2 considerations for attracting tablet shoppers

May 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Last week brought more evidence that mobile is changing the way consumers shop — with tablets playing an especially lucrative role. According to initial results from the 2012 State of Retailing Online study by Shop.org and Forrester Research,  49% of retailers reported that average order value from tablet customers was higher than on the traditional browser-based eCommerce site.

While the tablet market is still relatively small, it’s growing fast, with nearly 38 million U.S. consumers forecast to own one by year’s end — a more than 250% increase since the tablet first came into existence a mere two years ago. The new Shop.org study data is in line with earlier research suggesting that these technology early adopters are well-educated, affluent, and more likely to use their devices to buy than smartphone owners.

For retailers, the new data underscores the importance of mobile as a game-changing mode of shopping — and the need to develop and execute a sound mobile strategy. As we’ve stated previously, whether to target tablet shoppers right now depends on your business and your target audience; research is key to devising a mobile strategy that will serve shoppers best and drive sales most efficiently.

Assuming tablet shoppers form an important target market for your brand, weigh these considerations as you formulate your mobile strategy:

Design for swipes and taps as well as clicks. With shopping content being deployed across smartphone devices as well as tablets and desktop browsers, flexibility of presentation is key. And don’t forget email; according to the Shop.org report, one in five emails are viewed on a mobile device. Specifically for tablets, consider these elements:

  • “Landscape” or “portrait”? Like on smartphones, tablet shoppers have the ability to swivel views of content horizontally or vertically — but the impact is especially dramatic on tablets’ larger screens. Adaptive designs that adjust to the width of the viewer window automatically are best.
  • Tappable menus. Drop-down menus shoppers hover over with a computer mouse before clicking to select a sub-category need modification for tablets, which have no “hover” equivalent. Set menus so that a tap displays the drop-down menu.
  • Appropriate text size and spacing. As with smartphone displays, easy selection of the right menu item or text link is crucial, so allow for adequate space to accommodate finger taps.
  • Think swipe. Take advantage of the ability to page horizontally through content with filmstrip displays and plenty of “forward” and “back” arrows. MarketLive merchant Armani Exchange’s “Looks” section works equally well on desktop browsers and iPads, with a “shuffle” button reminiscent of an Apple music player that presents ensembles for both genders in random order.

Tablet-friendly design example from Armani Exchange

Consider the timing of promotions. Tablet usage spikes in the evenings, according to data from social software provider Bazaarvoice, with 5% of all traffic to shopping sites coming from iPads at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. — double the amount of tablet traffic generated earlier in the day. The shift to mobile devices makes sense — by day, consumers are tethered to desktops at work — but the surge in tablet traffic is far more dramatic than for smartphones.

Data on device usage from Bazaarvoice

To take advantage of this usage pattern, consider the nature and timing of promotions and cater messaging to tablet shoppers as they couch-surf online as well as channel-surf on the TV.

  • Do your products have tie-ins to prime-time TV shows or sports events? Consider spotlighting these items during the evening hours.
  • With tablet shoppers generating a higher average order value, consider “night owl” promotions such as free shipping on full-price items for a limited window of time in the evening, or a nighttime sneak peek at the latest seasonal wares.
  • Target email messaging to users with mobile devices, and send those messages during prime time to reach tablet shoppers as they browse.

How substantially do tablet shoppers contribute to your brand’s sales, and how are you catering content and promotions to tablet users?

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

Winning customer trust on shopping’s technology frontier

May 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment

There are more sophisticated tools than ever available for tracking shoppers’ behavior, both onsite and across the Internet. While that’s good news for merchants, the data shows that consumers disapprove.

For example, in a recent study of search engine use by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, — the practice of tailoring the lineup of natural and paid results based on online browsing behavior — with only 29% agreeing with the statement “It’s a GOOD thing because it gives you results that are more relevant to you.” And more than two thirds of consumers said they don’t like targeted advertising — such as remarketing ad banners — because they don’t want their online behavior tracked.

Data on privacy concerns from Pew Center

And this wariness extends to social media. Fully one in four Facebook users has falsified personal information in their profiles to protect their privacy — a 10% increase from two years ago, according to a new study from Consumer Reports. And while Facebook’s ever-changing privacy settings have grabbed plenty of headlines over the years, it’s not the only social site to experience a backlash over how personal information is used and shared. Earlier this year, nascent site Pinterest acknowledged it makes money from users’ pins through a service that adds affiliate links to products, and recently released a notice to users and new terms of service to deal with copyright and privacy concerns.

