Ecommerce site creates desktop widget to drive sales...total cost $600

[mandy]

And so the retailer's Countdown Widget was born. Due Maternity hired a graphic designer to dream up the look of the desktop application's clock; in-house technical staff handled the Java programming required, with an assist from a free Yahoo widget-making tool, to create the wee application and link it 24/7 to DueMaternity.com. The e-commerce site continuously feeds data to the application.

During the first 45 days after launch, the application was downloaded around 10,000 times, customers were enticed with a 10% discount on select purchases, and sales directly attributable to click-throughs from the application to the e-commerce site hit $7,500.

The cost? $600...

full article: http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=23470

[BellisimaJ.]

Thanks, Mandy--great article!!

This summer, the retailer introduced a desktop widget, a tiny, downloadable web application that sits atop a user�s computer desktop. The application graphically renders for a mom-to-be a clock that counts down the time to her due date and provides links to DueMaternity.com for information on pregnancy as well as products, coupons and special offers.

What a FANTASTIC idea!! Anyone do java programming?