Guest Post: Bronto – Understanding the Near-Customer Experience

March 26, 2013 by 1 Comment

By Jim Davidson, Manager of Marketing Research at Bronto Software ()

The 2013 MarketLive Annual eCommerce Summit for MarketLive clients and technology partners is quickly approaching. I’m looking forward to my session “Learning from the Best: Email Tactics of Top Performing Retailers” and want to share one of the themes that is starting to shape what you will see in my presentation at the Summit.

Either your eyes glaze over or your ears perk up with someone says “Abandoned Cart strategies.”  Three quick facts:

  • ~70% of carts are abandoned
  • ~20% conversion rate for abandoned cart reminder emails (without incentives, mind you)
  • Only 13% of brands send abandoned cart reminder emails

That boils down to 87% of brands leaving money on the table … or at least in the cart.

As marketers, we are all familiar with the importance of engaging the customer during this period when interest is extremely high and the purchase decision is teetering on factors like additional taxes, shipping costs and potentially impending buyer’s remorse.  Be careful though; by limiting your recovery strategies to those who actually added items to the cart your focus may be too narrow.

Consumers have become increasingly distracted and it seems like they like it that way.  Sales on mobile devices are showing no signs of slowing down.  A study by Google reported that 80% of consumers planned to use multiple devices simultaneously when shopping.  They are not simply switching between devices, they are using both at the same time. These distracted, device-shifting consumers need consistent courting even before they add items to the cart – so I ask you to broaden your focus and explore the broader concept of the “Near Customer.”

“What is the ‘near customer’ concept,” you ask? For the most part, it means that your marketing efforts have worked well.  You have engaged your customer, you have promoted your product and they are really, reallllllllly super-duper close to buying, yet they abruptly leap out of the purchase process.  This behavior is not limited to the shopping cart. No, cart abandoners are not the only “near customer” who should get your attention.  With the barrage of marketing messages in the inbox and across a typical consumer’s devices, purchase decisions that once were further down the funnel are taking a step back.  Luckily, technology and automation has taken a step forward.

Two situations can lead to abandonment by the near customer even before an item is carted.  Luckily both scenarios benefit from automated reminder emails similar to abandoned cart reminders.

Lane Changers
85% of shoppers will shop on one device and finish on another, according to that Google study.  They are abandoning the shopping experience on one device though there is intent to revisit the purchase later.  Perhaps someone is clicking through an email on their phone and they plan to buy later on their laptop over the weekend when they have more time to check out the product, read reviews and comparison shop.  It’s not just a few folks who are doing this; 85% represents a majority of shoppers.  If you are not engaging this group in a way that makes this process convenient and streamlined, then the purchase could be forgotten by the shopper or they may find an alternate product on your competitor’s site. From the same report, 45% of consumers will use bookmarks, the shopping cart or will send emails to themselves as a way to put their shopping process in temporary suspended animation.  Those solutions sound simple, but they put the onus of transitioning from one device to another on the consumer, who is likely busy enough without having to do the work of enabling cross-touchpoint shopping – that’s your  job. Take some of the burden off of your shoppers’ shoulders by offering services like wish lists or “save for later” options.  This is one method of capturing both the shopper’s intent and the specific product information – that’s fuel for your automated reminder email.

These examples show how retailers are making it easy for their shoppers to show emails on their mobile phones to receive discounts in-store.

Email example from Origins

Email example from Aldo

Product Page Drop-outs
You call it a “marketing mix”, but to your customers it may seem like a game of dodge ball.  The balance of having your marketing messages present in various channels and on various mediums is essential to driving sales.  As the number of places a shopper can see your message expands from the inbox (on their computer, phone and tablet), display ads, your catalog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, and so on, you may see an increase in your shoppers popping in to take a quick glance at what you are selling, and then leaving without taking further action.  Think of this as an advanced form of window shopping.  How many times have you walked in a store and told the employee, “Thanks, just looking”?  This is happening on your site.  Are you going to let this near customer just walk out or are you going to engage them, communicate your value proposition and remind them why they should buy from you? An automated program targeted to product page abandoners is an increasingly important campaign to have in your arsenal.  Those of you who do have these emails in place may also find that there is room to improve the message.

