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Target Ups Its App Game with Cartwheel Integration

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Target is making some major moves in its mobile channel, integrating its Cartwheel loyalty technology with its mobile app to show customers nearby deals and offer up coupons to improve the shopping experience.

“It’s about giving guests technology to improve their lives,” said Grace Glenny, Senior Director of Site Merchandising for Target at Shop.org in Los Angeles.

Target is integrating Cartwheel’s functionality into its flagship app with a focus on long-term ease in the shopping experience. This will include beacon and Bluetooth technology that shows a shopper’s location on the app’s map as they move through the store.

Target said it’s akin to a GPS for the shopping cart. The mobile capability will go live in about half of its stores by the 2017 holiday season. As shoppers use this location technology, the app will display nearby Cartwheel deals.

“We’re really focused on a store-based interface on the app in order to be where [customers] are,” said Glenny.

The app will offer a “get it today” focus on related searches for both items and offers alike, along with store availability offers.

The app will also provide Target’s Red Card credit card and Cartwheel coupons in a single scan at the checkout. Customers can use it to build shopping lists and maximize on savings by providing offers near them.

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BJ’s Wholesale Club Launches New Mobile App

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BJ’s Wholesale Club announced the launch of its new mobile app and Add-to-Card coupons feature, available on Android and iOS devices.

Rafeh Masood, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer for BJ’s Wholesale Club, said the add-to-card coupons give customers access to discounts and assortments anytime, anywhere.

“Our new app lets members check prices at the nearest BJ’s Gas location and track their annual savings or My BJ’s Perks Rewards depending on the membership level,” said Masood in a press release.

BJ’s new Add-to-Card feature allows members to digitally select and save coupons directly to the BJ’s membership card within the mobile app or online.  It will automatically be applied during a member’s in-club checkout, saving money and time.

The Add-to-Card gallery will feature all coupons found in The Little Book of Big Savings published by BJs, in addition to manufacturers’ coupons.  BJ’s is the only membership warehouse club willing to accept these coupons.

BJ’s is also making updates to deliver an integrated omnichannel shopping experience.  It has launched new desktop and mobile sites as well as two new websites dedicated to its exclusive brands, Berkley Jensen and Wellsley Farms.  It expects to announce additional enhancements to its digital offerings, such as increased use of technology in its clubs.

The app was created by Branding Brand, a mobile commerce engagement platform.

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3 Major Ecommerce Trends That Will Only Get Bigger in 2018

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Desktop-driven ecommerce sales may be plateauing, but data from comScore shows that as a whole, online sales are booming. Sales from mobile devices are now leading the charge, with an annual growth rate (59%) that eclipses desktop (17%).

Ecommerce as a whole still seems to have plenty of space to grow before it hits a ceiling. Online retail still only makes up approximately 12% of total retail sales. This percentage continues to creep up year after year, though, with record-shattering shopping figures and new mobile trends providing shoppers with more accessibility, flexibility and security when it comes to purchasing products.

As we approach 2018 and what the future holds for digital merchants, it’s crucial to reflect and assess the ecommerce trends that have defined 2017 so far. More and more merchants are boasting omni-channel presences to reach buyers online, offline and on-the-go. Meanwhile, the importance of speedy shipping, social engagement and a lack of hidden fees remain paramount for high-performing retailers online.

But what will define digital merchants after the New Year? Let’s take a look at three current trends that will continue to transform the ecommerce landscape in 2018 and beyond.

A Rising Influx of Mobile Shoppers

Just as smartphone usage and sales continue to tick upward, mobile shopping is likewise expected to rise. Mobile devices currently account for 19% of all ecommerce sales in the United States; however, the figure is projected to rise to 27% by the end of 2018, according to an Invesp report.

This influx of mobile shoppers also presents new challenges to merchants, though. Considering that traditional desktops still outperform mobile devices when it comes to conversion rates, ecommerce brands are clearly need all the help they can get to close sales with mobile users.

 

The Boom of B2B Ecommerce

Although ecommerce is often discussed under the B2C lens, let’s not neglect the steady growth within the B2B space.

Projected to surpass $1 trillion in total sales by 2020, there’s no denying that B2B ecommerce still represents rocky territory for many brands. As merchants continue to iron out the finer details of pricing schemes, bulk shipping and quoting customers, streamlining the purchasing process remains a top priority for B2B ecommerce brands moving forward.

Configure-Price-Quote (CPQ) platform FPX, for example, helps to take the complexities of the B2B buyer’s journey and turn proposal request processes into a self-service endeavor. Instead of expecting sales prospects to leave their information for a custom quote or to receive follow up by phone, this tool allows site visitors to answer a series of questions that then feed into an algorithm to generate a personalized, instant proposal, so they can place orders on the spot.

More Prevalent Storefront Apps

In a response to the aforementioned challenge of appealing to mobile buyers, expect to see a new wave of mobile “storefront apps” to reach buyers on-the-go. This trend goes hand in hand with the need for merchants to have omnichannel presences, as well. Given that mobile users spend 86% of their time within apps versus mobile sites, perhaps branded native smartphone shopping apps are the key to converting those once-fickle customers.

After all, if a customer is willing to go through the effort of downloading a mobile app, chances are they’re loyal and trusting enough to make ongoing purchases. “App commerce” platform Poq recently found that storefront apps outperform mobile web conversion rates by 40%, support longer browsing sessions than even desktop web browsers and are twice as likely to drive repeat visits. This all makes sense given the game-changing functionalities that storefront apps offer, which include superior content personalization opportunities, push notifications and geolocation-integrated brick-and-mortar shopping recommendations.

Poq’s compelling solution, for one, offers a centralized content management system that merchants and marketers can use as a unified data hub that uses an API to automatically sync with analytics platforms, payment gateways, customer review platforms and more.

Defining Ecommerce for 2018 and Beyond

Nobody can truly predict the future in regard to ecommerce. However, these current trends will continue to heavily influence the space for the time being.

Regardless of what merchants might be selling, it’s clear that no shopping brand can afford to rest on its laurels. Just as ecommerce is constantly evolving to keep up with the demands and desires of consumers, so should merchants.

Rotem Gal is VP of Marketing at Inbound Junction

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Online Sales Expected to Reach $107.4 Billion This Holiday Season

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Adobe released its online shopping predictions for the holiday season.  Adobe predicts that online sales will reach $107.4 billion, an increase of 13.8%, while in-store retail is expected to grow 10% less.

Cyber Monday is expected to become the largest online shopping day in history, generating $6.6 billion in sales, a 16.5% growth compared to last year.  Sales on Thanksgiving Day are expected to increase 15% year-over-year to $2.8 billion.

One out of every six dollars spent this holiday season will be spent between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, leading to $19.7 billion in sales.

Larger retailers, (those with more than $100 million in annual revenue) will see higher order values and desktop conversion rates than smaller retailers, (those with less than $100 million in annual revenue.)  Smaller retailers are expected to have the mobile advantage with a higher average conversion rate of 1.9% by attracting more shoppers with an intent to buy.

