Many ecommerce sites see large volumes of abandoned carts from their online store. This is because search engines often add products to the shopping cart when indexing. Keep reading to learn more about how you can tell if you have a true abandoned cart on your hands.
Yesterday afternoon we received a very interesting question on […]
Original post by Matt
In keeping with holiday traditions Shop.Org published the results of their holiday shopping survey. This year, many retailers and industry experts were hedging their bets that the slow economy would necessitate that retailers use extensive promotional offers to bring in customers and drive sales. What they found, however, was that savings didn’t top the […]
Original post by Kate Pierce
Earlier this year eMarketer wrote an article based on MarketingSherpa’s surprising findings concerning social media effectiveness and measurability.
MarketingSherpa’s study asked US Social Media Marketing Professionals to identify the most appropriate marketing uses for social media. Here are the results (in order of effectiveness):
Influence brand reputation
Increase brand awareness
Improve search engine rankings
Increase website traffic
Generate leads
Improve internal […]
Original post by Kate
Spending on online video advertising is still small compared to total online spending and television spending, but last year it grew by 126.5%. According to recent studies, online video advertising spend is expected to continue on its upward trend- increasing by an average of 41% per year over the next five years.
With online video popularity […]
Original post by Kate
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Original post by Jennifer Martinez
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Original post by Jennifer Martinez
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Original post by Om Malik
Chances are you have heard CISP and PCI DSS thrown around in conversation or seen it referred to in forums or blog posts. But what does it all mean? Hopefully this article will answer the questions you have wondered about but were too afraid to ask.
What Is It?
In 2001 Visa created CISP (Cardholder Information Security […]
Original post by Kate
In 2007 the Canadian retail ecommerce only totaled about 12.9 billion USD, but over the next three years that number is predicted by eMarketer to grow by more than 10% annually. With Canadian business-to-consumer (B2C) ecommerce on the rise there is room for retailers and online store owners to get a piece of this rapidly […]
Original post by Kate
Last January we held a webinar called 12 Things Retailers Must Learn from Christmas 2007. It’s basically a webinar on event marketing year-round, not just Christmas so check it out as Valentine’s Day is just around the corner…
I will add one thing we can learn from Christmas 2008 courtesy of Google Trends. Looking back at trends for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and what we call here in Canada “Boxing Day” (December 26) we find some interesting searches that savvy retailers can plan to bid on for next year in PPC.
Christmas Eve
The keyword “stores open on Christmas eve” is perfect to geo-target local brick-and-mortar stores or promote your online store open 24/7 with overnight delivery, especially considering search volume peaked at 4pm PST!
Christmas Day
“Stores open on Christmas Day” peaked at 9am PST and was even hotter than the Christmas Eve search. This NowPublic article was the top news result so do remember to reach out to your journalists and bloggers locally and nationally if your physical locations are open next year.
After-Christmas-sale and even December-26-sale keywords also were popular on Christmas day, so consider broad or phrase matching the following (of course you can expand this list, but you get the idea):
“after christmas sale”
“after christmas sales”
“after christmas sale 2009″
“after christmas sales 2009″
“after christmas clearance”
“after christmas deals”
“after christmas discounts”
“after christmas bargains”
“after christmas markdowns”
“2008 after christmas sale”
“december 26 sale”
“post-christmas sale”
“post christmas deals”
“after xmas sale”
“after xmas sales”
“after x mas sale”
“after x mas sales”
You can let these keywords run right into January, although trend data suggests these searches die at the beginning of the New Year.
Selecting the Right Ecommerce Software in Six Weeks or Less
When: January 21st, 2009 @ 9am PT/12pm ET
Panelists:
Bill Mirabito, Founder and Principal Analyst, B2C Partners
Jason Billingsley, VP Innovation, Elastic Path Software
Register to Attend…
Original post by Linda Bustos
Why cross-sell when you can bundle?
Product bundles are a great way to increase average order size, deliver a value proposition and even creatively sweeten the deal when MAP (minimum advertised price) regulations apply to a product (offering free or discounted bundled items).
