Retailers - How Can You Survive and Thrive in Today’s Omni-channel World?

Today, brick-and-mortar is being challenged by online channels and consumers want a seamless blend of both. As a graduate student in the Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) program at Medill, Northwestern University, I am dedicated towards shopper marketing insights and digital analytics. During my research on omni-channel retailing, I identified the following two articles that will help clear retailers’ concerns about the negative outlook on the future of the retail stores and provide valuable tips on the success of today’s retailers.  

Marci Weisler, COO at EachScape Inc. and an influential strategist in digital and online businesses, discusses The Future of Onmi-channel Retail. In her article, she argues that onmi-channel in fact presents a huge opportunity for retailers although challenges accompany. She believes that retailers should leverage the multi-device landscape, integrate CRM information system and adopt other strategies such as Geofencing in order to provide customers with consistent delightful experience. However, developing seamless customer experience requires high level of cooperation and consistent planning across divisions of the company, which remains a challenge for a lot of retailers.

In ATKearney’s recent report of Recasting the Retail Store in Today's Omnichannel World, evidence suggests that consumers value the retail store experience on multiple levels and continue to make the vast majority of their purchases in stores. However, the shift to an omnichannel shopping experience means the value of physical stores' traditional role has changed. Stores, on their own, have become less productive and profitable. In order to remain retail stores at the heart of the customer relationship, retailers need to reconsider a retail store’s new role to address evolving needs and behavior by making the retail store a place for discovery, entertainment and personalized experience development.

Based on my analysis of the above two articles and other retail-related research that I have completed,  here are the three action items that retailers need to consider in order to thrive, not only survive, in today’s omni-channel world.

1.      Integrate multi-device landscape and stay consistent across channels - By connecting the customer across web, mobile, and in-store, more purchases will be driven through ease of use. Tactics such as staying consistent across channels as well as coordinated cross-channel promotions will help consumers stay loyal to a brand, and stores will gain higher customer satisfaction rates.

2.      Leverage store formats - By developing a strategic portfolio of store formats, the future of the retail stores should be able to include the discovery and entertainment elements, facilitate well-executed transactions, build strong customer relationship, and provide efficient fulfilment of online purchases.

3.      Improve retail operations system – By implementing omni-channel solutions, such as ship-from-store, in-store pickup and in-store associate ordering will give consumers the type of retail service they expect both online and offline, and help retailers to drive sales in-store.

Remember, customers have redefined commerce, requiring retailers to respond with more choices, convenience and seamless shopping experience.  Get ready and thrive in this onmi-channel world.

Christy He is pursuing her Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) at Northwestern University, with an emphasis on marketing analytics, shopper marketing insights and digital marketing. She previously provided retail measurement and developed retail strategies for major CPG and retail companies at Nielsen. She hopes to continue her professional career post-graduation to focus on data analytics and shopper marketing in the fields of retail, CPG and e-commerce.

Follow her on Twitter @christy_he or contact her via LinkedIn. 

Redefining Retail - Find Success Both Online & Offline

Retail industry experts, Jones Lang LaSalle predict that US retail is trending to have a 20% growth in volume in 2014 – although, the industry growth will go beyond the footprints of the mall and e-commerce sites.

In a crowded market space, retailers are fighting for limited consumer dollars, both the big brands and independent merchants are looking for flexibility in the way that they reach consumers. As a graduate student in Medill's Integrated Marketing Communications program at Northwestern University, I've been following the transformations happening in the retail industry and the trend toward helping consumers achieve the "Total Retail" experience they are looking for - the expectation one unified retail experience. Shoppers continue to demand the right merchandise, at the right time and the right price; but yet, they want unique retail experiences, not all aspects of shopping is considered an errand; and they want the opportunity to discover, but make it easy, bring the discovery to them.

Ryan Lawler of techcrunch.com recently published a great feature on Storefront titled Airbnb For Retail’ Startup Storefront Raises $7.3M From Spark Capital, Expands To LA. New to the retail scene since 2012, Storefront provides retailers with the flexible "pop-up" retail solution they are looking for, through Storefront's online platform they connect those who have empty commercial spaces in highly trafficked areas with merchants who wish to make their goods available without making major investments in opening up a permanent retail space. They're working with high-end fashion retailers, massive e-commerce merchants to the small business Etsy designer. Storefront is leading a new emerging trend that helps retailers get closer to offering the "Total Retail" solution and capital investors are noticing; Spark Capital recently sweetened the pot by investing about $7.5 million with the startup.

A beautiful combination of both concepts, Birchbox’s first-ever pop-up shop, 

Birchbox Local, opened for business in New York’s Chelsea Market on September 12.

