Search results matching tag 'e-commerce'

Making eCRM sizzle

692072 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:09:00 GMT

ECRM is king. So why isn't everyone doing it? OK, perhaps the rhetorical excuse for a diatribe about how everyone really must start doing it properly is a bit transparent. Actually there might be a perfectly rational explanation, no matter how much I might, as a passionate advocate of eCRM, be wary of it. The answer is very, very mundane.

We've recently been involved in two quite big pitches, for brands everyone's heard of and almost everyone uses, both in transport. We've been drafted in as a wildcard – the brief's been about making email marketing deliver revenues. We've come in and talked about strategy and how relationships, customer journey cycles and touchpoints affect frequency of purchase and average transaction values. We've talked at length about the processes involved in mining data, creating simple customer segmentation then rich, layered segmentation (starting with sponge cake and aiming for gateau, I suppose). We've described processes for selecting email providers, deliverability consultants, analytics. And we've talked about the results – millions in demonstrable incremental revenues, customer lifetime values that go up by 3% (read: millions of pounds), over the first couple of years.

Looking back over these two pitches, which we didn't win (our normal win rate is around 75%), it's clear why. These two clients wanted to improve their email marketing. Simple as that. What we should have talked about was how we improve email campaigns so they drive results. We should leave the data stuff as a functional but implicit element - same as usability, or build standards, or testing. We've been guilty of trying to explain the thinking, not the practice. In old speak, we've been trying to sell the sausage, not the sizzle. Sure, eCRM is infinitely more complex than just email marketing... there are plenty of big projects that integrate segment-driven microsites, emails, SMS and e-commerce, all in aid of making the customer the centre of a brand's universe. But actually from some clients' points of view they may simply want to take the next step in improving what they do already, and that may be taking a newsletter and making it more relevant through simple segmentation.

And if we do take this approach to those pitches where the brief really is for improving email marketing, then perhaps we can take these clients and move them on to eCRM by stealth. If we can start with quick wins – the kind that generate sudden revenues - then we can go on to justify spending time and money on strategic thinking, segmentation and online touchpoints. In retrospect, we've been guilty of a lack of patience, and it's a trait endemic to the leading edges of the digital industry. So with (probably the vast majority of) clients new to eCRM, we need to start on ground that's already familiar, in order to help transform the mundane into something that ensures that it's the customer who's king.

Are blogs pants?

917990 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:02:00 GMT

I heard this week of a lingerie e-commerce site who'd boosted conversion by 23% by including articles in their blog.

So it turns out the knicker elasticity of demand is directly related to editorial content (sorry).

The serious point to be made is that blogs are a brilliant format for engaging your customers online and this is natural PR territory where writing skills meet commercial aims.

Some Media Prominence findings this month showed that in markets like lingerie, where research is involved before purchases are made, PR can also account for nearly half of brand value.

So that's PR that creates brand value, manages reputation, shifts stock and is measurable. Not too pants that huh.

[podcast] jane gleadall, biglight

2157261 — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 14:43:00 GMT

In this latest podcast I speak with Jane Gleadall of Biglight on e-commerce and the challenges faced both on the high street and in digital from the credit crunch and the current and future impact of social media on e-commerce.

You can listen to the podcast here. You’ll also be able to download it, subscribe via iTunes and all that plus download the transcript if you’d rather read than listen.

Here’s some nuggets:

On the economic impact affecting retailers and e-commerce:

I think that online sales whether its high street or online it will be a hard fought battle this year, I think that what we are going to see is that many of the consumers are raising their expectations and they want improved service at lower cost, I do think that online will be high on the agenda for many retailers this year, and I think that getting that share of business is going to be an essential part of their survival strategy. The principles of online to a large degree are no different to what you are seeing on the high street, it’s about improving margins, it’s about reducing your costs, it’s about improving your efficiencies.

On social media’s future impact on e-commerce:

I think social media in the retail context plays a slightly different role than as it’s used for the pure community context. In the pure community context people just want to talk to one another, want to share information but retail have got to see a bottom line improvement. I think that as I have said before retail tends to apply the philosophy of testing and if social media and what it brings to the table can improve conversion, can improve average order values, it will absolutely be used. What is becoming evident is that social media is becoming very important to purchase decisions

As usual, I’ve run the content through Wordle and it looks like this:

Catch up on previous podcasts:

Tomas Nihlen of Urban Lifestyle Report

Future of search with Love Digital

Kym Niblock, bbc.com

Content also shared in these spaces:

Five by Five Blog

Five by Five Podcasts

bluurb.wordpress.com

Who to heckle for this post:

Nicholas Gill, Planner | nick.gill@fivebyfivedigital.com | @nicholasgill | bluurb.wordpress.com

Get in touch:

fivebyfivedigital.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fiveby5/
http://twitter.com/FbFdigital

