6 Great Weekend Reads: E-commerce Link Digest

Looks like this is going to be a great weekend here in the Northeast. Hope you get a chance to enjoy the fall weather. But, when you’ve got some downtime, you might want to take a few minutes and check out these 6 great weekend reads. Now, let’s get on with the list:

1. Marketing Charts shows that mobile neared 40% of organic search traffic in Q3. Um… wow. It’s no secret that mobile’s getting really huge, but that’s a really big number.
2. eMarketer shares new research showing position is huge for smartphone search ad click-through rates (CTRs), which leads Search Engine Land to ask whether bigger iPhones are better for paid search. The answer, for right now, is no. But the trend bears watching in detail
3. FutureCommerce gets it right by saying every customer is a mobile customer. Given research that shows 66% of tablet shoppers leverage mobile during path to purchase, I don’t expect this to change anytime soon. All that said, I don’t expect e-commerce will kill retail, as long as retailers, marketers, and merchants recognize the trends and work to support their customers effectively in all channels.
4. I made a similar point in this week’s Thinks Out Loud episode, which looked at what happens when “It’s All E-commerce” goes wrong.
5. GetElastic has a cool “Pinfographic” (cute, eh?), showing the link between Pinterest and e-commerce and also offers great insights on the benefit of using Pinterest’s rich pins. As Saks’ director of social media, Qianna Smith, told Luxury Daily Pinterest boards should be extension of merchandising. Good reading.
6. Another great Luxury Daily article shows streamlining Web sites leads to increased e-commerce. That shouldn’t shock anyone. But it’s worth keeping an eye on.

Have a great weekend, Big Thinkers. And don’t forget to catch up on these “In Case You Missed It: 10 Posts from the Archives,” last week’s Link Digest post, “8 Potentially Game-Changing Trends,” the “8 Crucial Marketing and E-commerce Posts: The Top Posts from September,” and the rest of the E-commerce Link Digest series.

Plus, don’t miss these slides and video from my recent webinar, “Digital Marketing Directions: Three Key Trends Driving Your Marketing Next Year”:

And, if you’re interested in learning even more about how customers changing behavior shapes e-commerce and marketing, register to receive a special report I’ve produced in conjunction with hotel marketing firm Vizergy, “Digital Hotel Marketing in a Multiscreen World.” While it’s targeted specifically at hotel and resort marketers, the lessons apply to just about any business. You can get your free copy of the report here.

Finally, you might also want to check out some of our past coverage of the mobile, local, social web and how to make it work for your business, including:

• What Your Customers Expect from Mobile and E-commerce in 2014
• The Secrets Behind “It’s All E-commerce” for 2014
• Should Marketers Really Trust Google in 2014?
• The Zen of Digital Marketing Strategy
• 7 Steps to E-Commerce Heaven
• Today and Tomorrow: Mobile and The Changing Customer Journey
• Mobile Makes E-commerce Even More “Frictionless”
• Your 2014 Internet Marketing New Year’s Resolutions – Thinks Out Loud Episode 56