http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com The coolest way to shop is the internet Fri, 18 May 2012 01:35:37 BST en http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/qa-boohoos-chris-bale-on-digital-marketing-for-fashion-retail/ It’s a combination of three things really. Boohoo.com was established on an existing wholesale business, so we had a solid supply chain in place. 
Part of the success has been down to the fact that we are still able to buy in relatively low volumes with very short lead times of about four to six weeks from source to live on the site.

The second factor has been the way in which we bought media to promote the brand. We were founded when traditional above the line media was struggling to get billboards filled, so we were able to grab some good opportunities to buy ad space above the line.
And I think the third aspect is a focus on styling and trend information. Because we sell our own brand, we can’t use the collateral of a better-known brand to do some of that work for us so we’ve had to design the product in and around trends.
We spend a huge amount of time creating editorial and engaging pieces on the site to get that across.
Which digital marketing channels do you see as being most important for your particular industry?

For us, I think PPC still plays an important part and affiliates is still a huge part of the business, but the nature of the relationship with affiliates has changed.
When you want to establish yourself within a market, the types of affiliates who are very fashionable within a market are hugely important.
However, your dependence on them wains over time as your own brand gains recognition.
Do you run blogger outreach or community management programmes?
We probably hold three or four blogging events each year. We bring them in and give sneak peaks and previews of where we’re going with the ranges.
So, where we might be doing a complete change for our seasonal collections we’ll always engage with the blogging community.
The original content you have on your site must be good for search rankings. How much is the content about improving the brand versus the SEO benefits?
To be honest, we concentrate on the content being right first and then we build the SEO strategy around it. There are obviously other parts to the SEO strategy, such as link building, etc.

It’s more about being customer-centric, and we would never sacrifice customer experience to improve rankings.
In terms of customer experience, what tactics do you use to engage shoppers on the landing page and make sure they don’t bounce off?
Perhaps unlike our competitors, we do spend an awful lot of time and space on splash images. Because again, I think when you’re not a clothing brand with instant recognition, like a Levis for example, we rely very heavily on selling desire, and we do that by using emotive splash images.
So, rather than being seduced by including hero products or offers that naturally create journeys through the site, we prefer to have a really strong image, but also we make it easy for people to locate and browse the editorial content.

Shopping online these days is as much about entertainment as it is something that’s practical and required. It’s something that people do in their downtime.
We’re not worried about the site being almost magazine-like in its structure.
If people do bounce off the site, how much re-targeting do you do to encourage people to come back and complete the purchase?
We do it, but it’s not our favourite form of marketing.
Display re-targeting has a place, because there’s so many websites you can go to today that you can easily lose track of which ones you have seen, so a gentle reminder is ok. 
I think when it starts to chase you round the internet and gets a little bit spooky, that’s where we draw the line. I would say we use it sparingly, and we’re always careful that we don’t re-target ads for a product that has then gone out of stock in the customer’s size.
We spend a great deal of time making sure that doesn’t happen as it just creates disappointment.
Abandoned basket re-targeting is another area we are sceptical about, such as begging the question: “Are you sure?”, because I’m pretty sure that there is always a valid reason for abandoning the basket in the first place.
Do you require customers to register or create an account before they can checkout?
Up until last week we didn’t, we allowed guest registration instead, but the problem with guest registration is that you don’t have an identity if you decide to return a product.
That means you can’t do an online return, and the great thing about online returns is that it expedites the whole process.
So, when it arrives back in the warehouse we already know there’s an inbound product and can speed the whole thing through and turn the refund around quicker.
Guest registration means there’s a lot more investigation to do to process a refund so when we looked at it, we had to decide what we were gaining by giving our customers anonymity and allowing them to shop without feeling we were tracking them.
When you look at it, most of our competitors don’t offer guest registration and the whole returns process was upsetting customers so it was something we had to address.
So we decided to make everyone register.
How important are customer reviews and do you have any ways of encouraging them on your site?
Absolutely. We have probably spent about 18 months building up a good customer review database. Now we want to take it a few steps further, as we like our customers to tell their friends about us because the most influential people are your peers.
Every email we send out requesting a customer review offers a discount if they complete the feedback form, and every so often we select one review and offer that customer a credit to go shopping on the site.
We also want to move towards video reviews, which we’ll place halfway between the haulers you see on YouTube and a simple straightforward textual review.
So it improves engagement as people get to appear on the site, but it also validates the whole process as you can see the customer endorsing the product.
At the moment you don’t have a mobile site. Is that something you’re looking to address?
We’ve actually decided to split our mobile strategy into three pieces, but we’ve been holding back to make sure we get it right and at the moment our mobile site is the main priority.

We didn’t want to go down the scraper site, which is the nice easy way to get your site converted, but it causes issues with the product catalogue and merchandising, which is hugely important to us.
The second part of our strategy will be our app. It won’t be about buying products, it is a magazine app that offers style and fashion information.
We don’t see any value in simply creating a shopping app when you can cater to that need with your mobile site.
And the third solution will be to put a new app out there every few months that is just for fun.
So it could be that you go to a festival and download a boohoo app that allows you to win a pair of wellies at the event.
It’s a bit of fun for a few weeks, but it’s also a simple marketing device that keeps the brand alive and hopefully should drive traffic to the magazine app and the mobile site. ]]> Fri, 18 May 2012 01:35:37 BST External General 35 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/qa-boohoos-chris-bale-on-digital-marketing-for-fashion-retail/ http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/handling-online-returns-14-best-practice-tips/ Whether they are checking before purchase, or finding out how to return an item they've just received, the policy should be clear and easy to understand. 
Compare and contrast these two returns pages. The first, from Sports Direct, seems designed to deter returns and contains lots of scary language about legal obligations:

Lovehoney, on the other hand, explains its policy clearly:

Make your returns policy easy to see
The returns policy is often a link in the footer, which is fine to a certain extent as people will expect to see it there. 
However, the returns policy can influence a purchase decision, particularly in cases where customers aren't 100% certain about a product. 
Therefore, a prominent link to the returns policy on product pages can offer customers reassurance that they can return an item easily if they find it's not right for them, and push them towards the purchase. 
 
Don't charge for returns
Of course, there are costs involved if you allow free returns, but these costs need to be weighed against the extra conversions it brings, and the potential boost to retention rates. 
I bought a £40 lampshade from one retailer a year ago, and had to pay a hefty £10 return fee when I found it didn't fit. I appreciate the retailer has costs to cover, but this charge put me off looking for another on that site, and would make me think twice about ordering from them again. 
Also, as Zappos has found, people who regularly return items can be some of your best customers. It says that clients buying its most expensive shoes have a 50% return rate. 
According to Craig Adkins of Zappos:

Our best customers have the highest returns rates,but they are also the ones that spend the most money with us and are our most profitable customers. Zappos' modus operandi is not to give its purchasers the cheapest footwear on the block, but to give them the best service: hence, a 365-day returns policy, and free two-way shipping.