The study also forecasts that shoppers will gravitate toward purchasing lower-priced items online as opposed to big ticket items.  While toys and apparel saw a 39% and 20% unit growth last holiday season, jewelry sales came in low, with a 3% decline in unit growth.  These trends are expected to continue this holiday season.

“This year’s record-breaking online holiday shopping season is built on the strength of the big players,” said Mickey Mericle, Vice President of Marketing for Insights at Adobe in a press release. “We predict the biggest retailers with wide selections, easy shopping experiences and free shipping, to drive online holiday growth this year. Still, there is opportunity for savvy small retailers to win, specifically with mobile experiences.  As revenue growth plateaus, retailers will be competing hard for customers by offering steep discounts and providing a seamless customer journey.”

Some of the best dates for deals is expected to occur on Black Friday for appliances, jewelry and electronics.  On Cyber Monday, discounts will be the highest for toys at 19.1%.  The Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving is predicted to offer the best deals for Christmas décor and with average discounts of 22.7%.

Furniture and bedding prices along with pet products are expected to see the steepest price cuts on Giving Tuesday with 12.8% and 21.7%.  Some products will likely be out of stock before they see these major discounts.  Appliances, tablets and televisions are most likely to be out-of-stock on Thanksgiving Day, before seeing the largest discounts on Black Friday.

While desktop purchases are predicted to account for two-thirds of revenue this holiday season, mobile is serving as a starting point for consumers.  For the first time, web traffic on smartphones and tablets are predicted to be higher than desktops, at 54% and 46%.

 

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Harry & David Enhances Online Shopping Experience

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Harry & David is giving its brand a digital uplift across the board, enhancing its ecommerce and mobile sites, catalog and social media channels for the holiday season.

“We continually look for ways to enhance the customer experience, providing gift-givers with fast, easy and convenient ways to shop,” said Steve Lightman, President of Harry & David. “That’s why the site redesign incorporates not only our new brand look, but new functionality, improved navigation and enhancements based on customer suggestions we received.”

The home page redesign includes a static full-width homepage, featuring product photography to demonstrate assortment, showcase gifting occasions and provide visual navigation through categories and brand stories.

Lightman said the company wanted to better reflect the brand’s heritage and spotlight the care that goes into creating its gourmet food gifts.

“We have some terrific multimedia content that shows a behind-the scenes look at the recent pear harvest,” Lightman said. “There are also ongoing features such as our ‘Harvest Report’ which lets customers know which fruit is ripe and ready to ship,” said Lightman.

The company also wanted to find new ways to elevate the online shopping experience.

“We think the new brand immersive content on the site helps us do just that, while also building deeper connections with customers,” said Lightman.

The enhanced site navigation makes it easier for customers to shop the brand’s product assortment by popular categories.

“We saw opportunities and areas where we could improve not only the look and feel but also the customer experience,” said Lightman. “For example, we demonstrate our breadth of assortment, showcasing everyday gifting occasions, and provide for category visual navigation and ease of checkout. And of course, it is important that the new look translate well to the mobile user experience.”

Other new features include gift list enhancements which allow customers to view their online and print catalog order history in one place, add gift recipients and find new items for their list. There’s also a new corporate gifting portal designed for business-to-business customers, and  Another new functionality which allows shoppers to add and send up to 100 different gifts to separate recipients, up from the previous limit of 20, and improved order tracking

On the social media front, Harry & David launched its #BehindThePears campaign on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram showcasing the journey of the Royal Riviera pear, featuring employees who grow, pack, market and deliver the product.

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How to Enhance the Customer Experience with SMS

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Finding innovative ways to market to consumers today is no easy task. Today, retailers are looking for various ways to enhance the customer experience and one of those ways is through SMS. This marketing strategy is particularly important since, according to Pew Research Center, 77% of U.S. adults are using a smartphone today.

SMS isn’t entirely new, what is new is how creative retailers are getting when selling to the customer in the medium they communicate most. Several big brands today are using SMS since it is the preference for many to receive offers in their palm of their hands.

Download this ecommerce special report from Multichannel Merchant to learn:

  • Hincapie Sportswear Special ReportHow some of the top brands in retail are using SMS
  • The types of data retailers are collecting through SMS
  • How email and SMS work together
  • How to connect the online and in-store experience with SMS

Sponsored by:

Oracle+Netsuite Logo

 

 

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Ulta Beauty Sees a 62.9% Increase in Ecommerce Sales in Q3

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Ulta Beauty saw its ecommerce sales increase by 62.9% in the third quarter, representing nearly 9% of the company’s total revenue.

Mary Dillon, CEO of Ulta Beauty, attributed the growth to the enhancement of the company’s assortment, site experience and delivery capabilities.

“Ecommerce sales were driven by transaction growth, total traffic growth was up 57% and mobile traffic grew 92% driven by investments in digital marketing,” Dillon told investors on an earnings call. “We relaunched our mobile site during the quarter, improving the guest experience with the redesign of the shopping card in checkout experiences.”

Dillon said Ulta also improved the credit card application experience, giving customers the ability to apply and buy in one transaction, which has more than doubled the number of credit card account sign-ups online.

“We also gave the Ulta Beauty app a mini-makeover, adding features like the ability to buy email gift cards from your phone, easier use of features like checking your ultimate rewards account and point balance and improving our try-on app, GLAMlab,” Dillon said.

She said another feature of the app enables push notifications about the latest promotions and exclusive product launches, and voice searches for products. Ulta’s mobile app traffic more than tripled during the quarter.

Dillon said Ulta continues to build its online assortment with more online-only brands like Lime Crime, one of the first digitally native beauty brands, Little Barn Apothecary bath products, the exclusive Persona Identity Palette created by YouTube influencer Simply Son and Milani makeup and primers.  Online-only brands accounted for a significant portion of the ecommerce growth in the quarter.

“Ulta.com also delivered excellent results with our signature promotions like 21 Days of Beauty, The Gorgeous Hair Event, as well as online-only promotions, including platinum Perks, Beauty Sample Bag of purchase and limited-time Beauty Breaks,” Dillon said.

In August, the company went shoppable on Instagram and has seen growing interest and engagement in the platform.

During the second quarter, Ulta piloted store-to-door tests out of 40 physical locations, enabling customers to place ulta.com orders in store and have them delivered to their homes. The program was a success and is now rolled out chain-wide.

“While this initiative is still fairly small in terms of demand, it’s proving quite useful and is satisfying guests looking for hot brands that are not available in every store, such as MAC or Morphe,” Dillon said.

Omnichannel in general has proven a winner for Ulta, with the number of cross-channel shoppers continuing to increase. Customers purchasing both in store and online represent 9.1% of its loyalty members, up from 7.5% a year ago, spending an eye-popping 21.7 times more than retail-only customers, including twice as much in store.

