Twitter may be pushing 10 billion tweets, but Facebook has reached $1 billion in revenue, according to a recent article on TMCnet.com, written by David Sims. Citing a Mashable.com feature, Facebook’s finance numbers have always been hidden  away. But,  recently additional tidbits of information have been leaked, which illustrate a rapid increase in revenue over the last few years. In 2007, annual revenue was said to be  at $150 million. Revenue for 2008 was believed to be at $300 million, while it is widely cited that the social networking behemoth pulled in roughly $700 million in 2009.

But, where is the boost coming from? Thebigmoney.com says the recent, rapid growth is due to, “…a strong advertising push from social gaming companies, along with direct marketers and local businesses.” While there have always been a number of theories regarding the site’s (in)ability to monetize, its registered 400 million users presents an unparralled opportunity. And, if Facebook can figure out a way to successfully grow its revenue, this could pave the way for monetizing other social sites and apps. At the end of the day, Facebook’s revenue will overwhelmingly come from advertising. But how the story will continue to play out remains to be seen.

Via TMCnet

An article about the growing advertising revenues earned by the Internet’s largest sites, was recently featured on Tech Crunch. The top four companies in terms of web advertising were Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL, who saw a combined Q4 growth of 10.2 percent, or $9 billion, last year. This was the second consecutive quarter of growth, a noteworthy figure given the Q1 and Q2 declines caused by the recession.

It is also noteworthy that gains were earned by all four companies — not just Google. This represents a strong indication that display advertising, not only search advertising, is stabilizing. Search advertising, however, is still producing the largest gains. Of the four companies, Microsoft saw the largest percentage of growth at 18.6 as their revenue is starting to count for something. But the other three companies were close behind, growing at least 11.5 percent.

The author, Erick Schonfeld, keeps tabs on these four companies each quarter as he sees their combined figures representing the state of the global ad market. The numbers include global advertising revenues and network revenues paid to affiliates through networks such as AdSense and Yahoo!. (Note: the numbers also include only the advertising portions of online revenues for Microsoft and AOL.

Here are the numbers:

via Erick Schonfeld @ Tech Crunch

A recent article from Econsultancy.com discussed how online retailers are starting to offer more flexible shipping options. Author Graham Charlton cited an E-commerce retail delivery report released by Snow Valley, which showed that 64% of e-tailers involved in the study now provide a variety of time-related delivery choices to customers. While this is a good start, the industry as a whole still has a long way to go in regards to delivery options. Snow Valley also reported that only 14.4% of e-tailers provided a choice to customers of a specific delivery date, and only 15% offered a specific time slot.

Offering a specific delivery date to customers is  becoming increasingly important to those who need to have orders delivered within specific time window (ie., prior to Christmas). It is widely held that increasing shipping options will help e-tailers reach a wider audience and can also be leveraged as a sales tool. Larger online retailers, are taking the lead, offering more advanced shipping options: 36% of e-tailers on the ‘Hitwise Hot 100′ list provide specific time slots, while 53% provide a Saturday delivery option. Furthermore, many companies now offer free shipping.

Perhaps one of the most telling findings of this report is that, of the companies surveyed in the report, 30.1% did not provide any shipping information until shoppers entered the checkout stage.

via econsultancy.com

An article recently posted on WSJ, written by Elizabeth Holmes, illustrates how wise planning on the part of apparel retailers led to strong January sales as they quickly moved clearance items, making room for their spring merchandise. Clothing retailers proved their business savvy over the recent holidays season by keeping their inventories lean and not budging on discounts. Deal hungry consumers were left seeking marked-down products in the new year, said Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics Inc. Because inventories were so tight, shoppers gobbled up a majority of discounted goods in the first two weeks of the year then moved directly on to spring-related items which sold for full price.

The smart planning resulted in the largest sales increase in almost two years. And while this may not indicate that consumers are ready to spend on the same level as they were prior to the recession, it does show that retailers and consumers  are starting to understand where the market is at. “You can say you are in a challenging position and have a tough set of circumstances surrounding you,” Macy’s Inc. Chief Executive Terry Lundgren said, discussing the current climate, “but at least you can forecast where the future is going to be.”