These examples thank the customer for visiting their site, shows the browsed product and  feature related recommendations.

Subject: line: “Thanks For Your Interest In: Le Creuset Heritage Stoneware Round Covered Casserole”
Email example from Williams-Sonoma

Subject: line: “Thanks for Visiting! Shop Now and Receive Free Shipping”

Email example from One Step Ahead

While some of you may feel that launching these programs puts you in the weighed down sludge of “big data,” the data needed to engage and sell to the near-customer is likely at your fingertips and after the initial set up, the automated processes will run without any drain on time or resources.

In addition to other automated message programs and revenue generating email campaigns, we will explore real-world examples and results of the near customer experience strategies during my session at the Summit. I hope to see you there! Please feel free to send any examples that you would like for me to evaluate and potentially include in my session: .

And meantime, everyone should tune in to a Webinar tomorrow, March 27 at 10 a.m. Pacific, for more Bronto and MarketLive expertise, this time on the subject of post-purchase email marketing. Register now!

Filed under Acquire, Convert & Retain, Email Marketing Tagged with Summit 2013

Thinking beyond points to encourage brand loyalty

March 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Merchants have long known they should do more to foster loyalty, even as the lion’s share of their efforts focused on acquisition rather than retention. According to industry researcher Forrester, repeat buyers still comprise just 27% of merchants’ customer base, even as they account for 41% of total revenues.

But new research suggests that as the industry matures, merchants should turn their attention to winning repeat business sooner rather than later. Forrester’s latest eCommerce revenue forecast predicts that just 4 million consumers will become first-time online buyers this year. Instead, most of the industry’s projected 13% growth in 2013 will come from existing online buyers making more purchases.

The message is clear: merchants should do their utmost to encourage customers to re-engage with the brand and buy again. One way to do so is to develop a loyalty or free shipping club; as discussed in a previous post, the popularity of such programs has soared, with participation growing by a third from 2010 to 2011, according to Forrester.

But merchants should also think outside the loyalty-program box when it comes to attracting repeat business. After all, not every potential return customer may be attracted to the loyalty program; for example, an annual membership that includes free shipping may not appeal to a customer who makes significant but infrequent purchases — say, only during the holiday gifting season.

Boosting customer loyalty is such an important topic, we’ll devote an entire webinar and whitepaper to it as part of our “” series. But meantime, merchants should consider these strategies to stimulate return business beyond points, rewards and memberships:

Maximize the potential of post-purchase transactional emails. Consumers now expect to receive promotional merchandising alongside their order details, with 53% of shoppers saying they expect product promotions in order confirmation emails and 45% say they expect such messaging in shipping status alerts, according to a study from the E-Tailing Group and MyBuys.  Merchants should use transactional messages to entice customers to subscribe to future email updates, follow the brand on social media and contribute reviews.

The Home Depot sends a series of post-purchase emails attempting to re-engage customers, starting with a “thank you” message that includes an email signup link, cross-sells, promotion of free shipping, and a link to the brand’s community of do-it-yourself enthusiasts. A follow-up email invites customers to review the product they purchased, with the potential to win a cash prize if photos are included in the review. The messages offer customers a variety of ways to interact and continue engaging with the brand.

Transactional email example from Home Depot

 

Devise programs or campaigns that speak to customers’ ideals. While rewards and loyalty programs appeal to customers’ desires for material perks, merchants should also devise ways to tap into their audience’s more altruistic impulses. Campaigns or programs that put the spotlight on causes attuned to the customer lifestyle, or on a merchant’s charitable activities, can boost the brand’s profile and reputation and give customers a means to continue engagement beyond simply shopping for new products. Such heartfelt connections can have bottom-line impact; according to the Edelman goodpurpose Study, 53% of consumers said that social purpose is the most important distinguishing factor guiding purchase decisions, when quality and price are equal; 72% of consumers would recommend a brand that supports a good cause over one that doesn’t, and 71% of consumers would help a brand promote their products or services if there is a good cause behind them.