Include clear returns instructions in packaging
This is about not annoying customers too much. I get the sense with some retailers that they think making returns harder will reduce overall rates, and help increase profits. 
If this is the case, it's short-sighted thinking. It simply means that customers will get so annoyed that they are unlikely to shop with you again. Even worse, they may tell their friends about it, online and offline. 
Make it easy for customers. Provide clear instructions and even include a returns envelope to make sure no mistakes are made with the address. 
If you offer free returns, shout about it
Offering free returns is great, but you should, as with free delivery, shout about it so that customers know about this when they buy:

Help shoppers with great product images and video
One reason for returned goods is that customers haven't been able to get a decent idea of the product before they place the order. Thus, when it arrives, and isn't as expected, it has to go back. 
Retailers can address this issue on product pages, by ensuring that customers get as much visual information as possible. 
Simply Group found that using 360 views and instructional videos of its ski products not only increased conversions, but also reduced returns rates, as customers were able to see exactly how each product worked. 

Provide detailed product information
As above, if customers are armed with all the information they need, they are less likely to return items. So, for items like computers, sites should be clear about the specs, as well as the accessories and leads which are required. 
Combining this detail with excellent imagery and video can reduce the need for returns. 
User reviews
Of course, user reviews are great for boosting sales, but they can also help to reduce returns rates. 
They can allow customers to avoid potential issues with products, or to find the product that is best suited to its intended use. 
Kiddicare is a great example of this. It gets plenty of detail from it user reviews, such as pros and cons, the type of person using it, and best uses. 
Here, in a search for car seats for babies, customers can use feedback to find the best car seat for newborns, for everyday use, for grandparents, and so on: 

Fitting tools and virtual wardrobes 
This is something that has been adopted by fashion sites, as they attempt to get around the fact that customers cannot try before they buy. 
One such example, the Shoefitr app, helped an online footwear retailer to reduce fit-related returns by 23%. Others are variable in quality, but anything which can help customers to find the right fit, or to find outfits that match has the potential to reduce returns. 
It's not just fashion either, MyDeco's 3D room planner tool helps shoppers to try out room looks before buying furniture: 

Offer free home trials
Glasses Direct offers shoppers the option of a free home trial. Customers can select up to four pairs of glasses and try them on at home before making a selection. 

This neatly gets around one of the major problems of buying glasses online, and the fact that Glasses Direct trusts the customer enough to send frames out creates a great first impression. 
Don't quibble over returns
Customers will return items for spurious reasons, or will call something a fault when in fact they have broken it. 
If a particular customer does this again and again, this can be dealt with on an individual basis, but it's best not to be too strict when customers are returning items. 
If retailers do drag their heels on returns, it can be infuriating. I once returned a stairgate which didn't fit to Toys R Us. The member of staff initially refused to accept the return since the box had been opened, and then begrudgingly offered a refund of one third of its value. 
As a result, none of my kids' Christmas and birthday presents are bought in that store, and the company has lost sales far greater than the value of that item. 
Again, Lovehoney is a great example of this. All manner of returned items, which may or may not have been used, are refunded without question. Many have to be thrown away, for obvious reasons. 
It takes the view, that for long term customer retention, it's better not to argue with customers over this. 
Ask for feedback when customers return products
This is simple, but makes sense. A quick question or two on the return slip can help retailers to uncover problems or trends in returns and enable them to address these issues.  
Provide multichannel returns
If you're a multichannel retailer, allowing people to return items bought online to local stores is a must. 
This is often due to the separation of web and offline channels, and there are organisational issues which many brands are now dealing with. 
I've had this experience in the past with Orange, as my father was unable to return a faulty phone ordered online to his local store. 
It seems that, while competitors like O2 allow multichannel returns, Orange has yet to change this policy, instead insisting that returns requests are routed through its telesales team. This is a mistake in my book. 

For the brand refusing the return, it's a missed opportunity to educate customers about a complex product, or to upsell or cross-sell while the customer is in the store. 
Snow Valley's 2011 Online Returns Report found that just half of the mulitchannel retailers it studied allowed in store returns for online purchases. 
Customers appreciate the flexibility and convenience of multichannel returns, and will be far more likely to shop with such a retailer in future. 
Keep customers informed
Let them know when you've received the returned item, and when the refund is being processed. 

This will save customers from chasing this information through your customer services team, and they will appreciate the effort.  ]]> Fri, 18 May 2012 01:35:31 BST External General 20 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/handling-online-returns-14-best-practice-tips/ http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/more-than-a-third-of-homebase-customers-research-online-before-going-in-store/ McWilliams said this was essential for destination stores, as consumers expect to know if their chosen product is in stock otherwise they will look for a more convenient place to shop.
It also allows multichannel retailers to stay ahead of pure play e-tailers like Amazon.

The challenge for Amazon is that they don’t have a store network. People often aren’t at home, so home delivery is ok for small things like books but for bigger purchases I want in-store pick up.


McWilliams’ approach to multichannel retailing stems from his experience as a founder of Ocado.

When we built Ocado, one of the key ideas was that every touch point counted – so whether that was with the vans or the call centre or online.

He said that retailers needed to be aware that the old days of simply “shouting at customers” through TV ads and direct mail are gone. Digital has changed the landscape as consumers are now exposed to marketing messages from a number of different touch points, and they expect a consistent experience. 

Supermarkets used to be all about driving customers to the store, then they could ignore us and take our money.We probably still do a bit of shouting at our customers, but we now also have conversations with them using social media.”

He said that while social media can be a retailer’s friend, it also leaves brands exposed and can come back to haunt them.

Customers can get quite noisy and angry. They know where you are and they can find you, so you have to be ready to engage with them in the right way.
]]> Thu, 17 May 2012 01:35:43 BST External General 35 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/more-than-a-third-of-homebase-customers-research-online-before-going-in-store/ http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/demand-for-digital-marketing-freelancers-soars-trends/ Video is on the up
When we drill down and look at the types of jobs that are increasingly being outsourced, it is interesting to note that video is the big mover year-on-year. Videography was the second fastest growing skill in the last year (272% increase), followed by Video Production (253%) and Video Editing (233%).
Requirements for infographics spiralled in the last 12 months too with a monumental 552% increase. However that growth has slowed recently and there was no change in demand from February to March this year.
The only skill to see a drop in demand over the last year was Newsletters (-12%). Though in the month from February to March we saw less demand for SEM (-39%), Newsletters (-15%), eBooks (-9%) and Affiliate Marketing (-9%). 



Job Post Count by Skills


MOM % change


YOY% change




Internet Marketing


17.2%


186.0%




Blogs


-4.1%


138.7%




Social Media Marketing


15.9%


105.8%




SEO


3.5%


105.7%




SEM


-39.0%


89.6%




Video Production


6.1%


253.3%




Video Editing


5.1%


232.5%




Banner Ads


-5.0%


231.3%




Facebook


8.5%


31.5%




Email Marketing


10.9%


57.4%




eBooks


-8.9%


62.8%




Affiliate Marketing


-8.8%


7.9%




Videography


39.9%


272.3%




Infographics


0.0%


552.0%




Newsletters


-14.5%


-11.8%




Twitter


18.5%


0.8%




Google+


17.7%

 

Three reasons for increased demand
A common reaction to this growth in demand would be to question why this is happening. For me, when it comes to digital marketing, there are three key reasons:


Economy. There is no doubt that the difficult economic conditions over the last few years has put strain on marketing budgets. Using freelancers is a good way to control costs, especially when there are freezes on hiring additional full time headcount. 