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Target Launches New Mobile Wallet In App

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Target announced the launch of its new mobile wallet in its app.  Customers can use their Target REDcard and save with Cartwheel with one scan of their phones at checkout.

The launch of the wallet will allow for faster in-store checkout – up to four times faster than other forms of payment.   The wallet also combines digital savings like Cartwheel offers and Weekly Ad coupons with the 5% REDcard discount.  In the future, customers will also be able to store and redeem Target GiftCards with wallet.

“Wallet in the Target app makes checkout easier and faster than ever,” said Mike McNamara, Chief Information and Digital Officer for Target.  “Guests are going to love the convenience of having payment, Cartwheel offers, weekly ad coupons and gift cards all in the same place with Wallet.

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Holiday Season Ecommerce Sales to Date Hit $65 Billion

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Holiday season ecommerce sales have been very strong to date, generating $65.15 billion, according to Adobe Analytics, an increase of 14.7% over 2016, with each day from Nov. 1 to Dec. surpassing the $1 billion mark. Adobe is predicting total holiday season ecommerce sales will hit a record $107.4 billion.

Mobile shopping remains strong, representing 48.8% of visits (40.3% from smartphones, 8.5% on tablets) and 32.4% of revenue (22.3% smartphones, 10.1% tablets).

Some of the top products post-Thanksgiving include Apple AirPods, iPads, laptops (Dell, Lenovo and HP), Amazon Fire TV and Samsung tablets in electronics; Hatchimals & Collectables,  PJ Masks, Baby Alive and Little Live Pets in toys, Super Mario Odyssey and Pokemon Ultra Sun/Moon in video games, Xbox One X and Nintendo Switch in gaming consoles.

While some of the best deals were seen during Cyber Weekend, Adobe said shoppers can still find deals on TVs, with prices reduced 15% since Oct. 1, computers (down 13.1%) and toys (down 15%).

Conversion rates are showing growth, with desktop at 4.5% (up 10.6% from 2016), smartphones at 2% (up 12.3%) and tablets at 4.3% (up 9.3%). The average order value for online orders from Nov. 1 to Dec. 5 is $130, down o.6% from last year.

For the season so far, search has retained the top spot in terms of share of sales, at 23% for paid search and 21.5% for organic. This is followed by direct traffic (26.6%), email (19.8%), shopper helper sites (6.1%), display (1.8%) and social (1.2%).

“Following a blockbuster Thanksgiving weekend that broke all records, online spending remained strong as consumers look to the Christmas holiday,” said Taylor Schreiner, Director of Adobe Digital Insights. “Whether it’s shopping on a smartphone or returning to a desktop at work, consumers are pros now at finding the best discounts and closing deals quickly online.”

 

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5 Predictions For a More Convenient Holiday Season

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Despite the holiday jingles you’ll hear this year, the weeks that surround the holiday shopping season aren’t all chestnuts and open fires for retailers. From November to December every year, retailers buckle down and make the most of the busiest shopping season, making as much as 30% of their annual sales in just a few weeks.

The past few years have brought dramatic shifts to how people are doing their holiday shopping. The frenzied midnight mall outings on Black Friday have turned into online hunts for the best deals. So what will Holiday 2017 bring for retailers? Here are a few of our predictions.

It’s 2006 Again

Christmas will fall on a Monday this year. The last time Christmas fell on a Monday was 2006 and the next time it will do so is in 2023.

In the world of retail, days matter.  This year there will be 32 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas – one day longer than last year and three days longer than 2015. That means more earning opportunities for retailers.

That also makes Super Saturday, the biggest in-store shopping day of the year, almost as late in the season as it can be.

The fact that Christmas falls on a Monday also means that same day delivery will be big this year.  Many shipping providers do not deliver on Saturday or Sundays – the last day for expensive overnight shipping is Thursday or Friday. Same day delivery and in store sales will be the only way to receive goods over the weekend before Christmas.

Mobile is the front door to the store

More than half of visits to shopping sites — 54%  — will come from smartphones and tablets, surpassing desktop computers for the first time according to Adobe.

This reflects a fundamental shift in how people shop. Consumers now have the world’s inventory in their pocket. They are using their smartphones more and more to frequently and casually browse and purchase online, creating a shopping experience made up of mobile “micro moments”.

We began to see the effects of these “micro moments” last year, as online purchases increased 9% but average order value increased .2%, meaning shoppers are bought more often instead of increasing the size of the order. And while only a third of ecommerce purchases were on mobile in 2015, today’s larger phones and mobile-optimized sites are sure to aid mobile conversions.

Shoppers Expect Choice

A third of shoppers are early birds and began shopping before October while another third of shoppers are procrastinators and don’t begin shopping until December according to the NRF.

The ability to choose delivery options lets early-season shoppers enjoy inexpensive (often free) delivery and convenience. For last minute shoppers, rapid fulfillment and delivery ensures they’ll receive their goods on time. In fact, 61% of shoppers expect orders placed by noon to qualify for same day delivery and 25% of shoppers said they would abandon their cart if same-day delivery was unavailable.

Amazon’s 2-day, same day, and even 1 hour delivery options have reset customer expectations for delivery.  Consumers can now purchase online with the confidence that their products will arrive well before they’re needed. With over half of households having an Amazon prime membership, these shipping timelines have become the standard.  Retailers that have kept pace with customer expectations with multiple delivery options will reap the benefits this holiday season.

Stores Are Critical to Winning Holiday

True, shoppers plan to spend 51% of their holiday shopping budget online, compared to 42% in stores, according to Deloitte’s survey of more than 4,000 Americans.

According to National Retail Federation data, 99 million people said they shopped in stores on Thanksgiving weekend last year — a drop of three million from the year before. Meanwhile, 108 million people shopped online in the same period — a five million increase year over year.

Brick and mortar stores continue to be a touchpoint in the shopping experience, with 75% of 18-34 years olds reporting they would visit a store to see a product and purchase it online afterwards. While this convolutes the value of in-store sales, it attests to the importance of an omnichannel approach to retail. The ability for shoppers to see items in-store and compare prices online has shifted the power back in their favor, forcing retailers to cater to the expectations of the empowered consumer.

In order to compete with Amazon with same day delivery, retailers need local inventory. The good news is that they have over 100K stores that can be used as local fulfillment centers. Keeping products closer to consumers lets retailers fulfil same day delivery orders directly from their brick and mortar locations.

It will be another record-breaking Holiday season for Amazon

The latest retail trends all seem to be working in Amazon’s favor, setting the company up for another historic holiday season. The retail giant has almost single-handedly revolutionized delivery speed, and they’ve since launched same day delivery in over 40 markets. Their acquisition of Whole Foods gives them the ability to open pop ups for the first time, adding an in-store touchpoint to their previously pure-play approach to e-commerce.

Last year, Amazon sales made up 37% of all online holiday shopping in 2016, with Best Buy capturing the second largest share with 4%. With their move into brick and mortar and their ever-increasing base of Amazon Prime members, Amazon seems set for another record-breaking holiday season. Compounded by the increasing number of product searches that begin on Amazon, we’re predicting Amazon takes more than 50% of all online sales this year.

