E-Com's Future is MAYA In 5 Inescapable Trends
MAYA is influential designer Raymond Loewy's Most Advanced Yet Acceptable idea. If there is a better description for the future of online commerce and web design we don't know it (and would like to learn it so please share). 

The Made To Stick rules says too new is BAD. Sell the new from versioning the old and that is what MAYA is all about as we share in this Curagami post: http://www.curagami.com/maya-five-inescapable-web-marketing-trends/ 

Holiday E-commerce Trends Infographic shares trends in free shipping, gamification, mobile, cause and loyalty marketing we've watched for years including:

* Free Shiping
* Smartphones & Mobile
* Gamification & Loyalty
* Cause Marketing

* Ask for Help

More on Curgami

http://www.curagami.com/holiday-e-commerce-trends-infographic/?v=7516fd43adaa

Rise of Social Shopping
Blink an eye and big stuff happens. With valuations in the billions for sites such as +OpenSky and in the hundreds of millions for relative newcomer WaNeLo.com Don't get lost in the trap such valuations create.

Remember Arthur C. Clarke's quote:
Any sufficiently NEW technology is indistinguishable from MAGIC.

There are several forms of new ecommerce magic happening now including:

+Wanelo = gamified, social & mobile shopping.
MassDrop = social affiliate program.
+OpenSky = Social Shopping with a #crowdfunding or +quirkydotcom  feel.
+fab.com = social shopping.
+Etsy = +eBay for crafters.
+Woot = Daily Deal

We added a new section to our Ecommerce Questions Haiku Deck to reflect the rise of social shopping. We also noted how and why Amazon should be worried. New "social shopping" plays are hitting Amazon right where they are vulnerable - community, social and mobile.

Amazon is  "Search and Stab" and they are about to compete with savvy mobile game creators. Shopping as a social game will beat low prices created by scale. Didn't Amazon just prove that point by vanquishing Walmart from the king's ecommerce throne?

Amazon understands the ARBITRAGE of online commerce better than anyone, but what if arbitrage wasn't the driving force anymore? Going to be an interesting fight between SCALE and its many benefits and a new generation of "kids" who don't know any better than to question everything, assume nothing and have FUN.

Fun is contagious. Will follow with video notes soon.

After Curagami's annual Black Friday online retail study ecommerce 2015 trends such as free returns and ship to store are clear. This Haiku Deck explores trending online retailing tactics, strategy and pressures merchantsface in 2015.

Zazzle, Cafe Press, Etsy and Sara Harvey show how ecommerce's social future is about collaboration, empowering and sharing. Does your store do that?

By mashing eBay's Pitman with Motif's Walia we see the functional, social and mobile future of online retailing, ecommerce and mobile / social shopping.

4 eCommerce packaging trends that we will see in 2014. Discover different companies that are using their packaging with additional value to sell more.

Marketing driven commerce is about engaging your customers whenever and wherever they are. Get started in creating new marketing strategies and optimizing current ones with guidance from these white p

Ecommies - Identifying ecommerce trends, rate and review ecom tools and hold annual awards.

Holiday 2013 Awards
First Ecommies Holiday ratings are in. William-Sonoma & REI.com top the list in November and December.  L. L. Bean gets "most improved" award from November to December and several trends emerge:

* Free Shipping out and back is trending especially in December. 
* Free shipping all orders is trending. 

* Hiding free shipping behind either codes or triggers is declining.

* Deal of the Day is trending with majors like REI.com adding DOD.

* Standard credit card based loyalty programs prevalent. 

* Still many catalog and retail merchandising tactics such as "door busters". 

Ratings report card on Google docs: http://bit.ly/1bPhwz3 

Holiday ecommerce merchandising wasn't very inspired this year. December ratings went DOWN from November. Based on this year's performance ecommerce is clearly in a rut. 

A McKinsey iConsumer survey spotlights key trends in e-commerce, mobile, multichannel, social media, and big data. From McKinsey via Visual.ly. Tons of excellent infographics in one place.

Europe is higher up on the evolutionary Ecom ladder than USA. Perhaps due to high gasoline prices or not having as dispersed or developed a brick and mortar environment (would be hard to duplicate Walmart's distribution prowess when so many countries are involved) England's retail is already at 15% several points ahead of America.

This infographic is instructive about the future of the world, ecommerce, mobile commerce and social media.