This year’s Shop.org Annual Summit will be held at the Gaylord Texan Resort, in Dallas, Texas. It is a “wonderful property because everything is very self‑contained, so it can keep the community feel”, making Shop.org very special. In 2009, Shop.org received its highest attendance to date with over 2,600 attendees and they are trending to be even stronger this year. Larry talks about the variety of tracks they are offering at the summit this year and how mobile features very prominently.

Tune in to find out more!

Length 14 mins and 26 secs

Transcript: Larry Joseloff on the Shop.org

Emma talks about the impact the online store has had on the Karen Millen brand - explaining how they plan to integrate a CRM to track both visitors shopping in stores and online to measure the purchase influence of the website, and deliver a more personalized shopping experience to its customers.

Tune in to find out more!

Length 24 mins and 50 secs.

Transcript: Emma Bonar from Karen Millen

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Length 16 mins and 47 secs.

Transcript: Keith Bergstrom from Prestwick House

For instance, the Abe’s of Maine site will soon add personalization to home and product pages that will list products that the shopper has already viewed, or similar products that the shopper might like based on past purchases.

Tune in to find out more!

Length 18 mins and 21 secs.

Transcript: Alan Trzuskoski from Abe’s of Maine

Podcast host Shaun Ryan, and Ingram discussed how to bring the benefits of real-world shopping experiences into the online world, especially for touch-and-feel products such as jewelry.

The Diamond Store sells diamond and precious-gem jewelry, with a good portion of its business devoted to engagement and wedding rings. Since many people may be buying jewelry as a gift, The Diamond Store ships elaborate gift packaging and presentation folders along with purchases.

Ingram states that it’s challenging to give shoppers a comfort level with what is generally an expensive purchase. The website offers 3D images that can be rotated as needed, so buyers can experience the product as realistically as possible.

Listen to the podcast to find out more.

Transcript: Gary Ingram from The Diamond Store

Length 23 mins and 38 secs.

Podcast host Shaun Ryan, and Feiman discuss how the online and catalog retailer of pool cues, billiards tables and accessories is using social media to connect with customers – including a blog that’s “written” by Pooldawg’s ceramic bulldog mascot Frank.

Feiman explains that the “Frank’s Dawg House” blog (which Feiman himself writes) is a key part of the retailer’s social media strategy, and has attracted quite a following.

PoolDawg also operates a Facebook fan page, currently with almost 600 fans, and a Twitter feed. Both the Facebook fan page and Twitter feed alert fans to interesting news articles about the game of pool, as well as sales and promotions at the PoolDawg site.

Listen to the podcast to find out more.

Transcript: Mike Feiman from PoolDawg

Length 18 mins and 38 secs.

Transcript: Pat Pepe from West Florida Components

Length 15 mins and 48 secs.

Coastal Contacts is an online retailer of contact lenses and eyewear that operates web storefronts in the U.S., Canada and Japan.

Shaun and Braden trade ideas on the retailer’s recent expansion of its product lines, and attracting and retaining customers with interactive product features.

Listen to the audio to find out more about Coastal Contact’s interesting story.

Transcript: Braden Hoeppner from Coastal Contacts

Length 23 mins and 20 secs.

In this podcast interview, Hadley and Shaun, discuss how search is becoming an ever more important part of the online user experience.

Hadley states that, “search has become more and more central to how people find things and navigate online. It’s how they understand the online world. And the trend is for search to become a much bigger part of the interaction model.” He also addresses the big challenges facing site owners in particlular the popularity of mobile devices, and the constraints they place on search.

To find out more listen to Shaun’s interview with Hadley.

Transcript: Hadley Reynolds from IDC

Length 39 mins and 23 secs.

Transcript: Rob McNair from the Tiso Group

Length 29 mins and 41 secs.