pages To Improve Conversions?
A step-by-step guide.

FAQ: Is My Shopping Cart Under Selling?
Cross-selling can be effective when done right, and extremely harmful when done wrong. Here are some thoughts on making it work.

Sweating The Small Stuff
Testing three small things that can have a big impact as you search for the ROI pot of gold.

"And You Might Also Like...": Virtual Suggestive Selling On The Web
Important tools for testing cross-selling and upselling, from recent research initiatives at the e-tailing group, inc.

95% Of Your Ad Sucks
Great creative, perfect placement, your new interactive campaign is a slam-dunk. Except that from the customer's point of view, you copped out. Like countless others before you, you focused on perfecting the first click -- the ad impression -- and ignored the next 15-50 clicks that it takes to close the sale.

A&E; Shares 7 Testing Tips
So Young Park, Director of eCommerce and Direct Marketing for A&E; and the History Channel, is hooked on A/B testing. Here, she shares her best practices.

Surprises & Tips On Increasing Average Order Value (AOV): PETCO.com Gains 20% Lift
By running a series of site-wide tests to discover the optimal promotion, copy, and images to drive sales, PETCO.com improved gross margin by 20%. This case study that proves "your natural instinct isn't always right."