Barnes & Noble looked like it was on its way back to relevancy after a number of quarters of profitability thanks to its Nook tablets. That all ended last year as the company began posting losses, and it looked like its Nook business was starting to come up short against Amazon. Now the company may be breaking apart its various businesses in a bid to save the company.
Leonard Riggio, founder of Barnes & Noble, Chairman of the Board and largest shareholder, announced this morning that he plans to buy the brick and mortar retail business of the book store. There’s nothing set in stone just yet, but it would be the second time in the past few months that an ailing business was bought by its founder. The first, of course, being the acquisition of Dell by its founder Michael Dell for $24.4 billion.
Riggio’s plan is to only buy the company’s retail business. The Nook business was spun off last year so where does this plan leave that? According to a report from The New York Times, the company is looking into winding down its Nook business.
It doesn’t mean that the Nook brand, which was spun off from the retail business last year, will be dead. It only means that Barnes & Noble might stop making its own hardware in favor of licensing its own Nook software to other manufacturers. In essence, we’d see tablets and eReaders from other manufacturers running the Nook software. The company would also presumably focus on its software presence on other platforms like Windows 8, iOS and Android.
If Riggio is successful in his bid to buy the retail operation, it could give Microsoft an opening to purchase the Nook operation. Nook is already closely tied to Windows 8 after Microsoft pumped $300 million into the business last year. Nook is already the best eReader app on Windows 8, and further cultivation at the hands of Microsoft could turn it into a worthy competitor to Apple’s iBooks and Amazon’s Kindle.
All of this is purely speculation for now, and the Barnes & Noble board may not even approve Riggio’s bid to buy the company’s retail operation. Still, it does look like the company will at least be winding down its Nook hardware operations. A focus on its digital business could just be what Nook needs to become profitable again.
Google is planning on opening up retail stores in major metropolitan areas by the end of the year, according to a report from 9to5Google.
Seth Weintraub, who notes that Google already has a retail presence in a number of Best Buys and PCWorld/Dixon’s stores, reports (citing a “reliable source”) that Google is in the process of building stand alone retail stores, and that these would be places where Google could not only sell its Nexus devices (and possibly apparel), but push its Chrome operating system, and get Google Glass into consumers’ hands.
Google Glass, while it may seem like a novelty, could actually prove to be a very important product for Google, and if this is one of Google’s main motivating factors for opening a chain or retail stores, that shows how important Google really does consider it.
Google was recently granted a patent, which seems to indicate the company is looking to make your actual life searchable, and Glass could play a significant role in it being able to do so. While we’re looking a ways out in the future, so may contact lenses based on similar functionality. If Google is also able to refine Glass from the fashion standpoint, one can easily imagine more merchandise to fill a store.
Google is also said to be thinking about marketing a smart watch, so that’s yet another potential device for Google to place on the shelves.
And who knows what else Google may have on the horizon?
It will be interesting to see what kind of presence (if any) Google gives motorola devices in these stores, assuming they actually do open. Google indicated that it would not give Motorola special treatment among device manufacturers, when it announced the acquisition.
As Google gets further into the hardware business, a retail store is a no brainer, particularly in light of what is already available from competitors. Apple has over 400 retail stores in 14 countries.
We’ve reached out to Google for comment, and will update accordingly.
Ouya – the little game console that could – is almost upon us. Those who helped make it the most successful gaming Kickstarter ever only have one more month before its delivered to them. What about those who didn’t preorder one last year though? They’ll have to wait a bit longer.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman said that the Ouya would be hitting retail in June of this year. The company has struck deals with various retailers, like Target, Amazon, GameStop and Best Buy, to carry the mini-console. Before that though, the company will be shipping out Kickstarter backer units in March and early preorders in April.
GameStop and Amazon already have preorder pages up for the Ouya with the console retailing for $99.99. The base console comes with one console and a controller. Extra controllers will retail for $49.99 each.
As for game support, Uhrman told the WSJ that about 200 titles are being prepared for Ouya at the moment. The titles range from indie efforts to games from big name studios. An example of each would be Minecraft from Mojang and Final Fantasy III from Square Enix.
Ouya has the games and right price, but can it compete with the new consoles coming from Sony and Microsoft this year? Uhrman says that it’s not their intention to compete with the other consoles, but instead “carve out own niche.”
