Posts Tagged E-Commerce
The importance of social media to any e-commerce business
Posted by Paul McSweeney in E-Commerce, Facebook, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions on August 27th, 2010
We have all seen the explosion of corporations creating online communities, but let us take a look at how easy it can be to connect with your e-commerce customers and how important social media is to your customers.
First, we have to ask the question, how do you take the seemingly limitless social media conversations and turn them into actionable insights? Also, how can you understand what is being said and the context of those conversations?
Social media in any context offers incredibly good (and free) feedback on a variety of goods and services. Online Retailers need to use this information to their advantage. Using it to your advantage means using both the good and bad comments. Here are some practical tips we can take a look at. Most importantly, keep the conversation going and make sure your social media content is relevant and current. Do remember that the end goal is product sales and customer connections. Also, rekindle the passion for your brand consistently using social media methods. For example, if you a leading e-commerce website and you are involved in a social media forum, why not hold weekly or bi-weekly chat sessions about the experiences with ordering product via your site? You will get invaluable responses from doing something like this.
It is also very important to constantly think about the audience you are trying to go after, consider your age demographics, race, and gender as well. Who are the most likely people to purchase your products and who do you want to expand to? These are key points to remember when considering your marketplace.
It is really no surprise that online e-commerce businesses were one of the first groups to use social media to make their brand more social. They enabled customers to find out what their peers were thinking and provided valuable insight that could be viewed in “real time”.
Building a truly interactive social media community within an e-commerce platform is important as it creates a more efficient retail environment where customer opinions, relevant content and product information are freely distributed. It is only then that “social commerce” can happen.
To accomplish this, retailers must be able to integrate social media elements, such as social networking features and user generated platforms directly into their commerce environments.
As a result of this, online retailers can create and own a unique social experience that would encompass the entire customer lifecycle. Customers can than enjoy a more integrated shopping experience and retailers will see an increase in unique visitors to their online store that are “predisposed” to their marketing messages. This will streamline marketing efforts and lead to increased profits and decreased costs.
Social media allows empowering customers by enabling them to establish user profiles that pull in data and relationships to online stores. At this point customers can interact and provide you (the online retailer) invaluable customer feedback, and bring in potential new customers.
By building and maintaining vibrant communities that address the passion of the retailer’s core audience, and then spreading that passion to the larger social web, retailers will attract loyal and engaged customers, and will achieve better business results.
Social media is absolutely crucial to an online retailer’s success today. Social media allows you to engage a customer, get new business, and most importantly elicit invaluable customer feedback that will turn into increased sales.
Online sales on the up
Posted by Paul McSweeney in E-Commerce, Thoughts & Opinions on August 20th, 2010
Internet sales grew in July at their fastest pace since before the recession, as wet weather encouraged home shopping, a survey suggests.
Online sales grew by 18% in the month compared with a year earlier, the biggest jump since 2007, IMRG said.
UK shoppers spent £5bn online in July, more than in any other month this year, it added.
Figures published on Thursday showed total UK retail sales rising much faster than expected in July.
Sales volumes jumped 1.1% compared with June, the Office for National Statistics said, with almost all non-food sectors showing strong growth.
World Cup dip
The average UK shopper spent £81 online in July, with promotions and discounts also boosting spending.
Travel sales rose by a third compared with a year earlier, as people looked to escape the rain and head for sunnier climes, said IMRG, the industry body for global internet retailing.
This more than offset a fall in alcohol sales, caused perhaps by England’s disappointing performance in the football World Cup, the group said.
“Although online retail sales survived the recession more convincingly than High Street sales, the last two years or so have no doubt been shaky at times,” said Chris Webster, head of retail consulting and technology at Capgemini, which publishes the online sales index with IMRG.
“It is really encouraging to see growth levels returning to those seen pre-2007 and before consumer confidence was knocked by the financial crisis and the recession.”
The IMRG Capgemini Index tracks online sales at more than 100 retailers across the UK.