It may seem counter-intuitive for a brand to recommend that customers forgo buying products — but that’s part of the message Patagonia crafted as part of its Common Threads initiative. Consumers are invited to pledge to reduce consumption, repair items when possible, and recycle products they no longer need. The campaign not only appeals to the company’s outdoorsy clientele; it also puts the spotlight on the durability of the brand’s products, the availability of repair services and the ability to resell items through the brand’s used clothing store and eBay storefront.

Patagonia Common THreads campaign

Watch for a post coming up soon with more tips on post-purchase transactional email from our technology partner Bronto, and stay tuned for that whitepaper and webinar on loyalty. Meantime, how are you boosting repeat business for your brand?

Filed under Acquire, Convert & Retain, Email Marketing

Webinar recap: It’s not just the content — it’s what you do with it

March 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Tuesday’s “Competing with Amazon” webinar dove deep into the topic of content, exploring how merchants can define and differentiate their brands through .

As MarketLive founder Ken Burke analyzed Amazon’s offerings and identified how merchants can go above and beyond to create unique brand experiences, an important subtext emerged: it’s not just the content itself, but what merchants do with it that matters. “If you build it, they will come” is a fine line for a movie script, but for merchants to maximize their content investments, they need to find creative ways to use content throughout the eCommerce site and across touchpoints. Just a few of the ideas the webinar discussed:

Merchandise product and lifestyle content. On the eCommerce site, merchants should promote content all along the path to purchase — not just on the product page or in siloed content sections. MarketLive merchant Cost Plus World Market showcases an in-depth content section about its Africa Collection not only on product pages, but on the home page and the category page.

Content example from World Market

Similarly, apparel merchant Lilly Pulitzer includes a promotion of the company’s history on a product index page — enabling shoppers easy access to a compelling story that creates a personal connection with the brand.

content example from Lilly Pulitzer

Share your brand value proposition everywhere. Merchants have long known the value of emphasizing their brand’s unique expertise, service and reputation, whether through a logo tagline or a compelling “about us” story. But merchants should find a way to share their brand’s core value statement on every page of the site — or at the very least on every product page, where shoppers can factor in the reputation of the merchant as they make their purchase decision. Auto parts merchant AutoAnything places an easy-to-scan list at the top of product pages, highlighting the expertise and service that back every product.

Content example from AutoAnything.com

Do double duty with user-contributed content. Merchants should take advantage of tools that enable reviews and “question and answer” content to be cross-posted to Facebook and the eCommerce site — thereby elevating visibility of the features for social followers and encouraging participation across touchpoints. Benefit Cosmetics offers an “Ask and Answer” section on Facebook that allows followers as well as Benefit staff to chime in. Readers can rate contributions as well as submit their own; the questions and answers are displayed on the relevant product page of the eCommerce site as well as on Facebook. A question about a product called Dallas received 11 enthusiastic responses from customers, which were also displayed on the product page alongside nearly 100 reviews and ratings.

content example from Benefit

Give video star status. Given Amazon’s paltry video offerings, merchants would do well to adopt a “video first” strategy when it comes to developing content — and to highlight video content across touchpoints. On the product page, for example, video should be given equal prominence with still images, as on the Brookstone site, where a tabbed format gives product demonstration videos equal prominence with still images. A “Play” icon on the default image further signals that video is available.

Content example from Brookstone

And content that goes beyond product demonstration videos can make for a compelling experience across touchpoints. Buy.com’s weekly “BuyTV” program, spotlighting timely product categories such as Easter, attracts users not only to the main eCommerce site’s video content section, but on YouTube and Facebook as well.

content example from Buy.com

For more winning content strategies and examples, replay the webinar or . How are you using content across touchpoints to increase brand engagement?