Flexibility. Marketing disciplines and campaigns are far more varied in this digital age. It is often hard for marketing teams and agencies to predict what skills will be needed from one month to the next. 

Specialisms. Following on from this last point, it is often necessary to have a specific specialist for a specific task. Hiring a freelancer who has the necessary skills that might be missing in the agency or in-house department is a much more effective way to manage this.
We’ll continue to chart these trends, identify areas where there is significant change and will include these in future monthly posts. ]]> Wed, 16 May 2012 01:35:16 BST External General 40 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/demand-for-digital-marketing-freelancers-soars-trends/ http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/facebooks-vulnerability-could-make-it-the-most-interesting-ipo-ever/ All told, Facebook could raise nearly $15bn in its offering and hit the much-talked-about $100bn IPO valuation it looked as if it might not achieve. So much for a lack of demand for the company's shares, which will trade under the ticker symbol FB.
Facebook's IPO will be the richest ever, and it could even be the most interesting ever. Why? Because for all of the apparent investor demand Facebook and its army of bankers have been able to drum up, there's a general skepticism about the company's future.
Take Bloomberg's investor poll last week, which asked more than 1,200 investors, analysts and traders who subscribe to Bloomberg what they thought of Facebook's valuation. 79% of them thought the company would be overvalued at $96bn. Just 7% believed it was valued correctly at that figure, and a paltry 3% suggested it was undervalued.
An AP-CNBC poll found similar numbers, with half of respondents, which include Facebook users and investors, saying the company would be overvalued at $100bn. Active investors were even more skeptical, with 62% believing the $100bn figure to represent an excessive valuation. As in the Bloomberg poll, just 3% of those surveyed thought Facebook would be undervalued at $100bn.
There may be good reason for this. Over half of the Facebook users in the AP-CNBC poll indicated that they never click on ads or sponsored stories, and another 26% said they "hardly ever" do so. As for the company's potential to turn its vast social network into a commerce juggernaut, over half of those surveyed said they wouldn't trust Facebook for financial transactions (as compared to some 8% who would).
Facebook's future, of course, may rely on mobile, and area it admittedly hasn't yet cracked but where it is focusing a lot of attention. Given the demand for Facebook's stock, it would appear that investors and speculators who have ponied up for shares in the IPO aren't too concerned about mobile being a drag on the company, at least in the short-term.
But the company's mobile problems may not just be related to monetization. Facebook has a reputation as being home to some of Silicon Valley's top engineers, but a post looking at how Facebook's iOS app has been built raises questions about the social network's mobile chops. Interestingly, it's not the first time techies have criticized the social networking giant on technical grounds.
Put all this together and you have what could be better-than-television drama. Right now, there are enough investors are willing to hand Facebook and shareholders billions at a $100bn valuation, but their apparent exuberance is tempered by the fact that so many people are also skeptical about the company's valuation and prospects.
Which group is right? It's worth noting that those putting their money into the IPO may have a wide range of motivations, from short-term speculation to a desire to be involved in one of the most historic IPOs ever, and some of these motivations won't necessarily lend themselves to long-term shareholder loyalty. At the same time, Facebook has -- thus far at least -- managed to overcome its greatest obstacles, which include more than a few high-profile user backlashes.
Which hints at why the Facebook IPO may be so compelling even to those who aren't buying shares: for all of Facebook's undeniable, astonishing success, it appears remarkably -- perhaps almost unbelievably -- vulnerable. ]]> Wed, 16 May 2012 01:35:12 BST External General 30 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/facebooks-vulnerability-could-make-it-the-most-interesting-ipo-ever/ http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/are-your-online-customers-cheating-on-you-infographic/ Tue, 15 May 2012 01:35:35 BST External General 32 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/are-your-online-customers-cheating-on-you-infographic/ http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/what-do-you-think-of-econsultancy/ We'd like to know:

How do you use Econsultancy?
Do you use our training courses or attend our events?
What kinds of services and features would you like to see more of in the future? 
More than 400 people have already taken our user survey, raising more than £1,200 ($1,700) for Save the Children. 
Please take five minutes to complete our survey and help bump that amount up...  ]]> Tue, 15 May 2012 01:35:34 BST External General 21 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/what-do-you-think-of-econsultancy/ http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/sears-site-review-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/ Nice big search box 
One of the most prominent features on the Sears homepage is the large site search box, which is similar to that used by Amazon.
Since Sears has a large stock range, including some technical products with long titles and model numbers, this makes perfect sense. 
The trend is for customers to enter longer search queries of two or more words, and those that are looking for the model number of a specific TV or laptop will also tend to enter longer strings. Larger search boxes suit these users. 

With a smaller search box, as customers type longer queries in, then the text will simply disappear from view. This is no disaster, but having a longer search box makes it easier for customers to edit their search terms in case of misspellings and allows them to be more precise with their product queries. 
A minority of people may use site search, but by entering product names and model numbers, they are indicating greater purchase intent than the average user. 
Targeted use of live chat on product pages
Having looked at a product page for a dishwasher and clicked on the specifications link, I see this pop up box proactively offering live chat with an appliances expert:

I'm not seeing this on every product page, which suggests that Sears has cleverly targeted the more complex products and offered users some one-to-one assistance. 
I suspect the average person hasn't a clue how to distinguish one dishwasher from another, so it makes sense to offer live chat here. I've also noticed live chat appear if you hit the back button during checkout. 
Also, stats have shown that, when live chat is used, this can produce conversion rates ten times the site average. 
Surveys for checkout abandonment
I bailed out of the checkout process while looking at the site, but before I could head for another webpage, I saw this message: 

Some may find the pop up annoying, but if even a relatively small proportion of people complete the survey, then this could provide some valuable insight for Sears to reduce checkout abandonment in future. 
Sending cart abandonment emails
Cart abandonment emails are a great way to revive sales that may have otherwise been lost. After abandoning the checkout process, I received this email within a few hours:

Offering emails for out of stock items
I have my doubts about whether unavailable items should be shown, of which more later, but Sears does at least offer to email customers when the item is back in stock: 

The bad
Unavailable stock
A retailer such as Sears, with a large product range, will always have a number of items that are currently unavailable for purchase. 
There are a number of ways to handle out of stock items, such as offering to email customers, which Sears does, but displaying products which are out of stock can be annoying for customers. 

Sears could add 'show only available items' to its filtered navigation options, which would avoid any frustration, while still allowing users to use the email option. 
It could also show alternative, similar products which may suit the customer's needs, or perhaps advise them where they can find the item offline. 
Poor usability when zooming in to images
Zoom tools are great for seeing detail on products, things like the number of USB ports on a laptop, or in this case, the control panel on a dishwasher. 
As you can see from the screenshot, the highlighted area on the left suggests I should be seeing a larger image of the control panel, but I'm not. 

 
Cluttered product pages
While many of the key points of information are clearly visible, (price, product name etc) there is much that is lost in the clutter of the page. 
Of course, products like laptops require plenty of detail but I think the presentation of information could be better here. 

Calls to action unclear
This was the case on product pages and during the checkout process. The checkout pages are long, but this does mean that, once you have filled details in, you're looking for the continue link. 
It is there, but since it's below the fold on most pages, this may cause confusion for some users. 