Retailers seem to have faith in Ouya, and it’s Kickstarter campaign still impresses. It still remains to be seen, however, how consumers will respond once it officially launches. I find it hard to imagine people playing sloppy controller-based ports of smartphone titles on their televisions, but wholly original content may just Ouya the kickstart it needs to succeed where others have failed.
Finding certain Windows devices at traditional retail outlets can be a bit of pain sometimes. Stores like Best Buy or Staples usually only carry one device without a lot of options. Microsoft rectified this problem by opening retail locations across the nation, and is now working on expanding that presence to even more cities.
Microsoft announced today that it intends to open five more retail stores by summer. The following cities will play host to these new retail locations:
Natick Mall, Natick, Massachusetts
Ala Moana Center, Honolulu, Hawaii
Pioneer Place, Portland, Oregon
The Somerset Collection, Troy, Michigan
Woodfield Mall, Schaumburg, Illinois
These five stores join the six stores that were announced late last year. On top of that, there are already over 50 existing retail stores and a few smaller specialty stores that have sprung up over the past few years.
Microsoft seems to be expanding its retail presence in line with its expansion as a hardware manufacturer. The Surface Pro tablet/ultrabook hybrid will be launching on February 9. Sure, it will be available at other retail locations like Best Buy and Staples, but the best selection of accessories and other items will only be available at Microsoft retail stores.
Unfortunately, Microsoft still has not expanded its retail presence past North American borders. It did finally open its first few Canadian stores in 2012, but it hasn’t expanded around the world like Apple has. We might finally see some international expansion in 2013, however, as Microsoft moves to produce more of its own hardware, like the oft rumored Microsoft-built Windows Phone.
HMV, the British entertainment retailer, has announced that its discussions with creditors have come to an end and the company will enter administration. Trading of HMV stock has been suspended on the London Stock Exchange. Deloitte partners Nick, Edwards, Neville Kahn, and Rob Harding have been name-dropped as posible administrators of the company and some of its subsidiaries.
HMV has released an official statement regarding the key events:
On 13 December 2012, the Company announced that as a result of current market trading conditions, the Company faced material uncertainties and that it was probable that the Group would not comply with its banking covenants at the end of January 2013. The Company also stated that it was in discussions with its banks.
Since that date, the Company has continued the discussions with its banks and other key stakeholders to remedy the imminent covenant breach. However, the Board regrets to announce that it has been unable to reach a position where it feels able to continue to trade outside of insolvency protection, and in the circumstances therefore intends to file notice to appoint administrators to the Company and certain of its subsidiaries with immediate effect.
The Directors of the Company understand that it is the intention of the administrators, once appointed, to continue to trade whilst they seek a purchaser for the business.
It is proposed that Nick Edwards, Neville Kahn and Rob Harding, partners of Deloitte LLP, will be appointed as the administrators of the Company and certain of its subsidiaries.
The Company’s ordinary shares will be suspended from trading on the London Stock Exchange with immediate effect.
The situation is similar to that faced by Game Group in March of last year. Game entered administration and closed hundreds of stores throughout the U.K.
Physical retailers of electronics goods, such as Best Buy, have been seeing declining sales in the face of the growing internet retailers and streaming video services. There are also rumors that entertainment companies will be increasing the pressure on the market for used physical media using digital rights management (DRM) and other tactics.
Google announced a real-time new digital coupon offering today called Zavers by Google, which the company says enables retailers and manufacturers to reward loyal customers with relevant coupons.
Retailers can use the product to extend their existing incentive programs.
“Unlike traditional media, Zavers’ real-time data gives manufacturers new ways to measure coupon redemptions and analyze consumer preferences so they can manage distribution, tailor campaigns, and optimize budgets for maximum ROI,” says Google Commerce Director of Emerging Platforms, Spencer Spinnell. “Zavers also offers access to an extensive network of manufacturer coupons, opening up new retail revenue streams.
“With Zavers, shoppers find manufacturer discounts on their favorite retailer websites, and save the digital coupons to their accounts,” he explains. “Then they simply shop for those products and check out as usual. Redemption occurs in real time, with savings automatically deducted at checkout when shoppers provide their rewards cards or phone numbers—no scanning or sorting necessary. Manufacturers only pay when a product is moved off the shelf.”
The coupons are applied to purchases without the need to show and scan paper or digital goods. Customers using Google Wallet can redeem coupons instantly by tapping their phones at the checkout.
