Performance Index: merchants riding wave of growth into holidays

November 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment

As the high-stakes holiday season kicks into overdrive, the latest data from the MarketLive Performance Index suggests merchants are well-positioned to see double-digit revenue gains.

In the third quarter, merchants saw improvement across a wide range of performance metrics. Year-over-year visits increased more than 15%, and with the add-to-cart rate and conversion rate both seeing modest gains, overall revenue rose 17%. The average order size also nudged upwards by 1.5%, suggesting merchants needn’t adopt bargain-basement pricing strategies to win new business.

Among the key findings:

Mobile sales — from both smartphones and tablets — are growing. Mobile continues to play an ever-more-crucial role in the shopping experience. More than a third of all traffic originates with smartphones or tablets, driving 17% of total revenue. While smartphone performance overall lags tablet metrics, smartphone revenue has jumped by an impressive 65% year over year to 4% of all online sales — a faster growth rate than tablet sales, which increased 39%, to 13% of the total.

Statistics from the MarketLive Performance Index

The data suggests that merchants need to account for both device types as they plan their mobile strategies for 2014. Considerations include:

  • How to “flip” to mobile-first email. By some counts, more than half of email is now read via mobile devices, which means that merchants must tailor their messaging for maximum mobile utility. Designing appropriately-sized “tap targets”, streamlining Subject: lines and ensuring video and animation elements render properly on mobile platforms should all be on the checklist.

Social’s role is small — but potentially important. There’s no denying that compared with mobile, social media affords merchants a less direct path to revenues. Index data reveals that while just 1 to 2% of traffic and revenue can be directly attributable to social media, even those small percentages represent substantial increases from the prior year. Social traffic grew 29%, while social revenue skyrocketed by 77% — suggesting that merchants deploying savvy social  strategies will increasingly reap ROI rewards. In particular, merchants should:

  • Give social followers a holiday boost. To increase potential engagement and word-of-mouth buzz, merchants should offer social shoppers the means to interact with the brand around holiday promotions — whether by running a holiday-themed contest,  offering them a sneak peek at Black Friday discounts or even giving them the opportunity to vote on what those discounts will be in the first place.

  • Entice brand “newbies.” Index data reveals that nearly three quarters of traffic to merchant eCommerce sites from social networks derives from first-time visitors, compared with the overall average of 61% first-time visitors. To engage these would-be brand enthusiasts, merchants should take pains to communicate their brand’s unique identity on social outposts. They should prominently post brand-defining product guarantees, return policies and shipping offers, and use social promotions to showcase the breadth and depth of their product offering. Lifestyle content that appeals to target audiences demonstrates the brand’s expertise, as with MarketLive merchant Stila Cosmetics, whose Pinterest profile demonstrates a passion for trend-setting fashion via boards displaying products used during New York Fashion Week and “We <3 Fashion,” a board of favorite apparel and makeup picks from around the Internet.

Social media example from Stila

Download the full Index report for industry-specific metrics and further data. What metrics will you be watching this holiday season?

Filed under Acquire, Convert & Retain, Analytics, Client Innovations, Social Commerce Tagged with MarketLive Performance Index

How to dive in to cross-channel integration in 2014

November 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment

With Black Friday just over three weeks away, merchants are focused on the immediate challenge of surviving the holidays. But as they hit their stride and navigate the successes and setbacks of the peak season, it’s likely they’ll also begin to formulate new priorities for 2014. New research suggests that one area stands out for renewed focus: personalized cross-channel integration.

By 2017, fully 60% of all retail purchases will either be transacted directly online or influenced by online research, according to new research from technology researcher Forrester — a 30% jump from 2012, when 46% of purchases involved the Web. With online offerings set to play a role in more than half of all transactions, merchants must integrate touchpoints so that shoppers have a unified view of the brand and its products as they switch devices and channels.

If the sheer size of the opportunity weren’t enough, there’s also evidence that shoppers’ expectations are growing ever higher for responsive, context-aware interactions with brands. Connecting to the Internet multiple times per day via multiple devices in multiple locations is quickly becoming the norm, with 37% of U.S. consumers doing so in 2011 and 42% in 2012 — and Forrester predicts the percentage will top 50% by year’s end. This “always-addressable” audience, as Forrester calls it, which can tap the Internet wherever and whenever a shopping need arises, is ill-served by campaigns that assume a linear path to purchase from a single interaction point; to demonstrate relevance, brands must personalize and adapt offerings to fit the individual situation.

