The online channel has grown and become an integral part of the vast majority of retail and wholesale
organisations, but what does the future hold? David Bowen will present his predictions for the
challenges and opportunites we will all face in the next few years.
3. Market trends 3
Mobile influenced purchase
July 2014
With the proliferation of
smartphones, the large
installed base of tablets, and
general cross-shopping
behavior, the web will
influence over 50% of
total US retail sales.”
Forrester Research, Web-Influenced
Retails Sales Forecast 2013 to 2018
(US) July2, 2014
bit.ly/1Jb70Ds
4. Market trends 4
Mobile influenced purchase
July 2014
With the proliferation of
smartphones, the large
installed base of tablets, and
general cross-shopping
behavior, the web will
influence over 50% of
total US retail sales.”
Forrester Research, Web-Influenced
Retails Sales Forecast 2013 to 2018
(US) July2, 2014
bit.ly/1Jb70Ds
September 2014
More than half the traffic to
digital Commerce sites in UK
was from mobile devices.
Internet Retailer September 2014
bit.ly/1hwrFpq
5. Market trends 5
Mobile influenced purchase
July 2014
With the proliferation of
smartphones, the large
installed base of tablets, and
general cross-shopping
behavior, the web will
influence over 50% of
total US retail sales.”
Forrester Research, Web-Influenced
Retails Sales Forecast 2013 to 2018
(US) July2, 2014
bit.ly/1Jb70Ds
September 2014
More than half the traffic to
digital Commerce sites in UK
was from mobile devices.
Internet Retailer September 2014
bit.ly/1hwrFpq
May 2015
More than half the searches
on Google were from mobile
devices.
Search Engine Land May 2015
selnd.com/1MiJcwy
7. Source: ShopperTrak, 2014
Market Trends
Path-to-Purchase Needs to be a
Connected Experience
Increasing online research during the path-to-
purchase has decreased brick-and-mortar
traffic while ecommerce sales increase and
new retail stores open
11. Creating Experiences
Information Seeker
11
Desire for Quick Information
• Searching for information
around concepts and
categories, less product
specific details
• Cannot buy what users
cannot find
• Desire for informed
decisions
• More robust product data
12. Creating Experiences
Validation Seeking
12
Seeking Validation
• Consumers seek
confirmation they should
proceed with purchase
• Two way dialogue
• Respect differences of all
channels and adjust strategy
for each
13. Creating Experiences
Researcher
13
Deep Diver
• More than just product
specs
• DIY, Enthusiast or Engineer
• Detailed application of how
purchase solves problem
• Potential community
aspects
17. Creating Experiences
Search still Dominates Buying Journeys
• Continual search engine algorithm changes with mobile focus
• Original and unique content for your audience to stay ahead of the
competition
• Some retailers - Major focus on SEO as part of its overall business
roadmap
• Permeates the ecommerce team – across both editorial and
product content
19. Creating Experiences
Dedicated editorial team
Rise of Editorial
• Brands have identified the
need to engage customers
around lifestyle elements /
interest areas, not just sell
them product
• Content is playing a vital
role - used to educate,
inspire and even seduce
20. “…Understanding the customer and
the type of content they are
looking for is crucial…The Journal
provides this information in an
informing and engaging way.
Yes, it’s about selling product but
more so about inspiring
consumers. Content helps build
trust with readers and customers; it
provides context for the brands they
engage with on the site and for the
products they are interested in.
Nowadays customers expect for a
luxury retailer to create an
experience beyond shopping.”
Director of Sales & Marketing
21. Engaging Customer Direct Experiences
Creating Experiences
• From reseller to customer focus –
Inspire, educate and entertain
• Very active social engagement –
large increase in the number of
media shares and on-site
engagement
• Large increase in visits and referral
business to resellers
• Starting in US and expanding into 10
global markets
24. Creating Experiences
Background
24
Customer Success – Norrona
Norrona is one of Europe’s
largest clothing manufacturers
of sports apparel.