Social Commerce- how to gauge the effectiveness of user-generated content
Posted by Paul McSweeney in E Mail Marketing, E-Commerce, Online Marketing, Social Commerce on July 20th, 2010
Here are two ways we recommend organizations measure real success.
Do Before-and-After Comparisons
It’s possible to compare key metrics – such as average order value, sales conversion, and traffic to the product page, among others – before and after user-generated content is added to the site. The key is to look at the same (or very similar) products at specific points in time over a broad period and avoid any external factors (such as promotions).
Here’s an example of a before-and-after test of reviews on a classic kitchen mixer that sees predictable sales throughout the year. Key metrics would be captured for a full year before reviews were launched. Once reviews were launched, the metrics would be compared quarterly, with a full comparative analysis done at specific points in time one year after launch.
As a best practice, compare metrics using “percent of change” rather than a simple difference, so you can compare the performance of different products to one another and make additional observations. For example, using percent of change, you may see a correlation between the number of reviews and overall conversion. Every marketer should know the percent change formula, but for the sake of convenience, here it is: % of change = [(new value - old value)/old value]*100.
To check the accuracy with this method, you can compare that mixer’s results with a mixer in the same category that doesn’t have reviews for the same period, or you can compare it to other products in the same category. And compare it further to products in similar categories and the site overall. With a few comparison points, assuming you have a large lift for the mixer, you can confidently support the results.
There’s always the question of external factors in a before-and-after analysis, but if the results are substantial, this method can work well on a product-by-product basis on established products that have sold consistently over time. It’s important to take seasonality and other factors into account, too. For example, recent nationwide economic factors played a role in many sales downturns.
Run an A/B Test
While an A/B test can take time and effort to plan, it’s one of the most accurate ways to measure success, when done correctly. A/B testing takes two otherwise identical groups and makes one change to one group. That group, version “A,” becomes the test group, and version “B,” the group without the change, becomes the control group. You then measure the performance of these two groups, and determine what impact the variable made on the results.
For example, if you wanted to test the success of an e-mail campaign, you could do so with A/B testing. You would first split your receipt list into two groups. The control group (Group A) receives a standard e-mail, and the test group (Group B) receives the same e-mail, but with the addition of review content. You then measure key performance metrics, which, in this case, might include response rate, click-through rate, and conversion. We have seen lifts in revenue per e-mail as much as 50 percent with this method. We’ve also seen online retailers do A/B split tests on their websites and show lifts from 10 percent to 50 percent.
Since the only difference between Group A and B is the inclusion of user-generated content, any difference in the performance metrics can be attributed to the presence of that content.
When used correctly, it is powerful, but, if done incorrectly, it can provide misleading results. To run a successful A/B test, take time to plan ahead, base your sample size and time frame to gather enough data to show clear, realistic results, and make sure to just test one variable at a time, so you can confirm that results are based on that one variable.
Other Key Points to Remember
Look for at least a three-month test window to help make sure your results are sound. While some specific campaigns may take less time to gauge results, three months is usually a good rule of thumb.
It’s also important to make sure you have the right Web analytics tags and data capture methods in place. For a holistic view of how user-generated content is working for you, tag all interactions your site visitors have with this content – including online and offline encounters. And align your tagging methods with your business’ overall success metrics.
Final parting thought: If a data point doesn’t matter to the bottom line, think about why you’re really measuring it.
How to start benefiting from social commerce via Facebook
Posted by Paul McSweeney in Facebook, Online Marketing, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social Networking on July 9th, 2010
Facebook is where your customers are. And social commerce is rapidly on the increase. So we thought, we would put together a few ideas as to how you can meet in the middle of this growth; and benefit!
1) Integrate the Facebook Like button to any product description page.
This is a must for any e-Commerce site. It is easy to implement, and an instant win.
2) Advertise on Facebook to drive traffic directly to your product pages.
3) Use Facebook Login for your e-Commerce site
Facebook Login is a great way to authenticate people on your eCommerce site. This functionality does not only enable the easy sharing of thoughts and likes on your products, but is also a great win if you want to increase your user base fast. It is an ease of use for visitors in order to quickly login to your site in one click.