19 Bolsover Street, London W1W 5NA
4 Grosvenor Square Southampton SO15 2BE

Online Shopping

2187105 — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:06:00 GMT

It is no surprise to anyone that online shopping is increasing year by year. However it is interesting to see just how comfortable consumers are becoming with net shopping. Where previously online shopping was limited to certain sites and certain consumers, today the online boom means that most retail outlets also sell online. It is predicted that by 2012 the internet will make up 15% of the retail industry’s market share. This is estimated to be worth £45 billion. Even with the credit crunch biting, it seems that online shopping is not slowing down, but steadily increasing. A survey run by IMRG and Capgemini says that this year alone UK shoppers have spent 17 pence of every pound on the internet. This is an impressive growth of 38% on last year. This will come as no surprise when we consider that while retail spending on the high street was markedly lower in Christmas 2007, online there was £15.2 billion spent in the three months between October and December. This is a 50% increase on spend at Christmas 2006 and that was an increase of 50% on spent at Christmas 2005 (figures also from IMRG). This stunning growth, even during the credit crunch, is holding online retailers in good stead. This increased confidence in online shopping is a reflection of changing attitudes towards the internet. Security is constantly improving and standardising and users are more savvy about how to shop safely. As retailers innovate online, consumers are becoming more comfortable with how to shop on the net. Many users now feel that online shopping is more convenient than high street shopping. As Mike Petevinos, head of retail consulting at Capgemini, said in an interview with the BBC: “Convenience has a sharper edge in a world of soaring fuel prices and the ability to research and make more informed choices in a time of heightened price sensitivity is a key advantage of the online channel.” I It is great news to online retailers that the EU is proposing new rules to make it easier for consumers to shop online within Europe. The proposal intends to outline a more consistent approach to online retail, from consumer rights to standard practices. This will cover things like cooling off periods and guarantees to help open up online retail between countries across Europe. EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva is proposing a broad range of practises that should help consumers shop online, including a crackdown on hidden charges (particularly by cheap airlines) as well as cutting costs of telecommunications using broadband such as text messages and downloads. So while the gloom of recession has made it tough for the high street, it is good news to hear that online retail is holding its course and growth. With the standardisation of retail practises and the growing consumer confidence in online shopping, it seems like the internet is staying on course.

Justin Drummond,

Chief Executive - Media Corporation plc

Your Customer = Ruthless From Brighton

980070 — Tue, 27 May 2008 10:27:38 GMT

My brother said “I love the internet” to me at the weekend. He’s a civil servant, married with three kids, house by the sea and no business experience or interest in marketing whatsoever....

“I love surfing the internet. I love looking around, reading the news, checking up on things. I like getting bargains too. Searching for stuff, reading reviews and finding the best price. With three kids and a mortgage I have to go for the cheapest.”

A pretty normal guy with an average attention span, he just needs to find whatever he’s looking for, and this means getting in and out as quickly as possible. He doesn’t care about advertising, cares little for privacy or how computers or the internet works. For him it’s a wormhole, a window through which he can get Portsmouth football results, research campsites in the South of France and save money on tat so he can buy even more tat!

Jakob Nielsen, the usability expert, has been talking about his annual report showing we’re getting better at closing the gap between what internet users are trying to do, and what they actually succeed in doing on the web.

A report by the BBC on the research, cites users are getting more “ruthless and selfish” when they go online. 75% of tasks are successfully executed these days, compared with just 60% way back in 1999.

Because the internet’s been around for a while, users are more savvy, they know what they want or where they want to go. That’s why we all agree that search is becoming so navigational. We all have our favourite sites, but according to Nielsen, we want them to get straight to the point. Apparently we have little patience for widgets and engagement exercises.

This goes against the grain of the last couple of years, where site owners and marketers have been told it’s all about time on page, getting social and trying to impart messages whilst holding attention for the maximum amount of time.

When he says that businesses “still feel that their site is interesting and special and people will be happy about what they are throwing at them," I guess that’s because so many online marketers are still measuring success in terms of “hits” and “uniques”?

You can have a thousand visitors a day, but if all they do is bounce off your home page it doesn’t matter how many page views you’re reporting, you’re not engaging them properly for what they’re trying to do.

I remember when I was at 24/7 Search some years ago. A colleague sat opposite me couldn’t understand why my client had sold three times the amount of flowers, running up to Mother’s Day, as his. They were both blue-chip, household, high-street names, yet the advertiser whose search campaigns I was managing had by far the higher conversion rate. On analysis, his client sent customers through 3 more pages/steps in the purchase process and would recommend all sorts of weird and random products along the way. This simply served to annoy and alienate their customers, who just wanted to buy some flowers quickly for their mums, and get on with their work.

The fact that search fails a lot of users is nothing new, “when you watch people search we often find that people fail and do not get the results they were looking for.” Search engines know they provide links and not necessarily answers to queries, which are essentially the user asking a question. Technology is getting better at assessing user intent, but we’re some way off.