Assuming in store collection 
After adding this TV to my cart and heading for the checkout, it defaults to in store pick up:

It's great that Sears offers this, but I may well be too lazy to head to the store or, since it's six miles away, I may prefer home delivery. 
I'd rather it assumed delivery, then provided store pick up as an alternative option. After all, a 42" TV isn't the easiest thing to carry. 
The ugly
Unavailable pages
I encountered this page on a number of occasions:

Sears does at least handle this well, by apologising for the error and providing alternative such as site search and a range of contact options, but too many error pages reduce customer trust in a website. 
If they see multiple error pages, they may wonder if there is a problem with the site and even whether it is secure. 
An Econsultancy survey on reasons for abandoning online purchases found that technical problems would cause 54.5% of users to abandon the site. 
Errors 
Perhaps it's just me, but when trying to select categories from the left hand menu, I was instead shown recommendations based on my most recently browsed products. 
On this particular session, I was unable to access the laptops category except by using the site search box. Errors like this could easily cause customers to abandon the site. 

In conclusion...
In general, Sears is a very usable site, and one which does well to make it easy to navigate and select from a wide product range. 
There are more positives than negatives on the site. There are obvious plus points I haven't mentioned, such as a smooth enclosed checkout process, and excellent site search. 
However, there are always potential areas for improvement with any e-commerce site, and some of the problems i mention here, if addressed, should help to boost Sears' conversion rates by removing barriers to purchase. 
Of course, user testing, intelligent use of analytics and multivariate testing etc will help any e-commerce manager to improve sales more than a single site review, but the points I've mentioned here will hopefully provide some food for thought. 
 
I'd love to see your thoughts on the review. Perhaps I'm wrong on some of these points, or maybe there are issues I've missed...  ]]> Tue, 15 May 2012 01:35:22 BST External General 34 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/sears-site-review-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/ http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/tablets-and-the-need-for-speed/ This past March, Compuware surveyed shoppers and found that almost 70% of tablet users expect a website to load in two seconds or less. If your mobile site isn’t fast enough, your customers will move along (and quickly) to the next click.
According to the study, a bad web experience will drive 46% of tablet users to competitive websites and 33% are less likely to purchase from that company. Comparatively, a Strangeloop survey reveals that shoppers using a PC are a bit more patient, with the majority allowing a full three seconds before making the jump. A shocking 80% of those users, once they’ve abandoned the site, will not return.
Performance is also key when digging deeper into our mobile study. Not only is mobile responsible for over 10% of all online business; but the study also revealed that browsers spend more time on iPads with page views higher than any other channel.
Even more surprising was the iPhone's Average Order Value, which came out the highest. The momentum is now significant and respecting the shoppers and their experience across all methods is of increasing importance.
Of course when it comes to your customers’ user experience on mobile, there are many factors you can’t control. Load times are affected by the type of connection they are using, how much congestion is on the network and the distance your customer is from the node.
But with the world’s largest retailers setting a high bar for tablet performance, any site which fails to match these standards is likely to deter customers and persuade them to shop elsewhere.
Slow loading sites and customer retention
Slow-loading pages can have a particularly negative impact on first time visitors where the website presents the only means to cultivate a relationship with a customer.
By not offering customers lightning fast experiences, retailers stand to lose not only new business, but also risk damaging customer retention and loyalty over a customer’s lifetime value.
Eccomplished’s Innovation Index (a detailed study undertaken by Coleman Parkes Research - April 2012) suggests that 74% of retailers are investing in 'retention/loyalty' as an area for growth. Failing to provide a smooth mobile experience can also cause a retailer to appear behind in the times, causing further harm to a brand’s reputation
Adding more functionality to a site, such as the inclusion of personalisation, is done to enrich the user experience. However, each new site enhancement requires careful performance benchmarking and resilience testing to ensure that it is not detrimental to the customer.
With the evolution now of pure mobile sites as opposed to simple code conversions, all retailers can and should take precautions to ensure that they are optimising website speed and performance and thus encouraging engagement, rather than deflecting buyers.
For merchants, the first step in solving for the consumer’s need for speed is to ensure that third-party vendors and partners (e.g. providers of personalisation) employ a multiple data centre approach. Redundant and geographically load-balanced centres are the key to guaranteeing minimal latency for server calls, translating into the fastest page load possible.
It is also vital for retailers to shop their own sites. Teams should constantly test website pages, and benchmark against competitors, to ensure that the customer experience is optimal.
In conclusion, we know that time is directly tied to currency, not only for its real impact on a retailer’s bottom line, but also for its undeniable influence on customer lifetime value and brand perception.
Whilst the number of shopping sessions taking place on mobile and tablet devices will only continue their exponential climb, we must do what is necessary to keep up with our savvy shoppers’ expectations in the meantime.
]]> Fri, 11 May 2012 01:35:08 BST External General 31 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/tablets-and-the-need-for-speed/ http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/square-learns-that-customer-service-in-the-payments-space-is-a-tough-job/ All payment providers are facing challenges
Whether he's 'right' or 'wrong' (or neither), Gullickson's blog post highlights the challenges facing payment firms -- established players and upstarts alike -- as individuals gain access to a wider availability of payment processing services.Here, it's fairly evident that Gullickson had a limited knowledge of the chargeback process, which is something providers like Square have little flexibility to change because of the rules that govern credit card transactions. Could Square have provided a more responsive customer service experience to Gullickson?
Perhaps, but the type of hand-holding he seems to have expected is time-consuming (and therefore costly) to provide. When you're processing billions of dollars in transactions, the $200 chargeback that may matter a lot to a single individual is probably just one of hundreds or thousands of similar chargebacks being handled at any given time.
Payment options will continue to grow
At the end of the day, there's little doubt that the rapid pace of evolution in the payment space will continue to grow the number of payment processing options in the hands of businesses and individuals alike. That's a good thing, and it's creating huge opportunities for entrenched players and startups.
But upstarts like Square, some of which are trying to compete, in part, by creating the belief that they're a friendlier alternative to supposedly less-friendly corporations like VeriFone and PayPal, may find that avoiding the type of criticism frequently leveled at their battle-scarred competitors is simply not possible. ]]> Fri, 11 May 2012 01:35:06 BST External General 35 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/square-learns-that-customer-service-in-the-payments-space-is-a-tough-job/ http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/89-of-uk-consumers-think-the-eu-cookie-law-is-a-positive-step-but-is-it/ Here's a summary of the key findings from the survey. The results broadly match those found in our recent consumer survey, though we didn't ask consumers whether they thought the directive was good for the web, as we thought it would be too tricky to explain succinctly.
I do wonder about the 89% figure. Were consumers told about the potential threat to online businesses, and their own user experience, or simply that is was a law designed to improve privacy online? 


75% of the 2,000 consumers surveyed have not heard of the new EU cookie directive. Of those that had, only 16% were truly aware of what changes would come into effect on May 26th. 
After being told about the directive (wonder how long that took to explain?) 89% of those surveyed felt that it was positive for consumers and 79% agreed that the changes were needed due to the lack of public knowledge about cookies.  