But surprisingly given this increasingly urgent mandate, many merchants have yet to prioritize multi-touchpoint commerce. While many merchants stated they wish to “enhance the customer experience across channels or touchpoints,” investments are still geared toward mass campaigns. For example, just 29% will boost 2014 investment in behavioral or CRM-based web site targeting, while fully 58% plan to increase spending in untargeted mass advertising, according to research from Forrester commissioned by marketing services firm Responsys.

Data from Responsys on marketing investment priorities

While reordering investments to reflect the need for cross-touchpoint cohesion may seem a massive and therefore daunting undertaking, it’s important for merchants to start now building the connections between touchpoints that will make for a seamless brand experience down the road. Among the starting points to consider:

Forging strong connections between online and offline interactions. Merchants with physical store locations must do their utmost to connect shoppers as they move among touchpoints. Tactics to consider:

  • Embrace “showrooming” with prominent links to comprehensive online content. As we’ve discussed previously, store shoppers who consult online information via smartphone are actually more likely to make purchases — not less. So merchants should supply these researchers and comparison shoppers with in-depth product content and buying guides that store shelf talkers simply can’t accommodate.

  • Connect store customers with online resources post-purchase. Creation of a unified customer record to link activities across touchpoints is the holy grail of cross-channel marketing for many merchants — but it’s also a formidable task. Merchants can focus their initial efforts on engaging those shoppers who’ve proven themselves potential brand enthusiasts by completing purchases, using the point-of-sale interaction in physical stores to make the link. By collecting an email address, merchants can begin a dialog with customers that includes:

    • Sending an e-receipt

    • Providing post-purchase product information, such as how-to manuals, user guides, maintenance reminders and, if necessary, recall alerts.

    • Inviting the customer to submit an online review.

All of these post-transaction interactions should entice customers to subscribe to email marketing updates, friend and follow the brand on social networks, and re-engage offline through store events.

Old Navy’s e-receipt features links to social outposts, as well as promotional slots for sister brands and global navigation to entice offline shoppers to browse the eCommerce site.

e-receipt from Old Navy

Make mobile the connector hub for all other touchpoints. With smartphones serving consumers shopping information on the go and tablets increasingly dominating at-home leisure browsing, merchants must cater to a wide array of behaviors on their mobile sites. In addition to providing the link between online research and in-store trying and buying, mobile offerings must also support purchasing, post-purchase order management, perusal of email campaigns and social connections. To focus the task list, merchants should consider prioritizing:

  • Persistent cart functionality between device and desktop. While sales from smartphone and tablet shopping are on the rise, fully 85% of eCommerce revenue is still driven from desktop browsers, according to the MarketLive Performance Index. Therefore, it’s crucial to provide technology that enables shoppers to pick up where they left off and access via the desktop browser the products they’ve already selected when browsing on mobile devices.

  • Make social interactions mobile-friendly. With 71% of mobile users connecting to social networks via their devices, merchants should optimize social content offerings for viewing on smartphones and tablets. While they can’t control how Facebook or Instagram’s apps operate, merchants can ensure that the content they post is mobile friendly — from images that are still comprehensible in downsized mobile formats to links that take social followers to mobile-optimized pages.

How are you tackling the integration challenge?

Filed under Acquire, Convert & Retain, Connected Commerce, Mobile Commerce

Last-minute free shipping tweaks for the holidays

November 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment

If there’s one promotion merchants bank on to make their holiday season a success, it’s the free shipping offer. After all, free shipping tops the list of consumers’ favorite promotions, with 91% saying they’re likely to take advantage of free delivery with no threshold and nearly one in two saying they’d make enough purchases to qualify for a free shipping threshold, according to the MarketLive/e-tailing group Consumer Shopping Survey.

But new research suggests that merchants don’t do enough to promote their free shipping offerings. For one, just 26% of the largest online merchants devote significant home page space to free shipping promotions with medium or large-sized banners, according to Forrester Research — and fully one in five merchants don’t flag free shipping with any banner at all. Free shipping promotions are scarcer still on product pages, in the global cart and main shopping cart page, all of which are opportunities to remind shoppers of the opportunity for savings — not to mention on other touchpoints such as social media outposts and mobile sites.

This is an oversight there is still time to rectify with timely messaging that can help merchants stand out from the crowd. Among the tactics to consider:

Message with your competition in mind — starting with Amazon. Amazon.com gifted other merchants early this season with its recent announcement of for shoppers who aren’t members of its Prime subscription service. The 40% jump still only raises the threshold to $35, but the move is a boon for those merchants who can match or better that amount.