With such controversy swirling, merchants using these platforms should make an extra effort to maintain and build their own credibility. By signaling to users that even on the technology frontier of commerce, their brands are trustworthy, merchants stand to gain loyal followers — and new customers. A few ideas for messaging trust:

Bring tried-and-true techniques to the frontier. Just because brands are delving into highly experimental social media sites or developing new formats for mobile users doesn’t mean they should abandon their eCommerce best practices. When it comes to earning trust, there are a number of proven methods that help shoppers complete purchases online — and they should be implemented on new customer touchpoints as well as the flagship eCommerce site. Consider how to incorporate privacy and security badges, product guarantees, and access to customer service help wherever your brand has an outpost — as MarketLive merchant Armani Exchange does on its mobile site, where a customer service link is anchored in a contrasting color in the global footer and prominently accessible through checkout.

Privacy example from Armani Exchange

 

When possible, give users the tools to take control. Not everyone wants to broadcast the products they browse or purchase on their Facebook Wall. When building social apps, merchants should allow followers to control how much information is automatically shared — and message that flexibility prominently, as J.C. Penney does when inviting followers to download its app. Followers can use a drop-down menu to select who sees app activity, with the option of “Only Me” available if they don’t want to share the information at all.

Privacy example from JC Penney

Spotlight transparency. Don’t merely feature a miniscule link to your brand’s privacy policy; instead, build extensive customer service content around services and features offered, and always spell out how shoppers’ information will be used. Zappos includes an explanatory link on its retargeting ads with the text “Why am I seeing this ad?”. The link takes shoppers to a page that describes clearly how the ads are generated, the technology company Zappos partners with to power the ads, and how shoppers can opt out.

Privacy example from Zappos

 

Privacy example from Zappos

What tactics do you use to allay shoppers’ privacy concerns on social and mobile sites and other cutting-edge brand outposts?

Filed under Client Innovations, Connected Commerce, Mobile Commerce, Search Engine Marketing, Social Commerce

Taking the Lo road – new SoLoMo findings spotlight “local”

March 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

SoLoMo — which stands for “Social, Local, Mobile” — is gaining visibility as a buzzword to convey the intersection of social media, mobile and location-based services. In a way, it’s simply a new manifestation of our concept of connected commerce, in which brands present a cohesive shopping experience across customer touchpoints.

But new SoLoMo data puts the emphasis on the “local” part of the equation. According to a study from Localeze and 15miles conducted by measurement firm comScore, 61% of smartphone owners have used their phones to search for local businesses, and 72% of those searchers went on to make a purchase online or offline. Tablet users, representing a smaller audience, are nonetheless more active local searchers and buyers, with 86% of tablet owners purchasing from local businesses following a search.

The study also found that 15% of consumers in 2011 used social networking sites to search for local businesses — up 66% from 2010.  And when using search engines to locate local businesses, the study found that consumers most trusted the “local” results set — the list of entities matching their search term and their location, represented on a map.

Data about local search results credibility from 15miles and Localeze

This new data validates our earlier recommendation that merchants not only optimize the store locator features on their eCommerce and mobile sites, but also take the time to customize and monitor their “place” pages on other sites, such as Google, Facebook and Yelp.

And with the data showing such a strong connection between local searching and local buying, merchants with physical retail outlets — and brand manufacturers whose products are featured there — should consider going farther. After all, while many merchants already have strategies in place for social networking and mobile devices, the “local” aspect of SoLoMo lags behind. Consider:

Analyzing geographic distribution of social followers. Facebook’s Insights tool provides aggregate geographic data on followers, while third-party tools such as HootSuite can generate similar data for Twitter. Post local updates accordingly promoting in-store events and news.

Delivering location-specific deals. Now is the time to segment your audience of email subscribers and mobile promotion recipients by geographic region, if you haven’t already. Deliver relevant offers that highlight in-store events and merchandise attuned to the local climate and local culture. Brand manufacturers can get in on the act, delivering notices of in-store promotions and giveaways, as Clinique does in this message promoting a free gift with purchase at Saks Fifth Avenue, which has a location within 50 miles of the recipient.

