High concept Advertising Week was the talk of the Big Apple two weeks ago. Today, Shop.org hits town touting the less sexy, but lucrative, world of ecommerce.
I joined in the kick-off reception at the Shop.org exhibit hall this evening. Sightings of note: Google Checkout rolling checkout cart with laptop demo (unfortunately the Google rep didn’t have the password to log in!) and a promo giveaway worthy of an award, “USB Powered Massager” offered by FAST Enterprise Search.
Below is a similar “therapeutic device”:
The Shop.org main event starts tommorow: two days of ecommerce action. The theme of the conference is “multichannel integration.” According to Scott Silverman, Executive Director:Relieve stress with this personal USB massager. Conveniently plugs into any laptop or computer with USB port. No batteries or external power are needed. Simply plug this device into any USB on a PC or Laptop and it will provide unlimited stimulating pleasure for your body. Comes with a long cord that can reach those hard to get places, simply apply the massager to the chosen body part and let this device massage the tension away.
By encouraging different channels to work together, instead of in isolation, everybody wins. Retailers have been focusing on integrating their websites and stores to better serve their customers, which is paying off for companies in the form of higher sales.
Online sales will top $200 billion this year, as projected by The 2006 State of Retailing Online Shop.org study conducted by Forrester Research.
The conference is a mix of inspirational keynotes—Seth Godin and Barry Schwartz—and tactical panels such as “Why Paid Search may Not be the Best ROI for Your Incremental Dollar” and “eCommerce 3.0”