23% are happy for websites to use cookies to improve their browsing experience, which is the same number who said they would be keen to opt-in in our survey. 
Are marketers and consumers that far apart? 
While the difference between the views of the consumer and the marketers we surveyed may suggest that the latter are not listening to customer concerns, I think there is more to it than that. 
For one, the 82% of marketers who believe the cookie law is bad for the web do not necessarily disagree with the 'spirit' of the directive, just the ham-fisted way in which it has been applied. 
This is a typical comment from our survey: 

While I'm all for protecting privacy, the bit of this directive that applies to cookies has been ill thought out and even more badly applied, by someone who doesn't understand the technology. Rather than try and analyse what cookies are actually intrusive, they've just 'banned' the lot! 

Are you concerned about your privacy when browsing and buying online?

 
In short, nobody really objects to consumers being informed about the information that websites take from them and how they use it, but the directive and its implementation will possibly hinder this process. 
Public perception of cookies
It's clear that users need to be educated about cookies and what they are used for, as there are many people who seem to view them as something to be feared. 
33% of those surveyed by IMRG believed that cookies could be used for viruses and Trojans, while in our survey 40% said they thought cookies were bad for the web. 
This is a big problem for online businesses, as many people are likely to opt-out of cookies for the wrong reasons, and this is a real threat to online businesses. 
I'm all for consumers being given the information they need to make an informed decision about cookies, and if websites make cookie and privacy policies more prominent and informative as a result of this, that's no bad thing. 
At Econsultancy, we have made our privacy and cookie information more prominent, and users of our site can see exactly what information we gather and why. After reading this, users can make their own decisions about whether to block cookies using their browser settings. 
If the demands of the directive stopped at this point, I think there would be very few people who would argue with it. 
The problem is that the demand for overt and informed consent means that, if websites comply, users will begin to see all sorts of scary messages about cookies associated with words like targeting and tracking. 
Since many already see cookies as a bad thing, many are likely to say no without actually thinking, while others will just be irritated by interruptive messaging and abandon the site. Thus online businesses lose sales and revenue, while the customer is no more informed than before. 
According to Lovehoney E-commerce manager (and now TV star) Matthew Curry: 

Many people don't understand the technology, and the Cookies = Evil message implied by the directive is just going to make it worse. Try explaining to your average user what an affiliate is, or a session, or MVT. It's not going to work.
This HAS to be a message about privacy, and being open to your visitors about what you do in the simplest language possible. 

Will the cookie law make the web safer? 
Really, most consumers have nothing to fear from cookies, and they do much to improve the user experience. 
Do analytics cookies do users any harm? No, they don't store any personally identifiable information, and actually allow websites to improve by learning from usage patterns. 
Of course, cookies used for ad targeting are likely to be the most objectionable to web users. The words targeting and tracking conjure thoughts of Big Brother, but all they do is improve the relevance of advertising for the average user. 
This is no bad thing, and people are free to ignore ads or even use adblockers to get rid of them. 
I can see why people object to retargeting, and it is techniques like this which may have triggered the update to the PECR. 
Then there's the point that cookie consent pop-ups hamper reputable businesses while doing nothing to safeguard consumers against dodgy sites. 
This point has been well made by Martin Belam: 

One of my biggest concerns with the new emphasis on gaining consent for placing cookies on a user’s computer is that it means mainstream sites and businesses will spend the time and effort to make systems that will interrupt the browsing experience, whereas those that are planning nefarious activities won’t bother.
Ironically the legislation will make the user experience of sites that mean you and your data harm smoother and easier than the user experience of sites that are being responsible about cookies.

Publishing and online ad revenue
We all know about the problems that many publishers are having as offline ad incomes shrink, and if newspapers are to keep their content free for consumers, then they have to make money somewhere. 
Of course, some take it too far with pop-ups, interstitials etc, and spoil the user experience, but not every site. However, if users want free content by quality writers, then they have to be paid somehow, and ad targeting is one such method.
Martin Belam made this point in the comments of a Guardian article on cookies, and there wasn't much sympathy for his opinion:

I must say that on a personal level it always dismays me the number of people who are happy to come onto the Guardian site, where we rely on commercial components to pay for the journalism, and then use our free commenting platform to recommend that people use AdBlock, or disable the analytics scripts that are the only way we can measure usage of the site to prove the worth of it to advertisers.
It basically says ‘I’ll have your news for free thanks, and I don’t even want you to be able to generate the money it has cost you in bandwidth and storage to serve the page - let alone pay for the reporting.’

Is it possible to have an "unobtrusive and customer-friendly cookie notification process" as the IMRG suggests? 
I'd say it's tricky. It's well documented that any barrier to the user's progress through a website, such as compulsory registration, increases the likelihood that customers will abandon. 
Therefore even the most cleverly worded and well designed cookie consent mechanisms, such as BT's, will inevitably cost some sales. 

Belron's Craig Sullivan sums this up: 
We run many millions of tests every month on our sites.  We know from experience and testing, that interrupting people with a new opt-in interface or a 'Halt' message will actively harm both the user experience and our business.  
European companies implementing a full opt-in user interface will find two things. Firstly, that their conversion rate drops and secondly, that their ability to use customer tracking reduces their ability to improve their site.  
In conclusion...
The results of this survey highlight consumer concerns about privacy, but also the difficulties that websites will face if they are forced to ask for consent to set cookies. 
It's possible to have an unobtrusive and consumer friendly cookie notification process if solutions such as Econsultancy's and those adopted by John Lewis are considered to be acceptable. 
I appreciate that the ICO is in a difficult position and is trying to take business concerns into account while attempting to take the directive seriously, but the lack of clear guidance has caused much confusion among online businesses.
We're a few weeks away from the 'deadline' and, short of carrying out cookie audits and enhancing privacy policies, most are still unsure how to comply. 
It seems that the ICO, which doesn't know what compliance is, will consider this to be enough in most cases (at least for analytics cookies) but how this will apply to other cookies remains to be seen. 
However, if strict consent is forced upon websites, then users and businesses will suffer for very little gain. 
That said, I think very few businesses will 'fully comply' unless the enforcement of the law after May 26th leaves them no alternative. Let's hope common sense prevails. 
 
