E-Commerce Evangelist

Elaine Rubin has been chairman and chief marketing strategist for iBaby.com and senior vice president of interactive commerce for iVillage. Prior to that, she was head of interactive services for 1-800-FLOWERS and worked for Amazon.com. Rubin also co-founded and is former chairman of Shop.org, the trade association for online retailers that is now a division of NRF.

Industry recognition includes being named to Internet Retailer’s “5 Who Made A Difference” and Advertising Age’s “Top 20 Interactive Executives.” In January, Rubin received NRF’s annual Silver Plaque award for being one of the retail industry’s most innovative leaders. Today she’s president of ekrubin, the online commerce consulting firm she founded in 1998 to advise manufacturers and retailers.

What moved you to co-found Shop.org? What were your goals?
In those days, the concept of retailing online was pretty much unheard of. There were a few companies — mostly catalogers and direct marketers that had the concept of selling remote as part of their business and their infrastructure – that were dabbling in online services. They ranged from Prodigy, CompuServe and America Online to JCPenney, Eddie Bauer and 1-800-FLOWERS.

While there were a few conferences addressing the growing online marketplace, [they] usually consisted of one panel on online shopping and the rest was on media and publishing. At one conference in 1996, a few of us online retail pioneers got together to discuss the business and how there was no roadmap, no guidance and no experience in building out online retail experiences/stores.

Meanwhile, Lisa and Cliff Sharples, who were starting Garden.com, came to me to share their idea for an educational concept called Shop.org, which they envisioned would help businesses, retailers, investors and consumers embrace the concept of online shopping. I loved the concept and took it to my network of early adopters. We had our first meeting in 1996.

Creating a B2B community member organization that allowed for in-person meetings and networking events for sharing stories and business experiences was the best way to serve the growing industry and to provide guidance.

What prompted you to go on your own?
In 1998, I had just left my role as chairman and chief marketing strategist for a company I helped create, iBaby.com. The Internet/e-commerce opportunities were exploding and there was a great demand for people who understood the space, who worked in online services and the Internet and understood selling direct to consumers. My first consulting job was with the Estee Lauder company … I helped support the launch of Clinique.com, which was the company’s first direct-to-consumer effort outside of stores.

If you had the attention of all retailers great and small, what would you tell them?
Focus on your customer. Listen to them; engage them. Let them have a seat at your table and help set your business priorities. Over the past 10 years, we have seen the world change dramatically. Technology has fueled an age-old phenomenon — word of mouth. Consumers now have a voice that can broadcast as quickly as a company advertisement.

So what’s the greatest — or worst — customer service you’ve experienced?
It’s not been in retail, but in the hospitality industry. We in the retail space, both online and offline, can learn a lot from Enterprise Rent-A-Car or The Four Seasons [Hotel Company]. In offline retail, I like personal service and pampering; I find the small boutiques do the best job at this. A personal favorite is Marsh’s/Richards/Mitchells here in the Northeast. However, in the department store space, Lord & Taylor has been exceptional. Online, it’s about efficiency so I like speed, recognition, convenience and ease. I have had continually excellent experiences at Zappos.com and Amazon.com.

What other interests might you have pursued?
I might have been a broadcaster, a psychologist or a teacher. It’s quite possible in the future I will teach.

Your guests at a dinner party if you could ask anyone living or passed?
Lucille Ball, Tim Russert, George Clooney, Arthur Ashe and Grandma Mary.