Magento announced yesterday that they have obtained their PA-DSS Certification for their secured payment bridge.  By utilizing this bridge and working with your hosting provider, e-tailers will now be able to rest easy at night knowing they are PCI Compliant.  (Please note:  The bridge can only help you become PA-DSS certified, you still need to check to ensure the other elements of your site are in line with rules and regulations to ensure overall PCI Compliance).  Check out this webinar to learn more about making sure you’re business is taking the necessary steps to ensure PCI Compliance.

Want to smell like a man? I’m not talking about body odor and beer. I’m talking about the refreshing scent of a manly body wash. Old Spice certainly wants you to. That is why they have invested so much in their marketing efforts.

Old Spice has taken the use of social media to the next level. Recently, Old Spice launched a YouTube viral video campaign, with their spokesman responding to comments left on the Old Spice Facebook and Twitter accounts. Each video included the name of the original user who made the comment or statement – most responses lasted 30-60 seconds. The Old Spice spokesperson even goes as far as smashing a pirate pinata with a freshwater fish in a video response made just for Demi Moore. The Old Spice YouTube profile has total upload views surpassing 59 million…not too shabby.

Let me start by saying if getting your groove on hasn’t been your thing in the past, you should consider picking up some dance steps I have for you. Social Media continues to offer countless opportunities for businesses to grow but the problem with many businesses is that they get into it because it’s the ‘new thing’ or simply because their competitors are doing it. Nonetheless, there are companies out there getting it right.

Organize.com, a company focused on selling home storage and organization products hosted a virtual party on both Facebook and Twitter as a kickoff to the national Hardware Show on May 4. According to Internet Retailer the event brought in over 1,500 registered guests. During this virtual event the hosts tweeted and posted a number of questions engaging the participants/attendees with a variety of questions that helped give them insight to the lifestyle of their guests. They were able to retain guests by awarding prizes every 10 to 15 minutes.

As e-tailers, agencies, and service providers descend on Chicago for this year’s Internet Retailer Conference, optimism and growth seem to be recurring themes across the eCommerce space.

As we gear up for this year’s conference where the theme has shifted from last year’s “avoiding getting you’re a** kicked in a bad economy to kicking a** in a rebounding economy,” here’s 5 key sessions that will feature great speakers discussing relevant topics that can impact your bottom line. So jump into these sessions and countless others, but make sure you take advantage of the great networking and conversations as well.

There are usually two sides to every company’s eCommerce website team: the marketing team who have done research and set metrics of success, and the creative team who have also done research and applied usability standards. Because this team is still fairly new and undeveloped for most online businesses, their respective goals often misalign. Marketing wants to see that conversion rate number get higher and higher, the creative team wants to guarantee an enjoyable shopping experience for the customer to build loyalty and brand. However, when push comes to shove, which I’m sure it does between numbers-oriented people and images-oriented people, who has the final say?