Overall, holiday shopping is becoming more convenient every year. The delivery options and online purchasing abilities are making it easier for consumers to shop when they went, wherever they want. With consumers more confident than years past and projected revenue to increase 15%, this season can pay dividends for retailers who have kept pace with shopping expectations.

But let’s not forget that this season isn’t just about the money spent by consumers, but about the time spent with family and friends. Happy Holidays!

Daphne Carmeli is CEO of Deliv

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Chico’s Sees Success with Mobile Messaging

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Women’s apparel brand Chico’s is connecting with customers in a new way through mobile messaging, which helps the brand connect with its customers on a personal level.

“Some of the challenges was being able to connect with the customer the way she wants,” said Steve Lamb, Director of Digital Marketing and Media for Chico’s.  “I think mobile messaging gives us a new way to talk to our customer in a way we haven’t been able to before.

Lamb said mobile messaging has enabled for the brand to create great engagement, lift average order value, and increase conversion rates. The most important part of integrating this channel, it has helped Chico’s drive customers into its brick-and-mortar locations.

“Messaging continues to skyrocket, messaging is how consumers communicate with their friends, family and more and more brands are using it,” said Jack Philbin, CEO of Vibes, a mobile engagement platform, which worked with Chico’s.

In the latest MCM CommerceChat podcast, Lamb and Philbin, will talk further about the importance of mobile messaging and meeting customer expectations in retail today.

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Keys to Creating a Gen Z-Friendly Email Marketing Strategy

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The eldest Gen Z, the generational cohort following millennials, will turn 22 this year. Like all generational cohorts, they have attributes unique from those before them, but Gen Z does have a first: They’re true digital-natives. They have never known a world without the internet, smartphones, social media and Amazon.

This means they instinctively know how to use their phones to find information, search for products, interact with others, and check their email. In fact, 83% expect to increase or maintain their email usage over the next five years.

If Gen Z makes up part of your target audience, you need to know how to effectively market to them on all channels, including email.

Mobile Matters

Sixty-one percent of Gen Z use smartphones five or more hours each day, and 35% use them between 1-4 hours a day. So being mobile-first is a must! This could mean a lot of different things, but to keep it simple, avoid creating a need to side-scroll and pinch-and-zoom messages, and create clear calls-to-action (CTA).

Your messages should not only be mobile-friendly, but also visually appealing. With the top social channels for Gen Z being image-first, your emails should follow suit. Expecting subscribers to read paragraphs of text is a surefire way to get your emails deleted, or maybe worse, ignored.

Social Media and Social Proof

Social Media: Gen Z trusts social media, so if they can’t find you on social media, they are going to be less trusting of you.

When it comes to media influence, 53% of Gen Z say comments on social media, compared to internet or TV ads, have the most influence on a purchase.

Finding ways to incorporate social media into your emails can help build trust and engagement. Here are a few ways to incorporate social into your email marketing:

Ask them to share. Instead of sending an email asking subscribers to follow your brand, ask them to share their photos of your product using a designated hashtag.

This will allow you to showcase your customers, build user generated content (UGC), increase engagement, and expand your reach. You can include a secondary or tertiary section in each email that constantly promotes content sharing.

Showcase most “liked” products in posts. Look no further than your social sites for the most liked images or videos. If your pale-green sweater has more likes than other social posts, highlight the sweater post, along with the like-count, inside your emails.

Your consumers are telling you what they like. Listen to them.

Use influencers in your emails. Gen Z likes influencers. In fact, 46% of them follow 10+ influencers on social media. Create an influencer-themed email that showcases specific influencer picks, or complete sets like an outfit.

Then look for other areas where you can repurpose some of this content. This can include a “complete the look” post-purchase message for those who purchased a featured item, or secondary content highlighting an influencer’s “pick of the week.”

Social Proof: Obtaining UGC is one thing — using it is another. Using UGC in your marketing can provide social proof for consumers and can have a powerful influence on sales.

Consider this: 30% of Gen Z say a real customer, as opposed to an influencer, athlete, or celebrity, is more likely to persuade them to try a new brand.

Consider these tactics to enhance social proof:

Use UGC. If you are collecting selfies or product images, be sure to use that content in your emails. If you are asking for, and collecting, consumer photos, you can utilize that content within other emails on the same topic. For example, a clothing retailer asking for selfies can use the images with sweaters for sweater-related emails.

Use customer reviews. Sixty-seven-percent of Gen Z read three or more reviews before making a first purchase. Use this to your advantage by including reviews in your emails.

You can create stand-alone emails featuring top-rated products and even include a review quote along with each product. For secondary content, consider including a UGC photo alongside the review, and feature the photo and quote below the main content of the email. Again, the possibilities are virtually limit-less.

Employee recommendations. Finally, use your own employees. Similar to a top-rated email, but instead showcasing your employees’ top picks. This will give you an opportunity to put a personal face to your brand and give your emails a more personal feel. After all, who knows your products better than your own staff?

Highlight Causes

Gen Z expects brands to be more involved in social causes, with 69% being more likely to buy from a company that contributes to such causes. As a retail strategy, you commonly see this displayed with a one-for-one model, where a company donates to a social cause with every purchase. Take Oracle Bronto customer TOMS, which built a business on this model of giving.

TOMS’ End Gun Violence Together Campaign included a stand-alone email asking subscribers to complete a simple form, which generated postcards sent to their local representatives asking for universal background checks.

Once completing the form, the confirmation email asked people to share their cause with others on social media. The campaign went viral and resulted in owner Blake Mycoskie appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, creating even more brand exposure.

Look for other ways your company can show that it does good – and means it. By navigating to the TOMS website, and others with similar models, you can see dedicated sections showcasing the good that comes from each purchase. This content can be an email goldmine when it comes to Gen Z.

Using this content inside an email can be done a variety of ways. If you have figures or stories showcasing the tangible good being done, include this as stand-alone or secondary content in messages.

For stand-alone content, a welcome and post-purchase series makes the most sense. For secondary content, a section can be added to other lifecycle messaging, such as birthday messages, or in day-to-day promotional messages.

These sections provide constant reinforcement of the value of making a purchase and can be a great tool for building an emotional connection with Gen Z customers.

Tying It All Together

Finding ways to use and combine these elements can make your email marketing more effective for this unique, and still maturing, generation.

Make no mistake, even though they are young, they possess a lot of spending power, both direct and indirect.

But there is a lot more to Gen Z, from brand loyalty factors to shipping policies, than what’s mentioned here. If you want to find out more, I invite you to join me for this Multichannel Merchant webinar.

At the end of the day, whether it is Gen Z, millennials, or Gen X, basic marketing principles still apply – make it easy for the consumer to engage and purchase, and they’ll love you for it.