Beyond Amazon, merchants should also be aware of what their competitors are offering and what industry standards are for thresholds. Some averages, according to the Forrester report:

Average free shipping thresholds from Forrester

Armed with this knowledge, merchants needn’t rush to change their policies, but rather should fine-tune their messaging. Merchants who can match Amazon or offer a lower threshold than their competitors should play up the price point prominently; those whose threshold is higher than average should tout special service offerings, product guarantees, and easy returns to compensate. MarketLive merchant dELiA*s supplements its $75 free shipping deal with a $25 coupon toward the next purchase — an offer that sweetens the deal for consumers while also encouraging repeat purchases.

Free shipping offer from dEliA*s

Don’t forget mobile users. Too often, merchants focus their free shipping messaging on the eCommerce site and email promotions, without creating corresponding promotions on the mobile site. That’s a mistake, as mobile shoppers are especially apt to be using their devices for research and price comparison. Sixty-four percent of smartphone owners say they plan to use their devices to check for sales and discounts, while more than one in two say they’ll seek out competitive pricing, according to the MarketLive survey.

While mobile sites need to be streamlined for maximum efficiency, merchants should still dedicate screen real estate to free shipping offers throughout the path to purchase, as well as linking to information about any free in-store pickup options available. Piperlime anchors in the global header of its mobile site a promotion of its “free shipping both ways” offer with no threshold, prominently calling attention to its competitive policy.

Free shipping offer for mobile users from Piperlime

Incorporate messaging into triggered emails.  Promotion of free shipping offers shouldn’t be limited to email campaigns sent to existing subscribers. Merchants should also incorporate the offers into triggered emails to alert cart abandoners, potential replenishment candidates and even recipients of immediate post-purchase notifications about the opportunity to earn free shipping. Such incentives could spur re-engagement with the brand, recouping potentially lost sales or earning repeat business. Macy’s promotes its free shipping offer with a $99 threshold in welcome emails to new subscribers, alerting them to the policy with a banner below the header navigation.

Free shipping notice in triggered email from Macy's

How are you positioning and promoting your holiday free shipping offers?

Filed under Acquire, Convert & Retain, Email Marketing, Mobile Commerce, Seasonal Selling Tagged with Shipping

4 ways to use the old graphics format that’s new again

October 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment

As the days whiz by and the holiday season gets underway in earnest, merchants are adding last-minute touches to their eCommerce site gift centers and email campaigns. For a touch of pizzazz, many are turning to an innovative graphical format: the animated .gif.

No, this post hasn’t been republished from 1996. The animated .gif — the technology behind early banner ads that blinked and flashed their way to infamy– is seeing a genuine resurgence, and has even earned a fancy new moniker: “cinemagraph”. The popularity of visual blogging site Tumblr helped re-popularize animated .gifs, and the rise of social video tools like Vine that feature short looping clips has further spurred creative uses of the extreme short-form storytelling that animated .gifs support. The weeks ahead will likely see an abundance of animated .gifs as merchants attempt to capture the attention of time-starved shoppers.

The key to effective deployment is to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. Merchants who opt for animated .gifs should reduce the annoyance factor by using the motion for a genuine purpose, beyond just eye-catching visuals. In addition, they should take into account their audience’s tolerance for looping video clips versus one-time displays that come to rest on a static image; constant motion might better be served in small doses in a portion of the image, or as a subtle background movement that sets off the main content. They should also limit the number of animated .gifs served on a page or in an email campaign, so that shoppers aren’t overwhelmed by distracting visuals. Finally, .gif file size can quickly grow for more elaborate animations, making email and pages slow to load — another reason to keep it simple.

Among the most effective reasons to use animated .gifs:

To preview or replace video content. The .gif image format is almost universally recognized and readable in Web browsers and a number of email readers (Outlook 2007+ being a notable exception). Simple animations or even small video clips presented as animated .gifs have a high likelihood of rendering correctly — which less often the case with embedded Flash or HTML5 video files. Furthermore, the clip in an animated .gif plays automatically, without requiring a shopper to click — making the content instantly accessible as soon as the page or email content loads. Merchants can use an animated .gif on its own or to encourage playback of a full video clip, as Lego did to entice email subscribers to view a video promoting its Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line ().