A large global retail network and
a growing number of owned
flagship and concepts stores.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29. Creating Experiences
Solution
29
Customer Success – Norrona
Thus far, we’ve been thrilled with the
response from our customers. A clear
trend in the e-commerce space is the
ability and importance of combining
content and commerce to enhance the
experience the customer has with our
brand.
35. Customers experience a single
type of touch-point
Retailers have a single type of
touch-point
Single-Channel – The Legacy
36. Customer sees multiple touch-
points acting independently
Retailers’ channel knowledge and
operations exist in technical and
functional silos
Multi-Channel – The Reality
37. Customer sees multiple touch-
points as part of the same brand
Retailers have a ‘single view of
customers’ but operate in functional
silos
Cross-Channel – The Aspiration
38. Customers experience a brand not
a channel within a brand
Retailers leverage their ‘single view
of the customer’ in coordinated and
strategic ways
Omni-Channel – The Nirvana
39.
40. Effective cross-channel marketing can help you drive effective
customer experiences that deliver ROI
Useful insights about how businesses are integrating their
marketing channels
An understanding of how your organisation compares
http://bit.ly/EPiDD
45. Peter Sheldon (Q1 ‘14, Forrester)
OMNI-CHANNEL INTEGRATION A TOP MANDATE
2015 Technology Investment Priorities
46. Industry Data 46
Customer Experience — The New Black?
• 92% of companies have as a top strategic
priority
• 40% of companies believe it can differentiate
their products & services from the competition
• Great experiences lead to loyalty, satisfaction,
recommendations & 23% wallet share
Source: Forrester
47. • Product Exploration
Experience
• Try or Buy Conversion
Strategy
• Video & Rich Media Content
Strategy
• Product-based Website
Personalization
• Product-centric Email
Marketing Automation
• Social and Display Product
Retargeting
New Website Experience
50. Key Segment / Persona Worksheet
Segment:
Sound
Designer
Research Consideration Purchase Advocate
Customer Intent • Learn more about
the products,
bundling and use of
product from
• Exploring prices
and comparing
products to make
sure there’s no
duplication of
products already
owned
• Purchase product
or product bundle to
add to studio
• Stay up-to-date with
new products,
product
enhancements
• Enhance personal
creativity
CTAs / Goals • Learn More (about
bundles)
• Goal: site
exploration and
general content
consumption
• Learn More
• Try for Free
• Get the Guide
• Buy Now • Stay Connected
• Log In
• Social Connect
Persuasive Content • Product specs
• Testimonials
• Sound Designer
Artist profiles
• Product detail
pages
• Product reviews
• Sound Designer
Artists profiles
• Artists
reinforcement
• Buy CTSs
• Cart reminders
• Newsletter
• Community
• Support Information
• Free Guides
• Latest News
52. Blended Content and Commerce 53
Content + Commerce Research
• Business drivers for content marketing
• Challenges within organization and technology
• Results and business benefits
bit.ly/1IXkWuy
53. Blended Content and Commerce 54
Content and Commerce
Content Marketing Maturity – React quickly to market opportunities
1. Goals - Journey Mapping – Understand the customer journey
and customer goals. Track engagement as well as commercial
KPIs
2. Use content to sell – Editorial, rich media, UGC, etc.
3. Measure, test and adapt
4. Use ecosystem products to help sell – Marketing automation,
social, native mobile, beacons, etc.
