By Kirill Gorynya, CEO of Synqera
Experts argue that this year bricks may be more powerful than clicks as many online-only retailers take the example of retail stores by unveiling a series of ‘pop-up’ shops. Kirill Gorynya, CEO of technology company Synqera explores the turnaround in shopping preferences and what retailers can do to secure loyal customers during this potentially buoyant period. Continue reading
Google+By Jon Worley, Director of Customer Interactions from The Logic Group
2012 was a tough year for the high street, with retailers struggling to drive sales and many high street stores shutting their doors permanently. By contrast, the online high street saw resilient growth. In fact, the latest figures of the annual IMRG e-Retail Sales Index have revealed that online sales in November are up 18 per cent from last year as the festive rush has encouraged consumers to reach into their digital pockets. So 2012 was a year of “Bricks vs. Clicks” but what will drive retail this year? Continue reading
Google+By Abi Jacks, Head of Marketing at Pure360
The festive season is upon us and many businesses and consumers alike are getting ready for Christmas. With UK shoppers spending £7bn online over Christmas, 50% of which is spent in the first two weeks of December, now is the time for your business to show off its customer services skills in order to push for those extra sales. Continue reading
Google+By Simon Norris, leading design psychologist and CEO of digital agency Nomensa
Mobile is now an established part of the retail experience and it is therefore not surprising that approximately £1 billion of goods will be bought via mobile devices during the first two weeks of December.
People expect a mobile site experience to be a continuation of what they would expect when using traditional desktop channels. The best way to think about design interactions that cross channels and re-cross channels is an ‘experience ecology’, a living system of possible interactions where everything is connected.
Browsing and buying patterns of behaviour are emerging simply because of the different technologies that are available to us and as designers, we need to appreciate that every site experience is different so we can no longer generalise about the interaction experience.
The best experiences need to reflect behaviour and people expect different things from different sites. The idea of a one size fits all approach to e-commerce will not be relevant or leverage commercial value (ROI).
The need for organisations to provide meaningful cross-channel experiences that allow people to easily interchange between channels is becoming and more and more of a necessity.
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In the future we can expect to see behavioural patterns of group shopping emerging online which is a more socially engaging experience and digital experiences will need to reflect this to smoothly blend a total experience regardless of channel or device.
However, there is no point having good user experience if accessibility on the site is not part of it, explains Léonie Watson, director of accessibility at Nomensa.
Léonie says, “Although good user experience is essential to adding credibility to the site andhelps increase sales, online retailers are falling at the first hurdle if the website is not digitally accessible to everyone.”
Although the combined spending power of disabled people in the UK is £80 billion a year, many online retailers are failing to understand the importance of digital accessibility. They are not catering for the widest possible customer base and with an estimated 11 million disabled people in the UK today, they are excluding a huge number of potential online consumers.
Logistically, buying Christmas shopping online is often easier and usually more preferable for people with disabilities due to issues like physical mobility, sight difficulties when battling a very busy mall or shopping centre.
Although it is estimated that internet sales are set to hit more than 4 billion in the first two weeks of December, online retailers can increase their sales and expand their audience demographic further by realising and understanding the importance of making websites accessible to everyone.
Google+By Andreas Kopatz, Manager Product Marketing, Intershop
Christmas is a busy time, especially for the retail sector. Here are some ideas to attract shoppers and boost sales:
1. Run Promotions
Promotions are the wheel that keeps Christmas shopping going. You may want to make sure you run them consistently across all channels, as you don’t want shoppers to be frustrated because the in-store offer does not align to the e-commerce promotion. The message is, no matter where they buy, the deal is the same.
However, if you want to encourage people to use new channels, say because you have just launched your mobile channel, then use a different approach. Vary promotions between channels to entice shoppers to visit your new mobile store so they get familiar with it. You can push customers to the most cost effective channel to maximize margins, or enable them to shop through the channel that they like best – and then cross promote to other channels from time to time.
2. Introduce A/B Testing
Implement A/B Testing into your website. A/B Testing compares the effectiveness of two versions of a web page, promotion or similar, in order to find out which version has the better response or higher sales conversion rate. It provides an evidence-based means of tweaking marketing strategies until they are as effective as they can be, and is the magic bullet that will help you maximise the success of seasonal promotions.
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3. The ‘Advent Calendar’
Try offering a specific product each day for a special price. Make this advent calendar prominent on your e-commerce site and send a daily ‘open the door’ email.
4. Promotion Combinability
On any given day an e-commerce site can easily have a handful of promotions underway, such as free shipping, 20% off discounts, half price items, and discounts on specific categories. However, most e-commerce systems will only allow one effective promotion to be applied. This is a short cut for not wanting to analyse how different promotions combine, but it can be a deterrent to sales since most people want to get half price and free shipping. And if they have to make a choice, it might be to go elsewhere. So, give yourself a useful Christmas gift – the ability to combine multiple promotions at the same time.
