Captivating Connections.

what's wrong with eCommerce?

There's plenty of research pointing out how smartphones continute to dominate the mobile market in the US, as well as research about the power of social networks. On top of it all, eCommerce continues to be a hot topic, especially as more and more people turn to online shopping to take care of their needs (and wants. Let's be serious, when I'm online shopping at 3AM when I can't sleep, it's totally for the 'wants', not the 'needs'!). Brands and retailors have a major opportunity to make some serious money via eCommerce; in fact, many businesses are breaking records ONLY selling their goods and services via eCommerce!

So what is the disconnect when it comes to eCommerce for some brands? Is it a poor offering? A hard-to-navigate site?

According to Deloitte's evaluation of 100 major retailers, there are key features and functions a site needs to be successful in the eCommerce space. "Without robust product search capabilities, reliable site performance and a social presence...stores are not likely to achieve critical mass."

This is especially evident in mobile. I've previously talked about how certian products are hard to purchase via mobile; the images are too small to see what the fabric or details look like, people dont feel comfortable typing in credit card info, etc. For some people, there's something about a phone's size that makes it "too small" to shop on. These concerns are evident in Deloitte's work, who found "a clear split between those with advanced capabilities, especially general merchandise, specialty apparel, hardware and jewelry/beauty sectors, and mainstream apparel companies, which have plenty of room for improvement." While there are some things that will always be more difficult to evaluate on a smaller screen, such as fabrics or intricate details, with an enhanced experience, consumers may increase their desire to try mobile shopping, or at least use a mobile shopping experience to evaluate a product before shopping on a larger screen or in-store.

And, like anything else, customization is key. Consumers don't have to settle for generic content anywhere else. Why should eCommcer be any different? They're willing to share details and gvie you information if you promise to send them information and offers that are relevant to them, and can help them tailor their shopping experience to be them-centric. For some reason, a lof of retailers either still don't get this, or they just don't care! Deloitte found that many of the eCommerce retailers they evaluated STILL struggle when it comes to delivering a personalized experience; 73 of the top 100 retailers only offered "limited personalization, such as using a customer’s name on a welcome screen." 

Come on, people. Wake up! When will you recognize that when it comes to engaging consumers, you're competing against ALL types of content? If you want people to check out your site, hang out, and potentially buy something, you need to provide a experience, or at the very least a site, worth spending time on. Think of it as another type of content people can engage with; if you're boring or a hassle, consumers will mentally and physically check out (and I don't mean check out with a purchase!).

kickstarter proves the power of social.

For those of you who read the latest issue of ‘Socializer’ (which I would assume is ALL of you MediaVest/Starcom readers!), you’ll remember that there was a call out on the company Kickstarter, showing the power of ‘social couponing’ and crowd funding.  T

he newsletter highlighted a recent campaign, the Pebble watch (which syncs with iPhone and Android smartphones to deliver texts, emails, etc.), which was Kickstarter’s most successful crowd funing campgin to date.

Since we published that news, Pebble has gone where no Kickstarter has gone before: MEGA! At this point in time, Pebble has raised over $7 million dollars from over 50,000 investors from around the world (myself included). This is WAY beyond the original $100,000 the Pebble team had.

If this isn’t proof that sometimes letting the crowd help your brand out and be a part of the creation process can be a good thing, I’m not sure what is.

Check out Pebble here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597507018/pebble-e-paper-watch-for-iphone-and-android

 

organic & food-allergy marketplaces are set to be fruitful.

According to new research, both the organic market and the food-allergy market  have only just begun to bear 'fruit' and enjoy success.

According to a report from Global Industry Analysts, Inc., thanks to an increase in food sensitivies and allergies, "the global market for food allergy/intolerance products will continue to explode, reaching a projected $26.5 billion-plus by 2017." This can't be shocking for most of you; if you poll a group of 10-20 people, I can almost guarantee someone will have some sort of allergy, senstivity, intolerence, etc. In fact, in the past decade alone, food allergy incidences have risen ~10.5%. That's crazy!

This is great news for those who suffer from these allergies and issues, as it means they'll have more and more options to choose from. Suffering from ANYTHING is hard enough; having increased options to enjoy and make everyday life feel more 'normal' is a great thing.

I'm not sure if this has a halo effect on organic foods, or if organic foods is enjoying it's boom due to an increased focus on health & wellness in the U.S., but, according to the Organic Trade Association, "sales of organic products rose 9.5% in 2011 to $31.5 billion, crossing the $30 billion mark for the first time." While price is still an issue (many consumers dismiss organic foods because they consider them to be too expensive compared to generic products), as the recession's effect subside, consumers are increasingly open to investing in organics for themselves and their families.