5. Support merchandising plans
54. Blended Content and Commerce
Content & Commerce Integration Approaches
Standalone
CXM
Captive Connected Integrated
Independent
Implementations
Com
merce
CXM
Com
merce
Built onto
Existing Application
CXM
Com
merce
Data Exchange
Between Systems
Fully Integrated
With Platform
CXM
&
Com
merce
55. Market Trends
Digital Transformation Trends
Driving Change
• CMOs widen their influence (but CIO still maintains budget)
• Complexity is increasing with “infinite” channels
• We demand evidence to support brand propositions (fluff falls flat)
• Personalization is becoming a necessity, not just a mandate
• Focus is shifting toward the whole customer lifecycle
• Real-time analytics and data-driven decisions are increasing
• Purchasing behavior and process has shifted (think opex)
• Agile, digital marketing supplants more traditional funnel approaches
• Cloud and mobile are accelerating business technology adoption
• A move to broader platforms or suites is happening
56. People-first Technology 57
“We definitely would
recommend the EPiServer
Digital Experience Cloud
on Azure because it is
more stable and
seamless than other
digital marketing
platforms. The Digital
Experience Cloud
enables you to use it the
way you need to, rather
than the product dictating
how to use it.”
Fredrik Lagerträd
Digital Manager Growth
The Absolut Company
Customers include:
• Symetra
• Grant Thornton
• TransCanada
• Novatris
• Absolut Company
50%
EPiServer Cloud
Sales are now on
Azure
57. 58
Why People Choose
EPiServer
• Experience: Delivering powerful software
solutions for over 20 years
• Ecosystem: Partners, cloud services,
education services, developer community,
and complementary add-ons
• Ease-of-Use: Effortless for marketers,
merchandisers and developers
• Extensible: Plug-n-play hub assures
seamless connectivity to systems and data
• Enabling: Deep Microsoft Azure PaaS with
flexible SLA and elastic SaaS model
• Economical: Rapid time to value
30min
The online channel has grown and become an integral part of the vast majority of retail and wholesale organisations, but what does the future hold? David Bowen will present his predictions for the challenges and opportunities we will all face in the next few years.
I’m… and as a product manager I spend as much time as possible on the road talking to our customers learning about their key challenges…
There’s a lot of talk about Digital Transformation, a process that’s becoming ever more important to businesses and brands… and maybe something that you’re involved in your day to day roles?
Customers expectations are increasing, they are becoming more demanding… The pace of change is unrelenting and digital is transforming many industries…
Ray Want of Constellation Research
Researched the largest companies in the US to compare Digital Natives vs. Digital Laggards
Since 2000, 52 percent of the companies in the Fortune 500 have either gone bankrupt, been acquired or ceased to exist.
The pace of change has increased, competition has intensified and business models have been disrupted.
You can be certain that the pace of change will accelerate.
Mobile influenced purchases
Show-rooming
Web-rooming
Also Schu who said they have more
Retailers like Woolworths, etc. Burberry, Apple, Polo, Nike etc. Better insight into the product and also with high brand loyalty.
Shopping is now so much more about the experience:
Concierge approach…
No till points, customer identity to service their needs
Low inventory just a few of styles can deliver
Video RFIDs in the changing rooms
…So Combination of Rise Content Marketing, more connected consumers shift in retail strategy, sets the stage for what we call a blended content and commerce strategy…
Mobile has had a significant impact.
Successful companies who focus on the complete customer experience and exceed expectations to maximise CLV…
- Insights through advanced analytics
- Direct observation and immersion in their decision journey
- What new behaviours are emerging or can be enabled by these insights?
Digitisation:
Amazon – Books, economies of scale -> eBooks, instant gratification, now pay a monthly fee for a library. Physical bookstores – are now turning to coffee shops to survive.
Netflix – Rent movies. Video rental disappeared
Music – Mp3s changed traditional distribution – Buying files and downloading through the iPod/iTunes era, now to the streaming services like Spotify.
Instant Information:
Info, places, opening hours, maps, products,. even getting into delivery of products
Efficient Intermediaries:
Connecting demand and supply. Removing the middle men and reducing cost of service.
Don’t just provide useful products and services; they create experiences that people love.
The review and moderation built-in to self police the suppliers and buyers
Consider your “experiential” competitors
Customers expect this level of service from every business. E.g. Small travel company compare yourself to BA or Emirates.