Animted .gif frame from Lego

To demonstrate product features and SKU options. An animated .gif can convey important product information in the span of seconds, without requiring shoppers to click on additional images or read through how-to manuals. A single graphic can display multiple color options for a single product or demonstrate an item’s features in action. ThinkGeek uses the animated .gif below as the primary image for the folding telescope ring, conveying instantly the gadget-y appeal of the item.

Animated .gif usage from ThinkGeekAnimated .gif from ThinkGeek

Not only can these images enliven product pages, but when reproduced in thumbnail size they can add eye-catching movement to index page listings (as on ThinkGeek). Caveat: It’s crucial to be extremely selective when choosing which products to depict in this manner, as otherwise index pages could easily be overwhelmed by too many moving images.

To add pizzazz to navigation. Merchants can call attention to newly-added or seasonal categories on eCommerce site global navigation with an animation. Because the image is displayed wherever shoppers roam, the movement should be subtle — a muted color change or a shimmer of movement, rather than bright blinking.

To enliven email campaigns. Animated .gifs can freshen email campaigns, not only by incorporating video previews or product demonstrations, but also by encouraging viewers to engage with interactive features on other touchpoints. Sephora uses an animation to display the many features of its mobile app, giving shoppers more reasons to click through and commit to a download.

Sephora email featuring animated .gif            Animated .gif from Sephora email

Do you use animated .gifs? If not, why not, and if so, how?

Filed under Acquire, Convert & Retain, Email Marketing

Five ways to use Pinterest this holiday season

October 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Pinterest’s meteoric rise to near the top of the social networking ranks and its ability to drive eCommerce sales make it a ripe opportunity for merchants. Now, with the upcoming holiday season potentially driving more users than ever to pin and share their most-wanted products, maximizing the efficacy of a brand’s Pinterest presence should be a top priority.

The holiday-themed pinboards popping up on merchants sites are just one way to capitalize on seasonal Pinterest activity. Across touchpoints, opportunities abound to create compelling Pinterest content, integrate it with relevant offers and encourage pinning and re-pinning. Among them:

Take advantage of rich pins. As we’ve discussed in a previous post, merchants who don’t have an official brand outpost on Pinterest can still leverage the site’s popularity by making their eCommerce site content pin-worthy. Additionally, merchants should use structured markup to ensure their product information can be parsed by Pinterest’s “” feature, which automatically incorporates and displays product information such as price and in-stock status. As further incentive to delve into the code, in August Pinterest introduced an enhancement that on pinned items — essentially providing a price-watching service for favorite products. It’s an invaluable tool for merchants, especially during the holiday season, when consumers will be on the hunt for price breaks.

Pinterest email notification

Use boards to capture a lifestyle experience. Too often, merchants who do have Pinterest profiles for their brands simply use pinboards to replicate eCommerce site categories, rather than taking advantage of the ability to showcase a curated array of items and influences. While doing the latter requires a greater investment in resources, merchants who create truly engaging pinboards are not only more likely to attract potential buyers, but also demonstrate their understanding of customers’ priorities and lifestyle inspirations, boosting the credibility of the brand.

MarketLive merchant Griot’s Garage features a pinboard called “On the Lot,” showcasing interesting cars spotted in the parking lot of the brand’s flagship store. While the board features no product links, it serves to demonstrate that Griot’s is powered by an appreciation for car restoration and unique vehicles — creating affinity with the brand’s clientele.

Griot's Garage pinboard on Pinterest

Use Pinterest content in email. Not only does the Pinterest site itself drive highly motivated shopping traffic to eCommerce sites, but Pinterest-related content can stimulate engagement and clicks in email campaigns as well. Marketing services firm Experian found that Pinterest-related campaigns generate open rates 11% higher and click rates 25% higher than other campaigns. To take advantage of this heightened attention, merchants should consider dedicating an email message to announcing the availability of a Pinterest brand outpost, craft email promotions around top-pinned items and enable pinning directly from message content.

MarketLive merchant Learning Resources promoted the availability of a Pinterest board especially for its UK audience with an email message enumerating five reasons to follow the brand and displaying a variety of boards as examples of the relevant content  the merchant offers.

Learning Resources' Pinterest email promo

Integrate Pinterest content within Facebook. While Pinterest is growing fast, Facebook continues to dwarf all rivals in terms of mass audience — so merchants should promote the availability of Pinterest content on Facebook, where their number of followers is likely to be larger. Additionally, they should consider integrating Pinterest content directly onto a Facebook tab as a means of showcasing the engaging content they’ve created, and encouraging Facebook followers to engage on another platform.