Localized offer example from Clinique

Building store-specific mobile functionality. Consider giving consumers tools specific to their location — and giving store employees insights into shoppers. Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus has debuted an iPhone app that lets shoppers “check in” to selected stores in California and Texas, and displays which store associates are present to assist them. Shoppers can also scan in-store QR codes and flag products of interest — notifying store associates.

Localized mobile content example from Neiman Marcus

How are you combining social, local and mobile for your business?

Filed under Connected Commerce, Email Marketing, Mobile Commerce, Social Commerce Tagged with SoLoMo

Getting to know your mobile audience

February 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

With 84% of U.S. adults owning a mobile phone, mobile commerce is a huge opportunity — and should be a top priority for merchants in 2012. But before deploying a series of mobile tactics, it’s crucial to consider what’s right for the marketplace, your customers and your business.

After all, there’s no point designing a downloadable app if most of your customers prefer text alerts; and launching services without the capability to maintain them is folly regardless of the platform. To determine how your brand’s followers and customers use mobile phones:

  • Study your Web analytics. Both fee-based tools such as Omniture and free services like Google Analytics have the ability to break out mobile traffic to your existing Web site. Pay particular attention to
    • inbound traffic from email marketing. If a significant number of visits to a custom  URL for an email promotion are from mobile devices, then your email subscribers are reading messages on their phones — and you should tailor your email content and design accordingly.
    • how social followers connect. Again, study those inbound links from social sites — if significant traffic to those pages is from mobile devices, you can infer that your brand’s social followers are using Facebook and Twitter on the go.
  • Survey existing customers. Ask existing customers and followers to take a brief survey on their mobile phone usage habits, and solicit participation via email marketing, social outposts and even, for your most loyal customers, direct one-to-one communication.
  • Size up the competition. While there’s no need to “keep up with the Joneses” when it comes to mobile development if your audience doesn’t require it, it’s helpful to survey the competitive landscape and understand what expectations exist for mobile services in your type of business and industry. In particular:
    • read reviews of competitors’ apps and study how many downloads they’ve achieved to determine whether and how you might follow suit.
    • use your phone to view competitors’ email campaigns and Web sites and track how many competitors are optimizing for mobile.

As you collect and review data, keep these key questions in mind:

Smartphone or SMS?

It’s certainly true that , according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project — suggesting merchants need to provide the kind of feature-rich experiences associated with Web browsing and custom-developed mobile apps. And tablet ownership has more than tripled in a year, from 3 to 10% of the U.S. populace, Pew found.

But a deeper look at the numbers reveals that there are plenty of demographic disparities in smartphone ownership. Pew found that while a majority of young adults aged 25-24 own smartphones, the percentage drops off steeply for audiences over the age of 45. At the same time, among income brackets smartphone ownership was highest among the highest earners.

Data on mobile phone usage from the Pew Internet & American Life Project

Data on mobile phone usage from the Pew Internet & American Life Project

One potential interpretation would be to recommend that luxury purveyors and youth-centric merchants focus on the smartphone environment, while merchants catering to bargain-hunbters on a budget would do well to include such basic services as delivery of promotional offers by text message.

But the right mix will ultimately be determined by your business and the needs of your core audience — and will likely include a mix of SMS/MMS messaging campaigns and feature-rich offerings to browse.

Apps or mobile Web?

While ad slogans such as Apple’s “there’s an app for that” have put mobile applications in the spotlight, the fact of the matter is that most mobile purchasing is transacted through the mobile Web — that is, the mobile-adapted Web sites users view through the browsers on their phones.

According to industry researcher Forrester, 44% of mobile purchases were transacted through the mobile Web, compared with 33% of mobile shoppers who reported buying via an individual retailer’s app and 17% who said they used other types of shopping apps. A recent study from Yahoo/Ipsos found an even greater disparity, with fully , versus 27% who used applications.

Data on app vs. mobile Web usage from Yahoo!

Here, too, the solution may not be either/or. While a mobile Web site is now a must, apps — like microsites — offer the ability to focus on a specific subset of products or to offer a solution to specific shoppers’ needs, such as new product alerts for the loyal brand followers who are more likely to download the app in the first place.