5. Daily Shopping Period
This is one simple way to help the very busy shoppers. Start a daily shopping period at a set time, lunch time or evenings for example, where people will get the most popular items on your e-commerce site together with a special Christmas gift and/or promotion.
6. Collect Data
Think ahead. Help prepare for Christmas 2013 by collecting as much analytical data as possible now. You’ll be glad you did when planning next year’s promotional campaigns.
7. Think CSR
Consumers get savvier about where their purchases originated and how they were made, so consider Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Sometimes this is more powerful than another special offer.
8. Hold Events
If you are a bricks and mortar retailer, try inviting your customers to a Christmas event at your local store. Celebrate a Christmas party combined with an offer or promotion. Use your e-commerce site to drive attendance by offering special deals to be had at the event.
9. Santa is Coming to Your House!
Let shoppers place orders to be hand-delivered by Santa, gift wrapped to their home. This is a very special delivery method and it might only work in your local area so be mindful not to over promise.
Google+Tim Sutcliffe, managing director at Barker Ross, one of the UK’s biggest recruiters of temporary labour, explains how biometrics systems are essential for retailers dealing with the Christmas rush.
This year, as ever retailers are recruiting large numbers of temporary staff for the busy Christmas period. Argos has announced it will hire 12,000, Amazon and Matalan will be taking on an extra 10,000 and 5,000 staff respectively and discount retailer Poundland needs up to 2,000.
It would not be an understatement to say that the massive influx of temporary staff at Christmas puts a massive strain on finance, HR and administrative departments. Staff will be working different shifts and times, in response to shifting demand, and companies have to keep track of hours and accurately calculate pay. Calculations are even more complex as staff are moved from one department to another in response to shifting sales patterns.
It doesn’t take much to imagine the huge amount of back office work the influx generates. We’ve got large retail clients and over the years we’ve worked with them, not to just supply people, but also to help ease the administrative burden and control costs. And I’ve not doubt that the best way to do the job is to use biometrics.
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Biometrics is technology that makes possible the recognition of people, through their fingerprints or faces. Today, biometrics technology acts as a modern ‘clocking in and out’ service.
It works quite simply. When we register a temporary worker at our offices, we record their bio data and this data is stored on a time and attendance system. When a worker ‘clocks ‘in at one of our clients, that biometric data triggers the system to track hours worked, including any lunch breaks or other absences from the workplace. This data can then be automatically matched with the charge rate, so staff are paid accurately and companies can control their costs with the minimum of effort.
As well as eliminating queries, biometric units can also be used for access control, so only candidates with authorisation can enter a site or area. Only people who have been thoroughly trained and vetted will be ‘clocked’ on, so you can ensure all health and safety considerations are met.
In addition, the data works together with existing recruitment payroll software to produce accurate reports by site, department or area. This enables analysis of work patterns to help with planning, profitability and productivity.
It’s a great technology that really delivers. We are encouraging all our clients to get involved with it, and those that have are really appreciated the multiple benefits, especially over the demanding Christmas period.
Google+By Abigail Phillips
Today Rakuten, the world’s 3rd largest e-commerce marketplace and owner of UK marketplace Rakuten’s Play.com, considers six key trends that will fuel E-commerce growth in 2013:
1) Bringing a personal touch to loyalty
Some things in retail haven’t changed; the secret to success is still engaging customers to keep them coming back to your brand and recommending it to their friends. Social channels have made it possible for retailers to not only enter into personal dialogue with fans but reach friends of fans too. However, when it comes to driving ROI from loyalty in 2013, engagement will be the buzz word, rather than fan count. Ultimately it’s not the number of fans that makes a difference, but how vocal they are.
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2) Curated commerce
Getting a second opinion before committing to a purchase is nothing new, but now rather than taking a friend shopping you can take your entire social network with you. Services such as Pinterest and The Fancy are quickly becoming popular social media tools, allowing users to organise their favourite items into themed collections that they can share with friends. Not only does this fuel personal expression in shopping, but other shoppers will use these collections to inform their own purchase decisions. Retailers must take note and we expect curated collections to be a key trend in 2013.
3) Changing the way we pay
The choice of payment methods that retailers can offer to consumers seems to be constantly evolving and it’s often make or break in a purchase decision. Alongside the growth of mobile transactions, NFC, and contactless payment methods could dramatically change how people pay for products. Services like PayPal and Apple’s iTunes have already begun to centralise payments on mobile, but the next step will be services such as Square that offer sellers the ability to receive card payments with their existing smartphone and a simple plug-in device. This freedom to accept payments either online or in-store will be invaluable for merchants of all sizes in the coming years.