MarketLive merchant H2O Plus positions a link to its Pinterest tab prominently on its Timeline page on Facebook. Clicking the link showcases the brand’s pinboards, including intriguing theme boards such as “H2O Destinations” and “Beach Inspired Weddings.” The alluring content inspires the brand’s 57,000 Facebook followers to investigate further on the Pinterest site itself.

H2O Plus Pinterest-Facebook integration

Encourage wishlists with a sweepstakes contest. “Pin it to win it” contests are by now commonplace, but they’re worth mentioning again because they’re particularly apt now. Not only do such contests encourage shoppers to self-select favorite products, but during the holidays they’re likely to share their pinboards with others as de facto wish lists, upping exposure for the brand. It’s also worthwhile for merchants to revisit their “Pin it to win it” plans to ensure they comply with Pinterest’s about contests and promotions — which include restrictions on requiring entrants to pin specific products.

MarketLive merchant Party City is engaging Halloween shoppers with its “Pin to Win” sweepstakes campaign, in which entrants pinning anything from the Party City Web site or Pinterest page qualify for the random drawing.

Party City Pinterest contest

How are you using Pinterest this holiday season?

Filed under Client Innovations, Connected Commerce, Seasonal Selling, Social Commerce Tagged with Pinterest

How to use negative reviews to drive positive revenues

October 18, 2013 by Leave a Comment

While product reviews are now commonplace on eCommerce Web sites, many merchants are still queasy about negative reviews. After all, the prospect of a product’s flaws being angrily enumerated for potential customers to see is hardly the kind of word of mouth most merchants hope to generate.

But it turns out that negative reviews are unlikely to scupper sales; in fact, they can double purchase intent, according to recent research from review provider Bazaarvoice. Yes, you read that right: double purchase intent.

As you might guess, there’s a catch. The positive reaction isn’t a direct result of the negative review itself, but depends on the brand offering a swift and effective response. In Bazaarvoice’s study, half the participants were shown negative reviews that went unaddressed, while the other half saw negative reviews to which merchants responded. The purchase intent of the second group was 116% higher than that of the first group. Informative responses to negative reviews based on “user error” were especially effective: participants who saw merchant clarification on how to use products were 186% more likely to continue with a purchase than those who saw no brand response.

In addition, responses to negative reviews can boost the merchant’s overall reputation, with 41% of participants saying that brand responses prove “they really care about consumers,” and more than a third reporting that such contributions demonstrate superior customer service.

Data on customer reviews from Bazaarvoice

To capitalize on the potential positive in negative reviews, merchants should devise systems to enable swift, accurate and definitive responses to negative reviews and social media commentary. Among the tactics to consider:

Track review activity — positive and negative — from registered, loyal customers. Merchants who’ve identified their most valuable customers should ensure their comments, positive and negative, are acknowledged and taken into consideration. With a proven track record of purchases, these customers have high potential to become brand advocates, and swift response to any concerns they raise or enquiries they make will increase the chances of their spreading positive word-of-mouth.

Respond consistently to one-star reviews. While some one-star reviewers simply can’t be appeased, merchants should be on the lookout for these negative comments and be prepared to counter with situation-specific content.  Responses shouldn’t be canned, but they should be consistent with each other and with the brand’s policies on returns, upgrades and exchanges. On the National Geographic Store eCommerce site, a one-star review that specifically complains about packaging and damage during shipment received a response from customer care, letting others on the site know that the individual’s problem was being remedied offline. By contrast, another one-star review for the same product which critiqued the color scheme of the product itself was left to stand on its own. The message: while not everyone will like the product, it should always arrive in perfect condition.

Response to a review from National Geographic site

Address social media complaints definitively. Most merchants with social media outposts know they need to staff accordingly to ensure that the brand is responsive to posts from followers. Too often, though, responses to social media complaints merely recommend contacting the main customer service number or email address, rather than solving the problem in a single interaction. Bazaarvoice’s study found that responses recommending further actions on the part of the consumer to resolve problems resulted in a 30% lower purchase intent than definitive answers.

Of course, in order to provide such effective responses, brands must empower social media staff with access to the same tools as customer service reps — a challenge that requires merchants to deconstruct internal “silos” that might limit social media workers to posting marketing messages. MarketLive merchant Perricone MD responds authoritatively to messages posted to its Facebook page with specific suggestions for product usage and links to additional or alternative products as appropriate.