Putting it all together: developing a tiered strategy

To determine the best mobile strategy for your company in 2012, use the following grid to break out how shoppers can interact with your brand on their mobile devices — both in terms of technology, and in terms of their shopping goals. Based on their current behaviors and needs, you may decide to focus first on helping them research products by requesting information via text message codes, or share deals via social networks using the mobile Web.

Suggested method for organizing mobile strategy from MarketLive

We’ll take a closer look at how mobile can help shoppers achieve their goals in our upcoming mobile whitepaper.

Meantime, let us know: how do shoppers use mobile phones to access your brand? Have you developed an app? How do you determine future mobile development priorities?

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

Top 2012 priority: Mobile

February 16, 2012 by 1 Comment

Daily deals? Behavioral targeting? New SEO techniques? Social media?  With 2012 showing strong promise for sales growth — while still requiring merchants to operate on lean marketing and development budgets — focusing on core priorities is as tricky as it is essential.

But even amidst a constantly-shifting landscape, one priority has emerged that only promises to become more important over time: mobile commerce. The disruptive power and sales opportunities this medium offer are unparalleled — and should cause merchants to rethink not only specific tactics and techniques, but the way their businesses operate altogether across channels and devices.

It’s no surprise that most U.S. consumers are now equipped with mobile phones. Industry researcher Forrester estimates that 2012 will see the U.S. population of mobile phone subscribers reach more than 258 million, with 110 million of those being smartphone users whose devices can browse the Web and employ apps to enrich the user experience.

Furthermore, those mobile users will make $10 billion of purchases on their phones this year, according to Forrester — 3% of all eCommerce spending — and that revenue figure is set to more than triple by 2016.

Data on mobile commerce from Forrester Research

Those who doubt the forecast should consider the recent 2011 holiday season, when mobile shopping played a significant role. Just a couple of statistics:

  • Mobile shopping helped nearly four in ten U.S. smartphone users  locate the best deals, according to a poll by SapientNitro and GfK Roper. Fully 56% of tablet owners reported using their device to locate deals, the poll found.
  • Traffic and sales from mobile devices on key shopping days increased exponentially over 2010, according to IBM CoreMetrics data. On Cyber Monday, for example, 10.8% of shoppers used a mobile device to visit a merchant’s Web site, compared to 3.9% of shoppers in 2010 — a more than 175% increase. Mobile revenues jumped 186%, from 2.3% of all online sales to 6.6%, according to CoreMetrics.

But it’s not just the dollars and cents of mobile commerce that merchants should take into account; it’s the way mobile devices have exploded traditional ideas of shopping — whether in-store or online. Mobile has:

  • Disrupted the traditional “multi-channel” path to purchase. Shoppers who might once have researched at home online before visiting a bricks-and-mortar store to complete their purchases can now pause at any time and anywhere to compare prices, look up product information and potentially navigate elsewhere. In 2011, 56% of smartphone users reported firing up their devices to research products while in-store, according to WSL/StrategicRetail — a 60% increase from 2010.
  • Liberated “eCommerce” from the computer workstation. Rather than being tethered to shopping online at the home computer (or surreptitiously at work), shoppers can not only peruse products on the go, but tablet devices offer a rich shopping experience in front of the TV and elsewhere around the house.
  • Opened up possibilities for geographic targeting like never before. Robust store locators are only the tip of the iceberg; the ability to tap geo-location data has the potential to help merchants serve shoppers with more relevant products and offers than ever.

Given all the juicy potential mobile represents, merchants so far have been slow to seize the initiative. In June of 2011, Forrester found that just 29% of merchants have enacted a mobile strategy — while more than half, 52%, reported being in the pre-implementation stage, from developing a strategy to not having one at all.

It’s true that mobile commerce faces some significant hurdles. While shoppers freely use their phones to research products, they by and large remain dubious about purchasing in the mobile environment — expressing many of the same trust-inhibiting factors that stood in the way of eCommerce growth a decade ago.

Forrester found that the two leading inhibitions to mobile shopping are privacy — a concern for 45% of U.S. online consumers with mobile phones — and security of mobile payments, which struck a chord with 44% of respondents.