Greg Zakowicz is a Senior Commerce Marketing Analyst at Oracle Netsuite

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5 Ways AI Creates a Personalized Digital Experience

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Artificial intelligence (AI) has become one of the most talked about technologies in the retail sector. Why? Because AI helps retailers understand customer preferences, provide tailored content that meets each customer’s unique interests, and make informed decisions about where to spend their valuable marketing dollars. Using AI technology enables retailers to create more personalized digital experiences that turn potential customers into loyal customers.

The term AI was coined in 1956 and, for this discussion, we’re looking at how AI can help retailers provide targeted information to customers in order to facilitate purchases and influence marketing decisions. How important is AI to retailers? In 2019, IDC stated that 40% of digital transformation initiatives as well as 100% of IoT initiatives will be AI supported.

Here are five ways in which AI helps retailers get a holistic view of their customers and create exceptional digital experiences.

Deliver highly personalized website experiences

AI helps retailers create better online experiences for customers. Using AI to personalize a customer’s online experience helps target each customer’s specific interests, lets marketers build microsites and landing pages for specific campaigns, and reduces the time it takes to manage all of your online content. Here are five areas where AI-driven personalization can help improve the customer experience:

  • Improve purchasing recommendations based on customer preferences.
  • Share targeted content in real-time based on website traffic.
  • Increase online conversion rates.
  • Provide personalized experiences based on hundreds of data points.
  • Deliver the right content to the right person at the right time on the right channel.

Extend the customer journey via digital signage

AI has changed the way products are purchased. Real-time monitoring while a customer is in the store can impact how certain items are priced and which promotional strategies are used. With margins being so small in retail, AI-powered digital signage offers a true competitive advantage.

For example, when a sports fan goes into a brick-and-mortar store, their personal data can be used to offer discounts on their favorite team’s jersey or the store can promote specific items that need to be moved. In addition, advertisements can be targeted to meet specific customer interests.

Optimize for a mobile world

While adoption of mobile technologies continues to grow, a majority of the information that retailers push to customers was originally designed to be displayed on websites, not on mobile devices. Content that is optimized for mobile devices helps differentiate your offerings from your competitors. In addition, delivering product recommendations and promotions in real-time goes a long way to improving the odds of having a customer make purchases. Here are five ways that AI-powered content can help increase customer purchases:

  • Chatbots improve communication with customers and help facilitate purchasing products.
  • AI-powered personalization helps organizations unify data from multiple sources to provide a single view of the customer which helps lead customers to take action.
  • Analyzing customer data helps uncover trends and micro-segments such as user behavior, device type, and geo-location.
  • Recommendations based on each customer’s unique interests helps improve the odds of making a sale.
  • Driving clicks by using automated mobile app A/B testing helps you continuously optimize performance of app content.

Generate better results with paid advertising

AI algorithms help analyze data on ad performance and can reveal patterns that will help improve how your ads are used. In addition, ads can be changed instantly to meet specific customer interests. Previously, the marketing manager would have to analyze this type of data and make blanket decisions about which paid ads to use. Here are three ways that AI applications help improve paid advertising:

  • Deliver more relevant display ad content and bid for ads in real-time for greater efficiency.
  • Share highly targeted content and offer and display ads on digital signage.
  • Improve ad performance with more targeted media buys based on data received from multiple channels, devices and apps.

Leverage the Internet of Things (IoT)

The growth of the IoT has changed the way that people connect which means that retailers can gather vast amounts of information to improve how they make decisions. AI-powered smart devices, such as home appliances and wearable technologies, influence what content is shared with customers. Tapping into the information from customers helps retailers increase customer interaction and strengthen the connection to your company’s brand.

AI is the competitive differentiator

The beauty of AI is that it helps retailers, both brick-and-mortar and online, share personalized content in real-time that helps facilitate purchasing. Tapping into the power of AI helps retailers establish a connection with customers, helps separate your company from your competitors and provides your company with valuable customer data that helps power your sales and marketing activities.

Michael Gerard is the Chief Marketing Officer of e-Spirit

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Mountain Hardwear Launches Augmented Reality Mobile App

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Mountain Hardwear, whose parent company is Columbia Sportswear, has launched an augmented reality shopping app featuring its completely redesigned equipment line.

“Our app was designed to help break down those barriers in the shopping experience for technical products, where consumers have to rely on two-dimensional renderings online or sacrifice their time outdoors to visit a store, where it can be a challenge to fully set up these pieces of equipment,” said Jeff Brandon, Associate Director of Brand Development for Mountain Hardwear.

Brandon said the app is a huge step forward in addressing the way Mountain Hardware’s audience of climbers and outdoor enthusiasts shop. They can view products in photo-realistic quality, making it easier to find exactly what they need.

The brand launched the app, its first ever, knowing that its customers were seeking more information about the most technical products, and AR was the ideal vehicle for sharing the details. “Our goal is to provide a more informed buying experience,” said Brandon. “This means less time shopping, less time returning, and more time enjoying the gear.”

Mountain Hardwear worked with Transparent House, a San Francisco-based creative agency to design the app.

Brandon said the app enables users to view multiple products at a time so they can create a customized kit for their specific needs. Users can change product colors and sizes at scale. For instance, they can view a tent in their living room, and then crawl inside to get a sense of the interior space.

“They can even have some fun viewing the product in one of our AR environments, such as a forest, in the snow, in a cave or studio,” said Brandon. “If they want to make a purchase, the app points them to their closest authorized MHW equipment dealer through a locator or brings them to the MHW site.”

While it’s too early to tell whether AR technology is essential for its business, Brandon said it’s important to evolve the buying experience to meet the changing needs and expectations of MHW’s customers. He’s confident the capabilities will take it one step closer to achieving that goal.

“We strive to provide the most accurate and engaging product assets for our customers, so high-quality imagery was an obvious priority from the get go,” he said. “We’ve recently added 360 spins to our equipment product pages on Mountainhardwear.com, which has also supported this effort.”

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5 Great Mobile Checkout Experiences and Best Practices Behind Them

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With over 50% of shopping sessions now coming through mobile, the need to optimize mobile checkout experiences is becoming mission critical. Retailers and brands haven’t seemed to get their mobile conversion rates to match that of desktop (2.0% for mobile vs 2.9% for desktop). This is understandable because many consumers browse on mobile and then complete purchases later on desktop or in a second mobile session.

However, some retailers and brands are doing a great job finding the quick wins, low-hanging fruit, and up-sell opportunities within both cart and checkout experiences to boost their mobile conversion rates significantly. Here are five mobile checkout experiences from across the web including big names, up and comers and mobile app-only retailers.

Amazon (Mobile Browser or Mobile App) – Emulate if you have a high percentage of returning visitors

The mobile experience is ideal for returning or logged-in visitors. What’s more interesting is Amazon departs from ‘industry standard’ checkout experiences by requiring log-in or account sign up to access checkout and using panel fly-outs for accessing credit card, ship-to, and bill-to fields instead of a longer from. This hasn’t hurt Amazon’s sales. Amazon recently reported $200 billion dollars in annual sales in 2018. This has come in part from uber-optimization of their cart and checkout experiences. Amazon has turned their checkout experience into jet-stream like smoothness.

