1. Product recommendation software to aid cross-selling offers

BeallsFlorida.com, the online arm of Beall’s Inc.’s Bealls Department Stores, has converted 52% more shoppers to buyers through its cross-selling merchandising offers with a new automated product recommendation application, the retailer says.

The Intelligent Offer product recommendation application from Coremetrics Inc. is designed to produce cross-selling offers based on an automated analysis of the products browsed and purchased in every visitor shopping session. It replaces a manual system at BeallsFlorida that presented cross-sell items based on “common sense” groupings of products, such as dishes from the same pattern or apparel items from the same line.

2. Retailers Off to a Bumpy Start Online on Black Friday

- Technical Quality at 30 Leading Web Sites Measured by Keynote Indicies

- One-Third of Retail Sites Measured Struggle with Pressures of High Holiday Traffic

- Industry-Wide Online Slow-Downs Impact Search and Check-Out Processes

- Keynote to Monitor Retail Sites Throughout Holiday Season

3. Wine.com Social Networking Site

Building on its premise that the more consumers know about wine the better, Wine.com has launched a community site designed to generate traffic as wine enthusiasts share information on their personal preferences. “The web is going social, and wine is a social category, so if you’re Wine.com you better have social community features,” says CEO Rich Bergsund.

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The community site is starting out with features such as wish lists, “send to a friend” e-mails of wine reviews and selections, and the personal wine lists of community members. While checking out a member’s wine list, shoppers can click to buy any of the listed wines available on Wine.com.