Google has New York grocer D’Agostino on as a partner, as well as A&P, Bi-Lo, The Food Emporium, Harris Teeter, PathMark, Price Chopper, SuperFresh and Waldbums. The company says it will be announcing new partnerships with major retailers in the coming months.
Hitman: Absolution is apparently a hit. Many gamers, however, are experiencing the escapades of Agent 47 for the first time. There’s a lot of backstory that’s lost on them. Square Enix is fixing that with an HD collection.
It was announced today that the Hitman HD Trilogy will be launching in the US on February 29 on the PS3 and Xbox 360. The game will include hi-def remakes of Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Hitman: Contracts and Hitman: Blood Money. Funny enough, Hitman: Blood Money was already released on current generation consoles back in 2006. It’s unknown if this version will include any enhancements, or if it will be the same game that was released six years ago.
The HD collection will retail for the standard $39.99 when it releases early next year. Joystiq points to an Amazon page that says there’s a Premium edition of the game on the way as well. This edition will include an art book with new interpretations Agent 47 from top artists.
The Hitman HD Trilogy is just the latest attempt to cash in on a franchise’s past with cheap HD ports. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but most publishers usually release these sets before a new game comes out to get new players acquainted with the games. It’s odd that this collection would release a few months after the newest title hit stores.
Regardless, fans of Hitman: Absolution are in for a treat if they never got a chance to play the earlier games in the franchise. Hitman has some of the most satisfying stealth gameplay of the last console generation, and these earlier games reveled in it. Be prepared for a challenge if you haven’t had the chance to play through these earlier games yet.
An analyst with Detwiler Fenton said last week that Microsoft’s Surface wasn’t doing so well. The analyst attributed the lack of success to two causes – limited distribution and a high price. Microsoft hasn’t fixed the price yet, but it is fixing its distribution issues as soon as next week.
Microsoft announced today that it plans to make its Surface tablet available at retailers as soon as mid-December. It doesn’t list which retailers the Surface will be making an appearance in, but we can assume that stores that regularly host Microsoft products will host the Surface as well.
“The public reaction to Surface has been exciting to see. We’ve increased production and are expanding the ways in which customers can interact with, experience and purchase Surface,” said Panos Panay, general manager, Microsoft Surface.
Microsoft previously said that it planned to only offer the Surface exclusively via its Web site or retail stores, but that apparently was only just a clever ruse. The company claims that it had always intended to offer the Surface via other retail outlets in 2013, but “interest from retailers” has pushed it to offer the new tablet even earlier.
What about all those special Microsoft stores that opened up for the holidays just to sell the Surface and Windows Phones? Microsoft is going to keep them open beyond the new year, and maybe even convert them to full-on brick-and-mortar retail outlets for all things Microsoft. Those that don’t make the cut will be converted into specialty stores.
It’s good to see Microsoft fixing its first mistake, but I fear the Surface may still only pull “modest” numbers until Microsoft can wrangle in the price. The Surface RT will continue its position in last place until Microsoft can get the price to a more manageable $300.
As previously reported, this year’s Black Friday was a record one for e-commerce, having surpassed a billion dollars in spending, according to comScore.
Experian Hitwise has also released some data, indicating that Black Friday online retail traffic in the U.S. increased 60% in 2012 copmared to last year, as the top 500 retail sites received over 179 million total U.S. visits.
Ahead of Cyber Monday, the holiday week of online traffic to the top retail site was already up 7% on average, according to the firm. Online retail traffic was down 1% on Black Friday compared to Thanksgiving Day 2012 traffic this year, a spokesperson for Experian Hitwise tells WebProNews.
According to their data (confirming that of comScore’s), Amazon.com remained the top visited retail site on Black Friday while Walmart was the second most visited retail site.
Also noteworthy: BestBuy moved up to the 3rd most visited site while Target was the 4th most visited site, and JC Penney moved up from being the 8th most visited retail site on Thanksgiving Day to the 5th most visited on Black Friday. Among the top 5 sites, the spokesperson tells us, JC Penney saw the biggest day-over-day growth at 26%. The Apple Store saw the biggest day-over-day growth at 99%.
“As we noted from our CEI data that consumer optimism is at an all-time this holiday weekend and retailers could see traffic significant gains for 2012 versus 2011,” the spokesperson says. “Last year Cyber Monday claimed the prize as the busiest shopping day of the year, growing from 138 million online visits to 177 million total US visits to the top 500 Retail sites, a 29% growth comparing 2011 to 2010.”
