Marty Note
Solid tips here with a few caveats:

* #3 printing is a nice to have now not a must have. Printing just isn't as important, but, for some, a printed piece is easier to share.

* Reviews are now more important in their absence. Having hundreds of reviews is great as it shows the size and value of the tribe formed around a given product. A Customer's voice is always a tad different sounding too, so be sure to curate content FROM reviews.

* High res images is a good idea, but don't slow the delivery of your page down. Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to help server your images and videos fast no matter who is looking at your content or from where.

* Product comparisons are great especially if they are social.

* Shipping = we would amend shipping to make sure your FREE Shipping triggers are easy to find / be aware of and set to maximize conversions.

$50,000 New Ecommerce Web Design Contest
FOMs (Friends of Martin's) are working on a cool event to support my +FedEx keynote talk in Maryland at the end of February. We have 3 partners willing to contribute time into a "prize" to help online merchants pivot to the NEW Ecommerce.

If you would like to contribute email Martin(at)Curagami.com (not on our site yet as we may fill our partner roster from friends and social. Read more about the contest on G+
https://plus.google.com/102639884404823294558/posts/M3n5Ds4Tk9p

E-commerce used to be static, Not So Much Anymore
This excellent Paper.li post from @Cendrine Marrouat - https://www.cendrinemedia.comshares interesting ecommerce research, design ideas and the impact of the social / mobile web on online commerce.

The new ecommerce requires originality, social curation and a supportive tribe as we discuss regularly at http://www.Curagami.com our Durham, NC based startup dedicated to creating cool new tools for online merchants.

This holiday selling season (2014) will happen as close to real time as any thanks to the social / mobile web. Listening and curating are going to be important, but so is tapping the nostalgia and spirit of the season in creative and collaborative ways.

This holiday selling season (2014) will happen as close to real time as any thanks to the social / mobile web. Listening and curating are going to be important, but so is tapping the nostalgia and spirit of the season in creative and collaborative ways.

Designing Tomorrow's Ecommerce Today
Added artist Sara Havey's magical knitting gnome to the fastest "views" Haiku Deck I've ever created (300+ in 24 hours) because it is a perfect example of the New Ecommerce's crowdsourcing and DIY future.

The deck is divided into three sections:
* Current Ecommerce Best Practices.
* Rise of the Social / Mobile Web & Social Shopping.
* Crowdfunding, Crowdsourcing and DIY.

Is it possible to create tomorrow's ecommerce website TODAY? Is Sara's gnome knitting? You bet!

“Designing your eCommerce store is not only about making it look good, but also making sure that it generates sales. Your goal is to make potential customers”

Meshing A V8 SLAP
Had a V8 Slap today when I realized that the way Google has set up this new chess board doesn't favor the creation of new anything. When we started working on CureCancerStarter.org the chess board seemed to favor a User Generated Content (UGC) platform.

We wanted to create Kickstarter.com for cancer research. Great idea, but too late. Post Google's algorithm changes where social signals rule and trusted sources have all the high ground thinking in ways to fit YOURS into THEIRS is more productive and a better bet.

Important for ecommerce merchants to think in these terms:

* Appify.
* Widgetize.

* Gamify.

Ecommerce merchants may be the most impacted by these changes. Commerce can happen anywhere so why isn't it? Our merchant minds, I ran a sizable ecom website for 7 years, still focus on CASTLE building when we should be thinking about crowd converting.

Find ways to EMBED and MESH your ideas into already scaled systems and your idea, startup or site might just survive long enough to matter. One you matter you can think about castle building.

A infographic featuring web design trends for 2013 created by Enfuzed. This is the original!

Checkout is where rubber meets road in ecommerce. Great infographic showing checkout design trends among top 200 online merchants around the world here. 

Gamer Joseph Kim Rocks E-commerce These are the times we live in. Times when one of the most substantial, intelligent and interesting e-commerce and cont

Great E-Commerce Homepage Design Tips

Three concepts are critical to great e-commerce website design:
* Golden Triangle
* People Sight Lines.

* Calls To Action.

Tis post shares specific examples of each of these Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for great conversion and engagement in ecommerce website design.