Data on mobile commerce from Forrester Research

In addition, more than one in three consumers reported that mobile sites don’t offer enough content, features and functionality — a sentiment echoed in the 2011 MarketLIve Consumer Survey, which found that shoppers planned to avoid purchasing on mobile phones because “shopping is still too awkward on my phone”, and in particular offered too little image and product information to fuel purchase decisions.

Data on mobile commerce from MarketLive's 2011 Consumer Shopping Survey

But these concerns are no reason for merchants to throw in the towel. Rather, they must rise to the challenge so they can better reap mobile’s potential rewards.

Put another way, consumers’ expectations for privacy, security and a feature-rich environment no longer wax and wane depending on which device they use; they expect to encounter a seamless experience across all a merchant’s customer touchpoints, starting with mobile. Failure to meet these high expectations can result in bad publicity — and, worse, lost sales and loyalty.

Because we believe mobile is a cornerstone of connected commerce, we’ll soon publish a whitepaper that examines 2012 mobile strategies in-depth. Meantime, our next post will outline methods for prioritizing mobile development for your business.

Is mobile commerce a priority for your business? Why or why not? What mobile strategies have worked for you?

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

QR codes are everywhere, but are they right for you?

January 5, 2012 by 1 Comment

During the holiday season, QR codes seemed to be everywhere, from store shelves to print and even online media marketing campaigns. And in theory, it’s easy to see why: the square two-dimensional bar codes can be scanned using smartphone apps, enabling on-the-spot access to specific online information about products or brands.

But despite their ubiquity, usage of QR codes and other 2D bar codes lags behind the proliferation of technologies available to create them. According to industry researcher Forrester, usage of 2D bar codes has quadrupled in the past year, but still only represents 5% of mobile phone owners overall. Even among smartphone owners, just 15% have scanned 2D bar codes, Forrester found.

Chart from Forrester Research showing QR codes

So while it’s tempting for merchants to jump on the QR bandwagon — they sure look cool, don’t they? — it’s imperative to fit QR code promotions into a larger mobile strategy that’s tailored to your brands audience. We’ll take a comprehensive look at mobile trends  for 2012 after the New Year; meantime, when weighing whether to add QR promotions to the first-quarter to-do list, consider:

  • Your demographics. Not only should your target audience include plenty of smartphone owners, but Forrester also found that 2D barcodes appealed primarily to Gen Y and Gen X consumers — 66% of those who had scanned a 2D barcode were between the ages of 23 and 45. More affluent consumers are likewise more apt to have tried 2D scanning, with 62% earning $70,000 per year or more annually.
  • Your state of mobile readiness, online and off. Most QR codes send shoppers to a landing page, be it in-depth information about a product, or a call to action such as subscribing to email updates. Whatever the target content, it should be optimized for mobile — a piece of advice that ought to go without saying, but in practice bears repeating. Forrester found that about only about half of 2D code targets were mobile-friendly. For example, this print advertisement from a beauty manufacturer links to a video in Flash, which isn’t widely supported on mobile platforms — potentially frustrating readers who were interested enough to scan the code.

Magazine ad featuring a QR codeScreen shot showing Flash error on mobile phone

Even if you plan to use QR codes exclusively in a bricks-and-mortar location where consumers can buy in person, it’s key to provide other product-related functionality — such as the ability to send product information to a friend and share on social networks. It’s also important to train in-store staff to use QR codes so they can assist customers who have questions about the process.

And if you want to use QR codes to boost online purchasing, you should prioritize making your mobile site transaction-enabled if it isn’t already. Add that functionality first before using QR codes to promote products. Otherwise, scanning a QR code may lead shoppers to a dead end.

  • Your product offering. QR codes can boost the convenience factor for consumers shopping for certain products, including:
    • Feature-rich products. Whether shopping for appliances, computers, jewelry  or running watches, consumers are likely to want to access detailed specifications before committing to purchases — making a quick QR code link an ideal way to give them the information they need on the go. Post-purchase, QR codes can quickly connect buyers to detailed product manuals and to customer support resources.
    • Products with built-in replenishment timelines. Merchants selling everything from moisturizer to windshield wiper blades can facilitate reordering by including QR codes on packaging or in email reminders to buyers. The QR codes boost convenience for consumers, who don’t have to remember specific part numbers, the right battery size the gadget needs, or which tint of makeup they originally chose (was it Bronze Glow or Bronze Dawn?).

