Amid all of the increasingly academic discussions of the power of social media, next generation eCommerce technologies, groundbreaking cross-channel retailing initiatives, etc, etc, I am detecting a bit of “strategy fatigue” across the industry.  While there is undoubtedly an important opportunity for retailers to connect with customers in innovative ways, enable their customers to evangelize the brand and deliver experiences on consumer mobile devices and “undocked commerce experiences”, there is also an opportunity to execute with success on the things that deliver quick ROI. 

There is some important blocking and tackling that all successful e-tailers need to do.  Getting their house in order enables retailers to grow their eCommerce business, align with store-based marketing and merchandising and deliver the types of experiences that grow the overall value of the brand. 

A great example of this type of execution can be found in a recent case study published about GameStop.  The full case study can be found here:

http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?casestudyid=4000006245