Sociall media example from Perricone

Promote how feedback shapes brand offerings. Merchants should not only respond to questions and negative reviews on the spot, but should incorporate feedback into product and service offerings. Responses to common questions should be added to the customer service knowledge base and eCommerce site FAQs; feedback about specific products should influence future iterations or offerings; and requests for service improvements should be enacted whenever possible.

Merchants who demonstrably respond to consumer input should promote such changes in marketing campaigns, as Neiman-Marcus did with its recent announcement of free unrestricted shipping, which included the tagline “You Asked For It, You Got It.”

Feedback response example from Neiman Marcus

How do you turn negative reviews into positives?

Filed under Acquire, Convert & Retain, Client Innovations, Social Commerce Tagged with customer reviews

Three ways to stretch 27 days into a successful season

October 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Among the challenges merchants face in the coming holiday season is the prospect of a shortened timeframe in which to achieve their goals. With Thanksgiving falling late this year,  merchants have a scant 27 days from the traditional start of the season on Black Friday (November 29) until Christmas Day.

Thankfully, consumers are starting their shopping earlier and pushing the last-minute envelope later than ever, giving merchants the opportunity to stretch the season to the fullest extent possible. Despite reports of a backlash against the intrusion of Black Friday commercialism into the Thanksgiving holiday, the fact is that consumers took advantage of opportunities to shop early for deals in 2012, with measurement firm comScore reporting online sales growth of 32% for Thanksgiving Day.  And this year, more than one-third of consumers say they’ll shop for gifts online even earlier — on the day before Thanksgiving, according to the MarketLive/E-Tailing Group Consumer Shopping Survey.

Data from the MarketLive/E-Tailing Group

On the tail end of the season, the survey found that fully 78% of consumers don’t envision finishing their gift buying before December. And more than half of consumers plan to shop online on Free Shipping Day December 18 — just 7 days before Christmas.

To cater to these behaviors, merchants should adopt a broad timeframe for holiday shopping promotions, and consider these ways to extend the excitement of the season:

Start now with early-season suggestions. In the runup to Thanksgiving, merchants should launch their gift guides with a spotlight on products to help shoppers prepare for the busy season ahead — from cookware to holiday party outfits to gift wrap. Not only does such early positioning anchor content in time for search engines to catalog it, but it encourages shoppers to get organized and purchase early. MarketLive merchant World Market has added a twinkling “Holiday” banner to the global navigation, with prime positioning awarded to decor, entertaining, cookware and gift wrap in preparation for the season ahead.

Gift guide example from World Market

Begin Black Friday early. We’ve discussed before the need to balance Black Friday messaging to encourage immediate and subsequent purchasing, but with this year’s shortened season, it seems prudent to tip the scales in favor of more promotions early. In fact, merchants should consider whether to officially launch Black Friday deals — not just preview them — in advance of Thanksgiving, as Dell did in 2012 with this email offer that began the Tuesday before the holiday.

2012 early Black Friday promotion

Start out promoting gift cards prominently — and promote them still more later.  For 60% of shoppers, at least one out of every 10 gifts purchased will be in the form of a gift card, and many consumers plan to reply on gift cards even more heavily, the MarketLive survey found.

Data from MarketLive/The E-Tailing Group

Gift cards make an attractive option for last-minute shoppers: they provide a solution for gift recipients who are hard to buy for, as well as being available for instant email delivery after shipping cutoff dates have passed. So merchants should step up the drumbeat of promotions for gift cards as the season progresses and give them top prominence in the final days before Christmas. Last year, American Eagle dedicated an email promotion solely to gift cards, highlighting the available delivery methods with the tagline “three easy ways to give.” The brand also tied gift card purchasing to charitable giving, donating a portion of every gift card purchase to Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

2012 gift card promotion from AE

How do you plan to make the most of the short holiday season?

Filed under Acquire, Convert & Retain, Client Innovations, Seasonal Selling Tagged with 2013 Holidays

Webinar recap: 3 reasons to be optimistic this holiday season

October 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment

There was a plethora of information in Wednesday’s webinar reviewing the results of the 2013 MarketLive/E-Tailing Group Holiday Shopping Survey. While we’ll cover specific themes and tactics in the weeks to come, we thought it worthwhile to set the tone for the holidays with some uplifting news: this year has plenty of potential to reap great rewards for merchants.

