Improving usability and the eCommerce experience: One blog post at a time.

Google Wallet Rolls Out To More Devices – Nope, Still No Love For Verizon, AT&T Or T-Mobile Owners (TechCrunch)
“Google sadly scrapped its plans to introduce a plastic “universal” credit card that works at point-of-sale as a way to use its Google Wallet service out in the real world, but the company has not given up on its NFC-powered payments solution just yet. The companyannounced Wednesday evening that the Google Wallet app now works on more phones: the Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy Note II and HTC One on Sprint and the Samsung Galaxy Note II on US Cellular.

As you may have noticed, there’s a looming problem with Google Wallet, and no, it’s not international support. It’s that Google still can’t roll the app out across the U.S. Of the big four mobile carriers here, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile, all but Sprint are backing a competing NFC-based payments initiative called Isis. Though this program is only in pilot trials in Austin and Salt Lake City, it’s clear the carriers are hoping to delay and impede progress of competitive solutions when they can, using regulatory red tape and any other legal loopholes they can find.”

Wal-Mart beefs up e-commerce with two acquisitions and plans to hire 150 (Internet Retailer)
“Multichannel retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has bought two technology companies to add to its e-commerce research and technology arm @WalmartLabs.

OneOps builds cloud-based, automated software to help speed up the process of developing new e-commerce products for customers. Tasty Labs is a social media software development firm. Wal-Mart did not say how it paid for either company.”

Commerce has become marketing and marketing has become commerce (Pando Daily)
“When ad industry vet Rishad Tobaccowala says “Commerce has become marketing and marketing has become commerce,” he’s talking about what every marketer dreams of doing: closing the loop between ads and sales. Yes, ads can drive sales, but now, sales are driving ads.

That sounds a little loopy, so allow me to clarify: Ads lead to sales, and now, thanks to savvy use of social media tools and analysis around purchasing data, sales are leading to more sales. Gian Fulgoni, executive chairman and co-founder of comScore, explained the concept in comScore’s quarterly eCommerce report yesterday.”

IPO candidate Plex Systems poaches Eloqua CMO Heidi Melin to grow its cloud ERP platform (Pando Daily)
“It’s been an eventful last 12 months for cloud ERP (enterprise resource planning) company Plex Systems, with the company completing a private equity buyout, closing a $30 million growth stage venture round from Accel Partners (a PandoDaily investor), and the introduction of a new CEO – in that order. Each of the moves was highly strategic, according to current management, with the goal of positioning the company to extend its substantial lead in the massive but underserved manufacturing sector.

Today, the 18-year-old Michigan-based company put in place what it hopes is the final piece of this reinvention puzzle with the addition of former Eloqua chief marketing officer and Taleo head of global marketing Heidi Melin as its new CMO. Melin, who also held positions at Polycom, Hyperion, and PeopleSoft, is an enterprise veteran in every sense of the word and is a major score for any company.”

Business Intelligence Startup RJMetrics Raises $6.25M From Trinity Ventures For Ecommerce Boom (TechCrunch)
“In the big new world of business intelligence, RJMetrics has found a market helping ecommerce companies easily analyze operations data and make smarter decisions as a result. Big startups have signed on, including Fab, Bonobos, Threadless and thousands of smaller businesses. Today, the momentum has landed the Philadelphia enterprise startup a $6.5 million first venture round led by Trinity Ventures.

SaaS BI, as online business analysis software is called within the industry, is full of competitors. Tableau Software, which is planning to IPO, along with Good Data, Domo and others, have been successfully selling to big companies who need complex integrations to best analyze their own data. On the low end, Datahero and Chartio provide quick and inexpensive ways for a small business to get some quality integrations.”

Why does mobile out-perform desktop on this ecommerce site? (EConsultancy)
“I had an interesting email from an ecommerce site owner in Texas over the weekend, wondering why mobile outperforms desktop on his site for conversion rates. The site in question is discgolfstation.com, and owner Clint Henderson tells me that mobile conversion rates are twice that of desktop, which is obviously unusual. While the mobile site isn’t bad at all, it seems the problem is down to poor desktop performance.

