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 Jean-Marc Noël, managing director at Trusted Shops
There is a great deal of discussion about the conversion rate of a product detail page or the opportunities of a website. But the most important page of an online shop is often forgotten – the product list! This is the page that shows all the products and provides essential product advice.
After all, the decision to buy is made on the product detail page. This is why this page must offer all the information a customer needs to make a purchase. However, before he chooses a product, he asks himself the question: which one? The product list has the answer. Here are six ideas for your product list. Continue reading
Google+By Guy Cuthbert, managing director at Atheon Analytics
With upwards of 30% of retail turnover now coming from promotions, it is becoming essential to ascertain the most appropriate promotions metric for each product category or customer demographic. Brands and retailers need to work together to maximise opportunities, minimise promotional spend and meet evolving customer demands for value.
Yet the reality is very different: far too often one partner is using its business intelligence weight to dominate the relationship, enforce performance measures or demand certain discount activity. Continue reading
Google+By Jean-Marc Noël, managing director at Trusted Shops
“We’ll do that like Amazon”. I have heard this so many times in my concept workshops that I’ve lost count. It’s true that Amazon does a lot right and swallows about 25% of the German e-commerce pie chart. But anyone who wants to be like Amazon is setting themselves up for a failure.
Amazon’s concept is pretty simple: pricing combined with availability. Amazon lets you buy pretty much every product, mostly on offer for the lowest price on the market and delivered the following day. Amazon is, so to speak, the personal logistician for any desires anyone could possibly have. So the shop no longer needs the typical features of a good seller at all. For instance, trust-building using certificates or a phone number for questions and problems, authentic teasers on the home page to get people’s shopping juices flowing, etc. Continue reading
Google+By Andy Lloyd, General Manager, Commerce at NetSuite
Across our homes and offices we have seen a dramatic shift in the way we access information online. With mobile web usage set to outstrip desktop usage by 2014 it’s clear that the way consumers want to interact with retailers is changing. If High Street retailers are unable to adapt quickly enough to these trends then they are putting themselves at serious risk. Continue reading
Google+By Abigail Phillips
New research has found that retailer websites were unable to cope with the associated increase in traffic from annual sales promotions that run over the post-Christmas and New Year period.
Using an advanced in-house website performance tool based on Silk Performer technology, website performance data, Borland, identified an overwhelming correlation between sales-generated traffic rises and increases in website response times – a nightmare situation for any retailer hoping to capitalize on the seasonal online rush of bargain-hunting consumers. Continue reading
Google+By Anke Puscher, Director Business Development Europe at Valassis
E-commerce is the fastest growing channel in retail sales and is set to drive significant changes in the way customers access and redeem coupons. Managers responsible for retail technology in store need to adapt by ensuring, for instance, that coupons can be redeemed online as well as in store.
The high penetration of smartphones and tablets in the UK has made its mark on the way consumers shop with many browsing and purchasing online via mobile devices. What’s more, this trend is set to continue with the number of smartphone users nationwide predicted to more than double between 2012 and 2016, from 19.2 million to 41.9 million1. Combine this with the continued trend towards promotions, with our recent survey showing that a quarter of respondents are looking for promotional offers more than they were a year ago, and the need to embrace digital and mobile coupons becomes clear. Continue reading
Google+By Joe McCann, mobile architect, Bazaarvoice
There’s still a lot of hubbub around Pinterest, from the sexy user experience to how it’s not ready for tech brands. Much of the brand conversation is about “how to track purchases driven by Pinterest. Yawn.
The real story that people are missing is how Pinterest has unlocked the secret to get their users to create personal, profiled, curated storefronts.Think about it. People, mainly women at the moment, are creating mood/story boards which mostly contain pictures of products. Sure there is your pic of Ryan Gosling here and there and lots of food, but sifting through the noise is not all that difficult and the number of actual products on there is staggering. Continue reading
Google+By Daniel Hunter
Data released by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) shows that total retail search volumes grew 14% in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared with the same quarter a year earlier. For the first time we are able to show the growth rates of both tablet and smartphone retail search volumes.
In the fourth quarter, search volumes on tablet devices outpaced those on any other device, increasing 238% compared with growth on smartphone devices of 76%. In the fourth quarter, total search volumes grew fastest for homewares, up 28% year-on-year.
For tablets, growth in search volumes was highest for clothing, up by 273% year-on-year. Retail searches peaked on Boxing Day, with more than twice the volume of searches compared with Christmas Eve. Total search volumes from overseas consumers rose by 25% in Q4 compared with the previous year. Continue reading