Some consumers are pressed for time, but don’t want to miss out learning about the latest and greatest products. High-end sample subscription services are the changing how consumers are discovering and experiencing new products. Birchbox describes themselves as a discovery-commerce platform redefining the retail process by offering consumers a personalized way to discover, sample, shop and learn about the best products and brands available. Don't dismiss this business model, Birchbox was named one of the Most Innovative Companies in 2014 by Fast Company magazine. Lindsay Lavine explains in the article how Birchbox grew from 600 monthly subscribers to more than 800,000, with more than 9 million boxes shipped in less than four years.

Are you ready to be a transformative leader in retail?

• Redefine: Be innovative in your determination for the appropriate distribution channels to reach core customers.

• Be Everywhere: Instead of controlling where a consumer has to go to find a product, there’s a shifted to give consumers access to products and services when and where they want it. Online retailers benefit from pop-up experiences, while brick-and-mortar retailers’ reach a more potential customers through a dynamic online presence.

• Promote Discovery: Break through the crowded retail landscape by encouraging discovery and experiencing, with a trial subscription service to a trigger event pop-up shop. 

In a post-recession time when consumer dollars are still limited; retailers who are innovative in their efforts to impress their customers are often rewarded – by being where and when they need your solution, offering an opportunity to experience the product and by engaging with them online, as much as you would in an offline space.

Dawn Pyne is an award-winning account manager and merchandiser with years of success in managing key strategic aspects of marketing plans, new product launches and in-store retail program executions with global retail partners, American Greetings, Walmart, Target, Apple and CVS. Current M.S. Candidate for Integrated Marketing Communications at Medill - Northwestern University (2015) and has advanced degrees in both art and design.

Feel free to contact me on Twitter at @dawnpyne or through LinkedIn.

Prosperity For Online Fashion Retailers: Flash Sales + Efficient Logistics

For online fashion retailers, having a flash sales business model and an effective distribution strategy are critical for success.  As a graduate student in Northwestern University Medill’s Integrated Marketing Communications Masters program, with a focus on digital and interactive marketing, I have discovered two articles on how to be continuously profitable in today’s digital era that are highly relevant for your businesses.

Deal-of-the-day

Offering flash deals at reduced prices turn out to have a significant demand—who doesn’t like buying high-end products at more reasonable prices.  According to an article by Matthew DeLuca, reporter at NBC News, on Inc. Magazine, what consumers really love about flash sales sites is “the mixture of exclusivity, reduced prices, and carefully curated products.”  The timing frame that characterizes these businesses is the essential element that makes them lucrative.  There are a couple of features that differentiate these online fashion retailers from the rest: the exclusivity of becoming a member in order to shop, the fact that they know who is their customer audience, offering carefully curated products and keeping their low price philosophy. When it comes to exclusivity, it is important to let your customers know the benefits they gain by becoming a member.  Companies are very careful about privacy issues, and when a member registers they are asked to opt-in to receive emails and they pair this information with historical purchasing preferences in order to make each member’s experience unique on the site.

Source: Netonomy.net

Supply Chain Logistics

Free and faster shipping is key to continuously refresh the customer loyalty loop. According to an article by Annie Jie Xu, US General Manager at Alibaba.com, on Huffington Post’s Blog, in today’s highly competitive e-commerce environment it is a must to offer better shipping options.  The delivery side of the purchasing experience seems to be highly relevant for online consumers.  In order to be successful with this approach, there has to be an effective distribution strategy that allows the company to implement it. Additionally, another important aspect mentioned by Xu is the consideration of global expansion.  Companies today are evaluating their immersion in the Asian market, but a lot of opportunities also exist in the Latin American market.  Companies should consider the option of joint ventures with local businesses that already have consumer insights and the cultural know-how of the business’s nature.

After reviewing these articles, there are three action items you should immediately consider for your businesses:

1. Know your target audience: Companies are able to get to know their customers better through the exclusivity of customers becoming members in order to shop at their sites.  This enables companies to carefully choose curated products that appeal to them.
2. Free and faster shipping: Developing an effective distribution strategy will allow companies to make faster and on-time deliveries that will satisfy customers.
3. Business without borders: Companies should consider expanding their operations worldwide, evaluating both options: immersing into new markets by themselves or through joint ventures with local businesses.

As the e-commerce industry evolves and more fashion retailers join in, it is important for companies to innovate and expand in their field because competition is rapidly increasing.  It is essential to implement integrated solutions that focus on satisfying their savvy customers as well as implementing continuous improvements in the delivery end of the purchasing experience.

Sofia Capra is highly captivated by the e-commerce fashion industry of today’s digital environment.  Her personal passion for style and fashion have deepened her interest in online fashion retailers primarily focused on flash sales.  She previously worked as a Communications Specialist in the energy and infrastructure industry in Central America. Capra is currently pursuing an M.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University and completed her B.A. at American University in Washington, D.C. in 2010.

