Retail marketers: Be on Mobile or be Left Out

For all the retail marketers, it is the mobile marketing era, in store and online shopping is no longer the only choices for customers to shop. You can now shop anytime and anywhere you want and won’t be limited into locations and devices. With my previous marketing experiences and as a student at Northwestern University studying Integrated Marketing Communications, I found some articles that talked about the mobile marketing trend is worth sharing.

The article from Marketing Land- How Marketers Can Keep Pace As Mobile Rises And Matures, by Soo Ji Oh showed the amount of mobile shopping in 2014 holiday shopping season (November to December) accounted for 45% of all online traffic. This is 25% more than the same time period in 2013. Even for online and chain retailer like Amazon and Wal-Mart said they have more than half of their customers use mobile devices to shop over holidays. Retailers are focusing more on mobile strategies now. They also enhance the payment platform and free shipping on mobile app in order to compete with larger scale e-commerce brands.

 

                                   

Sources: Social Media Impact

Another article is from Who What Wear- Why This New Credit Card Will Completely Change How You Shop, by Meaghan Blalock. According to the article, a quarter of all online sales transacted on Black Friday happened on a mobile device in 2010 and the number is still growing. Mobile shopping is definitely a growing trend and now the app developers want to create something that can combines mobile shopping and social network. This article talked about a new app called CardBlanc that can serve as a debit card for you to shop and also use as a social media tools to share your shopping experience with your friends.

Based on the two articles and with my experience and study in marketing trend, I have three recommendations for the marketers in retail industry to enhance their mobile marketing strategy.

• Build a Mobile App- It’s so easy to shop at your phone. Creating a mobile app for your customers to shop can not only engage your customers more but also have the access to their data and track their purchase behavior and learn more about your target customers’ profile.
• Be Mobile Friendly - You don’t have to create a mobile app in order to follow the trend. You can also keep in track by designing a more mobile user friendly website. The mobile user friendly website can make mobile user to read all the content easier in a different size of devices. This can increase their desire to brose or shop at your website through their smart phones even you don’t have a mobile app.
• Enhance in-store mobile interaction- Even more people use mobile to shop, they still like to stop at the store to see the actual products. This is a great opportunity to engage with them through your mobile app. A simple QR code or a promotion banner can be a good way to lead the customers back to the app.

Mobile marketing is definitely a trend and many retailers have already built their mobile app. But how to add value to the app and how to engage with the customers are more important than just have the app but customers are not willing to use it. Adding value by interact with the customers, special promotion or discount through mobile app or let them share purchase experience among friends using the app is some good ways to engage with your customers.

Cheryl Lin is currently pursuing her master degree in Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University. She has four years of solid working experience in marketing and especially interest in fashion and entertainment industry.
Contact Cheryl through twitter @cheryllin2015 or LinkedIn

Online Retailers: 3 Things You Must Do Before Accepting Bitcoin In Your Store

For those involved in the always-evolving world of ecommerce, it’s important to understand the role different payment options can play in both processing and generating revenues. As a senior Economics and Integrated Marketing Communications student at Northwestern University, I’ve researched Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies and found two highly relevant articles. From these articles, I’ve determined three action items any online vendor interested in accepting Bitcoin should carry out.

In an article from BestTechie.com, Craig Vodnik explains a problem vendors who accept Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies can solve: falling prices for digital goods simultaneously increases the percentage of sales taken by transaction costs. Bitcoin is an electronic payment system owned by no organization, meaning transaction fees are incredibly low – around 0.25% to 1.5% with no fixed cost. Given average credit card transaction fees (including fixed cost), a $1.99 transaction costs a staggering 15% (!) of the sales price. Aware of the value this creates for their company, some vendors have offered freebies or rewards programs to incentivize customers to use Bitcoin.

Next, an article from Bizreport.com by Kristina Knight highlights some important takeaways from an April consumer survey on Bitcoin. The survey found that more and more people are becoming aware of Bitcoin and are more willing to use it in transactions. 46% of survey respondents say they are familiar with what Bitcoin is – a 13% percent increase from just January 2014. What’s more, 60% of those respondents claimed they ‘would use’ Bitcoin for online purchases.

With these articles, I’ve determined the three most important things an online vendor interested in accepting Bitcoin should do:

1.     Research. It’s important to understand how Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies work before you begin accepting them.

2.     Justify it. Is your target market aware of and willing to use Bitcoin? Does your business model involve the micro-transactions that make accepting crypto-currencies especially beneficial?

3.     Create value. Customers are now more willing than ever to use crypto-currencies, but the price they pay is the same whether they use a Visa or Bitcoins. It is up to you to incentivize the use of crypto-currencies by adding value to its use. This could be through discounts, loyalty programs, and more.

Crypto-currencies aren’t going anywhere soon, as consumers and businesses alike are becoming more aware of their potential benefits. Above all, accepting Bitcoin is a business decision that requires research and justification just like any other decision. If it makes sense for your business, it may just revolutionize the way you make money.

Andy Bell is a senior at Northwestern University. He will be graduating in June with a double major in Economics & Political Science, along with a certificate from the Medill School of Journalism’s Integrated Marketing Communications program. Questions or comments? Contact him @andytbell.