Last year, he notes, Cyber Monday, Black Friday and Thanksgiving were the top 3 Email Transaction days during the holiday season.
Holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 18 days of the November-December 2012 season is $10.1 billion to date, according to new data released by comScore. That’s up 16% compared to the same time period last year.
“The 2012 online holiday shopping season is off to an encouraging start with a 16-percent growth thus far,” said comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni. “Recent 5-year highs in consumer confidence and early retailer promotions appear to be serving as wind in the sails for the beginning portion of the holiday season, with consumers opening up their wallets early and often. This spending growth also reflects the continuing channel shift to online as consumers increasingly opt for the attractive pricing, convenience and product selection it offers.”
November 8, a Thursday, has been the heaviest online spending day of the season so far, at $829 million.
comScore believes that online retail spending will hit $43.4 billion for the season, which would be a 17% increase from last year.
Online spending in the U.S. reached an incredible new high on Cyber Monday, hitting $1.46 Billion for the day, according to comScore. This is the heaviest day of online spending in U.S. history, and follows a record Black Friday for e-commerce.
$16.4 billion has been spent online, this holiday season so far (starting from the beginning of November), according to the firm. That’s a 16% increase from last year. Cyber Monday spending itself was up 17%.
“Despite some news reports suggesting that Cyber Monday might be declining in importance, the day has once again set an online spending record at nearly $1.5 billion,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “However, it is also clear that the holiday promotional period has begun even earlier this year, with strong online sales occurring on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. Now, we shall see the extent to which continuing and attractive retailer promotions are able to boost sales for the remainder of the week.”
The top product categories for growth on Cyber Monday, compared to last year, were Digital Content & Subscriptions, which grew by 28%, Consumer Electronics, which grew by 25%, Computer Hardware, which grew by 22%, Video Games, Consoles & Accessories, which grew by 18%, and Jewelry & Watches, which grew by 17%.
Interestingly, close to half of dollars spent online at U.S. websites originated from work computers (47.1%), according to comScore. That’s actually down from last year. Buying at U.S. websites from international locations accounted for 5.7% of sales.
“The term ‘Cyber Monday’ was coined by Shop.org in 2005 to refer to the significant jump in e-commerce spending that occurred following the Thanksgiving holiday weekend as consumers got back to sitting in front of computer screens at work,” said Fulgoni. “At the time and for several years afterward, Cyber Monday was often misconstrued as the heaviest online spending day of the year, when in fact it barely cracked the top ten days of the season. However, with the passage of time, the day grew in importance as a result of an increasing number of retailers offering very attractive deals on the day and extensive digital media coverage making sure that consumers were aware of them. As a result, Cyber Monday has assumed the mantle of top online spending day for the past two years – a trend we expect to hold once again in 2012.”
Here’s a comparison of online spending for each week of the holiday season, for this year and the previous four:
Experian Hitwise has put out some data on online retail traffic for Cyber Monday. According to them, traffic increased 11% year-over-year, and the top 500 retail sites received over 206.8 million total U.S. visits. For Black Friday, online retail traffic increased 7% versus 2011 as those sites received over 193.8 million total U.S. visits. On Thanksgiving Day, according to Experian Hitwise, online retail traffic increased 6% versus 2011 as those sites received over 192.5 million total US visits.
“So far this past Holiday week of online traffic from Thanksgiving Day to Cyber Monday to retail sites is up 8% for 2012 vs. 2011,” a spokesperson for the firm tells WebProNews. “Amazon.com remained the top visited retail site on Cyber Monday while Walmart received the second most visits. BestBuy was the 3rd most visited site with Target and JC Penney rounding out the top five.”
“Among the top 5 sites, Amazon saw the biggest year-over-year growth at 36%.Amazon.com was the top visited retail site on Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday,” he adds. “Walmart was the #2 site each of those days.”
He also says consumer optimism is at an all-time high for this holiday weekend and retailers could see significant traffic gains for 2012 versus 2011.
“Last year Cyber Monday claimed the prize as the busiest shopping day of the year, growing from 138 million online visits to 177 million total US visits to the top 500 Retail sites, a 29% growth comparing 2011 to 2010,” he says. “Last year, Cyber Monday, Black Friday and Thanksgiving were the top 3 Email Transaction days during the holiday season.”