 

It’s certainly true that merchants will face stiff competition and plenty of challenges this holiday season, as we reported in our recent post on holiday sales forecasts. The National Retail Federation’s predicted overall retail sales growth rate of 4.1% is almost 27% lower than the recent highs of 2010 and 2011, which both saw gains of 5.6%. And in Wednesday’s webinar, E-Tailing Group president Lauren Freedman said that 47% of merchants surveyed said they’re nervous about not meeting aggressive sales goals, while more than a third said they believed the year would result in flat sales growth at best.

But the webinar also pinpointed a number of areas where consumers themselves indicated they’re both ready to spend and receptive to merchant offerings. Here are three reasons to feel confident heading into the season — and three ways to translate the opportunities into tangible tactics:

Shoppers are willing to buy more, in more categories, than ever. Fully 40% of consumers said they planned to make more holiday purchases online this year than last year, and for almost every product category the percentage of shoppers planning purchases has risen significantly, indicating increased confidence in online buying and appreciation of the convenience, savings and selection on offer. And some of the most dramatic increases by category are in high-ticket items, such as jewelry and watches, which shows 86% growth in online purchase intent, and consumer electronics, at 53% growth.

E-Tailing Group/MarketLive survey data

Merchants should take advantage of consumers’ broad-mindedness by showcasing the broadest possible assortment of potential gift items via home page displays, gift guides and email creative that emphasize variety. MarketLive merchant Sundance Catalog used its 2012 gift guide to showcase categories from gift wrap to footwear to jewelry, increasing the likelihood that shoppers would spot items for recipients on their lists.

Gift guide example from Sundance Catalog

Shoppers are more willing to buy items at full price. While the survey showed that shoppers remain price-conscious and hungry for discounts (especially free shipping), the percentage of consumers who said they would never pay full price for an item dropped significantly compared with 2012. While more than a third of consumers last year said they would refuse to pay full price for items, 2013’s survey found that less than a quarter of shoppers now share the same sentiment — a 31% drop. Meantime, more consumers are willing to pay for unique finds that perfectly match gift recipients, for items that never go on sale and for hot-selling items difficult to source in physical stores. Rewards for purchasing, including free shipping and loyalty points, are further incentives to pay full price, participants said.

E-Tailing Group/MarketLive survey data

To capitalize on this opportunity, merchants should promote wish list creation and sharing, including Pinterest wish list boards — perhaps via a “win your wish list” or “pin it to win it” contest — as a means of encouraging consumers to self-identify ideal gift picks. Additionally, merchants should message prominently the uniqueness of their wares, spotlighting the craftsmanship and/or traditions behind the products. MarketLive merchant Simon Pearce devotes considerable content resources to detailing the painstaking craftsmanship, traditions and company heritage the brand represents, underscoring the uniqueness and value of the pieces on offer.

Content example from Simon Pearce

Shoppers are willing to buy on smartphones — yes, smartphones. Tablets have performed so strongly in the early going that much emphasis has been placed on their potential to make mobile commerce a viable reality. But the survey revealed that smartphones stand to make a significant impact this season as well. Given that all participants in the survey owned smartphones, fully 53% of them said they intended to use their devices to buy gifts, while research activities scored even higher.

E-Tailing Group/MarketLive survey data

This news should come as a relief to merchants who’ve invested in , not just browsing. While it’s too late to make major changes to mobile site design or functionality, merchants can still make meaningful adjustments to ensure maximum effectiveness for their mobile offerings. For starts, gift guides, gift card information and other holiday-centric site sections should all be featured prominently in mobile format. Customer service information is another key component to spotlight, including prominent access to live chat and the click-to-call 800 number, shipping cutoff dates, and order tracking as well as the store locator.

Finally, merchants should promote mobile functionality prominently and fully integrate mobile messaging into holiday campaigns, as Nordstrom did in 2012 with its “Giving Made Easy” email campaign. “Shop Our Site on the Go” is included in a comprehensive list of convenient and time-saving services, alerting recipients to the availability of mobile purchasing.

Mobile promotion example from Nordstrom

What’s your outlook for the 2013 holiday season, and what strategies do you forecast will be successful?

Filed under Acquire, Convert & Retain, Client Innovations, Mobile Commerce, Seasonal Selling Tagged with 2013 Holidays

MarketLive news: Putting the customer experience front and center

October 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment

We’ve long been advocating the importance of a seamless shopping experience that presents a unified view of the brand regardless of which touchpoints a customer uses. The latest data from the MarketLive Performance Index shows that smartphone and tablet traffic already comprise a third of all site visits, and may account for nearly half of all eCommerce traffic in a year’s time.  Furthermore, tablets are especially well-suited to make a significant revenue impact on the upcoming holiday shopping season, making cross-touchpoint experiences more important than ever.