4) Build your eCommerce application on Facebook
Companies are planning to develop their own applications on Facebook. An e-Commerce application on Facebook has three major advantages,
- Presence: Your customer is already there (They don’t come to your web site every day)
- Ease of use: Making it simple for your customers to shop, “fish where the fish are”.
- Trust: People may well have less trust issues on the Facebook space than your company-specific domain.
If you have not already applied social commerce tactics for your company or are resisting social commerce reality, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We can help smooth you into the process by assisting in setting up your Facebook presence!
Twitter is now into e-commerce
Posted by Paul McSweeney in Facebook, M-Commerce, Social Commerce on July 8th, 2010
On Tuesday Twitter unveiled its first foray into selling products.
The company announced @earlybird Exclusive Offers, which will be time-sensitive deals on products and events that will appear on the @earlybird Twitter account. People can follow that account to get access to the deals.
The idea borrows from private and limited-time sale sites, like Gilt, Groupon and Woot (which was recently acquired by Amazon), a recent trend in online shopping. It also takes advantage of what companies like Dell, which attributes millions of dollars in sales to posting deals on Twitter, are already doing.
The deals could be on products, like iPods or nappies, or on events, like concert tickets or travel. In a post on a company blog, Twitter hinted that it could filter deals by category, like clothing or gadgets, in the future. Twitter stressed that it would be selective about which deals were offered and “try and make these deals interesting and of value to you.”
The retailers will determine the price of the items and how many are available. Twitter will earn money from the sales. It is experimenting with different models, like a cut of each sale or a fixed price per deal, said Sean Garrett, a Twitter spokesman. The retailers will collect shoppers’ credit card numbers and otherwise fulfill the transaction.
This is a different approach to e-commerce than the one Twitter were potentially toying with last year, in which retailers could offer transactions on the site based on what people are writing about. A running shoe retailer, for example, could offer shoes to people who asked about the best shoes for running on trails. This might still be possible with annotations, a new service that Twitter says it is rolling out soon so that people can add so-called metadata, like a way to make a purchase, to Twitter posts.
The first deal will appear soon, Mr. Garrett said. They will initially be nationwide, but Twitter is considering offering deals specific to cities or countries later on. If @earlybird takes off, Twitter could become a competitor to Groupon and the many other local daily deal sites, as well as to Woot, Gilt and others.
How to keep selling online through the economic downturn
Posted by Paul McSweeney in E Mail Marketing, E-Commerce, Facebook, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions on June 23rd, 2010
After years of growth rates of in the double digits, e-commerce sales are projected to increase at a single-digit pace from now until 2012. There are two forces acting toward this trend: the economic downturn has added additional downward pressure on short-term sales, and according to some sources, the population of Internet buyers is approaching saturation. The global economic downturn undercut consumer retail spending in most channels, except the U.S. online channels, which analysts forecast to reach $229.1 billion in 2013, or 8 percent of total U.S. retail sales.
Some executives are more optimistic. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, has said on several occasions that e-commerce will account for up to 15 percent by 2016. The major catalyst for e-commerce growth in the short term seems to be in stimulating existing online shoppers to continue to buy and to shift a greater percentage of their total purchases to the web.
To do this, companies will employee online marketing initiatives but also stress the convenience, broader selection, and ostensible cost savings associated with buying online. In the longer term, teenagers already spending online will acquire more purchasing power and independence and will invigorate the online channel.
More than half of online retailers believe that the outlook for the retail industry as a whole is gloomy and that retail sales will continue to slow in the coming 12 months. But 8o percent of online retailers said that they believe that the Web channel is better suited than other channels to withstand an extended economic downturn. (But more than half also think that multi-channel retailers are better suited to weather the economic turbulence than single-channel retailers).
E-commerce retailers report that their conversion rates continue to range from 3% to 3.5% as they have for years, which is another indication that the Web has not been as adversely impacted as other channels.
Going forward, online retailers will continue investing heavily in interactive marketing, a significant expenditure for e-commerce groups. In this vein, companies will experiment with social commerce initiatives, even though questions still remain for social marketing ROI, such as blogs and social networks.
