The Internet Retailer Hot 100
Bill Siwicki

Best Retail Web Sites

Apparel & Accessories
6pm.com
Abercrombie.com
AE.com
Anthropologie.com
BrooksBrothers.com
CafePress.com
Coach.com
DavidsBridal.com
Gap
Guess Jeans
JCrew.com
Karmaloop.com
Kohls.com
Nike.com
NineWest.com
PacSun.com
Patagonia.com
Rampage.com
Skechers.com
Swell.com
Timberland.com
Undergear.com
VeraBradley.com
Vivre.com
WorkingPerson.com

Books/Film/Music
AbeBooks.com
Audible.com
BarnesandNoble.com
Chapters.Indigo.ca
eCampus.com
FYE.com
Netflix.com

Computers/Electronics
Abt.com
Apple.com
Dell Home & Home Office
HPShopping.com
Palm.com
PCConnection.com
PCUniverse.com
SonyStyle.com
TigerDirect.com
YourElectronicWarehouse.com

Flowers/Gifts/Jewelry
1-800-Flowers.com
AmericanGreetings.com
BlueNile.com
DelightfulDeliveries.com
GiftTree.com
JewelryTV.com

Food/Drug
CarolsDaughter.com
Drugstore.com
FoodNetworkStore.com
HarryandDavid.com
KLWines.com
LakeChamplainChocolates.com
Lancome-USA.com
MyMMs.com
Romanicos.com
Wine.com

Hardware/
Home Improvement
AceHardware.com
HomeDepot.com
Lowes.com
RepairClinic.com
Rockler.com

Housewares/
Home Furnishings
CrateandBarrel.com
LillianVernon.com
Oneida.com
RestorationHardware.com
StacksandStacks.com
Vivaterra.com
Williams-Sonoma.com

Mass Merchants/
Department Stores
Amazon.com
Buy.com
Costco.com
JCPenney.com
Macys.com
NetShops.com
Overstock.com
Shop.com
ShopNBC.com
Walmart.com

Specialty/Non-Apparel
AmericanStationery.com
Art.com
Bulbs.com
Diapers.com
DrsFosterSmith.com
Levenger.com
PetsUnited
PlumberSurplus.com
PowerEquipmentDirect.com
ShopPBS.com
Shutterfly.com
Step2.com

Sporting Goods
Altrec.com
BestKiteboarding.com
Bodybuilding.com
Cabelas.com
DicksSportingGoods.com
Golfballs.com
Moosejaw.com
REI.com


Here`s the bottom line about being a market leader: It`s not just about the bottom line.

Market leaders in e-commerce stand out in the crowd because, among other things, they are innovative and engaging, create striking and effective site designs, do something critical such as site search better than the rest, take risks on new concepts and technologies such as social networking and Ajax, set trends such as m-commerce rather than wait and see, and know their customers extraordinarily well, exceeding their desires and needs. These are among the qualities, which ultimately can lead to a healthy bottom line, that vaulted e-retailers into the Hot 100.

Bodybuilding.com is an excellent example of a market-leading e-retailer using the latest Internet concepts and tools to greatly enhance the web experience to satisfy and support customers, keeping them and its business healthy.

"We are building something that is not just based on making money," says Ryan DeLuca, CEO of the health and fitness products e-retailer. "Everything we add to our site is based on helping visitors reach their goals. Helping our visitors stick to their programs and reach their goals will ultimately lead to much higher revenue, a much more valuable brand based on emotional connections, and more profitability based on increased customer loyalty."

Shrewd investments
DeLuca puts his money where his mouth is, investing in Web 2.0 strategies that have paid off. Customers have embraced myriad useful resources and Bodybuilding.com has enjoyed financial rewards.

The site offers 20,000 pages of content from experts and consumers and an online forum where more than 800,000 fitness buffs have posted 19 million messages over the past five years (and is the 34th biggest online forum on the web as measured by forum tracker Big Boards). And it features 24 educational online video series, functionality that enables a user to create his own blog, and a social network called BodySpace--which includes links to the online store--that has amassed 117,000 members.

"There is no doubt our community and social networking offerings are making a big difference for sales and conversion," DeLuca says. "Since we added BodySpace, our average order size is up nearly $10 to $92.41, and our conversion rate is 8%, up from 7% a year ago. That one percentage point is huge."

Other Hot 100 e-retailers that offer online forums, social networking and other community-oriented tools include AbeBooks.com, Amazon.com, Netflix and PetsUnited.

