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Webloyalty research into online consumers has revealed that UK retailers could be missing out on as much as £66m in additional revenue through failing to personalise the experience they offer online shoppers. Over half of UK consumers said that they would make more of an effort to use a retailer if it offered a good personalised experience.
The top fifty retailers in the UK have an average turnover of £3.2bn*. For an average-sized retailer generating a turnover of £850m (such as Wickes or Mothercare), this could deliver a 7.8% uplift in sales**.
In monetary terms, this translates to an annual uplift of £66 million, not only stimulating online consumers to spend, but also helping to improve loyalty. For larger companies, this number would naturally increase even further....
The digital consumer has forever changed the contours of the retail industry. Traditional retailers and manufacturers have no choice but to embrace the e-commerce and the digital revolution. Those that resist are bound to fail as we have seen in retail segments hit first by the digital tsunami, such as music and books.
While awareness of the digital transformation is apparent and prominent, many retailers struggle to transition traditional business models to digital-driven, omnichannel business models. In order to remain profitable and thrive, retailers must adopt an integrated business approach with a solid digital strategy....
Department stores and mega-malls were among the main places for Americans to meet, socialize and, of course, shop. That’s all changed.
Department stores and other brick-and-mortar retailers registered another lackluster holiday shopping season, while online sales have remained upbeat since Cyber Monday. As more consumers spend a larger share of their dollars online, does this signal the days of shopping at department stores and shopping malls are numbered?
Cyber Monday sales this year were up 8.7 percent compared with 2013, led by a sharp increase in mobile transactions according to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark. Sales over mobile devices jumped 29 percent . That’s a sharp contrast with the mostly bad news for brick-and-mortar stores, which saw about 6 million fewer shoppers over the Thanksgiving weekend, with overall spending down about 11 percent , according to the National Retail Federation....
ey first came to the world’s attention 12 months ago with the launch of Apple’s iBeacons in the US. This launch was closely followed by another defining milestone: the Regent Street project in the UK, a first of its kind now in full swing.
Soon after, as I was talking to two outdoor media owners, they were telling me about their plans to bring the technology to the Australian market – both understandably racing to be the first in market given its huge potential for highly-targeted mobile marketing.
Plenty has been written since on how the technology works and its marketing possibilities. For my part, I am genuinely excited about its many benefits. Yet there are some drawbacks to be mindful of also....
Retail technology is rapidly evolving to create a more convenient, fun and immersive in-store and online experience. Here are ten trends to look out for in 2014.
Though there’s no doubt we’re still a nation that needs to be careful with its cash, the dark clouds of recent austerity are starting to float away to reveal a more optimistic, more promising future.
We’re not out of the woods yet, for sure, and the vast majority of people still feel we’re in a recession, but market confidence is starting to return and the masses are beginning, albeit cautiously, to dip into their wallets again.
This change in consumer attitude is also being complimented by the raft of new technology designed to make the shopping experience more accessible, convenient and fun. Peaks and troughs and trends are prevalent in practically every element of society – and retail is absolutely no different....
By now you probably got the memo that the population in Europe is growing older. That the opening of borders is causing people to migrate. That consumers are using the internet and their mobile phones to make sure they get the best deal possible.
A study of the free shopping apps in the Android Play store shows that the most popular apps fall into the broad categories that one would reasonably expect without pushing the limits of imagination: pure play e-commerce, brick-and-mortar retailer apps, coupons & deals, utilities (shopping lists, product scans, loyalty storage) and rewards for shopping behavior [see list at bottom of post]. In general, the most popular shopping apps are not revolutionary in terms of offering consumers a compelling shopping experience that they can’t find elsewhere.
As a result, fewer than 50% of consumers who download the most popular mobile shopping apps are developing regular usage habits. A recent NPD study showing that within 3 months of downloading a retailer’s app, 75% of consumers stop using the app even once a month. The same study shows that more consumers use retailer web sites than apps (71% of consumers vs 57%), perhaps indicating they prefer accessing a retailer’s website on an irregular basis than going through the trouble of downloading a mobile app.