According to Thomson Reuters and Retail Metrics Inc., retail sales at stores (open at least one year), not including Wal-Mart, rose 3.3% in January 2010, year over year. January proved to be the , “icing on a cake that had already been baked,” said Todd Slater, an analyst for Lazard Capital Markets. To highlight a few companies in particular, Macy’s gained 3.4% in same-store revenue for January mostly due to diminished clearance merchandise, which increased full-priced sales. American Eagle Outfitters Inc. reported an increase of 10% in same-store sales for January while Children’s Place Retail Store Inc. saw 12% gains. Of the high-end retailers, Nordstrom Inc. was at the top with gains of 14%. One of the most surprising success stories of January was Abercrombie & Fitch Co. which reported same-store sales gains of 8% after analysts forecasted an 8% decline.

These January figures point to the overall importance of offering bargains to shoppers. Some of the most positive figures came from discount retailers such as TJX Cos, operator of Marshalls and T.J. Maxx, which posted an increase of 12% in same-store sales. Kohl’s Corp. reported 6.5% gains while Old Navy saw gains of 10%.

via Wall Street Journal

Internetretailer.com released an article this week mentioning the considerable growth seen by online software and service provider Art Technology Group, Inc. In the midst of a shabby economic climate in 2009, ATG achieved record financial results, said president and CEO Bob Burke. In 2009, ATG saw their highest revenue and net income ever, and signed on a number of new clients. Given the current growth of the e-commerce sector, Burke is excited for what will come in 2010.

Regarding their stock, ATG has just revealed plans to sell an additional 25 million shares which would generate around $100 million to be used to increase working capital and for general “corporate purposes,” possibly including acquisitions. In Q4 2009, ATG reported revenue of $49.7 million, up $4.3 million from the year before. Net income in Q4 was $5.2 million compared to $3.5 million a year earlier. 2009 as a whole saw revenue of $179.4 million, up from $164.6 in 2008. Net income in 2009 was $16.8 million vs. $3.8 million the year prior.

To break it down, ATG generates 55% of revenue from ‘recurring services,’ which include operating e-commerce websites and providing live chat and click-to-call services. Thirty percent of ATG revenue  is from the licensing of e-commerce software. Their impressive client roster includes online retailers such as Amazon, Sears, Best Buy and Neiman Marcus.

via internetretailer.com

A recent post on Zippycart.com describes how Europeans are increasingly engaging online shopping  Out of European countries, The UK experienced the strongest growth online. which now accounts for 10% of British retail spending. The is noteworthy because, while consumers in the U.S. are well accustomed to online shopping, the UK market has only recently began to warm up to  online shopping; this is especially impressive given the current economic climate.

Optimistic forecasts predict that online shopping will increase substantially in 2010. The leap in revenue will most likely come from the online shopping craze-hitting countries such as: Spain, France and Poland. With the expected growth for online,  it is apparent that European brick-and-mortar stores are in great need of a new game plan. Interestingly, the European Union is considering taking measures to protect brick-and-mortar stores from the overwhelming competition by making it mandatory for online e-tailers to also have a storefront.  Many suggest that this could have repurcussions for online mega-stores which operate in Europe (ie., Amazon, etc), as well as existing online-only retailers, but much remains to be seen.

via zippycart

Laurie Burkitt posted an article at Forbes this week, commenting on what she refers to as the ’stupidity of display ads’. The stupidity she says, is evidenced by the fact advertisers have not found ways to effectively cater to consumers, say, in the same way that forward-thinking brands have been able to do with mobile marketing and social media. Brands such as Dominos and Papa Johns have drummed up new business with mobile applications; while, 1-800 Flowers and Dell have been able to leverage the power of social sites such as Twitter and Facebook to generate new customers.

To Burkitt, there are several lessons that advertisers could learn mobile marketing and social media:

• Lesson 1:  Add a buy button. Why shouldn’t more ads be smart modules that could serve as mini sales channels?
• Lesson 2:  Stop trying to take consumers away from what they’re doing. Go to them on the pages they read and give them a way to buy without leaving the page.
• Lesson 3: Make it easy. Consumers will spend their money if you make a streamlined system for them to do it. Look at PayPal, iTunes, and texting.

Assuming another one of Burkitt’s claims is right as well — that display advertising is set to grow rapidly in 2010 — there is still a ways to go for an advertising form which has not changed much over the years.

via Laurie Burkitt @ Forbes

Internetretailer.com recently highlighted the findings by two search engine marketing firms for Q4. One firm, Efficient Frontier, reported that its retail clients spent 17% more on search engine marketing in the fourth quarter of 2009 than in the same period a year earlier, as well as a 46% increase over the third quarter in 2009. While the other firm, SearchIgnite, revealed that its retail clients spent 12% more on paid search ads in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to the same quarter in the previous year.