Best Practices:

Auto populate checkout with payment, ship-to, and bill-to fields for returning users

“Place order” at top of checkout

Fly-out “drawers” chevron buttons to access field data instead of a long scroll form

NAKD.com – Emulate if you have a younger millennial consumer

NAKD.com is a fashion retailer focused on serving millennial women. They have a combined cart and checkout that delivers a “shopping” experience including displaying “recently viewed”, “likes” and “in cart” items to imitate a shopping experience in a store. They’ve also executed the checkout page exceptionally well with robust features to reduce errors.

Best Practices:

Fly-out mini cart preview

Cart preview in Checkout creating a combined ‘cart & checkout’ experience

Auto complete address verification like CyberSource’s Address Verification solution

Opt-in buttons for “Alternative Ship-to address” instead of displaying both bill-to and ship-to addresses and Opt-in button to save for payment

Reassurance messaging near the purchase button such as “Free returns, Safe payment, Delivery in 1 to 3 days”

Lululemon.com – Emulate if you are a brand with aspirational, discretionary purchases

Let’s face it, Lululemon is hawking cute yet over-priced yoga leggings but does a great job of deemphasizing its higher price tag with distraction-free checkout experiences including the skip checkout options.

Best Practices:

Encourage users to skip checkout process entirely using mobile wallets such as Apple Pay on Product Detail Page. This can be changed to PayPal on Android or other devices.

Second option to skip checkout in Cart: Jump to Apple Pay and PayPal on Cart

Guest checkout: Require email address for shipping notification with email marketing opt-in. Offer account creation after purchase. Marketer beware: Auto-checked newsletter opt-in is iffy at best in the U.S. and illegal due to GDPR for European consumers.

Icons to help communicate shipping speed is better than “Standard vs. Express vs. Priority”

Clear form validation error messaging (icon and text under field)

Continue to payment page allows ecommerce team to test checkout forms vs. payment collection separately.

CleanersSupply.com – Emulate if you are a b2b supplier or manufacturer

CleanersSupply.com supplies hundreds of products to dry cleaners around the country. Their customers are other businesses and as such, have unique needs and sensitivities such as delivery estimates and bulk purchases. In response, CleanersSupply.com provides in-cart messaging such as “in-stock” and “estimated delivery date” to reassure users that items they need to operate their business are in-stock and will be delivered by a certain date.

Best Practices:

Free shipping threshold messaging in cart

Large text and design make the site easy to use

Delivery date estimate and in-stock messaging helps reassure users of purchase

Add notes to order for customer service

Instacart – Emulate if you sell services or products that need scheduled delivery

Even though grocery delivery service Instacart operates a mobile app instead of browser-based site, they offer some best practices to emulate. Specifically, Instacart displays “Free Delivery” messages at the top of the cart including a link to see products that will help the shopper achieve free shipping easiest. Other best practices for omnichannel retailers or brands are the two tabs at checkout that switch between “delivery” and “pick-up” at the beginning of the checkout journey instead of the middle or bottom like other retail ecommerce websites.

Best Practices:

Free delivery threshold messaging in cart

Tabs for delivery versus pick-up

Form validation using greyed out “purchase” button until all forms are completed. Information circle icon helps provide user with information without overloading them with it all at once. “You saved” subtotal on checkout as a customer reward

Image preview of items in cart instead of descriptions makes verification easy and seamless

Conclusion

We are in a post-desktop world where more consumers are willing and comfortable to complete purchases on mobile devices. Retailers and brands need to put mobile optimization of checkout at the top of their list. The slightest optimization can lead to significant increases in revenue and profitability. Best practices like mobile wallets, use of information “drawers” or “tap for more information” buttons simplify the checkout pages but provide more information when consumers need them.

Ed Kennedy is the senior director of commerce at Episerver

 

 

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What the Rise of Live Video Means for the Future of Retail

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For years, live video and retail were two separate entities, but thanks to the growth of live streaming and other live content trends in the U.S., both consumers and businesses are looking to the technology as a new means of communication and interaction with the world around them.

From a retailer’s perspective, taking advantage of live video opens up a wealth of opportunities in marketing, customer service, and even revenue. It’s no wonder then that major retailers like Amazon and QVC operate their own live video shopping platforms.

As retail becomes increasingly focused on technology and about creating immersive experiences for consumers, e-commerce sites and brick-and-mortar retailers alike should consider the ways they can utilize live streaming, interactive broadcasting, and other live video formats to engage with their audiences and increase sales.

From East to West

For years live video was popular mainly in mobile-first economies like Asia where live streaming has become a common pastime among consumers. Eventually, live streaming became more than just a social media trend and made its way to the retail sector, and today thousands of merchants use online shopping platforms like Taobao and Tmall to live stream their products to thousands of viewers around the world on a daily basis.

Until recently, only a few retailers had experimented with live streaming in the states. Kohl’s became one of the first to utilize the technology when the company live streamed a fashion show for its in-house brand LC Lauren Conrad during New York Fashion Week in 2015. Interested customers could view the show live on Periscope and then purchase their favorite items directly from the website. Though the show garnered media attention, the live shopping trend failed to catch on during that time.

Live Streaming Revolution

While live shopping has still not hit its stride in the U.S., live streaming is becoming an increasingly popular feature among social media and gaming applications. Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat have all integrated “Live” features into their platforms, and users on apps like LiveMe and YouNow are live broadcasting millions of hours of live video content every day.

But it isn’t just an increase in user awareness that has contributed to the growth of live video in the U.S. Thanks to a number of factors, including the proliferation of mobile devices, better network connectivity, and increasing demand for API-driven cloud communications technology, live video technology has greatly improved in the last few years. Instead of building an entire communications infrastructure, developers can now integrate the technology into their platforms using existing frameworks.

Interactive Shoppable Videos

So what does all of this mean for the future of retail? In short, the time is ripe for retailers to utilize live video.
In the future, we will see more retailers creating live video experiences for their customers. However, rather than record one-off video campaigns, they’ll invest in the medium as a significant retail strategy—one that will not only help them engage with their audiences and increase sales but attract new shoppers from all over the world they might not have reached otherwise.

Though some retailers will choose to utilize platforms like Amazon Live, others will create their own live video experiences by taking advantage of third-party solutions providers. By implementing live video, voice, and broadcasting solutions into their existing platforms, they’ll be able to market and sell their products and services to their customers directly and customize the live shopping experience based on their specific preferences.

Like conversational commerce and voice commerce, live video shopping will take time to grow and be seen as a viable retail channel. As more retailers look to the medium to create unique, immersive, and convenient experiences for their customers, live video will help them thrive in an increasingly experience-focused retail industry.