(Our report, The EU Cookie Law: A Guide to Compliance, explains the legislation as far as it affects UK online businesses, sets out some practical steps that you can take towards compliance, and includes examples of how websites can gain users’ consent for setting cookies. Do check it out.) ]]> Thu, 10 May 2012 01:35:13 BST External General 28 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/89-of-uk-consumers-think-the-eu-cookie-law-is-a-positive-step-but-is-it/ http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/foursquare-looks-to-merge-check-ins-with-coupons/ Slated for launch in June, Foursquare's strategy will involve a new version of its app, as well as a new platform for merchants. Through that platform, merchants will be able to pay to distribute coupons and offers that Foursquare's users can redeem if and when they check in at the location of the merchant in question.
According to Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley, "We are building software that's able to drive new customers and repeat visitors to local businesses." He added, "We're getting really good at connecting people with places, and connecting those places with people. We're finding ways to do this algorithmically."
The question for Foursquare, of course, is whether it's too late to the coupon party. Thanks in large part to the meteoric rise of Groupon, which popularized local deals in recent times, there is no shortage of companies aiming to bring customers through the doors of local businesses. From upstarts to established companies like Yelp, merchants who haven't yet tired of discounting -- a market that may be getting smaller -- have plenty of options.
As Crowley sees it, Foursquare's "secret sauce" is its ability to analyze and "[make] sense of" the more than 2bn check-ins the company has tracked. But as the Wall Street Journal notes, a recent research paper found that the Foursquare check-in is quite unpopular with some consumers, raising questions about the company's ability to hit a home run with merchants.
Time will tell if Foursquare checks in to a revenue model that can make it wildly profitable, but in the meantime one thing is for sure: for many of today's most heavily-funded startups, finding a way to make money will be a lot tougher than finding ways to spend it. ]]> Thu, 10 May 2012 01:35:09 BST External General 23 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/foursquare-looks-to-merge-check-ins-with-coupons/ http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/dominos-brings-pizza-ordering-to-facebook/ There are two versions of Domino's Pizza's Facebook app: one automatically shares a customer's order with her friends, while the other allows a customer to decide what is shared with her social graph. Once an order is placed, a Pizza Tracker allows the soon-to-be-not-hungry customer to track the order process, and if the outcome of an order is as satisfying as Domino's hopes it is, the company is even encouraging customers to 'like' their favorite pizzas.
The big question: will this drive substantial business, or is it just the latest eye-popping Facebook marketing initiative? Domino's Pizza's Australian Facebook Page has more than 570,000 likes, and its New Zealand Page has more than 156,000. That certainly gives it something to work with.
But Facebook commerce hasn't always lived up to the hype -- at least not yet -- and just because we know that Facebook is 'where the consumers are' doesn't mean that getting them to buy things while browsing around the world's largest social network is an easy thing to do. The good news for Domino's is that everybody eats, and when you want a pizza, you want a pizza. So getting someone to order an extra large with everything on it through Facebook may prove easier than selling, say, a watch or patio table. ]]> Thu, 10 May 2012 01:35:05 BST External General 40 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/dominos-brings-pizza-ordering-to-facebook/ http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/brazilian-retailer-ca-brings-facebook-likes-to-the-clothing-rack/
Through its new “Fashion Like” initiative, C&A has posted photos of a number of the clothing items it sells on a dedicated Facebook page, where it invites customers to “like” the ones that appeal to them. Special hooks on the racks in its bricks-and-mortar store, meanwhile, can then display those votes in real time, giving in-store shoppers a clear indication of each item’s online popularity.

Will seeing which fashion items are most popular with consumers on Facebook drive in-store shoppers to purchase clothing they otherwise wouldn't have? That remains to be seen, but there's no question that C&A has found an interesting angle for merging the online with the offline.And merging the online with the offline is something we can export more and more retailers to do going forward. While many if not most initiatives won't be as eye-catching as C&A's campaign (nor do they need to be), the Brazilian fashion retailer's effort is a good reminder that data collected online can be applied offline, and vice-versa, to create interesting, multi-channel shopping experiences. More importantly in many cases, doing this will help ensure that customers not as active in certain channels are encouraged to explore a brand's presence in those channels.
]]> Wed, 09 May 2012 01:36:39 BST External General 25 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/brazilian-retailer-ca-brings-facebook-likes-to-the-clothing-rack/ http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/how-will-the-eu-cookie-law-affect-mobile-marketing/ What are the unique challenges for complying with e-Privacy guidelines on mobile when compared to desktop? 
As convergent devices mobile, and smartphones in particular, cut across many channels and technologies.
Whereas desktop is largely concerned with browser based cookies and email tracking, in mobile we also have to consider apps and other tech channels.
Mobile is both a personal and unique device, so brands need to take particular care around user permissions in this channel.
Online businesses are concerned about bounce rates caused by consent mechanisms, but surely this is an even bigger problem on a smaller mobile screen?  
Besides simply the screen size, there are many UX issues with mobile. Touch interactions, location and even user intent make mobile quite a different experience.
Concern with bounce rates from pop-ups is completely understandable, but there are many mobile UX solutions yet to be explored. The BT permissions slider is an example of something that might work well on mobile, but hasn’t yet been tried. 
In the white paper we’ve mentioned the use of short form versions of cookies policies which can be used in apps and mobile sites.
There are few great examples of brands executing mobile web well, so there is a lot more that can be done to create a good user experience. They therefore need to explore new ways to get consent on the mobile web.
The problem of obtaining consent for cookies on mobile devices
Essentially, the problems are the same as for desktop, but trickier thanks to smaller screens and the number of different devices.
In a recent Econsultancy/Toluna survey, just 23% said they would happily give consent to online cookies. It's likely to be much less for mobile. 

Brands have been working hard on their multichannel strategies over the past few years, and now retailers like John Lewis and M&S offer ease of access and purchase across different channels. 
If I've already given consent for the retailer to use cookies on my laptop, the directive and guidance says I need to go through this again when I use the mobile site. 
This potentially places a spanner in the works of a retailer's multichannel strategy, and the same principle applies for users switching between work PCs and laptops at home for instance. 
As the customer switches between devices they will see the same consent messages, which could becoming annoying, as the customers sees only one retailer asking them the same question again and again. 
There is little retailers can do about this, unless customers log in every time they visit. 
Mobile cookie consent and the user experience
As on desktop, there is, as yet, no browser-based solution to consent, so until (hopefully) the browser firms ride to the rescue, there is a real threat to the mobile experience. 
If firms are forced to strictly comply and actively seek mobile users' consent for cookies, it's easy to see how the poor experience could decimate mobile sales. 
Pop-ups and intrusive messages are a pain on desktop sites, but you can multiply the annoyance factor by about 20 if you apply these to mobile sites. 
For example, BT's slider too is an excellent method of informing users about the cookies that are being used and allowing people to opt out of certain categories, such as cookies used for targeting. 
It needs to be relatively detailed in order to provide the information and the cookie settings options, but it's hard to see how this could be applied to mobile. 
At the moment, it's impossible to change settings on mobile (at least on iPhone), but even if the slider actually worked, you can see how fiddly it would be to alter settings. 

Options for gaining consent for mobile users
Mobile messaging
For SMS and MMS, as there is no information stored on the user's mobile (their terminal device), this does not fall under the regulations. 
Mobile websites
Landing pages for consent
The only way to gain consent, strictly speaking, is to direct visitors to a landing page, where users can be asked to give consent for cookies.
After giving consent, they can then be sent to the page they wanted to go to in the first place. 
Obviously, this will be annoying for customers. After seeing a page they didn't request, then having to fill in a form or answer a question before they can head to the site, many will undoubtedly abandon. 
Speed is vital for mobile sites, and anything that means more pageloads will be bad for business. 
Consent through registration
For repeat and engaged customers, this may not be a problem.
Registration does generally make mobile purchases easier, as it allows for saved billing details, but for new customers, compulsory registration could be the kiss of death. 
We have plenty of stats, with reference to desktop, that making people register before checkout is a conversion killer. Indeed, ASOS recently halved its abandonment rates by removing this step. 
It is fair to assume that compulsory registration is as big a barrier for mobile commerce as it is for desktop. In fact, it's likely to be worse. 
In this case, strict compliance would mean asking users to register before they visit a page on the site. 
The only e-commerce site I have ever seen ask for registration before even adding products to the basket is Playmobil, and that site is nuts... 