Acquiring new customers is still the number one goal of online marketing efforts. While other retail channels struggle to innovate and perform, e-commerce managers have a unique opportunity to drive more sales and to test different tactics that resonate with consumers. Even more so now than in fatter times, retailers must strictly segment their customer groups and create messaging that speaks directly and powerfully to these groups.
Social Commerce..it’s the future. Try it!
Posted by Paul McSweeney in E-Commerce, Facebook, Online Marketing, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social Networking, Thoughts & Opinions on June 18th, 2010
Social networking has been growing exponentially and throughout that speedy process newer and newer platforms have been evolving and making a name for themselves in small niches. Marketers have realized there is money in this evolution and they are targeting it more than ever. As eCommerce merchants we need to embrace the growing change and the need to be “informed” and target our audience through the free spaces that exist like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. The only investment needed is time and resources as you continue to grow.
Social Commerce is defined as the relationship and fusion of eCommerce and social media together to help buyers and sellers make better purchasing decisions online. This combination is the next generation of interaction between buyers and sellers.
Take a look at these studies and see for yourself what respondents had to say. And then ask yourself if you feel the same way.
According to Bazaarvoice:
“81 percent of respondents said they’d received advice from friends and followers relating to a product purchase through a social site; 74 percent of those who received such advice found it to be influential in their decision. 90% of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know…
Friends still play an important role in influencing consumers; 83 percent of online shoppers said they are interested in sharing information about their purchases with people they know, while 74 percent are influenced by the opinions of others in their decision to buy the product in the first place…
Users put great trust in their social networks…respondents said they considered information shared on their networks when making a decision…
Facebook, blogs, Twitter and customer reviews are considered the most effective tactics for mobilizing consumers to talk up products online…
Recommendations from family and friends trump all other consumer touch points when it comes to influencing purchases …Consumers trust friends above experts when it comes to product recommendation”
Users are finding the value in sharing online. They feel safer and they can trust that their friends can help them make better buying decisions. Helping a friend and/or follower make a purchase online is one of the best ways to build advocacy online and throughout your social networks. Try sharing one of your listings with your Facebook friends or Twitter followers and watch the interactions that happen. People are interested in what you are buying and selling and if they need it they are going to feel more comfortable buying it from you. What’s even more powerful is sharing a purchase you made with friends, pointing them in the right direction for the next purchase they may make online.
People love to share themselves and share their experiences with those who care to listen. It is human nature. In the eCommerce space buyers want to feel comfortable buying from sellers and sellers want to feel confident that they are targeting qualified buyers who want what they have to sell. Being uncomfortable has been one of the most important inhibitors that have existed over the last 10 years in the e-commerce space.
Your Homework for the Weekend: Ask a friend online or follower for some advice on a purchase or a product and see how they respond. Check and see who else responds too.
7 things your Brand should be doing today.
Posted by Paul McSweeney in E-Commerce, Facebook, M-Commerce, Social Commerce, Social Media, Social Networking, Web Design on June 17th, 2010
I have been listening to a few great webinars recently. And with some help from an impressive digital retail agency by the name of Fluid, and from Paul Marsden, I have done my best to summarise some of the key points. So here goes; how to deploy an effective social commerce makeover for your brand:
1. Start selling on Social Platforms – Open a Facebook store and simply experiment. It’s fast, inexpensive and simple to implement. It should not only drive your online sales; but will doubtless increase your Facebook followers too.
2. Add Mobile into the social mix – Allow users to share content to mobile via SMS. This is one of the fastest areas of growth in the market. If you implement a share by SMS icon to your site, your sales will jump.
3. Implement Facebook Social Plugins – start by adding the Like button to product pages on your e-commerce site. By doing this, you get your product onto Facebook walls – where click through rates are a fantastic 6.5%. This drives traffic to your e-commerce site. The Like button is the new mini review. See Tripadvisor.
4. Cross-sell/Up-sell with personal recommendations – 90% of people trust recommendations from people they know vs. 70% who trust anonymous reviews, and 67% of people spend more online after recommendations from friends. Therefore make allowing people to make personal recommendation on your site a priority! See Levi’s.