So how does this growth break out?

- Organic food sales grew by 9.4%

- Fruit and vegetables accounting for 41% of all purchases

- Dairy products came in second with 14.6%,

- Packaged and prepared foods followed with 13.6%

-Meat, fish and poultry is the fastest-growing of the eight food categories, up 13% from 2010 (it should be noted that it still remains the smallest, accounting for just 1.8% of all organic food sales)

Of course organic (just like healthier foods) faces issues due to consumer confusion (people don't understand the difference between terms like 'organic', 'natural', 'local', etc.), but this is a great opportunity for brands to help consumer gain shopping confidence by helping them better understand the many terms they see in the grocery store, and recognize how to shop smarter and better (no matter how they define 'better').

Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/173164/organic-heats-up-breaks-30-billion-mark.html?edition=46089#ixzz1t4B45M5g

online spending is going up. so too are consumer demands.

According to eMarketer, 70% of all Internet users ages 14 and up bought something online in 2011, as eCommerce accounted for 6.6% of retail sales. However, that number is destined to go up, as consumers increase the number of shopping-enabled devices and up their confidence in shopping via desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc.

So what do these shoppers want? According to AdWeek:

"As people increasingly shop across channels, they're expecting more from retailers. Most of all, shoppers want consistency in salespeople's knowledge of products; the ability to check availability of products in their local store before going to shop; and the ability for salespeople to check inventory at another store and have items delivered from there."

If predictions hold true, online shopping could represent 20% of total retail sales over the next decade. Check out AdWeek's infographic breakdown of the details here.

when will marketers recognize we need to market to PARENTS, not just mom or dad?

Listen, I get it: Moms rock. They're awesome. But so are dads. For reals!

In a world where the average family structure is changing and the roles people play vascilate, it's important to recognize that PARENTS run the family household, not just a mom or a dad. Sometimes if you only speak to moms, you make dad feel left out. And if you only speak to dads, moms feel like you're ignoring them.

So what's wrong with talking to parents as...wait for it...PARENTS!

According to work done Edelman and The Parenting Group, dads are social media monsters, too. In fact, "fathers—particularly first-time fathers—are engaging in the same types of social media activities that new moms enjoy...42% of new US dads who use social networks write family-related status updates on a daily basis. It further found that 56% of new dads post family photos at least a few times a week, while 21% post family-related videos."

Some dads are even 'beating' moms: "There was even one area in which dads were actually ahead of their female counterparts: Millennial dads have more online friends than millennial moms. These dads reported an average of 96 online friends, while moms averaged only 70."

So how do you appraoch this dads? I like how Mark Wildman, vice president and group publisher of magazine and digital media company The Parenting Group, sums it up. He points out that, as a dad himself, “I don’t just view myself as a provider. The nurturing, the cooking, the food buying—I am doing it in partnership with my wife.”

What do my parent readers think about this?

how do you use email vs. social media?

Brands looking to engage with consumers need to recognize that not all forms of communication result in equal types of communicating and engagement.

According to Chadwick Martin Bailey, consumers engage with brands differently on email than they do via social media. How so? While "consumers connect with brands both via email lists and by 'liking' companies on Facebook...while users want to receive discounts and special offers via both channels, connecting with a brand on social media is an added public display of support," while email if more private.

What causes consumers to engage with a brand via email or social media? Much of the driving forces are the same, with discounts and offers driving participation. The major difference between engaging via email and social media is that social media is far more public, and supporting a brand becomes a reflection of who you are, what your likes are (so to speak), and what you're interested in. Consumers wouldn't publicly declare that they like a brand if they were embarrassed by it. Therefor, social media is a way to make your own declaration of interest.

Spill it: Why do you engage with brands via email or social media?

as coupon use increases, marketers' tactics diversify.

While coupon popularity among consumers may be increasing, marketers may be slowly moving away from coupon offerings.

According to NCH Marketing Services, "food marketers drastically cut their use of coupons last year, issuing 13.1% fewer coupons than they did in the prior year. That amounted to 305 billion coupons, a decline of 8.1% in all categories." Howver, it should be noted that "2011 coupon distribution was comparable to 2007, with 20 billion more coupons -- a 7% increase jump -- available to shoppers. And the $470 billion of coupon value in 2011 is a 26% increase from 2007."

