e-Biz News: Are Product Pages the New Home Page?

This week in e-commerce news, Yahoo updates its search model to include rich media, Shop.org is lobbying for the extension of a tax ban for e-tailers, a study shows that home pages are losing relevance with shoppers and buySAFE partners with a customer-feedback company.

Yahoo With an Assist
Yahoo this week upgraded its search function with a new feature called Search Assist. (see "Yahoo Embraces Universal Search".) Danny Sullivan, the search guru at SearchEngineLand.com, provides an in-depth look at the new function and writes: "Ever had one of those moments when you start to type in a query, enter a word and then pause because you're not quite sure what other words to add to it? Search Assist senses this."

'Cause I'm the Tax Ban
On the legal front, Shop.org is trying to persuade the Senate to support a permanent extension of the ban against multiple taxes on e-commerce.

"Permanently extending the Internet tax moratorium will broaden the reach of technology and help eliminate what remains of the digital divide," said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org, in a letter sent to members of the Senate Commerce Committee. "The moratorium helps to ensure that all Americans have affordable access to the Internet and can connect with those businesses that can best serve their needs."

The moratorium, which is due to expire this November, has the support of Google. On its Public Policy Blog it reads: "The current moratorium prohibits three things: state and local taxation of Internet access, multiple taxes on a single e-commerce transaction, and taxes that discriminate against online transactions. We support a permanent extension of the moratorium because multiple or discriminatory taxes on Internet transactions could damage internet-based commerce, a critical and growing component of our economy."

For a detailed report on the hearings unfolding this week, read Nicholas Carlson's story "SMBs Plead for Permanent Tax Ban."

Less Shoppers Going Home
In Web design news, a study of 500 connected consumers conducted by the digital ad group Avenue A/Razorfish shows that home pages are becoming less important because customers searching for products are often taken directly to those product pages within a site. This means e-tailers need to start treating product pages like home pages, according to the report, by including search and other functions.

It also means home pages are becoming less important as search drives those visitors deeper into a site, meaning marketers need to treat product pages like home pages, adding navigation and sharing functions.

An underlying theme of the report is the importance of designing online experiences, rather than Web sites alone. To illustrate that point, the 100-page report provides recommendations from the study and explains how marketers can engage with consumers through a variety of emerging technologies such as RSS feeds, widgets, interactive video, mobile media, 3-D functionality and social shopping.

Social commerce as a trend is also supported by the findings, with more than 85 percent of those surveyed using "most popular" links on sites to decide what to look at and more than 55 percent making purchasing decisions based on user reviews.

Credibility Meets User-Content
Finally, this week buySAFE announced a partnership with RatePoint. The joint-venture gives buySAFE merchants access to RatePoint's interactive customer-feedback platform, and allows them to take advantage of the benefits of user-generated content. Industry watchers and analysts say customer reviews boost customer retention and loyalty and increases sales.

RatePoint members receive a dynamically generated seal on their Web site that signals credibility to potential buyers and allows customers to submit and view reviews.

Michelle Megna is managing editor of ECommerce-Guide.com.

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