Asking new visitors to register before browsing the mobile site would be absolute madness, and therefore very few (if any) retailers will do this. 
Implied consent
Though not strictly compliant, this is the only real way to inform users about cookies without destroying the user experience. 
It's what we have done on our site, by adding a more prominent link to our cookies and privacy policy and providing detailed information on the information we store and why. 

If after viewing this, users wish to opt out, they can do so via browser settings. 
In a similar way, mobile sites could add a more prominent link and send those that click on it to more information and, if they do want to add a consent question, this could be placed within this cookie policy page. 
This means that those who want to opt out are able to do so, but it doesn't harm the user experience for others. 
Also, companies would be able to argue that they have provided this information and given them the option to view further detail. 
Indeed, in a recent interview with the ICO's Dave Evans, he did think that implied consent would be acceptable, in some cases at least. 
Mobile and web apps
Since the user is actively downloading an app, the problem of consent is simplified. 
According to the DMA's white paper: 

While mobile native apps are not referred to specifically within the Regulations, they would be relevant where apps set cookie or other tracking technology on a user’s mobile handset, and are used by the marketing organisation to access information on the handset. 

For new downloads of apps, the user can be asked to agree to a set of terms and conditions when downloading the app or when first accessing it. 
This is much simpler than for mobile websites but, since the average user is unlikely to read T&Cs, it doesn't necessarily achieve what the EU directive sets out to do i.e. improve consumer awareness of privacy issues. 
It gets trickier for existing users of apps, as they will not have given consent when downloading, and therefore they may need to agree to an updated set of T&Cs. 
QR and barcode scanning
According to the DMA white paper, the act of scanning a code does not fall under the regulations, nor does delivering a barcode, such as a ticket, to a user's handset. 
However, it is unclear whether a QR code which sent users to a landing page would be affected. In theory, if they land on a mobile site, that site would then need to gain consent. 
Obviously, this wouldn't help to improve the success rates of QR campaigns.
NFC / contactless payments 
It's early days for NFC and though the ICO hasn't produced any guidance, it does fall under the regulations.
According to the DMA:

Positive consent to the use of cookie or other tracking technology should be obtained before the first time the user accesses the file or app on the handset.

In conclusion
Just as for desktop sites, the cookie law is a headache for mobile marketers and those forward-thinking retailers that have developed mobile commerce sites and apps for their customers. 
Since creating a great user experience is more of a challenge for mobile sites and apps, this EU directive presents a real threat to mobile commerce. 
We have seen rapid growth in mobile commerce over the last few years, and there is still plenty of room fur further growth. 
There are also plenty of barriers to providing a great user experience on mobile, such as fiddly checkout processes, variable mobile internet connections, difficulties in catering for different devices etc. 
If strictly enforced, the EU 'cookie law' would severely hamper the user experience on mobile and restrict sales through this channel. 
For that reason, I would be surprised if any retailer adds consent mechanisms like those outlined above to their mobile site, unless they absolutely have to. 
 
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the cookie law as it applies to mobile marketing, especially the steps you intend to take towards compliance on your own and clients' mobile sites and campaigns...
(Our report, The EU Cookie Law: A Guide to Compliance, explains the legislation as far as it affects UK online businesses, sets out some practical steps that you can take towards compliance, and includes examples of how websites can gain users’ consent for setting cookies. Do check it out.) ]]> Wed, 09 May 2012 01:36:37 BST External General 27 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/how-will-the-eu-cookie-law-affect-mobile-marketing/ http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/peapod-builds-virtual-grocery-store-for-chicago-commuters/
iPhone/iPad and Android users simply scan a QR code to download a free PeapodMobile app  on the spot and start shopping by scanning the bar codes of the products featured in the ads. Commuters can get orders started on the platform, manage shopping lists and schedule deliveries – for next day or even several days or weeks in advance—during their train rides to or from the office.

Peapod calls the aforementioned ads a "tunnel takeover" and for good reason; the ads literally wrap the tunnel walls, creating a virtual grocery shelf for commuters to peruse.
According to Peapod, the average Chicagoan spends more than an hour commuting to and from work each day, making Chicago an ideal location for its attention-grabbing initiative. To entice the large number of passers-by into making a purchase, the retailer is offering a $20 coupon to first-time shoppers as well as 60 days of free delivery on subsequent orders.
Peapod, which ran a similar campaign in Philadelphia, isn't the first to create a virtual grocery store for commuters. As The Verge points out, Homeplus, Tesco's South Korean affiliate, decided to take advantage of the smartphone penetration in that country with a similar subway-based initiative last October.
It's a trend that has grown since. From John Lewis and Glamour to Argos and PayPal, using mobile phones and QR codes to drive online commerce through physical venues is proving to be a concept that companies can get behind. The question, of course, is whether these efforts will ever be more than headline-grabbers.
The bad news is that QR codes are still an unknown quantity. According to a study conducted late last year, two-thirds of consumers don't know what QR codes are. Another study found that only 19% of UK consumers had ever scanned a QR code. On the other hand, if major brands continue to invest in high-profile QR code-based campaigns like Peapod's, it would be logical to expect QR code recognition and use to increase significantly over time
When that happens, these campaigns may be able to go from novelties to real revenue-drivers. Until then, they certainly make for an interesting sight. ]]> Wed, 09 May 2012 01:36:36 BST External General 33 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/peapod-builds-virtual-grocery-store-for-chicago-commuters/ http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/39m-americans-made-a-purchase-via-mobile-last-year-stats/ The latest evidence of that: a survey conducted by Harris Interactive for Placecast (PDF), which found that 39m Americans made an online purchase using their phone last year. That represents 20% of all mobile phone owners in the United States.
What's more: a growing number of consumers are getting interested in and comfortable with mobile commerce.
Of smartphone owners Harris Interactive polled, some 59% of smartphone owners indicated that having the ability to make a purchase using their device was at least "somewhat important", and 30% of all mobile phone owners who don't already receive marketing text messages from retailers said that they'd be interested in receiving them.
The figures for the actual use of a phone in a commerce-related fashion are arguably even more impressive.
Of those surveyed:


50% said they've used the GPS on their phone to locate a retail location in the past year. 

44% had visited the website of a retailer on their device. 

34% indicated they downloaded a retailer's app in 2011. 

24% actively sought a coupon while in a store.
The numbers bode well for companies seeking to take advantage of mobile commerce opportunities -- opportunities which retailers in particular won't be able to ignore for much longer.
But they also highlight one of the biggest challenges companies face in tapping into m-commerce: playing all the angles right.
From making it easy for consumers to find you while on the go to mobile marketing campaigns to mobile-friendly websites that drive purchases, there are so many ways the mobile phone can drive commerce that covering all the bases can be difficult.
The good news is that with more and more consumers seeking to engage in some form of mobile commerce, many companies will increasingly be able to justify the investments required to make their m-commerce initiatives pay off. ]]> Sat, 05 May 2012 01:35:38 BST External General 33 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/39m-americans-made-a-purchase-via-mobile-last-year-stats/ http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/angry-shareholders-lash-out-at-yahoo-nokia/ Sat, 05 May 2012 01:35:34 BST External General 22 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/angry-shareholders-lash-out-at-yahoo-nokia/ http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/is-time-running-out-for-email-append/ Email appending is the process of using a third party email list and implementing some sort of matching criteria (present on both your own and the third party data list) to link an email address to a person on your database. It is a process that can be fraught with issues, the first of which is the matching criteria.
You really need to make sure you match as much criteria as possible to ensure the person you are matching against is who you think it is.
For example, if all you have is J. Bloggs living at a certain address, but at that is address is a Joe Bloggs and Jane Bloggs, how do you know which one is your subscriber? The more information you have the better (age, gender), so you can be sure you are adding the right users to your list.
The next step is ensuring the emails you end up with have the correct permission to allow you to email them. The ICO (Information Commissionaires Office) recommends permission to use data that has been gathered for third party use, should have active “opt in” consent, not “opt out” implied consent.
In fact, the ICO also states in its advice to marketers:

One of the most frequent comments made in complaints we receive is… Where did they get my email address or mobile number from? I certainly didn’t give it to them.

