The DMA And The E-Tailing Group Unveil New Best Practices E-Commerce Book
NEW YORK, August 13, 2002 – To help marketers and merchants better understand Web-based selling, the Direct Marketing Association (The DMA) and Chicago-based e-communications specialist, the e-tailing group have released a new best practices e-commerce book.
It’s Just Shopping provides a critical history lesson and serves as a "how-to" guide for merchants, marketers, technologists, and educators interested in successful online selling. The book is based on research studies conducted by The DMA and the e-tailing group from September 2001 through February 2002, and traces the evolution of the shopper by documenting the critical role online merchandising and customer service practices play in driving lifetime value and e-tail profitability.
"Last year, consumers spent $11.9 billion on goods and services as a result of direct marketers’ online media expenditures," said H. Robert Wientzen, president & CEO, The DMA. "This book culls the costly lessons learned over the past decade and analyzes the impact of new technologies, database marketing, and the Web."
The book features industry pioneers who share their personal experiences in colorful interviews and provide snapshots of today’s category killers and survivors who participated in the surge for customer acquisition and retention. 1-800-Flowers, Eddie Bauer, JC Penney, the Sharper Image, eBags, Lands’ End, and RedEnvelope are among the merchants whose struggles and accomplishments are profiled. The book also provides readers with checklists, tips, and techniques that provide actionable pointers that merchants can apply to enhance their merchandising strategies.
Author Lauren Freedman has been a veteran of the retail and catalog industries for more than 15 years. In 1993 she launched the e-tailing group, a consulting firm that specializes in providing customized merchandising programs and innovative e-commerce solutions to merchants and related businesses.
It’s Just Shopping is priced at $24.95 for DMA members ($29.95 for non-members) and can be purchased by calling The DMA Book Distribution Center at 301.604.0187 or online at www.the-dma.org/bookstore.
The DMA is the leading trade association for businesses interested in interactive and database marketing, with nearly 4,700 member companies from the United States and 53 other nations. Founded in 1917, its members include direct marketers from every business segment as well as the nonprofit and electronic marketing sectors. Included are catalogers, Internet retailers and service providers, financial services providers, book and magazine publishers, book and music clubs, retail stores, industrial manufacturers and a host of other vertical segments, including the service industries that support them. According to a DMA-commissioned study, direct and interactive marketing sales in the United States exceeded $1.86 trillion in 2001, including $118 billion in catalog sales and $30 billion in sales generated by the Internet. The DMA's Web site is
www.the-dma.org, and its consumer Web site is www.shopthenet.org.Media Contact: Christina Duffney
212.790.1532
cduffney@the-dma.org
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[Editor’s Note: A complimentary copy of Its Just Shopping is available to qualified members of the press by contacting Christina Duffney at cduffney@the-dma.org.]