Online payments giant PayPal saw a 190% increase in global mobile payment volume on Cyber Monday, compared to the same day in 2011. That follows Black Friday, when PayPal saw its biggest mobile shopping day to date, and the company says it saw 44% more payment volume on Cyber Monday than Black Friday. PayPal saw 166% increase in the number of customers shopping with mobile devices on Cyber Monday 2012 as compared to last year. Shoppers in Houston, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York made the most purchases through PayPal on Cyber Monday this year.
Last night, at their Gifts event in NYC (the one rescheduled due to Hurricane Sandy), Facebook announced new partners for the ecommerce initiative as well as a global expansion of it that will see it roll out to millions more users.
According to Facebook, users will be able to send a variety of types of gifts through the platform. Of course, there are gadgets, clothes, cosmetics, books, and food to give. Facebook says that some new partners include babyGap, Fab, Brookstone, Dean & Deluca,L’Occitane, Lindt, ProFlowers, Random House, Inc. and NARS Cosmetics. But users will also be able to gift media to their friends through subscriptions to Hulu Plus, Pandora, Rdio, and more.
For the adults in your life, you’ll also be able to give wine from Robert Mondavi and Chandon via Facebook.
Facebook says that even more retail partners will be announced over the coming weeks.
So, Facebook Gifts is rounding out its partners and growing more robust by the second. The next big question is of course, when? When will the majority of Facebook users have access to the Gifts platform? Up until now, it’s only been available to a small number of users. Facebook says that they will continue to roll it out to users over the coming weeks.
When Gifts finally comes to your profile, you can expect every user’s profile to sport a Gifts button, making it easy to send gifts with a single click. This button will exist on both desktop and mobile. You can also expect some sort of recommendation engine, which suggests gifts based on what’s popular among users of a similar demographic set as the recipient.
Facebook recently updated their iOS app to provide Gifts support. They also announced the ability for users to give gifts to charity in their friends’ names through the Gifts platform. Facebook is getting into this game at the right time, as the holiday season is just getting underway. Because of that, we expect that most users will have access to Gifts sooner rather than later.
It’s been over two years since the release of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Blizzard’s first sequel to its classic RTS franchise inspired an entire new generation of eSports, and fans have been eagerly anticipating the release of the second game in the StarCraft II franchise since. It was originally supposed to come out at the end of this year, but Blizzard pushed the release to an ambiguous early 2013 launch.
The ambiguity has now been lifted, and Blizzard has announced that StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm will launch on March 12 in both retail and digital editions. The game will continue the story where it left off at the end of Wings of Liberty, but now focus on the always entertaining Kerrigan and the Zerg race.
“With Heart of the Swarm, our goal has been to expand on the multiplayer action and cinematic storytelling of Wings of Liberty,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Combined with features like unranked matchmaking and our new leveling system, this expansion elevates the StarCraft II experience for players of all skill levels.”
The basic game will be available for $39.99 for both the retail and digital versions of the game. Blizzard is also offering a Collector’s Edition that will retail for $79.99. This version will include a Behind-the-Scenes DVD and Blu-ray, soundtrack CD and Zerg Rush mousepad.
If physical goodies are not your thing, Blizzard will also offer the Digital Deluxe Edition for $59.99. For an extra $20, players will get StarCraft II Battle.net portraits and decals, an in-game pet for World of Warcraft, Blade Wings and Banner Sigil for Diablo III, and the Torrasque, a unique look for the Ultralisk unit. All of the Digital Deluxe Edition content is included in the physical Collector’s Edition set.
As far as multiplayer goes, Heart of the Swarm will introduce a number of new units for each race – Terran Hellbats, Zerg Swarm Hosts and Protoss Tempests. Units from Wings of Liberty will also be updated with new abilities.
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is now available for pre-order on Battle.net. Those who pre-order will be able to pre-load the title before it launches and play when it becomes available.
In another sign of both the dying retail video game merchants and the slow death of the current console cycle, new numbers show that retail sales of video games, video game hardware, and video game accessories in October were down 25% from that month last year.
According to a Bloomberg report citing research firm NPD, retail sales of video games were down to $755.5 million. NPD blamed much of the decline on low console sales, which are down 37% year-over-year, while video game sales were down 25%.
As for the languishing console wars, Microsoft managed to still lead console sales in October, selling 270,000 consoles, a number that is down 31% from last year. With Nintendo’s new Wii U console being released on November 18, expect next month’s numbers to show a large Nintendo lead in console sales over Microsoft and Sony.