The report goes a long way to prove that we’ve got better at addressing users needs, but that it depends on what they’re trying to do. Engagement is still a good measure to assess effectiveness, as many sites have “push” or “read me” content which needs to be optimised.

But if my brother wants to buy something like a bathroom tap or a chopping board, there’s a balance to be struck between providing him with all he needs to make an informed decision, and making him sit through a video or suggesting he play some crazy game.

The web has had a huge effect on how we market products and services to the masses. If we put one foot wrong, users will vote with theirs and walk the other way. At least now we have the power to measure where they came from, what they did and where they went, so we can make better decisions about how we tackle them next time.

Hopefully then, they’ll be a little less ruthless!

19

980070 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:38:30 GMT

Just spent a long weekend down in Dorset with a bunch of chums that haven’t all been together in the same room since school. With wives and children in tow, we all caught up on the many years apart other than the odd night out in London.

The talk inevitably got onto what we’re all doing now. Three were lawyers, one an estate agent, one a teacher and the host runs a deli and bistro just outside Dorchester...

They all found it funny that I was doing something that wasn’t an option when we were all at school. In 1989 there were no such things as the internet or search engines. There were no jobs in search marketing, web design, SEO, social networking or trafficking. They simply weren't on the curriculum. I wonder what kind of roles or indeed industries that have shown such growth will exist in 2027?!

One thing that did strike me was the ignorance about the online marketing ether, especially amongst the small business entrepreneurs in the party. The estate agent and restaurateur both had websites, but they weren’t that bothered about optimising them. The “oh it’ll do” attitude was pervasive as they see search and web marketing as being a bit too complicated and time consuming. This negative vibe was reflected in some research Microsoft did into small businesses last year.

The research which questioned 400 UK SMBs, revealed 62% of small businesses are not investing in search engine marketing. 44% of SMBs not doing search marketing think it is too time consuming; 56% think it is too expensive; and 33% too complicated. However, 76% of SMBs promoting their website on search engines see an immediate increase in sales.

Fast forward to Internet World yesterday at Earls Court, and you had hundreds of small business owners all taking advantage of the free entry to cram into tiny theatres and crowd outside on tiptoe, just to catch some wisdom from a raft of speakers talking about anything and everything from email, search and affiliate marketing to social networking, analytics and display.

It seems there’s a gulf to bridge between the “haves” and “have nots”. Those that have the internet marketing bug see the benefits and manage to balance everything else they have to do with making time to understand and engage with this brave new world. Those that don’t get it still need influencing, cajoling, enticing and handholding.

I’m sure it won’t be too many years before web marketing becomes an integral part of our small business vocabulary – let’s try and make sure it doesn’t take another 19.....

Good Online/Offline Customer Service Pays

980070 — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:41:35 GMT

I couldn't sleep over the weekend so got up and ordered a USB headset with a noise-cancelling microphone at 3am.....as you do! I need the headset as I'm starting to do a lot more multimedia for the adCenterCommunity.com site - webinars, podcasts, video etc....

.....I asked the company, based up north, to send the headset "next day delivery". Being a small business they were not around at the weekend so processed the order yesterday - a bit tardy me being used to Amazon and the like working all hours.

Imagine my surprise when I got a phone call saying the item had been dispatched and I should get it today. If I had any problems I was to call them straight back.

It was a great example of old world customer service in a new world digital age. They may not have as a sophisticated fulfilment system as some of the bigger players but they made up for it with a human touch.

Just goes to show that small businesses can compete in this online age - they just need to behave a little differently....

Get With The Programs Apprentices!

980070 — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:47:22 GMT

Anyone who saw The Apprentice last night would have been amazed at how the "bizniz yoof" of today obviously have little grasp of technology...

What was all that stress and paranoia about when it came to getting some photos off a memory card on to a laptop and printing them off.

Are the Facebook fashionistas that pc illiterate? How do they feel now having exposed their Random inAccessible Memory to the man that brought us the Amstrad E-Mailer Telephone?!

Admitting on television that you are "technically useless" doesn't hold you in good stead for the big digital world of cunning corporations, when you're supposed to be demonstrating your business experience and acumen.

Get down to your local library on Saturday and take a course!

Alternatively there is a series of books with the word "dummies" in the title....

Internet Fraud Booming Say The BBC

980070 — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:25:42 GMT

Hot on the heels of my personal tale last week, BBC London has been carrying out its own investigation...

The report entitled Is the Internet a fraudsters paradise? follows the real life case of hackers getting hold of data from a "lavender lotion" merchant based in Carshalton in Surrey.

The way this feature was presented on TV this morning was a bit dark and heavy handed, but I suppose gets the point across to people who may not be so careful when purchasing online.

While there is an issue, we must remember that internet fraud accounts for just a fraction of the billions of pounds spent online every year.