2011 regulations by the EC Directive suggest:

You may wish to send a ‘low-key’ message explaining where you have got their details from and double checking whether they are, in fact, happy to hear from you in this way. You could not assume consent from their failure to respond.

The data quality issue
It’s this “failure to respond” that puts the biggest strain of the credibility of the process. Regardless of the legalities, using an “opt out” introductory email will inevitably lead to you having people on your database that don’t want to be there.
If you consider the numbers, in any campaign you are only likely to get a 20% open rate at best. Even if you do this three times, you are only likely to have been exposed to 30% of the match file.
This means that under an opt out regime 70% of your match list will not have signed up to be on your list.
This is bad news for two key reasons:

It can damage your brand credibility.
It can negatively affect your list deliverability and inbox placement due to complaints.
In fact, some email service providers refuse to accept appended email addresses due to the issues they cause. I know this all sounds negative, but let’s face it, there’s really nothing wrong with appending an email address to your client list, as long as the recipient wants to be there and has indicated as much.
And as an email marketer, you wouldn’t choose to damage your brands reputation, nor would you sacrifice inbox placement on purpose. So you need to consider carefully what the objective of the exercise is. 
Is it worth it?
If you are looking to enrich your database with valuable active subscribers that read your emails, the only way to accomplish this would be to encourage them to opt in. It’s going to be more expensive than taking everyone who doesn’t opt out, but the data will also be more valuable.
And this brings us to what the whole point of the exercise is, how much is it really worth spending to get this email address?
If, by appending this email address, you will obtain more business from the customer, how much business are we looking at? Alternatively, if the object is to save money over more expensive media, how much are you looking to save?
Once you have the answers to these questions, you know how much you have to spend on acquiring a responsive and recent email address.
It might justify a web based competition, or direct mail campaigns, or even a customer services phone call for your really valuable customers. Whichever way you choose to go, a live, responsive, email address is the only one worth obtaining.   ]]> Fri, 04 May 2012 01:36:07 BST External General 40 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/is-time-running-out-for-email-append/ http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/subscriptions-101-three-steps-to-recurring-revenue/ <p >
Other industries are catching on quickly. As James McQuivey of Forrester Research puts it, “every business–no matter how analog–is susceptible to the same digital overhaul.” Companies in fields as diverse as life sciences, computer hardware, and traditional manufacturing are all seeking new ways to create revenue through subscriptions to diagnostics, data analysis, consumables, and professional services.
I recently spoke with an executive from a heavy equipment company whose top strategic priority is switching to digitally-enabled subscription pricing for tractors and excavators. The times are indeed changing.
Step 1: Identifying the right model
Both vendors and consumers are deeply in love with recurring business models. For enterprises, the advantages come in the form of predictable revenue, lower cost of acquisition, and the ability to scale revenues with expenses.
Combined successfully, these traits almost always translate into higher company valuation. For consumers, spreading out costs over time evens out cash flow and provides an assurance that the vendor will continuously strive to improve their offering on an ongoing basis.
All recurring business models can be boiled down into three basic flavors: 


Subscription – A fixed payment for access to products and services, for a specific period of time. Flat rate pricing, unlimited consumption, and membership fees all fall into this category.

Usage – Per-use or per-unit charges that are usually recorded automatically on a preexisting account. This includes offerings such as pay-per-play, pay-per-view, metered usage, or bandwidth billing. Freemium products often fall into this category as well.

Subscription plus usage – A combination of a fixed subscription with overage charges or incremental units that are billed individually, usually to a preexisting account.
Correctly triangulating the above flavors with your product offering and the needs of your customers is vital to success in the subscription economy. It’s important to remember that even within a brand, different products demand different types of monetization.
For example, Apple markets an ongoing service like iTunes Match as a subscription while charging unit costs for individual media titles to your account.
Step 2: Rolling out subscriptions
Once a model has been determined, the next step is to deploy technology that can quickly capture, monetize, and manage individual subscriptions. This is the domain of subscription and billing management systems, whose capabilities fall into several key areas:


Subscription management – Creating and managing the basic plans and units of service that make up a subscription product, while capturing the sales of these products from existing touchpoints.

Usage management – Tracking the consumption of subscription and usage products so that appropriate customer access and billing can occur.

Billing management – Recurring charges create new customer scenarios such as periodic invoicing, authorizations, and dunning (dealing with failed payments) that must be handled by the subscription management system. 
With these capabilities in place, businesses can quickly monetize their offerings and start earning recurring revenue. But it would be a big mistake to just stop here. As I mentioned earlier, the benefits of a subscription business come with the responsibility to continuously improve, or else customers will pick up and leave. Doing so effectively requires a little more technology.
Step 3: Building for the future
To fully realize a recurring revenue business, enterprises need to develop a few more competencies.
Because everything in the subscription economy revolves around the customer relationship–identification, authentication, entitlements, preferred touchpoints, usage data, and key metrics like lifetime value and churn–it’s vital that companies deploy the right technology to capture, analyze, leverage, and distribute this information effectively.


Entitlements – Managing precisely what products, services, or units a customer may access, when, and through what touchpoints, including via third parties or affiliates.  

Offers – Being able to create and manage compelling bundles of products and services that are responsive to the history, behavior, and context of the customer as they engage with your product experience across multiple channels.

Content Management – Disruptive subscription businesses place novel  demands on content management systems, so strong capabilities in this domain are important. As every interaction becomes a potential commerce touchpoint, seamless integrations between content and transactions become critical.

Delivery and fulfillment – Magic happens when your subscription offerings seamlessly integrate into your customer touchpoints, whether it happens to be a smartphone app, someone else’s piece of software, or the dashboard of a tractor. As digital commerce systems weave their way into every customer experience, the ability of your systems to scale through high-quality APIs will give you an important competitive edge.

Intelligence – Being able to analyze the vast amount of information generated by the above activities, and then make actionable decisions based on it, will become a critical competency.
Developing these capabilities will allow you to participate fully in the disruptive subscription economy.
Researchers and analysts agree that recurring business models based on digital commerce will soon be adopted in every industry, and that they will drive significant revenue growth in the coming years. Will you earn your share? ]]> Thu, 03 May 2012 01:36:05 BST External General 33 http://www.acoolwaytoshop.com/General/subscriptions-101-three-steps-to-recurring-revenue/