One of the reasons for the lack of regular usage of top mobile shopping apps may be that the majority take a conventional shopping task focused view of a person’s motivations & intentions for using a mobile app, eg. “the user wants to purchase something specific/find coupons/compare products”. Very few take a time-based view of a person’s motivations & intentions for using a mobile app, eg. “the user has many small moments of downtime in the day that they’d like to fill with an engaging app experience”....
Recent research from the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) predicts that one in five retail stores on the high street will close in the next five years – in addition to the ongoing shop vacancy rate of 14.1%. But there's signs that the future doesn't need to be all about reducing store or staff numbers to boost finances.
Many retailers are adapting their model to shoppers’ changing habits and desires - taking advantage of technology to improve the instore experience and improve profitability. In doing so, they may be inadvertently reshaping the role of bricks and mortar shops....
The BBC's Jill Martin visits US clothing company Lolly Wolly Doodle, which is helping to lead the way in selling directly through Facebook.
As a family-run company with just 160 employees and a funny name, US children's clothing manufacturer Lolly Wolly Doodle (LWD) does not immediately seem like a trendsetter.Yet the North Carolina firm and its owner Brandi Temple are at the forefront of how small retailers are increasingly selling their wares directly through Facebook.
Billionaire investor Steve Case, the co-founder of US internet group AOL, is so impressed with LWD and its "Facebook commerce" business model that earlier this year his Revolution Growth fund invested $20m (£13m) in the company.
He says that LWD has the potential to be a billion-dollar business.Mr Case adds: "Ms Temple really had pioneered the whole area of social shopping. It's really bringing consumers almost into the design process."For most people focused on e-commerce, social is an afterthought. For her, it's the main event. I think that's unique."...
When it comes to selling luxury via social media, some brands are far more artful than others, according to a new analysis of social-media platforms from L2’s latest report.
The report ranked some 250 prestige brands across 15 social media platforms. Swarovski is batting a thousand and present on all of them, followed by fast-fashion chain Uniqlo, active on 13. “Prestige brands are present on an average of seven platforms, with 15% on 10 or more,” writes Scott Galloway, professor of marketing at New York University’s Stern School and founder of L2. “Brands are still searching for the right balance between promise and performance and, as costs increase, will likely pare down the number of platforms they invest in.”...
61% of customers read online reviews before making a purchase decision, and they are now essential for e-commerce sites. User reviews are proven sales drivers, and something the majority of customers will want to see before deciding to make a purchase. Here are some compelling stats on user reviews, why they are great for SEO, why bad reviews are valuable, and how to use reviews in navigation and on product pages...
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It’s a question that’s been at the forefront of marketers’ minds for years: How can I engage with customers uniquely, based on both their interests and their value to my brand? And then digging deeper: How can I manage that conversation not just digitally, but offline, too, through any channel? These are questions that have been asked, pondered, discussed and, ultimately, never answered. That is, until now. The promise of omnichannel marketing enlightenment gets realized this year....
Macy’s has announced they will shut down 14 stores as part of a restructuring effort, citing a shift in how consumers shop. The retail giant notes that this is part of a broader plan to meet consumers where they are: online.
The closed stores will mean a reduction of 1,343 jobs and should be completed within the next few months. The news has the average layperson assuming the worst of the brand, but Macy’s is no JCPenney, no, this is a simple effort that is common for large brands. These closures represent only a fraction of the brand’s 790 stores across America....
We worked with Shelly Banjo from the Wall Street Journal on a piece about how retailers should use discounts. The Wall Street Journal added a piece of consumer research to accompany the article that was very interesting.
They asked what email headline would get consumers to open an email from a retailer.
Consumers agreed that they are most likely to respond to an email that is advertising a specific (read: relevant) item on sale, not to generic discounts....
Between the confluence of the Web and e-commerce and the rise in hours at work for U.S. workers, brick-and-mortar visits are becoming worryingly infrequent. Online shopping is rapidly overtaking high-street sales with the U.S. Department of Commerce spotting a 3.4% quarterly pickup in e-commerce sales compared to 0.6% for brick-and-mortar retailers during the fourth quarter of 2013.