Filed under Acquire, Convert & Retain, Client Innovations, Connected Commerce Tagged with , Content

March 11, 2013 by

As discussed in our 2013 trends webinar, the top priority for merchants this year is brand differentiation. The competition for consumers’ dollars is fierce, with top mega-brands attracting the lion’s share of revenues on one end of the spectrum even as the field of small- and mid-sized merchants becomes ever more crowded.

This polarization is so marked that we thought it worthwhile to take a look at the biggest of the big sellers — Amazon.com — and to examine how merchants can successfully position themselves and compete. Amazon’s playbook is certainly worth studying, based on the site’s success: in the past five years, U.S. eCommerce sales grew an average of 14% annually, while , at  an average of 36% per year, according to industry researcher Forrester.

Small- to -mid-sized merchants can gain brand exposure by participating in Amazon’s network of Marketplace sellers, but ultimately, they want to establish a direct relationship with consumers. That’s a difficult proposition when Amazon’s economies of scale enable it to offer the most efficient shipping — and a low free shipping threshold — along with discount prices on nearly every item.

But there’s evidence that consumers recognize value beyond pricing. When asked what factors influence their buying decisions, 77% of shoppers said they consider a brand’s reputation, 79% said they value a broad assortment of items, and 66% said a unique selection is important, according to the MarketLive Consumer Shopping Survey. These statistics suggest that merchants who can articulate their uniqueness as a brand — especially when compared with Amazon’s mega-warehouse identity — can not only survive, but thrive.

On Amazon, nearly everything under the sun is available – but all those items are presented and merchandised identically, without calling attention to unique product attributes or supporting the lifestyle of the potential buyer. In short, Amazon sells products; the rest of us have the opportunity to sell brand experiences.

A key component of creating a brand experience is content, which will be the focus of , the first in a series devoted to competing with Amazon. Previously, we’ve discussed how content can and connect them with consumers across touchpoints. As it turns out, the right combination of text, images, videos and user contributions can also create a wholly unique and irresistible value proposition, one that presents a viable alternative to Amazon.

The webinar will examine and explicitly compare Amazon and successful specialty merchants in four key areas for developing uniquely alluring content:

Unique product pages. Merchants can not only exceed the amount and depth of information presented on Amazon’s product pages, they can break free from the standard format to design and create content that caters to their specific audiences. For example, the specialty merchant eBags helps shoppers match their laptops with appropriately-sized backpacks and satchels — a specialized tool Amazon doesn’t offer.

Content example from eBags

User-generated content beyond ratings and reviews. At first glance, it seems like small- to mid-sized merchants can’t compete with Amazon when it comes to user-generated content, as Amazon’s massive audience almost guarantees that it will have the largest number of ratings and reviews. But sheer volume isn’t everything. Specialty merchants have the ability to go beyond reviews on the product page to tap a wide range of user-generated content that conveys brand identity – from social media contributions to customer service support. For example, the brand testimonials offered by fitness program creator Beachbody go beyond simple ratings and reviews or even the before-and-after pictures offered for their products on Amazon. Testimonials such as this one from Robert R., who describes gaining “happy weight” in the first years of his marriage, identify situations prospective buyers can identify with.

Content example from Beachbody

Deep value-added content. To create a truly superlative brand experience, merchants should supply still another category of content: authoritative value-added content that demonstrates the brand’s in-depth knowledge of the customer’s lifestyle. Buying guides with personality, behind-the-scenes content, expert advice and blogs all give merchants the opportunity to distinguish their brands. The founder of apparel brand Lilly Pulitzer originally ran a juice stand and made her first fashion creations with bold prints to cover up the juice stains; a section of the eCommerce site on the company’s history is presented with bold graphics in the same vivid colors as the company’s now-famous prints. The history serves to ground the brand in a personal story and add meaning to the products on offer.