Efficient Frontier also showed a 90% rise in retail-related search queries. Sales, however, did not show the same increase across the board. Click-through rates saw a 40% decline,  while conversions-per-click stayed about the same.  Unfortunately, orders per impression decreased 30%. The cost per click was also 9% less in the fourth quarter than the same quarter last year.

Some other noteworthy findings include:

• The average transaction size for orders coming from search engines was down roughly 5% year over year, but up about 5% compared to Q3 2009.
• Google captured the win in search ads, earning 74.4% of clicks, while Yahoo’s click share declined to 21% in Q4 from 24.4% in Q3. Bing captured 4.6% of clicks in Q4, a slight decrease from 4.7% in Q3.
• Google secured 74.5% of total search ad spending in Q4, up slightly from 73.9% in Q3. Yahoo lost only a small portion of spending, declining to 20.4% in Q4 from 20.9% in Q3, while Bing dropped to 5.1% in Q4 from 5.3% in Q3, according to Efficient Frontier.

While the numbers for Q4 appear lackluster, Efficient Frontier is anticipating a surge of 15%-20% in search ad spending  for 2010. This forecast echoes other recent claims about the state of the economy, as well as what many anticipate to be a recovery for online advertising.

via internetretailer.com

Earlier today, Forbes posted an article by Robert Olsen, discussing the rapidly expanding e-commerce market in China, which is expected to nearly double in 2010. According to this article, web activity in China appears to be business as usual despite recent discussions regarding the Google’s controversy. According to the China Internet Network Information Center, 2009 saw the number of Internet users in the country skyrocket 28.9%. As a result, China has 384 million users — more than the population of the US. In 2009, Chinese e-commerce grew by 90%.

Worldwide, online shopping sales reached $36.6 billion in 2009, a feat many experts attribute to increased web security, and waning consumers’ fears about ordering online. This has been a difficult obstacle to overcome in China, where many consumers have had a difficult time trusting retailers to send genuine and undamaged goods, once money is exchanged. Fortunately, new and reliable third party  payment services, such as Alipay, are are growing in prominence in China.

Alipay (owned by Alibaba) is much like Paypal, but funds are not transferred to the vendor until after after a confirmed delivery. Alipay’s growth is remarkable as they are now processing more than $146 million in transactions every day. And recently, Alipay  announced that within two years, their revenue would exceed that of Paypal. Similar to the Paypal/Ebay relationship, much of Alipay’s success has been linked to the company’s online retailer, Taobao, which accounts for 80% of China’s total online market share.

via Robert Olsen @ Forbes.com

Retailers saw modest gains in total sales this past holiday shopping season, including the online sector. According to the National Retail Federation, total holiday sales saw an increase of 1.1%, an unexpected but welcomed surprise after 2008’s -3.4% contraction. According to ComScore, online sales rose 4% this past holiday season, when compared to holiday 2008 — certainly an improvement over last year’s -5.7% decline.

Total holiday sales reached nearly $450 billion this holiday season (including November and December) and beat pre-holiday projections of a -1% decline. Of this $450 billion dollars, E-commerce represented $29.1 billion. Regarding this overall increase, NRF Chief Economist Rosalind Wells said, “…with an eye on managing inventory and maintaining lower price points, retailers did a tremendous job of planning for the holiday season.” However, she does not expect the momentum to continue given the double-digit unemployment numbers.

In E-commerce, Black Friday saw an increase in consumers shopping from their homes to avoid the crowded malls. This trend also points to the fact that consumers are becoming increasingly confident with finding deals and promotions online. The sector also received a helping hand from mother nature herself, as severe snowstorms forced many shoppers in the US to stay indoors. The industry’s best performers included: apparel, sporting goods, books and music, and health and personal care. All of these categories earned modest to considerable gains over last year.

Retailers also took the opportunity this past holiday season to increase their social network presences to further reach out to customers. Facebook and Twitter in particular aided retailers with distributing promotions and coupons to savvy consumers. eMarketer, the Internet market research firm, is optimistic in forecasting that online sales will continue to experience accelerated growth, even amidst an ongoing recession.

Via National Retail Federation and eMarketer