4) he rise of the specialist retailer
Whether it’s brick-and-mortar or online, there has been a trend in recent years for consumers to move back to specialist retailers that can often offer a better-informed and personal service. Moving away from mass-market retailers, to specialist retailers that cater to a specific range or area of products, be that fashion, jewellery, or photography equipment.
5) Increased Video Use
One of the reasons video wasn’t incorporated as frequently into ecommerce websites in the past was that it would significantly slow down the site, and this is still a concern for many. However, as internet speeds become faster across the world, retailers will cease to be restricted by broadband rates and will have the freedom to use increasingly rich media content. We expect video reviews and the virtual un-boxing of products to become more prevalent across retail sites in 2013.
6) Increased mobile integration
Whether it’s a mobile-optimised site or dedicated app, most retailers are coming to terms with the need for a smartphone or tablet solution. However, mobile can offer much more than this, in the next year we expect to see more integration in-store, through the use of apps, QR codes and augmented reality experiences as well as shifts in the payment tools available from NFC to Apple’s Passbook.
Adam Stewart, Marketing Director, Rakuten’s Play.com, commented on the E-commerce industry and these predictions: “In any retail business, the customer is central to success, and mobile and social uptake provides retailers with the opportunity to engage with consumers on a more personal level. In the year ahead, innovating the ways in which we build brand loyalty in an increasingly multi-channel retail environment will be key, as well as ensuring the platforms we offer are seamless. As an industry we need to refine the shopping experience online, and engage consumers with more tailored campaigns and offers to continue building consumer confidence in mobile as a device to make transactions and also utilise social shopping platforms to give the next level of recommendations as social shopping becomes entertainment.”
Google+By Nick Ogden, CEO, CashFlows
Christmas is a season of joy. For small businesses, however, it is also a period of staff holidays, increased workload, snow days and sick pay. And these aren’t the only problems British businesses face this year. What are the seasonal issues impacting small businesses and how can SMEs dodge these festive curveballs?
Recent retail figures tell us that sales volumes dropped 0.8% month-on-month in October, suggesting that Britons are gearing up for a bumper couple of months of Christmas shopping. While this is great news for the British high street, this type of inconsistent spending pattern wreaks havoc on business plans and cash flow, especially for smaller businesses.
What’s more, this year the pressures are even greater, as consumers look to technology to help them handle their Christmas shopping. Research out last week from IMRG and Capgemini tells us that £4.6 billion is forecast to be spent online in the first two weeks of December alone, representing a huge potential missed opportunity for small businesses which aren’t operating online. Not only that, but 20% of this figure, approximately £920 million, is expected to be spent on mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets.
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While these sorts of numbers bring about positive cheer for retailers and their revenues, we cannot ignore the challenges.
No one wants to feel they are missing out, and with an increasing number of consumers looking to take care of their shopping on the move, offline retailers need to keep up with the pace. IMRG and Capgemini also revealed that in the first quarter of 2012 8.2% of total e-retail sales were made through a mobile device; by the end of the fourth quarter this figure is anticipated to reach around 20%.
Merchants must have an online presence and mobile application for payments – two integral weapons in retailers’ arsenal this Christmas. Traditional and alternative payment players are entering the scene to assist in this vocation, in a bid to help businesses grow.
Take this Christmas as an inflection point – the way consumers spend will change, and the impact of this is going to be felt far after Christmas and into 2013. Do not leave yourselves out in the cold.
Google+By Mike Bainbridge., Solutions Architect for PEER 1 Hosting
Overcrowded shops with terrible music on repeat and the inevitable cold weather, or staying at home and having gifts delivered to your door? It’s no wonder eCommerce sales at Christmas are growing by around 20% a year.
Unfortunately, online retailers still aren’t always ready for the spikes in traffic the Christmas season brings. Get prepared with our top tips for better eCommerce hosting:
1. Speed
Consumers are increasingly impatient – a slow or crashing website will affect conversion rates. One in five shopping carts is abandoned because of slow page loading or crashes. That’s more than $3 billion a year in lost sales. Web hosting optimised for online storefronts decreases page loading times by at least 40 times. What’s more, Google’s search results are gradually changing so that a website’s speed has more bearing on its search ranking. Retailers with slow sites will be charged more for their paid search adverts.
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2. Reliability
Guaranteed uptime despite power cuts or server failures can be achieved with the right hardware setup. Some hosting providers promise up to 99.999% uptime in their service level agreements. Ecommerce-optimised hosting increases the amount of manageable simultaneous traffic by up to 5 times and doubles the number of manageable simultaneous orders.
