I was recently in London for ChannelAdvisor’s Catalyst UK Conference and we joked a bit about the ever present “Mind the Gap” phrase which is broadcast in the Tube stations. As I watched Google’s Searchology event last week I couldn’t help but think that this phrase also applies to the technology and business of search. With each release of search query share statistics Google continues to add share and increase its lead on Yahoo and Microsoft. We see this in the results our clients get each month in Paid Search. Searchology and the release of Universal Search just reinforced the fact that Google is a search company and fundamentally Yahoo and Microsoft are not. Making large acquisitions will not change that – it is either part of a company’s DNA at all levels or it is not. Yes, Google is moving into Apps and other areas but search remains at its core.

So, does this matter to a retailer? I mean after all retailers are not choosing to advertise on Google because they offer the best search results or paid technology (I have often said that even if Google had the Overture platform advertisers would still be there). They go where the traffic is and providing a superior search experience will ultimately be where users start their web experience. If you believe that we are only 5% of the way towards perfect search technology then Google clearly is much further along. Mind the gap indeed.

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The retail industry hit some important milestones last month. First, clothing is now the second largest category in online sales, just behind travel. The relatively young online retail industry was dominated by sales of computers and related hardware. It’s a tremendous accomplishment for the ecommerce industry to move from selling computers and electronics to early adopters to now selling high-touch products like shoes and designer jeans that rely on a perfect fit.

Unfortunately, there was also some downside news this month as well. The overall U.S. retail sales figures for April 2007 were, according the Wall Street Journal, “among the worst on record.” Same-store sales across major retailers were down 2.3%. Some of that is attributable to their own missteps, and some to external factors like gas prices and the U.S. housing market. The bright side for ecommerce though is that consumers now feel comfortable buying almost anything online. The cost of filling up the SUV might keep Ms. Shopper from the mall, but it needn’t deny her a new pair of Jimmy Choos.

Since ecommerce is about 3% of total U.S. retail sales and growing faster than the total market, let’s take a look at the bright side. Here’s what the apparel industry has done to grow online sales:

• Better images – consumers want to see multiple high-resolution images and now predominantly have the necessary high-speed Internet connections
• More liberal return policies – if shoppers are afraid of getting stuck with something that doesn’t fit they are unlikely to buy it in the first place
• Custom designs – why dress like everyone else when you can design your own shoesfrom Nike, Timberland, Vans, and others?
• Virtual fitting rooms – some online retailers let you enter your measurements to create a virtual model and see how an item would look on your body
• Enticing promotions – it’s easier to quantify free shipping (and no sales tax) than to wade through the disheveled racks of marked down merchandise at the big mall stores
• Personalization – your local department store probably doesn’t help you find something new based on your past purchases, but a savvy online retailer will

At ChannelAdvisor we focus solely on helping online retailers so we are very excited about the future of eCommerce. If you are an online retailer you can probably find some ideas and inspiration from the success of the apparel industry and apply them to your own business.

Share your thoughts in the comments, or if you are a ChannelAdvisor Merchant user, contact your account manager to talk about ideas for growing your sales.

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Last week, Google announced a brand new version of their free website Analytics software, Google Analytics.

Jam-packed with many new features, the initial feedback from the online community has been very positive. But, what are the most important changes and how can you, as an online retailer, really make the most of the new functionality?

To help answer that question, ChannelAdvisor will be co-hosting a free web seminar (webinar) with Phil Walford from the Google Analytics team. During this 45 minute webinar, Phil will guide you through some of the most exciting and useful new functionality and give you flavour for what is possible with this upgraded version. There will also be the chance to ask your own questions to Phil at the end of the webinar.

Please join us at 2pm GMT / 9am EST on Friday 25th May by registering here and be among the first in the UK to harness the power of Google Analytics v2.

p.s. if you use ChannelAdvisor Stores website solution then the new version of Analytics is already integrated and ready to go……!

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Better late then never, as they say, but eBay has finally sanctioned embedded videos, a time-tested practice pretty much everywhere on the interest these days.

Sellers may now include a video right in their ad (let’s be honest, it’s going to be a YouTube video) to provide a level of advertisement beyond mere images and words (here’s a listing for a Lego figure with video embedded).

This is especially good news for sellers with high ASPs since it allows you to really show off your product from many angles (increasing conversion rates, if done right). Real Estate agents have been using online videos for a while and personally it’s starting to look suspicious if you don’t have a video available for your house. I can see this turn into a must-do shortly on eBay Motors (want an example of how NOT to do it? — warning, may make you dizzy).

Here are a few helpful resources to get you started:

• Business Week podcast on selling on YouTube
• YouTube Marketing Tips (with link to good article on product marketing using YouTube)
• Excellent tutorial on getting optimal video results
• YouTube tools & more!

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Today CNN is featuring a snippet of a session that we were invited to participate in with Business 2.0 called “The New Disruptors”. This is a great series where the B2 team travels the country and talks to entrepreneurs about their disruptive new technologies, how they came up with the idea, etc.

We were honored to be in the same group as Bob Young (founder of Lulu and Red Hat), and DayJet CEO Ed Iacobucci.

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