At the same time, an e-retailer does not have to be big and muscular like Bodybuilding.com and others with Web 2.0 offerings galore to be a market leader. Nor does it have to be laden with bells and whistles. Shoppers at RepairClinic.com, for example, find a no-frills site. RepairClinic.com sets itself apart, though, with a wealth of online informational resources and a web tool that`s quicker than the eye.

The PartDetective "smart search" tool is the web retailer`s shining star. Site search can be a frustrating affair on many e-commerce sites. At RepairClinic.com, a shopper can very quickly drill down through the e-retailer`s stock of more than 600,000 appliance parts to find the most obscure item imaginable. In as little as 10 seconds a shopper can find a much-needed item he doesn`t even know how to identify.

Also, RepairClinic.com`s RepairGuru section offers information and repair how-to`s on every major appliance. Rather than kick their broken washing machines, shoppers can click to the washing machine gallery to find an abundance of educational information. Or they can ask questions of RepairClinic.com`s repair guru, who helps people solve problems free of charge.

RepairClinic.com has been doing such a good job, in fact, that retail giant Home Depot, also a Hot 100 e-retailer, in late October announced a partnership with the parts merchant. Goliath now has David as its appliance parts specialist.

Taking a chance
Site search, present at the birth of the web, is crucial to success in e-commerce, and RepairClinic.com does it well. The web, however, births new technology at a lightning pace, and Internet users embrace new tools quickly. Because of this, smart e-retailers stay on top of web technology developments--and quickly consider whether they need to adopt new technology.

Desktop widgets are new to e-commerce in the last year or so, and they are hardly as must-have as site search. But some e-retailers--including Hot 100 merchants J.C. Penney Co. Inc., Moosejaw Mountaineering and Shop.com--saw opportunity in these tiny web applications that sit on users` desktops and are linked to web sites whenever a computer is on: a new information tool with the potential to boost sales and greatly increase brand awareness.

J.C. Penney in May launched a robust desktop widget. JCPToday is a little larger and more complex than most widgets. The top half showcases the latest news, products and sales on J.C. Penney`s e-commerce site; a click on any of the small, horizontal message boxes connects a customer to the relevant page on the site. The bottom half is a weekly calendar that highlights a product of the day; consumers can click on any day of the week to get product information and images without having to leave the widget for the e-commerce site.

Video`s growing
Widgets are just entering the experimental stage in e-commerce. Last year online video was in its infancy in web retailing, though past being an experiment. This year, online video is on its way to potentially becoming a significant differentiator among Internet retailers.

Merchants in the Hot 100 using online video span product categories and size, from smaller e-retailers such as BestKiteboarding.com and Rockler Woodworking and Hardware to larger ones such as Barnes and Noble, Jewelry Television and ShopNBC.com.

BestKiteboarding.com features product and instructional online videos. Then it goes a step further: It hits the social web scene by posting videos of customers in action. Based on the popularity among the younger set of YouTube and other video sites and interaction with customers, the e-retailer knew online video would appeal to its core demographic, young men. And so it ladled video on thick, showing that even the little guy can be ahead of the game.

As it shows with its heavy use of online video and wild, colorful site design, BestKiteboarding.com exemplifies a trait at the core of being a market leader: knowing one`s customer very well. Many e-retailers set up shop based simply on the products they sell. Hot 100 e-retailers create site experiences with a keen eye on who is landing on their doorstep, fashioning design, merchandising, marketing, information and community strategies that appeal with great effectiveness to regular customers as well as prospects.

Step2.com recognizes parents can find shopping online for many toys difficult, but it goes a long way toward making toy shopping an easy task. Not only does the e-retailer offer good visuals showing the size and functionality of toys of all sizes, it also provides detailed information on practical matters like shipping times and assembly instructions--all on a single attractive page.

Abt Electronics knows customers have a specific plan when they seek electronics and appliances and the family-owned business has translated the user experience from its lone store to the Internet. Technology from Guidester Inc. enables Abt shoppers to sort products quickly from among more than 10,000 SKUs by clicking criteria such as price, features, manufacturer and, perhaps most important, user experience level to reduce choices. Abt expects the technology to contribute significantly to 2007 profits.

Really knowing customers and creating a spot-on shopping experience, excelling at core online processes, pushing the envelope with new concepts and technologies, setting trends--these are some of the things that push the Hot 100 e-retailers to the top. And all Internet retailers can learn something from these 100 online merchants, each and every one. bill@verticalwebmedia.com

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