3. Security
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is the industry standard for companies that handle cardholder information, so being ‘PCI compliant’ is the sure-fire way to ensure your ecommerce site is processing payments securely. Fortunately, you can cover yourself on the stringent security standards for credit card payments by partnering with a PCI DSS compliant hosting provider.
4. Multichannel
Gartner predicts that by 2015 50% of all web sales will be mobile, so a lack of quality integration across the emerging technological channels is now a major cause for concern. If your mobile website’s performance is not up to scratch, you’re losing sales. Search out a hosting provider that offers seamless multichannel performance across desktop, tablet and mobile.
5. Internationalisation
Your hosting solution needs to support you in all the countries you want to trade in or website performance will be affected in locations that don’t have a nearby data centre. Partnering with a hosting provider that has a global infrastructure in place ensures web hosting is fast and reliable internationally.
Google+By Adam Stewart, Marketing Director, Rakuten’s Play.com
Each year, the Christmas retail floodgates open with November’s Black Friday and continues through December with Cyber Monday and beyond. Brands herald the festive shopping season of late November and early December with sales of epic proportions. In fact, Adobe’s Digital’s Online Shopping Forecast for the United States and Europe estimated that the online retail sector will make approximately $2 billion on Cyber Monday alone.
While the Christmas season is a time for big brand advertising and sale campaigns, smaller merchants can also make the most of the festive retail fever. Below are some practical tips for retailers of all sizes looking to profit from the Christmas shopping rush.
Originality First
As a shopper, finding an original gift at Christmas can be hugely challenging, especially in an online landscape crowded with big brands offering discounts on bestsellers. However price isn’t the only consideration, originality can be a huge selling point. The old adage ‘it’s the thought that counts’ is still true today; people want to know their loved ones have thought about what they would like to receive. Data analyst group Experian predicts that Monday December 3rd 2012 will see UK consumers spend 15 million hours shopping online while throughout the month time spent making e-commerce purchases will reach 375 million hours. A lot of this time browsing will not result in a purchase as people are unsure of what to buy. The success of retailers such as Notonthehightstreet.com prove the value of originality and inspiration.
Shoppers Want Details
With a vast content universe just a few clicks away from a retailer’s online shop front it’s easy for shoppers to get distracted as they consider their seemingly endless purchase options. 21st century shoppers like to make an informed choice, so providing them with rich content will be critical to converting sales. Merchants should consider engagement tools such as ‘unboxing with Santa videos’ to demo key products for Christmas, or interactive images that let you see how an item of clothing would look as part of an outfit.
Curate ‘Stocking Filler’ Collections
Savvy merchants should look at Christmas from a shoppers’ perspective. Most of us are faced with a raft of uninspiring Christmas lists from indecisive family members each year. What do you get your Dad apart from another pair of socks, and how can you think of an original gift for a partner you have been giving birthday, Christmas and anniversary gifts to for many years? Rather than taking a product-led approach, merchants should consider taking a demographic or price-led approach and curate Christmas collections, such as ‘Under £10’ or ‘For the in-laws’. This way they can engage and inspire shoppers, taking some of the virtual legwork out of the illusive present hunt.
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Ride the Festive Social Buzz
Shoppers will be actively hunting for promotions and interesting gifts on social platforms (and not always in their free time). VoucherCodesPro.co.uk recently found that the average Brit in full time employment spends up to 1.5 hours per day on social network sites during work hours. That equates to 7.5 hours per week. The most common times for switching on to social networks at work is between 10am – 11am and 3pm – 4pm. Tap into festive offer hashtags during the working week in the run up to Christmas, or run Christmas-themed competitions offering eager participants a chance to win a gift bundle that will meet all the festive needs.
Make a Lasting Impression
Christmas is a stressful time for shoppers, but it’s a huge opportunity for a merchant to make a favourable brand impression. This should include everything from the basics of offering good customer service and speedy delivery to added extras that will set a retailer’s service apart, such as gift wrapping, personalised notes or tailored free samples. While all these things should leave customers with a warm fuzzy feeling, retailers also want to ensure shoppers come back again and again, so could consider providing existing customers with special offers to reward shoppers’ loyalty through the year.
Festive Timing
Throughout the year, Monday has highest conversion rate for online retail. Data from Rakuten’s Play.com reveal Brits combat the Monday blues with an evening of online retail therapy, with Play.com clocking its highest browsing and buying figures from 8pm – 10pm every Monday, while mobile browsing surges on Monday morning from 7am – 8am. Time your Christmas communications to hit when shoppers are more likely to make a purchase, whether this is through offers, suggesting items the customer might want, or even ‘limited edition’ products that will only be available for a short period of time.
Make the most of the Christmas shopping rush by extending these tactics across all your channels, from your website to social, and from email marketing to mobile communications.
Happy Christmas shopping season!
Google+