This news, though not unexpected, comes just as game companies are kicking off the holiday buying season – the biggest sales months for the gaming industry. Sequels such as Halo 4, Assassin’s Creed III, and Call of Duty: Black Ops II will net hundreds of millions of dollars for their publishers and demonstrate the apex of what graphics are accomplishable with current console hardware. They also demonstrate, however, that the industry is in a transition period, and that new consoles and new IPs will soon be needed to keep gamers from becoming burnt-out on sequels.
comScore put out some new data on U.S. retail ecommerce spending for the third quarter of 2012. It was up 15% from the same quarter in 2011.
Online retail spending reached $41.9 billion for the quarter, and the fourth quarter is where we should see the real spending. It’s the twelfth consecutive quarter, by the way, that comScore has shown positive year-over-year growth. It’s the eighth consecutive quarter of double digit growth.
“The Q3 growth rate of 15 percent growth remained in line with the prior quarter and provided confirmation of the strength in the e-commerce sector, despite a few negative headwinds in the macroeconomic environment during the quarter,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “Such performance offers some optimism as we approach the holiday season, especially given recent improvements in consumer sentiment.”
“With the housing market beginning to show signs of recovery in addition to increasing – if still underwhelming – job growth, there appears to be strong enough footing to support a very healthy online holiday shopping season,” Fulgoni notes.
comScore found the top-performing product categories to be Digital Content & Subscriptions, Consumer Electronics, Event Tickets, Apparel & Accessories, and Computer Software. Each of these grew by at least 16% compared to the year ago quarter.
The firm also found that 37% of U.S. consumers say they have engaged in “showrooming” behavior, where they use a smartphone while in a retail store. Google recently shared some interesting stats about this trend as well.
“The survey also shows that despite a slow-moving economic recovery there has been marked improvement in consumer sentiment in the past quarter, although many consumers still remain challenged by economic conditions,” says comScore. “48 percent of U.S. consumers now rate the economy as ‘poor’ an 8-percentage point improvement vs. the prior quarter and the most pronounced improvement since early 2009 (following the worst of the financial crisis).”
Apple announced a big company-wide reorganization at the upper level late Monday. The shakeup saw the company let go of two execs – Scott Forstall and John Browett, and it also saw others given more responsibilities in Cupertino.
“Apple today announced executive management changes that will encourage even more collaboration between the Company’s world-class hardware, software and services teams. As part of these changes, Jony Ive, Bob Mansfield, Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi will add more responsibilities to their roles. Apple also announced that Scott Forstall will be leaving Apple next year and will serve as an advisor to CEO Tim Cook in the interim,” said a press release.
Apple doesn’t giver any additional information on what led to Forstall’s ousting. But the mobile software head and 15-year veteran of the company is said to have left due to a scuffle over Apple’s failed Maps product launch. The Wall Street Journal reports that Forstall was asked to exit his role after he refused to sign an apology for the problems with Apple’s recently-launched Maps product. The New York Times also says that this incident was the catalyst for his departure, but also adds that tensions had been brewing for some time.
Apple also ousted newer hire John Browett, saying “a search for a new head of Retail is underway and in the interim, the Retail team will report directly to Tim Cook.”
One of the big stories from this management shakeup is the rise of Jony Ive. As part of the stated changes, Ive will now head all of Apple’s product design.
Here’s what Apple had to say in a press release:
“Jony Ive will provide leadership and direction for Human Interface (HI) across the company in addition to his role as the leader of Industrial Design. His incredible design aesthetic has been the driving force behind the look and feel of Apple’s products for more than a decade.”
You probably know Ive best from his role as product walkthrough guy in all of those Apple videos you see for various new products (recently the iPhone 5 and the iPad mini).
Others like Eddy Cue, Craig Federighi, and Bob Mansfield will also take on bigger roles.
The best decision EA ever made regarding Need for Speed was putting Criterion Games in charge of the franchise. They are arguably the best racing studio around, and their talents put Need for Speed back on the map with a glorious reboot of the Hot Pursuit titles. Now they’re back at it again with another beloved Need for Speed title.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted will be launching on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita and PC on October 30. It’s an open world racing title in the vein of the original Most Wanted, but with the flourishes and blistering speed that Criterion Games is known for.
Most Wanted may be under the Need for Speed, but fans of Burnout Paradise will be right at home. The focus on explosive wrecks may be toned down, but the game still features the vehicular mayhem and fantastic visuals that made Burnout a household name.
