I recently viewed this Hardee’s Ad and thought, “Can this be real?” It seems Hardee’s now sells little breakfast items that compete with donut holes. And this ad takes a blind taste-test theme, wherein the participants choose between the “A-holes” and the “B-holes”. (I swear, I’m not kidding)

Now I’ll be the first to admit: normally this sort of humor is right up my alley — I’m the one in the FutureNow office who sees “giggle-value” every time a new iPhone…

...continue to read "Hardee’s b-holes — do they sell?"

Next week, July 8th, I’ll be in Philadelphia at the Web Analytics Wednesday event doing a presentation, if you are in the area I would love to connect with you.

August 10th-14th, I will be at Search Engine Strategies in San Jose. On top of my advisory board responsibilities, I will be doing a few sessions including an Extreme Makeover Session with my buddy Ethan Giffin from GrooveCommerce. You should enter to win a free makeover if you are planning on attending.

September 14th,…

...continue to read "Will We See You At Any Of These Events?"

Too many marketers think that great marketing comes from that “fabulous” idea or from the next shiny new object that captures people’s attention. The truth is,  occasionally it does happen. However, just as Thomas Edison tried 10,000 times to make his “fabulous” idea work before it finally did, great marketing takes persistent, continuous execution and experimentation.

On June 18th, I posted a conversion rate exercise on this blog. Two simple exercises to help others understand why they should do business with you. Several…

...continue to read "They Did It, Did You?"

Here are the top 10 converting websites for May 2009*. These are based on Nielson Panel data and are calculated by user to final conversion. Conversion-rate data is based on visitor conversion rates, not session conversion rates: i.e., No. of unique customers/No. of unique visitors.

1. ProFlowers 38.6 2. Office Depot 28.0 3. Online Retail Total 25.6 4. Vitacost.com 25.0 5. Quixtar 23.4 6. ;Blair 23.4 7. Roamans22.6 8. 1800Flowers 20.5 9. Woman Within19.6 10. Spiegel 18.20

*Source: Nielsen Online / Marketing Charts

Benchmarks according to the FireClick Index

...continue to read "Top 10 Online Retailers by Conversion Rate: May 2009"

Last week, Brendan tackled how to answer the 5 unanswered questions customers face in the shopping cart (other than shipping costs). According to a recent study by PayPal and comScore, 45% of US online shoppers had abandoned shopping carts multiple times in just three weeks.

Why were shoppers abandoning their carts?

46% of online shoppers said high shipping charges were a “very important reason” for emptying carts. Is free shipping a must in this economy? Have you tested personalized shipping offers based on location?

Other reasons for…

...continue to read "Shopping Cart Abandonment Woes"