If you’ve tried them, what QR code promotions have worked for your business?

Filed under Connected Commerce, Mobile Commerce Tagged with QR codes

Top takeaways from the MarketLive 2011 Consumer Shopping Survey

October 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

We hope you caught yesterday’s presentation of the results of the 2011 MarketLive Consumer Shopping Survey, which showcased dozens of actionable holiday tactics and examples along with the survey results. If you didn’t catch the Webinar, visit marketlive.com to access a replay and download a whitepaper detailing key tactics from the study.

Meantime, though, we wanted to share three key concepts to consider when fine-tuning holiday offers:

1. Shoppers do recognize value beyond low prices …

In the opening slides of the Webinar, we learned that merchants hope to hold the line on discounting this year by setting price breaks early and keeping them relatively uniform — in the 20 to 30 percent off range — throughout the season. Happily, the results of the consumer survey suggest this goal may be attainable: shoppers aren’t categorically against paying full price for items, and they recognize that the value of a brand goes beyond the discounts it offers.

According to survey data, nearly one in three shoppers will pay full price for an item that is “perfect for someone on my list”, while 30% will pay full price for a unique or hard-to-find item someone on their list has requested.

Chart showing results from the 2011 MarketLive Consumer Shopping Survey

One of the best ways to connect shoppers with those “perfect” products — and maximize the potential for selling items without margin-destroying discounts — is via a gift guide or gifting center. But MarketLive’s research revealed that many merchants are slow off the blocks this holiday season, with just one in four Web sites promoting the holidays as of Oct. 21 — compared with 2010, when a majority of merchants had already kicked off their holiday campaigns. If you haven’t already, launch those gift guides pronto. Be sure to cater to an array of shopping styles, as Title Nine does here with a section devoted to gifts by price point, a link to the latest seasonal items and gift cards – which 42% of consumers seek when shopping for gifts.

Holiday gift guide example from Title Nine

Additionally, capitalize on the willingness to pay for just-right gifts by showcasing unique and limited-stock items, and by playing up customer favorites that are proven pleasers with categories such as “top sellers” and “top rated”. An Orvis email campaign from 2010 highlighted “top-rated gifts” and promised they would deliver on “quality and style.”
Holiday example from Orvis

Another strong component of value: customer service. Fourteen percent of shoppers said they’d pay full price for an item that came coupled with an “excellent customer experience”, while 73% of shoppers named free returns as a top promotion — a preference that stresses the importance of holiday shopping that is not only economical, but hassle-free from start to finish. To emphasize the value of great customer service, display product guarantees and return policies prominently, along with customer service contact information in the form of an 800 number and, if you offer it, click-to-call and click-to-chat options. And consider going the extra mile by promoting customer service as its own discrete offering, as J. Crew does with its Personal Shopper service, which promotes convenience and “hassle-free shopping”.

Holiday example from J. Crew

2. … but they still want that free shipping discount

Although shoppers may be willing to pay full price for products, they still perceive shipping costs to be prohibitive. When asked why they don’t buy more online, fully 45% of shoppers named high shipping costs as the top impediment — dwarfing other reasons by a large margin.

Chart showing results from the 2011 MarketLive Consumer Shopping Survey

As a result, free shipping continues to be the top promotion influencing purchases, with 83% saying free shipping with no threshold is key, and 60% saying free shipping with a threshold spurs action.

But this reluctance to pay for delivery doesn’t mean you have to offer free shipping at all costs. Instead, craft free shipping offers with thresholds that appeal to your core audience — and consider offering free shipping on all orders for extremely limited periods, as the Solutions Catalog does with its “Deal du Jour” offer, which promises free shipping for four mid-day hours only.

Holiday example from Solutions Catalog

During the Q & A session, a Webinar attendee asked what alternatives to provide if she categorically could not offer free shipping as a promotion. In this challenging situation, panelists recommended several alternatives:

  • Consider making an exception for loyal shoppers and top spenders. Giving them a free shipping offer no one else receives strengthens their connection to the brand. Alternatively, offer them a gift card good for future purchases when they buy holiday gifts.
  • Consider flat-rate shipping. Making the shipping expense predictable and easy to understand is a widely-used alternative to free shipping, that can be tied to a threshold or offered unconditionally.
  • Consider offering customers free shipping upgrades with a threshold as the holidays near. This method not only gives shoppers a price break, but eases concerns about whether gifts will arrive in time as well.