In other interesting news, EA is reportedly considering making Need for Speed: Most Wanted the first third-party game to support Sony’s Cross Buy program. The idea is that consumers who buy the PS3 version of Most Wanted will get a free download of the Vita version of the game. This will allow consumers to transfer saves between both devices.
Earlier this month, Google announced the official date that all Google Shopping results in the U.S. would come from merchants who are Product Listing Ads advertisers. That date was October 17 – Wednesday.
“We will be ranking these results based on relevance, with bidding as an additional factor,” Google reminded us. “The ranking of natural search results on Google.com will not change.”
We had a conversation about the transition with Michael Griffin, founder of Adlucent, which exclusively managed Amazon’s paid search until Amazon took it in-house in 2009. It currently powers paid search and shopping analytics for over 130 other retail brands, and has been managing Google Product Listing Ads for clients. The company, in fact, teamed with Google on a case study about Product Listing Ads.
“The same retailers that thrive in paid search today will have the highest chance of being successful with PLAs,” Griffin tells WebProNews. “Since the bids a retailer can afford are dependent primarily on a retailer’s ability to convert buyers (conversion rate) and maximize cart value (average order values), the best retailers will continue to dominate. Important to note, we are in a period where competition is low and CPCs are somewhat depressed. Right now, PLA CPCs are about 20% lower than paid search CPCs. Eventually, we expect CPCs to be 15-20% higher than paid search CPCs. Retailers moving quickly are being rewarded with the opportunity to test and gain market share at a lower cost.”
“Additionally, PLAs can be complicated to setup and require some technology sophistication on the part of the retailer,” he adds. “Besides setting up feeds and keeping the feeds updated in real-time, retailers must understand how to use consumer demand signals to optimize their feeds and bids. Most retailers will submit feeds and let Google do the optimization. These retailers are missing out on an opportunity to reach the right audience to get the highest return on ad spend. The smartest retailers will continuously optimize their product feed and unique product data, pro-actively manage their bids, and also leverage search query data to determine on-going refinements to investment.”
“Retailers in commoditized categories will struggle the most as CPCs increase,” says Griffin. “Retailers with low conversion rates and low average order value will eventually be pushed out. Additionally, smaller retailers with low IT resources and/or agency support will struggle. Not only will it be harder for them to produce the right feeds, but it will be difficult for them to optimize them in real-time.”
When asked whether retailer size matters, he says, “I think conversion rate, average order value, technology aptitude, lifetime value, and retailer margins matter. Large retailers tend to be good in all of these areas, but there are exceptions. The winners will excel in all of these areas.”
One may wonder if Google will cannibalize its own paid search business in the rush to product listing ads. Griffin also shared some thoughts on that.
“In early studies, before the transition, it did not appear that PLAs were cannibalistic,” he says. “However, as Google places them in more prominent positions on the page, they will cannibalize some paid search traffic. Google is optimizing the page to have the highest RPS (revenue per search) and will rearrange the page in a way that drives a higher RPS.”
“RPS is determined by CTR of the ads on the page and the CPCs of these ads,” he explains. “PLAs currently have a higher CTR than traditional text ads. As CPCs increase, as predicted, Google will place PLAs in even more prominent positions. I do not believe Google is worrying as much about cannibalization as they are about continuing their efforts to constantly improve RPS.”
So what can consumers expect to see on both Google’s main search page and on Google Shopping?
“In the short term, I believe we’ll see a continued rise in prominence of PLAs on Google’s main search pages for commercial searches,” Griffin says. “They will continue to take over more valuable real estate as click-through rate and CPCs increase.”
“Regarding Google Shopping, Google’s intention is to become the default destination for online shoppers,” he says. “As such, we can expect that they will continue to invest in augmenting shopping pages with more information that customers find valuable. I think it’s reasonable to expect them to begin aggregating and showing product ratings and reviews, linking to product videos, augmenting descriptions, providing product recommendations, etc. If they want to be the default destination for online shoppers, they need to provide the richness of the experience that retailers are providing today.”
This whole thing sets up an interesting strategy in Google’s competition with Amazon.
“Both Amazon and Google want to be the default destination for online shoppers,” he says, pointing to this snippet of a recent New York Times article:
“In 2009, nearly a quarter of shoppers started research for an online purchase on a search engine like Google and 18 percent started on Amazon, according to a Forrester Research study. By last year, almost a third started on Amazon and just 13 percent on a search engine. Product searches on Amazon have grown 73 percent over the last year while searches on Google Shopping have been flat, according to comScore.”
