Steve Woda's blog

MySpace is Your Space. EverybodySpace.com

Written by Guest Blogger, Marc Morel - Director of Product Management, buySAFE

Web 2.0 has been ruling our world for several years now. We have all been posting, rating, blogging, podcasting, and commenting on everything from politics to the latest ball game we went to watch. This is power to the masses. And the world got better. But, did it really? I am not so sure...

The buySAFE Revolution?

Could 2007 be the year for The buySAFE Revolution?  I obviously hope so.

Brian Smith at Comparison Engines recently did a comprehensive post analyzing buySAFE's prospects in 2007, and I thought you might enjoy the read.

"The buySAFE Revolution - 2007" by Comparison Engines

Brian writes a terrific blog, and if you are interested in eCommerce, you need to regularly check out his insights.

We obviously have a lot of work in front of us, but so far this year, buySAFE has added numerous distribution partnerships that enable tens of thousands of merchants to use buySAFE.  In addition, some of the largest merchants in eCommerce are now using buySAFE on their websites.  I hope I can report back to you this time next year with news that 2007 was, in fact, the year of The buySAFE Revolution!

Related blog posts:
"buySAFE News Update" by Jeff Grass, buySAFE Blog

buySAFE for MIVA Merchant 5

Yesterday, buySAFE and MIVA launched buySAFE's trust and safety solution for all MIVA 5 Merchant customers.  This is exciting news for buySAFE, MIVA, MIVA's hosting partners, and most importantly, MIVA's merchants. 

If you are a MIVA merchant, you can begin using buySAFE on your website store with just a few minutes worth of effort.  Not only will you be able to drive up your store's conversion rates by bonding your eCommerce sales with buySAFE, you can use buySAFE for FREE!  It won't cost MIVA's merchants one penny to use buySAFE on their website stores. 

In addition, if you upgrade your buySAFE account from a Trial account to a Full account (it is still free!), buySAFE will pay you a revenue bonus on each and every bonded transaction going forward.  Yes.  You heard me right.  Not only is buySAFE free for MIVA Merchant 5 customers, but buySAFE will pay merchants to use buySAFE. 

Finally, James Harrell, General Manager of MIVA Small Business, also announced additional incentives of up to $5,000 for installing and using buySAFE.  Obviously, we seriously believe that once merchants try buySAFE, they will love buySAFE!

This is exciting news for MIVA because it provides MIVA's merchants with a proven tool for driving higher conversion rates and sales.  MIVA is dedicated to giving its merchants cutting edge services, and this is simply the latest initiative on their part to do that.

If you are a MIVA hosting partner (premier or standard), this is big news because the buySAFE for MIVA Merchant 5 product can provide a significant new revenue stream for hosting companies.  You should contact MIVA or buySAFE for additional details on how you can take advantage of this new revenue opportunity.

For buySAFE, this is exciting news because this morning thousands of MIVA merchants can roll out of bed and, with a few easy steps, activate buySAFE on their websites!  I think that is all I need to say.

Congratulations to the buySAFE and MIVA teams for a job well done.

Survey Reveals Shoppers Are Nervous

I often hear people suggest that since eCommerce is growing so fast, shoppers are obviously perfectly confident and comfortable shopping online.  In my opinion, that is naive, and it ignores the facts. 

During the recent holiday shopping season, a new survey was published confirming that consumers are, in fact, nervous shopping online, and that these concerns are growing, not abating.  buySAFE commissioned an independent firm, InsightExpress, to survey 1,000 random, online shoppers for their views on trust, safety, security and eCommerce.  The eCommerce survey reveals that small and medium-sized retailers without well-known brand names are the big losers when it comes to nervous shoppers.  More than 1/3 of shoppers, 35%, feel "unsafe" when considering purchasing from unknown retailers.   

International Visitors Drive eBay Traffic

This AuctionBytes article by Lissa McGrath is a couple of months old, but I find it to be quite fascinating. 

During this past holiday shopping season, about 70% of eBay's website traffic came from beyond the United States' borders.  Wow!  Obviously, the international Internet is the real deal in 2007.  I haven't spent any time independently analyzing this traffic data, but if true, it provides a fascinating view of how the eCommerce marketplace is evolving.