Thanks to the economic crisis and increased consumer savvy, there's definately a hunger for coupons among consumers; "coupon-craving consumers redeemed $4.6 billion in savings, a jump of 12.2% from the year prior, and a 58.6% increase from five years ago."

While marketers are responding in various ways, including changing the offerings, the savings, the redemption opportunities, and more, depending on the category, new tactics are being attempted. For example, I previously wrote about how retailers are testing different types of pricing strategies.

What other types of tactics have you seen?

smart(er) shoppers leading to smart(er) shopping.

The NY Times has a great article looking at how consumer smarts and tactics are increasingly impacting the shopping experience, including pricing. 

As the article explains, "pricing has always been a tug of war between retailer and shopper, with the retailer having more muscle." However, the Internet and the slew of apps that have hit our smartphones and browsers (incuding daily deals, coupons, price comparisons, etc.), have given consumers new weapons in the war on prices, and are forcing retailers to be more flexible in their pricing.

In this day and age, there's really no such thing as a set price anymore. 

Think about the last time you bought a pair of pants: Did it cross your mind to do one of the following?

1. Look up (online, on an app, in a circular) if they were on sale somewhere?

2. See if someone else offered it cheaper than the retailer you were looking at to make your purchase?

3. Search online to see if you could get it cheaper? The retailer's website? Ebay?

Apps and the Internet are making all of this easier for you, and more difficult for retailers. The new shopper mentaliy really has become "there's never a reason to pay full price." We're way too savvy for that.

As consumers become experts, brands are trying plenty of tactics. For example, "J.C. Penny has introduced a streamlined system: daily prices, lower monthlong specials and clearance prices. Mango, the fashion retailer, has cut all prices by one-fifth. Stein Mart, the specialty chain, has reduced its coupons. Supervalu, the grocery chain, has sworn off heavy promotions and lowered some prices. Even Walmart has pledged to match competitors’ prices if it sets its own too high."

The real result is an interesting game of cat and mouse, with each side trying to outfox the other. However, at what point do these tactics from retailers just consumer the customer to take a pass on their offerings? Aren't these consumers tools supposed to empower by providing simplicity, not forcing the retailer to increasingly 'complixify' their strategy?

What do you think of these pricing strategies? Do they impact your shopping habits?

mobile gaming's freemium strategy has hit the mainstream.

'Freemium' is a trend that we've been talking about for a long time, the idea that brands can give away something of value (be it a product, service, or perk) to their consumers for free, and how giving them a premium gift for free (versus something useless and not worth hanging on to despite the price tag) can really help increase brand affection and love. It's a big idea that has been percolating for a while, visible in random brand executions.

The notion of freemium has hit mobile games, as marketers recognize that consumers no longer equate 'free' with 'cheap'. Why is this model working for mobile games, you ask? As Natalia Luckyanova, part of the team behind the successful moble game "Temple Run," "When you tell a friend about it and they go to the App Store and it’s free, they download it without thinking about it. Then there’s stickiness and the addictiveness and people talking about it.”

So here's the question AND answer to what I think is on your mind at this point: "But how does the free version of Temple Run make money? Inside the game is a virtual store to buy new characters, different backdrops and power-ups, or special boosters. While players can use the virtual coins they collect inside the game to buy these bonuses, a dedicated few use actual money to buy virtual currency and get them faster." So you can pay with your time to watch ads, but then enhance your game experience by buying actual components in the game.

Talk about an interesting risk/reward model!

What do you think? Do you play freemium games? Are you not paying money for a game but paying with your time and watching ads?

Gen Y is redefining what 'wants' and 'needs' really mean.

A new study from WSL Strategic Retail highlights major shifts in Gen Y’s shopping savvy, with Wendy Liebmann, CEO of WSL, explaining to Marketing Daily the reality of Gen Y’s spending habits.

It's a great read, but here are some highlight quotes:

- "It wasn’t so surprising that we’d hear concerns about money from this younger generation; certainly, we’ve been hearing it for some time. What’s interesting is the magnitude of this. In this survey, which included upwards of 1,900 adults, they were basically recognizing that the aspirations they’ve had, the way they thought about the economic promise in life, have really been changed. And that was true for a significant number of them. The thoughtfulness of their responses was striking to us. For brands and retailers, that means the youth market is not the golden ticket to the future, as it has so often been described. That idea has to be rethought"

- "The idea that aspirational shopping is still, 'Here’s an expensive handbag, I’ll just charge it or ask my parents to pay for it’ just doesn’t fit. Shoppers of all ages, including this one, are pausing before making any purchase, with 66% saying 'Is this going to be money well spent?’ before they make a purchase"