 

3. Prime your mobile presence for heavy research.

While mobile commerce has been on the upswing, survey data suggests that most consumers will actually complete their transactions in other channels. Just 11% of survey respondents said they planned to purchase gifts on their cellphones during the upcoming holiday season.

But researching gifts is another matter. Overall 61% of shoppers said they planned to research gifts online or on their phones before buying them on- or offline. Furthermore, the survey found that among smartphone users, nearly 40% will use their mobile devices to look up sale offers and specials before heading to the store, with price comparisons and searches for information about bricks-and-mortar locations also popular.
Chart showing results from the 2011 MarketLive Consumer Shopping Survey
Predicted in-store activity was nearly as heavy, with more than one in five saying they would check Amazon for price comparison while in the aisles, and 22% of shoppers saying they would use their smartphones to download product coupons while on-site.

To assist shoppers with research and point them efficiently to in-store deals, design holiday gift guide specifically for mobile viewing, and spruce up your store locator — it should display not just store hours and maps for locations, but also specific in-store sales and promotions, as well as special holiday events. And don’t forget to use SMS messaging to deliver deals that entice shoppers into stores; according to survey data, fully 34% of mobile phone users have shared their number with at least one retailer to receive deals. Fashion retailer Armani’s “Text Love Get Love” campaign offered an instant incentive for shoppers to share their information, with a $20 discount coupon for their next purchase.

Mobile campaign example from Armani Exchange

If you attended the holiday survey Webinar, what were the key takeaways for you? What tactics are you planning to emphasize value?

Filed under Client Innovations, Mobile Commerce, Seasonal Selling Tagged with 2011 Consumer Shopping Survey, 2011 Holidays

How to take advantage of widespread geo-location usage

September 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The recently reported that through their cell phones and social networking activities – either tapping the GPS functionality of their mobile devices or posting current location data with status updates to social media sites.

That number is impressive, suggesting merchants should ramp up mobile efforts to take advantage of the trend. Further, the data suggests how merchants can map the journey into geo-location.

According to the Pew report, most location-based usage is centered around looking up directions and getting local recommendations – fully 23 percent of U.S. adults use such tools. By contrast, just 4% of adults use so-called “geosocial” services requiring them to explicitly “check in” to locations, while 7% of adults tag their locations on social media.

These numbers suggest that merchants would do well to first ensure they’re covering the fundamentals when it comes to geo-location services – starting with:

  • The basics: tagged locations on maps and social sites. It may seem basic, but merchants should start by ensuring their brick-and-mortar locations show up on searches in Google Maps and Mapquest to facilitate finding by shoppers on the go. Locations should have Google place pages, and merchants may additionally want to consider creating robust profiles on business directories like Yelp!. Similarly, be sure to give your existing Facebook business page a location and link it to a place so that consumers using the social network’s mobile services can use the built-in mapping capabilities and “check in” when visiting.
    Google Plaes example
    For merchants who need to catch up on these basics, which are free to set up (with optional advertising tie-ins) consult

  •  A robust mobile store locator. Shoppers who explicitly seek out locations through merchants’ mobile sites should be rewarded with a feature-rich store locator. In addition to offering turn by turn directions, merchants should at a minimum list store hours and upcoming in-store events – and consider tying in location- or region-specific sale offers.And store locators aren’t just for brick-and-mortar retailers. Brand manufacturers can get in on the act by pointing shoppers to partner retailers who stock the brand’s products and participate in local or regional promotions. Beauty manufacturer Clinique displays which stores are featuring a “Bonus Time” with free sample giveaways and other goodies along with promotion dates.Clinique store locator example

How far to travel the geo-location path beyond these essentials depends on your audience. The Pew report shows that there’s a wide gulf in usage patterns between smartphone users and other cell phone owners; for example, usage of social services such as Foursquare is 140% higher among smartphone users compared with the overall cell phone population.

