De Beers takes on Texas for fourth U.S. store
September 18, 2007

Houston—De Beers Diamond Jewellers has launched its fourth U.S. store in Houston at the Galleria, an urban development comprised of hotels, office towers and major department stores that is also the largest mall in Texas.

The 1,353-square-foot store features new collections by De Beers Creative Director Raphaele Canot, including "Secrets of the Rose," "Talisman" and "Radiance." Additionally, unique high-end bridal jewelry and the signature collection "Wildflowers" will be featured.

Architect and designer Antonio Citterio came up with the concepts for the Houston location, which includes open spaces, ebony walls, etched glass paneling and a VIP room for private presentations. The store features 360-degree counters that allow clients and sales team members a "side-by-side" experience, De Beers said in a statement.

The launch of this location follows the June 2005 launch at Fifth Avenue and 55th Street in New York; the December 2005 launch on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Calif.; and the January 2007 launch at the Forum Shops at Caesars in Las Vegas.

Survey: Online retailers building better Web sites
September 18, 2007

Las Vegas—With shoppers becoming more discriminating about how they shop online, Web retailers are fine-tuning site design, adding customer ratings and reviews and boosting cross-channel integration, finds a new Shop.org study released at the research group's annual summit in Las Vegas.

"Today's online shopper is extremely Web-savvy and expects more than ever, forcing retailers to raise the stakes," said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org in a press release issued Tuesday. "Companies are investing in new features that will keep customers coming back, and homepages everywhere are getting a major facelift."

Top priorities for online retailers include fixing Web site design and performance issues, improving the efficiency of online marketing, and enhancing cross-channel integration, according to the 150 retailers surveyed for the second part of The State of Retailing Online 2007, the 10th annual Shop.org study conducted by Forrester Research.

Fixing product detail pages is at the top of online retailers' to-do lists for the next 12 months, the survey found. Some 88 percent of retailers plan to focus on improving product detail page content, with 80 percent adding alternative images, 72 percent incorporating lifestyle photography, and 63 percent integrating customer ratings and reviews onto those pages.

Retailers are also focusing on their homepage content, adding such features as top sellers and "what's new" sections as well as dropdown menus and rollover lists in navigational areas. To differentiate themselves from competitors, online retailers are also making customer service a priority, with 33 percent of companies responding saying they plan to invest more in live chat functions and 53 percent planning to streamline the guest checkout process within the next year.

In 2006, online retailers continued to allocate the bulk of their marketing dollars (51 percent) toward acquiring new customers online and an additional 24 percent to online customer retention programs.

Paid search continued to be the most effective marketing tactic for customer acquisition, and e-mail marketing retained its position as the most effective—and economical—tool for customer retention. Seventy-three percent of retailers e-mail customers about new products, and 51 percent rated the method as very effective, the survey says.

Retailers also understand the value of operating in multiple channels, the survey reveals. Respondents said that 43 percent of catalog customers have also purchased from their company's online store while 35 percent of online customers have also purchased from their company's brick-and-mortar store.

Online retailers reported that in 2006, they dedicated on average 18 percent of their marketing spend to cross-channel sales, up from 13 percent in 2005. Typically, such tactics included direct mail initiatives such as sending out catalogs and e-mails to drive customers to local stores. However, more retailers are wielding print mail as a way to increase online sales. According to the study, 66 percent of retailers weight a catalog's success by how well it increases Web sales.

"The perception that catalogs are a dying breed could not be further from the truth," said Silverman. "For online retailers, catalogs are an incredibly important tool for acquiring new customers and providing current customers with their first look at new products. Retailers understand that many consumers get a catalog in the mail, then buy the item online."

The State of Retailing Online 2007 is currently available to Shop.org members and can also be purchased directly at Shop.org.

Corum all in for poker champs
September 18, 2007

Irvine, Calif.—Corum is placing its bets on some of the world's top poker players, choosing the high-roller players as ambassadors for its watches.

The brand, which is the official timepiece and bracelet supplier of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), has lined up seven top poker professionals as members of Team Corum.

The players, in alphabetical order, are: Chad Brown, Antonio Esfandiari, Jennifer Harman, Daniel Negreanu, Vanessa Rousso, David Williams and Robert Williamson III. Each has chosen a different Corum watch to help promote the brand.

"Corum is very proud to be associated with these skilled professionals," Corum USA President Stacie Orloff said in a press release issued Monday. "They each have a flair and style that fits perfectly with our dynamic watches."

Negreanu, also known as the "Poker Kid" thanks to his victories in over 50 worldwide poker tournaments, was the brand's first ambassador. He wears either a 48-millimeter titanium "Admiral's Cup Competition" or the brand's newly reintroduced "Romvlvs."

The poker champ recently hosted a Corum Poker Night at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, where he coached and advised Tourneau's top retail managers. Thanks to numerous wins, including three WSOP bracelets and two World Poker Tour titles, Negreanu has earned more than $9.7 million in prize money.

Dimexon Diamond snags software award
September 18, 2007

Mumbai, India—Diamond manufacturing group Dimexon Diamonds has won the SAP ACE 2007 award for "Best Gems & Jewellery Sector Implementation" of SAP software.

SAP is a leading provider of business software solutions, and its ACE award series is held each year to recognize and reward implementation of SAP solutions in India.

Dimexon employs SAP ECC version 6.0, which Rajiv Mehta, chief executive officer of Dimexon, says has allowed the company to maximize the value of the diamonds it manufactures through inventory tracking and valuation, and real-time pricing, among other efficiencies.

After the project preparation stage, Dimexon went through a blueprint stage of rigorous integration tests. Extensive SAP training sessions were also held to train nearly 300 people, including top management, core team members and key users. At the end of a nine-month period, a global rollout took place to Dimexon's offices in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Hong Kong and China.

The SAP ACE awards evaluation process was comprised of four stages: scrutiny of the nomination form, short listing via interviews, on-site audit review and a final assessment by a jury comprised of experts in the field of information technology.

Nominees were judged on their adherence to the project schedule, return on investment, unique features or innovations in the project, specific business impacts and critical success factors of the project.

Dimexon has announced plans to roll out phase two of the software implementation, which would bring in elements of advanced intelligence in data analysis and summation, the company said in a statement.