Follow her on Twitter @sofcapra

LinkedIn: Sofia Capra

The Shopper Customer Journey in E-commerce

               Hey E-commerce Manager, are you thinking about how to acquire more customers, or how to boost loyalty to your brand? Good questions, but first, you should ask: Do I understand who is my customer? what is his/her customer journey? These are key questions because in the online environment the old marketing "push" strategy is not going to work as you expect anymore. As an Integrated Marketing Communication grad student at Northwestern University, I have learned that the first step in good marketing starts with a good understanding about consumer behavior. And yes, you should use data to support your insights.

               

                In 2009, McKinsey developed the above model about the journey that customers follow these days. Because of the rising of internet and social media, customers have more control (and power) of the information. They relay more in friends and family opinions more than brand messages. So "Push" marketing is not going to work. Brands should start thinking about how to promote conversations and give relevant content to potential customers in the first part of their journey (Active Evaluation). Take in consideration that customers can have different paths to seek information during this first part of the journey. You should consider what is the category that you are selling and the cultural context (country, region) where your product is sold. Google Think Insights has a fun tool where you can play moving the two variables I just mentioned.

                At the moment of purchase, the core idea is to make the purchase process easier. Depending on the category, you can promote cross-selling of products (shopper marketers know that very well because in brick and mortar stores  40% of the shopper decisions are still taking place in the store). After that moment of truth, You can track your customers to understand if they repeat the purchase because that defines the beginning of loyalty. If they repurchase in your site, that means that you are one step closer to develop customer loyalty. If they do not, they are going to start their journey all over again.

So what to do now? here is your call to action

1. Collect, analyze and understand in which part of the journey your customers are located. You can use the data that you have been gathering in your CRM, Google Analytics, Omniture, etc, etc. Quality is more important than quantity.
2.   Segment your customers, and align your resources where "your customers spend their time."
3.   Test, learn and improve. That is the beauty to be in E-commerce.

Remember that you also are in this journey about understanding your customers, which should be your first step into this travel.

 "There is a new reality for marketing: that consumers are continuously evaluating brands, and our brands need to be present and accounted for at every stage of consideration." Dany Bosomworth

Sources:

Customer Journey

http://www.smartinsights.com/marketplace-analysis/customer-analysis/customers-purchase-journey/

Google Data

http://www.google.com/think/tools/customer-journey-to-online-purchase.html

Alvaro Gutierrez is a MSc. Candidate in Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University with an emphasis on e-commerce and marketing analytics. He previously worked as a Category Manager consultant for Nielsen Chile. Follow him @mktgdata

CEOs, Take Actions to Confront Changing E-Commerce Challenges

Online retail sales will grow from $225.5 billion in 2012 to $434.2 billion in 2017, according to eMarketer[1]. Challenges and competitions follow opportunities. As a graduate student at Northwestern University Integrated Marketing Communications program as well as product manager at H2O E-Cigs (h2ecig.com), I have been studying e-commerce industry trends, customer online shopping behavior patterns and how companies can catch the wave in such a transformative era. I found two articles that gave pretty good summaries and suggestions on future trends in e-commerce industry and how to deal with them.

In the article “Ecommerce Future Predictions That You Should Know”, it explains several practical suggestions on how to deal with upcoming marketing challenges in e-commerce industry.

On the other hand, the article “8 Emerging Trends in eCommerce Technology” talks about eight emerging trends in e-commerce and how to leverage them in an effective way.

Incorporating those two articles, as well as my experience and research done at Northwestern University and H2O E-Cigs, here are three things you should do right now to get ahead of the competition.

1. Images are important, but get more videos. As YouTube becoming the second most popular search engine, e-Marketers cannot overlook the importance of adding videos onto your product page. Product demonstration videos should be short and engaging for customers to get relevant information.
2. Multichannel is not a myth anymore. Integrate your website, mobile, tablets and social media. The biggest e-commerce trend in 2013 is singular experience, which means marketers should think about how to create a seamless shopping experience across platforms.
3. Get a big data analyst to understand customer behavior patterns. Transaction data and web metrics data are both very important in terms of finding customer behavior patterns and maximize marketing investment. 

Jeanine Jiang is pursuing her master’s degree at Northwestern University Integrated Marketing Communications program. She is a SAS certified base and advance programmer and also a storyteller. She is looking for career opportunities in e-commerce and marketing analytics. Follow her on Twitter @jeaninejiang .

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[1] Source: eMarketer, April 2013

Picture source: http://strategicsalesmarketingosmg.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/social-media-and-online-shopping/