Tag Archives: Shop.org

Guide to Online Marketing Conferences and Trade Shows, Part 2

Posted on February 24, 2010 by Suzy Sandberg

Below is the second installment of our trade show roundup with thoughts and recommendations for some of the key conferences for online marketers.

Internet Retailer – Internet Retailer currently hosts two key shows each year – the Web Design & Usability Conference which was just held last week in Orlando, and the larger Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition in June.  This year’s main conference will be in Chicago from June 8-11.   If you are actively involved in web design, the February show would be valuable to attend.  For more general retail info, I am a big fan of the June show.  It draws a huge crowd (great for networking and exhibiting), and there is a ton of great content.  Our clients also rate this show highly for value and time well invested. 

Shop.org – Shop.org hosts several conferences throughout the year.  The best known and largest of all the online retail shows is the Shop.org Annual Summit in the fall.  This show has frequently been held in Las Vegas , but it’s moving to Dallas for 2010.  The change is unfortunate as I predict they are going to take a hit on attendance.  The Mandalay Bay venue in Las Vegas was much loved and Dallas pales by comparison.  The Shop.org shows have the reputation of being extremely retailer-focused, as opposed to eTail which is more vendor-focused.  Shop.org has retailer-only days and retailer-only events.  But despite their somewhat heavy-handed non-vendor stance, there are many sponsorships available to vendors, although some (like the vendor-hosted tables on retailer-only day) come with a pretty hefty price tag.

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The One Sure Thing for Retailers This Holiday

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Suzy Sandberg

Value has moved firmly from accessory to necessity.  Retailers with a convincing value proposition – be it price, quality or payment terms – will fare best during the year-end holidays.

layaway3I’ve just returned from two retail-focused conferences (the Shop.org Annual Summit and another NYC apparel-focused show).  The overriding theme at both was that value will be the predominant message of the holiday.  Those who promote value and whose message resonates with customers will win, and those who don’t will miss out.

Today we’re on the cusp of the holiday, but back in July, Kmart was already promoting their Christmas tree section.  At the time, I read a few articles criticizing the retailer for pushing the season, but I don’t think that was Kmart’s sole mission.  Rather, the offer in Kmart’s aisle was layaway, an old fashioned practice whose time is once again appropriate.

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Success with Google’s Content Network

Posted on September 22, 2009 by Suzy Sandberg

PM Digital has been leveraging content search much more than we had in the past, and we’ve found some great success there. Google’s content network, in particular, yields a massive amount of impressions which is desirable for advertisers looking for more scale from search (approximately 70% of internet users view content ads per month for 139 million impressions).

In the past year, PM Digital was fortunate to have Michelle Obama favor two of our clients’ clothes, and we leveraged linking those brands with Michelle Obama’s name and other relevant keywords within the content network, trying to make the most of the constant media mentions.

These campaigns yielded a significant amount of sales. Most advertisers, though, may not get the opportunity to link their brand to Michelle Obama, so can they still find success with content?

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