The Future of Online Retailing

August 28, 2007

Continuing this week’s exploration of the issue of internet retailing, Marianne Wolk of Susquehanna Financial Group discusses what to look out for in the future of internet retailing.

Ms. Wolk: In our view, the biggest focus for the next several years will be consumer privacy online. The best online retailers will be asked to do more to protect consumer privacy and to be more open about how they share data about consumers on their sites. Already the FTC is looking into privacy concerns regarding a common practice among online retailers called lead generation. Many online vendors have relied on affiliate advertising networks to drive traffic to their sites. Sometimes these networks displayed content or ads on other third-party Websites to generate leads and other times they used incentives or prizes to attract consumers, a practice that could greatly diminish the value of the lead to the online retailer.

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