However, thanks to modern technology, traditional retailers now have a chance to fight back. Strategy consulting firm Control Group put together a thorough report examining several emerging trends in retail technology. Especially, state-of-the-art technologies that make dynamic pricing for brick-and-mortar retailers could indeed enable them to turn the tide in the battle of clicks versus bricks....
There is a major gap between what consumers expect and what retailers are providing them, according to a new study released today, with 94 percent of retail decision-makers surveyed saying that their companies are facing significant barriers to omni-channel commerce.“Customer Desires Vs. Retailer Capabilities: Minding the Omni-Channel Commerce Gap,” from Accenture and hybris software, an SAP company, peels back the onion to reveal that the difference between the omni-channel ideal and what retailers are currently able to achieve for customers is vast...
Shoppers today aren’t just pleased to shop with retailers who offer several ways to buy stuff—they expect it. In fact, former nice-to-haves (like an easy-to-access storefront, a ecommerce-enabled website and a mobile shopping app) are now becoming table stakes for Canadian store operators.
This is one of the key takeaways of a new survey of retail expectations conducted by PwC.
The survey polled more than 15,000 consumers (located in Canada and around the world) to get a sense of what, exactly, today’s shopper wants when opening his or her wallet. According to a report detailing the research, “the bar is now much higher for retailers with world-class aspirations.”
This is not exactly news to any retailer struggling to compete in 2014. Changing customer expectations have made it extremely difficult for store operators—especially independents—to thrive. So, what is the solution? In PwC’s view, “a new approach is needed, and retail customers are pointing the way.”
Here are the four key things PwC believes consumers want today—and some tips on how your business can adapt to them....
Email is losing its power as a marketing tool for online retailers, according to senior-level executives at Gilt Groupe and Rent The Runway.
Fewer consumers are opening promotional emails, especially since Gmail added a new setting in August that automatically archives promotional messages into a tab separate from users' inboxes, executives said.
"I think everyone would probably agree that email, even before the shift with Gmail, was becoming a less and less powerful channel," Jennifer Fleiss, cofounder and president of Rent The Runway, said at Business Insider's Ignition 2013 conference....
Almost two-thirds of consumers (63%) have bought products online before collecting them in-store at least once in the past 12 months, while 16% use reserve-and-collect at least once a month.
Overall around a fifth (22%) of consumers said they have never used the service, which is actually a very slight increase compared to 2012 when the figure stood at 20%.
Even so, the data highlights the continuing importance of reserve-and-collect services for multichannel retailers as a sales tool. The Multichannel Retail Survey, conducted using the Toluna survey tool, also found that 50% of respondents had abandoned a purchase online due to unsatisfactory delivery options....
What do you do when you have a problem with a brand’s product or service?You go online, right?
You’re not alone. Close to six in ten (57 percent) of customers search for a solution online before taking any further action, and they’re increasingly reaching for a brand’s social media outposts. Almost half of social media users (47 percent) have received customer care on a channel such as Twitter or Facebook, and 37 percent now prefer customer service through social media rather than by telephone.
But brands still have work to do. While 80 percent of Twitter users expect a response to a consumer service enquiry within a day, just 40 percent of tweets to the 25 largest online retailers are answered within 24 hours, and many are ignored altogether....
Brands like Amazon, Netflix, OKCupid, Pandora and Twitter are tracking customers’ online behavior to produce targeted offerings and increase sales. What stats are they looking at and offering as a result, you may ask? This infographic tells all....
‘We beat internet prices’ – good or bad marketing slogan? According to Forrester analyst Adam Silverman, such claims are ‘antiquated and add little value to customers’. “Instead of simply stating you beat your competitor’s prices, employing strategic pricing and customer engagement initiatives creates real distinct value to your customer,” he said.
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Webloyalty's Connected Consumer research reveals that retailers should focus on personalisation when it comes to online consumers.