Reggie Yativ is the Chief Revenue & Operating Officer at Agora.io

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3 Payment Process Steps for Increasing Ecommerce Conversion

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For an ecommerce business to grow and maintain a constant stream of revenue, it must learn how to increase conversions. One of the best ways to do this is to optimize the payment experience.

By optimizing the payment experience and making it smooth and secure for customers, you can increase the likelihood of transactions being successful. For this reason, even the smallest of changes to the payment process can impact a business’s bottom line. Therefore, we need to know what changes to make in order for these effects to be positive and substantial.

To understand the approach to take for increasing conversions, we can split the payment experience into three key pillars: Checkout and initiation, authentication and fraud management, and authorization and remittance.

With this in mind, let’s look at each of the pillars and explore the best way to increase conversions.

Checkout and Initiation

The rise and maturity of online and mobile sales channels, alongside an increasingly sophisticated ecosystem of connected devices and apps, has made the customer checkout experience more complex than ever. Creating and maintaining a high-performing user experience that is consistent across this constantly evolving set of channels is not easy. Success requires a sound understanding of different technologies, market trends and customer habits.

The user experience (UX) is the key to preventing shoppers dropping off. Merchants must design and optimize checkout pages so that customers can easily input the minimum necessary amount of information. To achieve this, ecommerce businesses should employ tokenization so customers don’t have to repeatedly fill in the same fields over many visits.

What’s more, it is crucial that retailers offer a range of tailored payment options in every region, so customers can pay with their preferred method and currency.

Authentication & Fraud Management

Fraud has a direct impact on conversion rate, and it comes in many forms. To effectively combat fraud, it’s important for ecommerce businesses to find the right balance between security and conversion. Implementing the strictest controls will reduce fraud rates significantly but could create a corresponding increase in false positives. If genuine buyers are denied, this results in lost revenue and discourages customers from making future purchases.

The keys to focus on here are developing a clear picture of fraud analytics and optimizing fraud controls. New tools that incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning can improve the accuracy of fraud decisions and lead to greater conversions.

Authorization and Remittance

Merchants need acquiring strategies and technical approaches for working with different parties in the payment ecosystem to approve and settle transactions. This becomes particularly challenging when expanding into international markets, which means merchants are subject to the unique domestic requirements for processing payments.

There are numerous ways to approach this, including setting up a local legal entity to process transactions domestically, and partnering with a PSP that has connections with multiple local card acquirers. Navigating the local idiosyncrasies of authorization decisions involves constant monitoring and optimization; in some cases, it may be beneficial to route failed transactions to a secondary backup acquirer for a retry. With the right technology partners, automatic re-routing can increase authorization with virtually no impact on the customer experience.

A three-step process to improving the payment experience

Successfully improving the payment experience at your ecommerce business, and in turn increase conversions, requires a three-step approach. First, diagnose by analysing data points across the payment experience to understand what is helping and what is hindering conversions. Next, set measurable objectives and thoroughly test different potential solutions to improve the payment experience. And finally, monitor by organizing reviews to continually maintain and improve KPIs.

Nick Tubb is Vice President, Commercial Affairs for Ingenico ePayments

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Amazon Drives 115% Rise in Ecommerce Ad Spend During Q3

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Ecommerce ad spend rose 115% in the third quarter compared to last year, and was up 51% over Q2, driven largely by Amazon, a seasonal surge for Prime Day and a strong back-to-school season.

The Q3 2019 Digital Advertising Benchmark Report from Marin Software, a provider of digital marketing software, also showed that mobile continues its dominance. Forty-seven percent of total search spend was dedicated to mobile ads as consumers increasingly turn to smartphones for local search queries.

“Amazon continues to impact and shape advertising trends and this quarter is no exception,” said Wes MacLaggan, SVP of Marketing for Marin. “Our customer base reached a new quarterly high in eCommerce ad spend, due in part to a record-breaking Prime Day and a strong back to school season.”

Other findings on ecommerce ad spend in Marin’s report, based on data from advertisers active on its platform for the past five quarters, include:

  • In total, retailers spent 40% of their budgets on shopping ads, and the number of clicks on shopping ads increased 14%
  • Search click volume grew 14% percent, with a big jump in ad clicks for healthcare (85%)
  • Boding well for advertisers, cost per click (CPC) continued to decline, dropping to $0.66 in Q3 from $0.72 in Q2. The lowest CPC overall was for retail at $0.35, a 20% decrease from $0.44
  • Click-through rates, which had dipped from 3.27% in 2018, are rising again, from 2.91% in both Q1 and Q2 to 2.99% in Q3

MacLaggan said advertising is a big growth opportunity for Amazon. “Every brand of retailer has to have an Amazon strategy,” he said. “It’s obviously a great channel and where people go when they’re searching for a product.”

There’s a cost for retailers of not being on Amazon, MacLaggan said, explaining that a competitor can bid on search for a retailer’s brand and show up in search results if the retailer hasn’t claimed the space.

Marin said Amazon isn’t pulling significant digital dollars away from other platforms. “While Amazon is growing rapidly, they are growing the digital pie rather than stealing from Google and Facebook,” MacLaggan said. Instead the increasing budgets for Amazon spends are coming more from shopper marketing.

The report found CPC for sponsored brands was 27% higher than for sponsored products, which MacLaggan put in context. “It’s really just about the inventory that’s available,” he said. “A sponsored brand is on top of each page and there’s higher demand for premium product placement there, so there’s just more inventory available for sponsored products.”

The 27% premium “seems like a bargain to me,” MacLaggan said, explaining that ecommerce retailers can put their own headlines in a sponsored brand placement, direct traffic to a store experience, display three products, not just one, and not have to deal with any competitor ads in the store experiences.

Amazon’s relationship to the larger ecommerce ecosystem is where retailers can drive performance by optimizing campaigns for each unique platform while connecting the dots across channels, MacLaggan said. He noted the ability through sub links to have conversions happen on the retailer’s website or on Amazon, and the coming ability to track if spend on Google and Facebook ads resulted in an Amazon conversion.

 

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How Omnichannel Retail Is Building the Shopping Experience of the Future

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With rising demands and increased competition, retailers are looking to capture the attention of digitally saturated consumers through enhanced, experiential shopping, in order to attract them to both their physical and virtual stores.

Further, these experiences must be unified and differentiated in order to stay relevant amid the dizzying array of options individuals have at their fingertips. To adapt to changing behaviors, retailers need to focus on an omnichannel approach.

Whether shopping online, on mobile or in store, the experience has to be consistent, seamless and intuitive. According to Harvard Business Review, 73% of customers shop across multiple channels, solidifying omnichannel’s importance.   

“Omni” Means Everywhere

Omnichannel is a fully integrated, holistic approach that integrates touchpoints across channels in the shopping journey to deliver a consistent, convenient experience. It can include anything from mobile ordering and store pickup to mobile wallet payment and digital loyalty programs, bringing digital and physical closer together in new and exciting ways.

In fact, a FIS Retail Global Payments Report suggests that e-wallet purchases nearly surpassed debit card payments last year (20% and 21%, respectively), signifying a sea change in consumer purchasing decisions.