Retail CMOs – Do You Have What It Takes to Win the Social Media Retail War?

Retail CMOs, you already know how important it is to navigate social media effectively to take your company to the next level but getting there is not always a straightforward path.  As a graduate student in Northwestern Medill’s Integrated Marketing Communications program (and a lover of fashion and retail given my background as a merchandise planner at Neiman Marcus), I have found two articles, which illustrate the challenge retail marketers face in today’s socially driven digital landscape.

Beyond participation in social networks already in place, as well as their own online communities, Sephora just launched their Beauty Board shopping platform.  It is an innovative social network experience that incorporates all the aspects of social media sites Sephora customers already use and love but intimately keeps them under the Sephora umbrella, effectively moving them through the marketing funnel.   Customers can create their own profiles, share experiences and tips as well as photos, which they can then tag with Sephora product names.  As Julie Bornstein, Sephora’s CMO stated, “The concept is that pictures are everywhere, and we know that beauty lovers love to see ideas for looks and products to buy.”  Sephora links the tags customers place in photos directly to Sephora’s e-commerce site, thus moving the shopper from sharing and browsing to liking and purchasing.

Infographic by Invesp

While people generally like to shop in-store with their friends (and family), re-creating this social shopping experience online has been challenging for retailers.  E-Commerce Times research has found that online shoppers are looking for the ability to invite people they trust to shop with them, to be able to shop side-by-side and collaborate in real time, and to be able to speak with a stylist or expert when needed.  Incorporating collaborative shopping capabilities into your site (such as Sephora has done) increases brand engagement and allows for more interaction with and understanding of your customer base, including such things as buying sentiments and product preferences.  Mauricio Cuevas, CEO of BevyUp, notes, “When shoppers engage in collaborative sessions, they tend to view a greater number of products than when they shop alone, exchange ideas, and engage in real conversations, just as they do in a physical store.  The entire visit quickly becomes an experience rather than a transaction.”

Based on these articles, I would recommend the following approach when planning your social media retail strategy:

• Track the social footprint of your customers: Where are they comfortable interacting socially?  Are they active on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Vine?  And where do they fall in the social pyramid?

• Incorporate consumer insights into your own network: Build your social network around your customers rather than your product by determining your current and future customers' wants and needs as they relate to social networks, by incorporating key aspects of the sites your customers frequent the most, and by making the transition from sharing to liking to purchasing a seamless and natural one.

• Actively monitor and listen to your customers: Just when you think you have created the ultimate social network, something else comes along, so stay ahead by continuing to monitor your customers' social activity across all platforms.  Are there any new sites they have joined and why?  And carefully listen to what they are telling you via your own social network.  

As more and more retailers compete for attention via social media, it becomes imperative that you, as CMO, monitor the social activities of your customers and understand their wants and needs as they relate not only to your product or service but also to your social media platform.  By putting social networks in place now, where customers can interact and collaborate with your brand and each other when and how they want to, you will make huge strides towards winning the social media war and enjoy such rewards as brand engagement, customer loyalty and ultimately market share.

 Karen Lonsdale-Hands is a strategic analyst who has worked in a variety of industries—including retail, consulting, banking, and telecom.  She is now looking to creatively combine her love of numbers with her love of marketing.  She is a candidate for a Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University.   Follow her at @KarinaLonsdale

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

Take advantage of the shopping cart abandonment during these holidays

            Do you know that 88 percent of your shoppers are going to abandon the online shopping cart in your site during these holidays? Do not despair; there is a way to take advantage about this consumer behavior. As an integrated marketing communication graduate student at Northwestern University, I have learned that the most important concept in marketing is to understand consumer behavior to plan your marketing strategies.

            Check this out this amazing info graphic about abandonment issues. It is highly probable that customers quit their shopping experience because they want to research online to find better prices. Today, shoppers are well informed, and it is easy for them to compare your product to other retailers'. In this scenario, everything in its online customer experience matters and should be subject to careful analysis (yes, using data.)

            But you can improve their customer experience through personalization, so it is possible to take advantage of this situation. Improving their experience, you can develop loyalty to your site. Repeat shoppers represent 8 percent of site visitors, but they account for 41 percent of all online sales. There is no necessity to spend tons of money on fancy recommendation agents; with good customer service, you can improve their experience. Finally do not forget the abandonment cart. One out of four people will abandon his or her cart, but they do that to save their products for later consideration. So, a gentle reminder at the end will produce more sales.

So, it is time for action:

1. Provide options to save the contents of the cart
2. Display customer support information
3. Offer free (or reduced) shipping

            All these actions will increase the chances that your customers will click the "pay" button. But remember, the main issue here is to understand why your customers are leaving the cart. By only understanding their consumer behavior, you will be able to find ways to improve your e-commerce techniques.

Sources:

Kissmetrics. Abandonment Issues.  Retrieved from http://blog.kissmetrics.com/shopping-cart-abandonment/?wide=1

Amanda Myers, Improve your customer experience through personalization. Retrieved from http://www.bigcommerce.com/ecommerce-blog/improve-customer-experience-personalization/

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 @mktgda