Walmart is promoting value bundles this year on everything from computers to toys. Here’s a recent email:
And here’s a close-up of one of the bundles’ product pages:
“Get more, save more and spend less when you buy these items together.” Brilliant. Customers can even choose their options right on the product page and the total updates itself at the bottom.
Selecting the Right Ecommerce Software in Six Weeks or Less
When: January 21st, 2009 @ 9am PT/12pm ET
Panelists:
Bill Mirabito, Founder and Principal Analyst, B2C Partners
Jason Billingsley, VP Innovation, Elastic Path Software
Register to Attend…
Original post by Linda Bustos
This post is a recap of today’s webinar: Holiday Wish List for Mobile Commerce. The on-demand version is now available, along with a download-able mp4 file.
First, a little about our guest speaker:
Bill Mirabito has over a decade’s experience managing e-business activities as both a marketer and technologist for brands across the world as a senior retail analyst with Forrester Research. Bill also held the reins at BJ’s Wholesale Club’s online division and presently runs his own retail specialty shop. B2C Partners is Bill’s consultancy which helps enterprise retailers with ecommerce vendor evaluation and product selection.
The webinar covers 3 areas:
Chanel
Chanel created an iPhone application, which can be downloaded from the App Store. You can use the application to view the current catalog, read Chanel news or find a local store.
Godiva
Godiva partnered with mobile web solutions provider Digby to create a Blackberry-specific version of the Godiva site that allows customers to complete transactions, view rich product descriptions and full-color images, and find retail locations using GPS. However, it’s hard to access from non-Blackberry devices:
Urban Outfitters
Urban Outfitters developed a text messaging promotions system which you can sign up for online. They also promote in-store sign-ups. The sign up form states the service is compatible with AT&T products, I’m not sure if that means others are or are not supported - this should have clarification.
After sign up, customer receives a welcome message:
UO TXT: Thanks! You’ll be hearing from us soon. Std msg rates apply. Reply STOP 2 unsub at any time.
Barnes and Noble
BN.com has a mobile version that functions like the regular website - you can search, view product details, add to cart and checkout with credit card.
Polo Ralph Lauren has also developed a mobile version of its site at m.ralphlauren.com
Amazon
Amazon Text Buy It lets customers send text commands to the service which sends an automated call back to the user’s device, pulling previously saved customer information including credit card and shipping information (requires an existing Amazon account).
1. No standard mobile web interface. Broadband touch-screens are gaining traction, but unlike the desktop-world with mainly 2 major operating systems, there no uniform OS or browser for mobile devices. Controlling the user experience is much more difficult.
(You may also be interested in our recent post Should You Have a Mobile Version of Your Retail Website?)
2. Mobile merchandising is impractical. Even the best small screen devices can never match the desktop experience - monitors get larger, websites get more depth of content - and zoom/alternate views on a small screen / page becomes more problematic to effectively merchandise products and push to checkout.
3. Payments much more difficult to secure. Cell phones were designed to be used in public. Would you key in a credit card number in an airport? The greater inclination is to dial toll free number or defer the transaction to later time. 41% of data users who don’t use mobile commerce say security is their biggest concern according to research by Nielsen Mobile.
PayPal Mobile or Amazon.com’s stored credit card information are great options for loyal users who are already registered with these services. As the market expands, there may come a point where users are more inclined to pay through these methods but still few and far between.
Some carriers are exploring bill-to-phone options but this requires a proprietary interface and other complexities that makes the audience still quite small. You may not want to market just to a sub-set of carrier users like Verizon or AT&T only.
Statistics
Broadband at 25.5% and smart phones only 6.4%. Retailers like Chanel who build specifically for smart phones find only a small market.
SMS has now reached critical mass - average calls less than text messages per month. Now a viable way to engage consumers (market to them) wherever they are.
