eBiz Profile: Wine Enthusiast Companies

For Wine Enthusiast Companies, the catalog is still king. And it’s the driving force behind its e-commerce site traffic.

Thirty years ago Wine Enthusiast started out as a catalog company, selling wine accessories by mail. While the company has an e-commerce Web site, Glenn Edelman, the vice president of marketing for Wine Enthusiast Companies, says that the catalog business is still the driving force behind the business.

“The catalog business is not dead,” he said, “We see our e-commerce site as another order channel, and we try not to compete between the catalog and Web site.  Still, our catalog drives more people to our Web site than any other means, including Google.”

While Google is effective at acquiring new customers, you have to wait for a customer to search for you or the type of wine products you sell. With a catalog, people browse and learn of new products and accessories, and then go on to your Web site or call for details and information.

eBiz Profile: Wine Enthusiast Companies
By Vangie Beal, December 23, 2009

Secret-Shopper Expedition Reveals Live Chat Trends

A new online secret-shopper study shows retailers what customer communication tactics work best—and what retailers should avoid.

Smith’s secret-shopper experience found that retailers don’t always make it easy for shoppers to contact them by means other than phone support. Smith observed that most retailers prominently display toll-free numbers, but they tend to bury chat buttons and e-mail tools several layers deep in the Web site.

Secret-Shopper Expedition Reveals Live Chat Trends
By Vangie Beal, June 23, 2009