Here, I’ll suggest some possible reasons, but it would be great to see what suggestions you have for improvements as well…”

U.K. e-retailers will ship 70% more packages by 2017 (Internet Retailer)
“By 2017, U.K. e-retailers filling online orders will ship almost 2.2 billion packages, or 70% more packages than they shipped in 2012, according to a new report from U.K. e-retail association Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) and Manhattan Associates Inc., which sells web-based supply chain and warehouse management software. In 2012, U.K. e-retailers and consumers returning items bought from them collectively shipped about 1.3 billion packages, IMRG says. The company provided no immediate estimated figure for 2013.”

Target links Facebook with discounts (Internet Retailer)
“Target Corp. today began testing Cartwheel, a discount service with a Facebook twist, in an attempt to drive shoppers into its stores.

Shoppers must have a Facebook account to access Cartwheel deals, which range from 5% to 25% off. The retailer presents the deals on Cartwheel.Target.com where it organizes the deals by topic. For instance, “Grill it up!” features discounts on mustard and barbecue sauce and “Birthday fun” has discounts for cupcakes and ice cream. At launch there are nearly 700 offers and a Target spokesman says that number will likely top 1,000.”

E-Commerce Soars in China (BOF)
“HONG KONG — Chinese consumers shop online, using gadgets like smartphones and tablets, more frequently than their counterparts elsewhere, according to a report released Tuesday by the consulting firm PwC.

The findings, which are based on a survey of more than 11,000 online shoppers in 11 countries, underline the speed at which China has emerged as one of the world’s most wired retail markets.”

Amazon gives Kindle Fire tablet users free money (Internet Retailer)
“Like business titan John D. Rockefeller giving away dimes to people wherever he went, e-business titan Amazon.com Inc. today has given away tens of millions of dollars in the form of its new Amazon Coins virtual currency to customers using its Kindle Fire tablet. Rockefeller didn’t expect anything in return for his dimes. Amazon, however, seems to be looking to increase customer loyalty, selling Coins at a discount, Coins that can only be used at the Amazon Appstore and within Kindle Fire tablet apps.

Amazon today deposited 500 Coins, the equivalent of $5, into the accounts of every Kindle Fire user. Owners of the Android tablet can now use Amazon Coins to purchase apps, games and in-app items, such as virtual goods or additional game content, in the Amazon Appstore and on Kindle Fire. For customers, Amazon Coins is an easy way to purchase apps and in-app items on Kindle Fire, and for developers it’s another opportunity to drive traffic, downloads and increased app monetization, says Amazon, No. 1 in the Internet Retailer Mobile 400. With discounts of up to 10% for purchasing Coins in bulk, the currency offers an opportunity for customers to save money on their app and game purchases. Customers can purchase Coins by visiting amazon.com/coins.”

Google Analytics: 5 Custom Ecommerce Events to Track (Practical ECommerce)
“When it comes to data collection and analysis, there is no single right approach. Every site is different. The recommendations in this article may not apply to you; they may not be the highest priority for your site. Hopefully, though, they have illustrated how you can supercharge your Google Analytics implementation to capture data that can directly improve the business results delivered by your site.”

YouTube launches paid subscriptions (Internet Retailer)
“YouTube LLC has begun offering specialized video channels for paying subscribers, the Google Inc.-owned web video provider says. YouTube also earns money through advertising attached to its content and by selling pay-to-view rentals.

So far, YouTube lists 54 paid channels including National Geographic Kids, BigStar Movies, iAmplify Yoga and the Woodworkers Guild of America Premium Channel. Subscribers can try any channel for free for 14 days, YouTube says. After that, channels start at $0.99 per month. YouTube also offers some annual subscriptions at a discounted rate. For example, Rap Battle Network costs $2.99 per month or $24.99 per year, according to the web site. Some, but not all, of the paid channels are ad-free.”