Today’s digitally-savvy customers expect the shopping experience to flow easily from one device to another, and from one location to another. The customer journey is dynamic, accessible and continuous, and omnichannel is the path to building the stores of tomorrow.

Pioneers in the Omnichannel Experience

Disney is an example of a company making omnichannel magic for consumers in both retail and its amusement parks. Launched this year, Disney partnered with Target to bring exclusive merchandise originally only available at Disney to select Target stores and online. Bringing the brand power of these two companies together, customers can enjoy immersive experiences on the Target mobile app and in store.

Similar to retail, Disney offers the My Disney Experience tool on its website where individuals can plan their entire Disney World trip online, from accommodations to restaurants to shopping to FastPass+ selections. And from there, guests can download Disney’s mobile app to stay organized every step of the way, including searching maps and checking wait times for their favorite rides. Not only is Disney offering a personalized experience through multiple channels, it is building a loyal customer base and setting the stage for what success in omnichannel can look like.

Just like Disney and Target, Nordstrom understands what it takes to entice today’s consumers, and is investing in digital transformation and an omnichannel approach to stay relevant. Last year, Nordstrom created a new way to engage customers through a revamped loyalty program, “The Nordy Club.” It offers more personalization, ways to save and access to exclusive events. Additionally, Nordstrom has tested experiential pop up shops, and currently offers reserve online, try on in store at some locations, adding a personal touch.

Bringing one more offering to Nordstrom’s shopping journey, the company announced Nordstrom Local stores to create a hyperlocal experience. Customers can shop online and then go to a store to pick up their items, with the option of a styling, repair or alteration. Earlier this year, Nordstrom Local stores were expanded in New York, focusing on access in high-demand areas. Nordstrom is a champion of an omnichannel experience rooted in speed, convenience and innovation.

On the Omnichannel Horizon

Omnichannel retail is the future of commerce, and consumers will stay hungry for more personalized, immersive shopping experiences. This also includes a seamless payment experience and more convenient offerings like mobile payments and e-wallets.

As the retail environment becomes more saturated, brands must innovate to capture the attention of today’s hyper-connected shoppers. Offering the right products at a compelling price is only the start; Retailers must meet customer expectations across channels to win and grow. From augmented reality providing buying recommendations to in-store facial recognition software that tracks shopper preferences, technology will continue to play a crucial role in retail.

According to IDG, 44% of retailers have already moved to a digital-first approach to the customer experience. As the industry continues to shift, this combination of advanced technology and integrated omnichannel services will create the kind of experience consumers will demand in the next decade.

Casey Bullock is General Manager, Global Ecommerce, North Americas at Worldpay from FIS

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Kicked to the Curb: The New Normal of Store Technology and Commerce

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Practicing social distancing in June 2020 at a Zara store in Kuala Lumpur (credit: Shutterstock)

Every January at NRF’s Big Show conference and expo, prognosticators get a glimpse at the cutting edge in retail technology that gives a portent of what the in-store and online shopping experience may be like months or years down the road.

The pandemic era of 2020, however, has acted like an accelerant sprayed on a smoldering flame. Now a hybrid of curbside pickup, delivery, barcode scanning (for food traceability throughout the supply chain) and contactless store interaction are shaping the “new normal” for consumer purchases of everything from food to electronics.

How else is store technology changing the game?

The “Store” is More than Brick and Mortar

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you’ve seen that curbside pickup has moved from a secondary method to a primary one. It’s a natural transition when close physical contact has the potential to be deadly.

In the coming months, however, it will become increasingly clear that the curbside experience of today is just a starting point. It was something a small but growing number of customers took advantage of before, say, March of this year, but is now SOP for many retailers. As a result, many more consumers are realizing the benefits of:

  • Skipping navigation of large stores
  • Avoiding long checkout lines
  • Not wasting time searching for items that may/may not be in stock

As they grow to rely on that convenience, shoppers will expect the rest of the in-store experience to follow. That means extending “in-store” to “just outside the store.” Look for mobile technology to facilitate everything from digital signage to curbside returns and exchanges. Browsing will be done in real time on your phone as you wait in the pickup line. Most importantly, recreating the store experience at curbside is the ultimate insurance against future door closures due to resurgent pandemic waves.

The smartest retailers are already preparing against sudden disruptions and redefining the experience by upgrading store technology will be a critical part of it.

A key component will be re-establishing the bond of trust with their customers. Even when shoppers can afford to make discretionary purchases, low confidence in store safety will hamper spending at physical locations. Nathan Hendren, a Harvard economist, states that “the main concern here is really fighting the virus. Unless we remove the threat of getting sick or getting your family members sick, it’s hard to imagine that [in-store] spending will recover to the pre-COVID levels.”

That means stores must take tangible measures to exhibit they’re serious about mitigating this threat such as:

  • Managing social distancing – this is critical for employees and their customers. While floor decals indicating six-foot spaces are now everywhere, retailers will have to be considerably more sophisticated to make this viable in the long run. A good example of what this looks like for employees was recently exhibited by Ford Motor Company. They combined Samsung smartwatches with RFID software to create mobile solutions that vibrate and warn employees when they are too close to one another during shifts. Retailers may not be able to issue smartwatches to every shopper, but they can leverage reservation/queue systems a la OpenTable to strictly manage how many people are in the store.
  • Personal Safety – Store technology was already moving in the direction of being a more sensor-driven experience from smart shelves that monitor stock levels to cameras that help inform detailed heat maps on customer movement. The next horizon for that technology may be temperature checks for both employees and customers coming in. Previously, this simply meant infrared cameras, but accuracy for large, constantly changing crowds may not be enough. Some state-of-the-art store technology solutions combine AI with deep machine learning to not only identify at-risk customers but also alert sales staff. Additionally, ultraviolet light-based solutions let stores continually disinfect high-touch areas such as kiosks and payment pads.
  • Contactless In-Store Commerce – Contactless payments are getting their time in the spotlight. The total in-store experience, however, still contains a number of touchpoints that may require customers to be in more proximity with store associates than they are comfortable with. That’s why retailers are implementing things like frictionless checkout, where customers scan their own purchases and pay through the store’s app or in a designated checkout lane using a digital wallet.

Invest in Store Associates

Store associates are critical to making all of this work, but they need the technical support to make it happen. Smart retailers have been investing in devices, apps, services and infrastructure for training, disinfecting, customer management/social distancing, merchandising and more to make the new normal a success. The smartest ones are also taking into account the support needed for these new capabilities, empowering employees and rebuilding consumer confidence.

No matter how flexible and advanced your store capabilities, it’s all for naught if shoppers show up to find non-functional devices, disrupted systems and hard-to-use solutions that stymie them as well as associates. But stores that take a holistic approach by crafting an end-to-end mobile technology program will thrive during current and future disruptions.

Micah Robinson is an Enterprise Mobility Content Marketing Manager at Stratix

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