5. Integrate chat on your e-commerce site – so friends can shop together and discuss products. Luggage brand JanSport saw a 59% increase in product views and a 147% increase in time on site after integrating a Chat feature on its site.
6. Make your website your social flagship – social features are not just for social media platforms. You should use them on your website, by adding social media conversation feeds to your site, whilst exporting your content to social media platforms. Give your customers a multitude of reasons to keep coming back!
7. Bring the in-store experience online to social media platforms – to make all your channels social. Such examples could be live webcasts of in-store events.
Innovation brings a touch of class to online shopping
Posted by Paul McSweeney in World News on June 16th, 2010
E-commerce is not generally seen as the sexiest corner of the internet these days. Amazon has become the world’s general store, eBay the world’s flea market. Wal-Mart and Target offer predictably low prices. Brands sell direct through their websites, but hardly make that their focus.
Many luxury groups have opted out of e-commerce altogether, believing the risks of selling online – such as brand degradation and counterfeiting – outweigh any benefits.
This whole notion of the web being a channel of discounting went against the very aesthetic of these brands. But recent innovation has reshaped e-commerce. Luxury brands are discovering ways to reach customers without sacrificing brand integrity.
Applications on smartphones and the iPad have delivered a powerful interface for users to search, browse and buy goods. Ralph Lauren’s Rugby brand and Gap, among others, have developed their own sophisticated apps.
Indeed shopping is proving one of the most popular activities on touch devices. Sales through eBay’s iPhone app last year topped $500m. Purchases included a Lamborghini, and a Bentley.
All this shows that people are rapidly becoming used to the convenience of getting what they want, when they want it. Buyers are used to finding very expensive goods online. People are also confident enough to make big purchases without having to talk to a sales representative.
Luxury goods are among the most popular things consumers search for online, and a lot of it is their desire to know what’s going on with them, and their desire to own them. Yet meeting the demand and maintaining the luxury brand’s image was a perennial challenge.
Most high-end brands have established online sales through traditional channels, such as resellers and their own sites, and now they are gaining the confidence to venture out.
In addition to new applications, and private sales sites such as Gilt Groupe and Haute Look, one can also point to local deal sites such as Groupon and Living Social, and a new wave of companies that are bringing together location awareness, real-time inventory and deals, and social media.
It’s a huge period of innovation for consumer facing e-commerce. Customers are looking for curation, and social and mobile media are enabling real innovation and entrepreneurship today.
Solving the collection of online orders..does Asos have the answer?
Posted by Paul McSweeney in E-Commerce, Thoughts & Opinions on June 10th, 2010
Asos, the fast-growing clothing retailer, has been talking to a number of retailers, including chemist chain Alliance Boots, about allowing customers to collect their orders at Boots stores to avoid the frustration of missed deliveries.
The Aim-listed business is trying to find ways of improving its service without having to open stores. Alliance Boots, which is increasingly teaming up with fellow retailers – such as Mothercare and Waitrose – to bring more brands into its stores, is thought to have held informal talks with Asos. Retailers have also suggested that WH Smith and Argos might be in the frame., although Asos has refused to comment on any potential partners.
The driver behind this is more and more of the high street retailers are offering in-store pick-up, ever since Argos introduced “click and collect”.
It is a proven successful model that attracts higher spending customers. The reliance of online-only retailers has long been seen as a deterrent for some shoppers; but the perceived barrier seems to be slowly dropping away.
Any tie-up would likely be with a retailer that is not a direct competitor but would still benefit from extra footfall from Asos customers who are typically fashion-focused women between the ages of 16 and 34.
We have had our own ebay operation for some time now; and from time to time, customers do ask if they can pick up from our warehouse. This has been a problem for some time in the e-commerce world. But something like this could work, because it provides mutual benefit.
Perhaps something similar could be of benefit to your own e-commerce operation? Allowing customers to pick up from your office or from other companies that you do business with. Anything that could help the customer must always be considered!
