Gang,
We’re undergoing some improvements at etailology over the next few days. Let me know how you like them! Also, I’ll be condensing the categories in the hopes of focusing the blog a bit more — around strategy, great etail models and concepts, etc. . I’ll be writing/posting less about etail news and tactics (though I will be providing a reading list … stay tuned!) and more about the ideas and concepts I can uniquely bring (a la my customer experience, woot.com, etc. postings).
Keep the comments and email coming. 
–David
A great article via Hear 2.0: “It doesnt have a Wienie”.
It talks about the “finishing touch” as part of a consumer experience…. in this case, the example (and the term “weinie”) comes from Walt Disney, but once you understand the concept I’m sure you’ll be able to identify countless examples.
Does your customer experience have a wienie?
A short, sweet insight from Seth Godin. Etailers take note:
“Sometimes, the best part of buying something…is the buying part.”
Sweding is a term coined in the movie “Be Kind, Rewind” (see the wikipedia entry about the movie.) It’s best described as when fans “take classic films and remake them into short films using videotape, a virtually nonexistent budget, amateur actors, and insane amounts of creativity.” (quote from alwayswatching.org).
The movie’s makers have capitalized on the sudden enthusiasm around the concept of “sweding” in the real world and have created an excellent YouTube channel which promotes the film and shares sweded materials from regular people around the world.
So here it is: a film invents a word, Internet users run with it, and the filmakers run with the Internet-users’ idea and turn it into a fantastic marketing vehicle. Genius.
(And oh, btw some of the sweded film submissions are hilarious!)