Think about using mobile commerce, not necessarily to close transaction or replicate the website. Mobile phones can be an effective “kiosk on the hip.” Use mobile ecommerce websites and text message marketing to engage, inform, assist and enhance the in-store experience. Leverage your web assets to assist in-store tasks, with the mobile channel as the essential bridge to:
Sample Use-Cases, In-Store Personas
ENGAGE: Ed the Enthusiast
Idea: put SMS callout on in-store signage, sporting events, TV, billboard, sales receipts, flyers, business cards etc.
INFORM: Rita Research
ASSIST: Hal the Hunter
ASSIST: Tina Teenage
ENHANCE: Barb the Bargain Hunter
The more you contacts and touch points you have with the same consumer across channels, the more value you are to them and they are to you. You know more about them and can deliver better, targeted information directly to them - aligning your Ecommerce, ERP and CRM systems.
It’s not as simple as plugging something into a website. You want aggregators that pool data and send it to appropriate service providers. Your app provider builds an interface on top of your systems for you (example, Motricity), while connection aggregators (such as Air2Web) put together a program to deliver content from your platform to the wireless carrier.
How do you prevent customers from researching, handling products in your store only to buy through Amazon Text Buy?
The reality is this already takes place, whether through mobile or web channels (if not another retail competitor). If you don’t provide them with ratings and reviews and they have a web-enabled phone, they can do that anyway.
Are any retailers putting reviews in a specific mobile format?
No, most retailers aren’t thinking about the connection between the WAP page (web access protocol, or mobile web page) and the text message format. A good practice is to engage the customer in the text message with a link to a WAP page with product review.
Any don’ts for SMS marketing? What constitutes spam?
There was a lawsuit against GSI and Timberland for SMS spam which settled for $7 Million, so it’s essential to get permission for any kind of marketing and allow an opt-out such as text STOP to unsubscribe.
Is there potential for geo-locative content?
GPS enabled mobile devices can receive messages when they are within a certain range of a store. If you can engineer this into your mobile content system, all the better. Even in those cases, you need permission in each and every case.
If someone hasn’t approached mobile yet, what is the lowest-barrier-to-entry strategy?
Give people more access to product information than is in the aisle - there’s already much more on the web than you can fit in a shelf tag. If that information is available online, the customer is much more likely to buy armed with this additional information.
What kind of investment do you need to get going with mobile commerce?
It’s hard because it’s so brand new, depends on complexity of your situation.
Final thought…
With the state of the economy, consumer confidence everyone is nervous about the state of the …
In terms of innovation, this is an area that retailers can leverage what they already have if they can expose that to consumers in the aisle more effectively.
Bill Mirabito, Founder & Principal Analyst B2C Partners
web: http://www.b2cpartners.com
bmirabito at b2cpartners dot com
Twitter: @bmirabito
Multi-Store Retailing Online: Perks and Pitfalls
Many retailers and manufacturers are stretching their tentacles and launching ecommerce sites dedicated to specific geographic markets, product lines, price strategies, and even shopper personas. And they are reaping huge benefits. But, there are key things you need to know before taking this next step in online retail. Find out what this game changing trend is all about and bring your specific questions.
In this webinar you will discover:
• Why multi-store retailing is gaining momentum
• The types of stores you must consider launching
• When it makes sense to launch additional stores
• How to avoid common yet critical mistakes
There will also be time for your questions.
Speaker: Jason Billingsley, Co-Founder and VP Innovation, Elastic Path Software
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM PST
Register today, and if you have a co-worker who would be interested, please invite them.
Dangerous Marketing Ahead: How to Break Bad Habits and Survive a Deep Recession December 10th, 2008 @ 9am PT/12pm ET
Panelists: Jeff Molander, CEO, Molander & Associates, Inc.
Jason Billingsley, VP Innovation, Elastic Path Software
Jonathan Salem Baskin, Entrepreneur, Consultant and Author of the controversial new book, "Branding Only Works on Cattle"
Register to Attend…
Original post by Linda Bustos
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Original post by Om Malik
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Original post by Om Malik
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