In response to these trends, our latest technology release makes it even easier for shoppers to experience seamless transactions. The cross-device commerce capabilities include touch-enabled browsing on any device and a persistent cart that enables shoppers to pick up where they left off and access via the desktop browser the products they’ve already selected when browsing on mobile devices. Given that fully 85% of revenue is still driven from desktop browsers, according to the Performance Index, this ability to finalize purchases from a laptop or desktop computer remains crucial.

Furthermore, the new release supports full mobile integration with Paypal — a crucial technology to implement, as more than two-thirds of mobile transactions are completed using an alternative payment service that lets shoppers skip ungainly form entry of credit-card information.

Screen shot of new MarketLive mobile functionality

Meanwhile, the content and on-site search technology released earlier this year have just won plaudits from the business community.  The Stevie Awards honored MarketLive with two Product-of-the-Year awards for the MarketLive Content Experience Manager and MarketLive Intelligent Site Search. The ability to integrate and present unstructured, value-added content — such as lifestyle articles, designer profiles and how-to guides — and to make that content easily searchable side-by-side with product information singled out MarketLive from among more than 3,000 entrants for the awards.

To learn more about the new features, read the official press release. And don’t forget to register for tomorrow’s 10 a.m. PDT webinar presenting results of the pre-holiday Consumer Shopping Survey with the E-Tailing Group.

Filed under Acquire, Convert & Retain, Client Innovations, Mobile Commerce Tagged with MarketLive news

Holiday first look: Merchants brace for competitive season

October 4, 2013 by 1 Comment

If the first 2013 holiday forecasts are accurate, merchants are in for a tough but potentially rewarding battle. Overall retail sales growth is expected to be tepid, with store traffic measurement firm ShopperTrak predicting revenues will increase just 2.4%. That forecast is in line with the patchy results reported for the back-to-school season, which saw merchants using deep discounts to boost purchasing even as August sales fell short of estimates for leading mass merchants.

As with past years, eCommerce promises to be a bright spot, with eMarketer’s forecast predicting online sales growth of 15.1%.  Merchants themselves are bullish, with close to a third predicting eCommerce sales will grow more than 20%, according to a survey conducted by the E-Tailing Group and reported by eMarketer.

While these preliminary estimates tend to be highly speculative, when combined with the overall trend of a maturing eCommerce market and resulting increased competition for existing customers, the takeaway for merchants is that they must prepare to compete harder than ever for consumers’ attention and dollars this holiday season. As the final countdown to the season begins, merchants should fine-tune key components of their strategy to maximize potential sales. Among the last-minute to-dos:

Get your house in order when it comes to free shipping. Given that shipping discounts are highly sought after by consumers, nearly 49% of merchants report they’ll increase their free shipping offers this year compared with 2012, according to the eMarketer forecast. Free shipping with no threshold was by far the most successful promotion merchants offered in 2012.

Research on holiday promotions from eMarketer

That doesn’t mean merchants must join the crowds and offer unrestricted free shipping — but it does mean they need to offer shoppers alternative ways to keep shipping costs down and compensate for the lack of free shipping by spotlighting brand value — a central tenet of our year-long “” series. Merchants should take the time now to tweak promotions and content design to highlight these alternatives.

Win followers and subscribers now for repeat engagement opportunities later. Merchants should find ways now — before the holiday clamor has begun — to encourage shoppers to stay in touch with brands. They should position email signup invitations prominently and devise incentives for following brands on social media, such as MarketLive merchant Ulla Popken does with a double offer on its home page. Shoppers who follow the brand on Facebook are entered in a drawing for a $250 gift card, while clicks on links shared via social networks or email earn followers and the friends who do the clicking a 20% referral discount.

Engagement invitation example from Ulla Popken

Tune in next Wednesday, October 9, at 10 a.m. PDT for a webinar covering the results of the MarketLive/E-Tailing Group pre-holiday consumer shopping survey. And stay tuned to the blog for further holiday forecasts, research and last-minute tips. Meantime, what are your top last-minute tweaks in advance of the season?

Filed under Acquire, Convert & Retain, Client Innovations, Seasonal Selling Tagged with 2013 Holidays, Shipping

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