Webinar recap: Offer value to win holiday sales

Our head’s still spinning from all the great information delivered during last week’s webinar on the 2012 MarketLive Consumer Shopping Survey. The survey covered a bevy of topics, from how shoppers plan to use mobile devices during the holidays to top discounting strategies for winning sales.

One key standout was the impact of Amazon.com. While most merchants are well aware of the online behemoth’s presence, it was eye-opening to see the numbers in black and white:  more than half of consumers planned to make at least a quarter of their purchases on Amazon — a 62% increase compared with last year — while nearly one in three plan to use the site for more than half of their holiday gifting.

Luckily, the webinar also offered an array of solid strategies for merchants to convince shoppers to purchase on their sites instead. The key? Communicating value — a concept that goes beyond prices to include service, brand reputation and uniqueness of products. Value topped the list of product and price factors that influence purchases, with 87% of survey participants saying it’s important — just ahead of product price alone, which 85% of participants said was a priority. Merchants who make the most of that value advantage will thrive, said presenter Lauren Freeman of the E-Tailing Group. Just a few of the tactics the survey identified for communicating brand value:

Reliability. Merchants whose products are in-stock and guaranteed for holiday delivery win points, the survey found, with 82% and 74% of shoppers saying they’re important, respectively. Delivery and shipping cutoff dates also scored high, with 66% of consumers saying they’re important. In addition to communicating in-stock status on the product page, merchants can easily build brand value by creating a clear guide to holiday shipping deadlines and promoting it prominently throughout the site, as  Sundance Catalog did last year with a home-page callout of delivery cutoff dates.

Customer service. Unlike Amazon, small and mid-sized merchants can deliver exceptional personalized service — and according to the survey, consumers acknowledge the importance of customer assistance. The availability of a variety of contact options is key, from an 800 number to “click-to-chat” functionality, as is 24/7 access, which was rated important by 65% of participants.

While not every merchant can offer assistance in every form around the clock, it’s crucial to prominently feature the customer service options that are available — not only on the “contact us” page, but in the global header and on individual product pages, as housewares merchant Cuddledown does with an “Ask an Expert” tab that details contact information and hours.

Expertly-curated gifts. Nearly half of survey participants, 45%, said the availability of recommendations or reviews was a reason they shopped online — up significantly from 2011, when just over a third of shoppers rated the information important. To create brand value, merchants can go beyond offering customer reviews and feature individual picks from staff members or resident experts in their gift guides. Not only does the brand’s credibility receive a boost by giving shoppers a glimpse of the knowledgeable people who work behind the scenes; a well-crafted gift guide serves as a reminder of the brand’s authoritative good taste and selection of relevant products — a different experience than Amazon’s mega-store mentality.

The Container Store spotlighted its on-staff experts in an email campaign last year with the Subject: line “Trust our employees to pick great gifts.” The message content touted “what our employees would buy” and linked to a selection of gift picks for each featured staff member.

There’s more survey data to share in upcoming posts — but meantime, what are you doing to communicate the value of your brand during the holiday season?