So if your target customers are heavy smartphone users, consider an active presence on geosocial sites like Foursquare and GoWalla, which offer consumers an opportunity to “check in” at locations, share the information with friends and offer recommendations on places to visit. To successfully leverage these sites to drive online and in-store traffic and sales, plan on investing resources in maintaining an active profile replete with targeted offers – and promoting the service across platforms, as Dunkin’ Donuts is doing with its “President of Dunkin’ Nation” campaign on Facebook. Customers who “check in” frequently at Dunkin’ Donuts locations are eligible for daily and weekly prizes as well as a grand prize featuring a flat-screen TV.

Dunkin' Donuts Facebook-Foursquare promotion example

 

Filed under Connected Commerce, Mobile Commerce, Social Commerce

Connected Commerce: Filling in the Grid

September 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Customers’ expectations are higher than ever for an integrated brand experience. Shoppers expect to be able to research and buy products, interact with and communicate about brands wherever they roam – from their smartphones to social networking sites and beyond.

For merchants, that expectation means integrated features and services that were once “nice to have” are now mandatory.  But we’ve found that while many merchants are experimenting with new platforms and formats, efforts remain highly segmented. This tendency is understandable – after all, on the surface, different mediums seem to serve different strengths. Industry researcher Forrester found that 61% of merchants view “listening to and better understanding customers” – not sales – as the primary ROI of social marketing, for example. Similarly, we merchants tend to think of search as an acquisition channel and email as a retention tool, while our flagship eCommerce sites remain the primary driver of online conversion.MarketLive graphic showing fragmented use of eCommerce platforms

 The problem with this approach, of course, is that shoppers don’t consult the graphic and segment their behaviors accordingly! Increasingly, they expect to fulfill diverse needs through whichever device or channel they prefer – whether it’s purchasing directly on Facebook or receiving loyalty offers on their cell phones. To meet this rising demand for total integration, we encourage merchants to move toward a more holistic approach, where each potential connection point with shoppers supports no less than five core needs:

1. Researching a product. Of course merchants should provide robust product information and customer reviews – but are they available via mobile devices and Facebook as well as the eCommerce site? Innovative merchants are translating long-successful practices from their eCommerce sites into new formats – for example, creating persona-driven mobile tools, such as Target’s “All About Baby”, that engage shoppers and connect them with the products they need.

 Target Baby mobile campaign

 

2. Buying a product. Wherever merchants establish a presence, their products should be front and center – and targeted at the medium’s audience. On Facebook, for example, merchants should feature customer-driven selections such as top-rated or top-“liked” items and/or the latest seasonal products. In springtime, Title Nine focused its featured Facebook products on the upcoming swim season – delivering the latest looks to its brand followers.MarketLive client Title Nine's Facebook page

Once shoppers spot a product they like, buying should be easy – without leaving their current environment. Merchants should consider implementing on-Facebook purchasing, transaction-enabled email, and a streamlined checkout process for mobile users.

3. Reaching customer service. Here’s a seeming no-brainer: a merchant’s customer service information should be ubiquitous on whatever platform shoppers use. BCrate and Barrel's Facebook pageut while most merchants have now made customer service links easily accessible on their eCommerce sites, in a recent survey we found that less than 10% of the 40 largest U.S. merchants’ Facebook pages include a customer service phone number – and only one showcased its online chat feature via Facebook. It’s an easy change to make: incorporate customer service information prominently, as Crate & Barrel does on its Facebook page by integrating the customer service number prominently into the anchor graphic on its page.

4. Supporting customers’ lifestyle. Successful merchants connect with their core audience by delivering not just products, but shopping environments in tune with shoppers’ tastes. Showcasing complementary content and in-depth expertise builds brand credibility – making it crucial to translate across platforms and media. Fashion-forward merchant Armani Exchange not only showcases its music channel, videos and promotional events on its flagship eCommerce site, but also via mobile and Facebook outlets – engaging shoppers wherever they connect with the brand.

5. Giving social feedback. As touchpoints proliferate, so do the opportunities for merchants to solicit shoppers’ opinions – thereby gaining valuable insights and shaping future marketing and merchandising strategies to suit shoppers’ needs. Savvy merchants are “crowd-sourcing” which products to feature as sale items and inviting customers’ ideas for products or services – as Perricone MD does below, with its Facebook poll asking followers to select which item will be included as a free sample with orders.

By supporting each of these behaviors on multiple platforms, merchants can achieve truly connected commerce. How many squares on the grid can you fill in? What are the challenges to filling in the gaps? Where are you seeing integration success?

 

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

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