Content example from Lilly Pulitzer

Video. More than 50% of the nation’s population watched an online video in January of 2013, according to measurement firm comScore — but it’s a format that’s conspicuously absent from Amazon.com. Apart from scattered video reviews submitted by customers and a handful of online video tutorials for its own branded Kindle e-reader products, Amazon has no video content to speak of. This lack presents a huge opportunity for other merchants to provide shoppers with a compelling brand experience they can find nowhere else. By developing video content to support products and lifesyle, and encouraging consumers to submit their own, merchants can win a definite advantage over Amazon.

Tune in to the webinar tomorrow at 10 a.m. PDT — and meantime, let us know: what content has proven compelling for your brand?

Filed under Acquire, Convert & Retain, Client Innovations, Connected Commerce Tagged with , Content

Why to adopt a “mobile first” strategy for email

March 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Most merchants are aware that mobile commerce is a top priority for their businesses. But with more and more research indicating a massive shift is underway in how shoppers connect with brands, merchants need to go beyond merely developing a set of mobile-friendly templates for the eCommerce site and embrace a mobile-first philosophy for every aspect of their online strategy. The shift is especially important when it comes to the tried-and-true channel of email marketing, which has been an outstanding performer for merchants over the years — and which merchants must optimize in order to maintain the ROI they currently enjoy.

By some estimates, mobile is poised to take over as the default Internet touchpoint as early as this year. According to data from venture firm KPCB, the global installed base of smartphones and tablets is estimated to edge above desktop and notebook computers this year, and then widen the gap in 2014 and 2015. In the U.S., 29% of consumers own a tablet or e-reader, up from less than 20% last year, according to KPCB, while 48% of cell phone users have a smartphone — a jump of 50% from a year ago.

Data on mobile adoption from KPCD



This year is also when the majority of marketing email opens are predicted to occur on mobile devices, according to marketing firm Knotice. Already, 77% of smartphone owners use their devices to read email once a month or more, according to industry researcher Forrester.

And lest merchants think that consumers merely scan Subject: lines on mobile devices, deleting the chaff and saving emails of interest to read later on desktop PCs, Knotice’s data reveals that subscribers only interact with messages once — regardless of device — with fewer than 3% viewing email content on multiple screens.

Data on email usage from Knotice

With the percentage of desktop computer interactions dropping in the course of 2012 and the percentage of mobile and tablet opens rising — in the case of tablets, by more than 80% — it’s high time for merchants to think “mobile first” when it comes to email campaigns. It’s crucial to deliver different versions of campaigns depending on a shopper’s browser and device type. Mobile versions should:

  • Have shorter Subject: lines. Mobile email clients truncate long Subject: lines, so aim for 30 characters or fewer, compared with 50 characters for emails opened in desktop browsers or email clients.
  • Accommodate “fat fingers.” Nothing is more frustrating when using mobile devices than aiming for one link and hitting the adjacent one by mistake. Mobile email design should incorporate more white space than the desktop version – around 45 pixels – so that smartphone users can select desired links with ease.
  • Present a streamlined view. Cut the navigation clutter and spotlight a few select products to avoid forcing mobile recipients to scroll endlessly through a barrage of information. Not only will the content be more digestible, but a streamlined version will load more quickly – an essential consideration.
  • Include device-targeted content.  Message specifically to mobile users with content that connects them to physical store locations, enabling cross-channel shopping. Additionally, put the spotlight on social sharing, since from their devices, according to Google.

Recreational apparel merchant Title Nine puts it all together, serving a streamlined version of its Mothers’ Day promotion for mobile phones. The mobile version uses the same theme and  look and feel of the full-fledged message for viewing on desktop email clients, but features links to products from just one of the featured ensembles. The mobile version also elevates links for social sharing on Facebook and Twitter, and prominently invites viewers to share their “favorite MOMism” on Facebook.

t9_mobileversion

Email example from Title Nine

How have you adapted your email strategy to incorporate mobile?

Filed under Client Innovations, Email Marketing, Mobile Commerce

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