“The changes in Google Shopping put Amazon directly in competition with Google over the attention of online consumers,” Griffin tells us. “Today Amazon monetizes searches through product sales, marketplace sales, Amazon MediaGroup and Amazon Product Ads. We can expect that Amazon will continue to invest in areas where they can link more consumers to more products and monetize related advertising.”
“Conversely, we can expect that Google will continue to invest in areas where they can further monetize searches outside of the existing PLA, display, and text-based search offerings,” he adds. “Google will need to compete on the quality of the entire shopping experience from search to delivery so we should expect to see them continue growing programs like Google Trusted Stores and Google Wallet.”
I’d wager that Google Offers will be an important product for Google in this area as well.
“Ultimately, this competition will be good for online customers as both companies will compete to make a richer experience for online customers,” says Griffin.
Earlier this month, Google launched the available of product level bidding to Product Listing Ads, so merchants can use it during the holiday season. This lets advertisers optimize bids for individual products and easily create product targets using the product ID in the Merchant Center feed to manage bids at the product level. More on this in Google’s help center.
Nintendo has been testing the waters of digital content delivery for some time now. The 3DS eShop was their first real effort to bring full games to players everywhere via digital delivery. They took it one step further when they made New Super Mario Bros. 2 available day-one as a digital download. Now they’re making their back catalog available via this method.
Nintendo announced today that four hit 3DS games are now available on the 3DS eShop. Gamers can buy Super Mario 3D Land, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Star Fox 64 3D and Mario Kart 7 from the comfort of their 3DS systems. The games cost $39.99 each because Nintendo still hasn’t figured out digital pricing.
The Wil gets one lonely update today with Reel Fishing Ocean Challenge on WiiWare. As you can guess, it’s a fishing game that features “exotic fishing locales” and “tons of tackle.” I’m sure it will be a hit among the three people who still playing fishing games.
This week’s eShop update is a little on boring side, but there’s gonna be some great content next week. Level 5’s first eShop game, Liberation Maiden, will be hitting the eShop next week. It’s a shmup created by Suda 51, the mind behind this year’s Lollipop Chainsaw.
Google announced today that it’s rolling out the ability for retailers in Google Shopping to add promotion to their product listings. This, Google says, will make the listings stand out more.
As you may know, Google Shopping now consists of all paid inclusion results. In other words, you have to be an advertiser using Google’s Product Listing Ads to be listed. Wednesday was the official day that this transition was to be complete in the U.S.
Advertisers using these new promotions can distribute them on other Google properties, such as Google Maps for Android, or the Google Offers App.
“In a few simple steps retailers can create a promotions list, map it to the right products in Google Shopping and upload to Google Merchant Center,” Google says in a post on its Commerce Blog. “Our system supports user specific redemption codes and associated reporting, enabling retailers to measure the performance of each promotion.”
“This is one of the many steps we’re taking to provide traffic, technology and tools to help retailers grow their business,” the company adds.
Google says it will expand the program to include more retailers in the coming months. So far, over 25 big name retailers are using the promotions.
At a press event today Target CEO Greg Steinhafel unveiled the new initiative, which will see the retailer match the prices displayed online by a number of companies including Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Toys R Us, and of course, Target.com.
The in-store price matching currently does not include Target.com:
“If you find an item in a competitor’s printed ad that is priced lower than it is at your Target store, we will match the price. The competitor’s ad must be local and current, and the product must be the identical item, brand name, quantity and model number. Target.com is excluded from our price matching policy. Competitor catalogs can also be ad matched as long as the catalog displays a valid date and meets all other qualifications,” says the company on their current “Low Price Promise” page.
The current price-match policy excludes “promotions or products advertised on another company’s web or mobile sites, even those advertising in-store prices” as well, so this is a big change for the company.
It’s not permanent, however, as Target will only price-match these select online retailers from November 1st to December 16th (the prime holiday shopping period).
Target told Mashable that the Amazon price-matching will not include third-party sellers housed on Amazon Marketplace.
What Target and Best Buy are fighting is showrooming, the now-ubiquitous practice of finding a product you want, snapping a picture or jotting is down in your notes, and then returning home to buy it (sometimes for cheaper) online. Basically, it’s using brick and mortar retailers like Best Buy and Target as your own personal showroom – something they clearly aren’t fans of.
Target hopes that this will get people in the door, but more importantly make sure they actually walk out with something in the cart.