Trends:
- Transparency (for example, Uber tells customers how many minutes until the driver arrives)
- Real-time relevance (Google Now tells you at 5 PM how long your commute home will be)
- Connectedness (the Nest thermostat intelligently manages your home’s climate)
5-7 Minutes – Intros to concepts
What is your story to customers along the path of purchase? Creating experiences that help your customers understand their needs, wants and desires consistently via every single touch-point. However that experience gets transacted is the first component but the opportunities to build from there are ever growing. We are nerds & tactical in approach – you all are marketers and creatives so will let you focus on emotional side.
One of the most important aspects of delivering experience is knowing the context
Lets us turn the flat persona into a real person
What is on this visitor’s mind
Where are they
What do they want to do next
So like any story we wanted to focus in on the characters (personas) who make it up and relate that to practices we have seen in the market.
Information Seeker: What information do I need to be convinced?
Tools will help you with consistency to help accomplish goal of purchase. Can include more in depth product information, the background and in today’s world is the opportunity to connect with the customer to try and help them understand why they should want to purchase from you – they are engaged just need convincing as to why your company matters.
Validation Seeker: What did others do?
We are social beings and need validation we are making the right decision. As a marketer this individual is the person who will engage within a two way dialogue whether that be directly with you or across various social channels. Priority for marketers in this space is to respect the differences of all channels and not try to fit square peg in round hole or one technique for all.
Deep Diver: How does it work? How can I execute?
This customer is a DIY, enthusiast or engineer of sorts. They need more detailed application of how what you are selling solves the problem they are facing or detailed use. Will also leverage the community in which they are involved.
Retail vs manufacturer/brand and how position information or suggestive selling through merchandising tools
Arla – no one thinks how to use butter today, offer recipes that include butter
SystemAir – B2B examples, product configurator
Norrona.com blog
No one wants to make a mistake
No one wants to waste time buying something wrong and having to return it regardless of the return policy
How can you present this information to make a better experience for the user?
It’s all about putting the customer first – which may include telling them when your product is not right for them
According to Forrester Research, companies today “focus on creating and delivering relevant, cross-channel, contextual experiences critical to the visitor at that moment of their customer journey.”
In other words, it’s not just about marketing, but about supporting the entire customer life cycle in a digitally enabled way.
A few companies see content marketing as an SEO tactic, rather than a strategic activity comprising of multiple elements including optimisation for natural search
Schuh
Ensuring content marketing is supporting SEO
Digital Pacesetter
Who’s set the bar with content marketing as it becomes more mature?
Now looks like a media company that happens to sell an energy drink
They own movie production studios to create these awesome videos of snowboarders or...
Everything from an extreme sport spectacle – guy jumping from space – to epic beards
Consumers consuming content in multiple formats (digital, print, video) about a lifestyle that the brand stands for
Typically this suits premium and luxury brands
Story of the product can be as important as the product itself
Stories around the products are critical to customer engagement and satisfaction.
Invested time and resource in creating content stories that fit with their customers’ lifestyle interests.
EG - The Journal is a key part of MR PORTER’s editorial focus, providing content features that relate to the lifestyles the business has identified as being important to its customers. Within these content features they will feature relevant products, but the focus is on the story and using content to inspire, entertain or educate.
An indication of this commitment to editorial quality is the recent appointment of John Brody as Editor in Chief, who was previously at GQ. MR PORTER recognises the importance of style and influence and is investing in its content marketing to bring the brand to life.
US$372.80 million
The number of daily unique visitors at Janome.com has jumped to 5,000 from 2,000
unify the content management applications of Janome’s nine other global sites, located in Australia, Canada, Belgium, Chile, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Seminara expects the entire project to be completed by late November 2015
Once the sites are on a common content management system, Janome staff will be able to deploy and manage the company’s photos, videos and product descriptions across all web sites through one system, he says. This will give staff more time to push the company’s web content on social media sites, which is becoming increasingly important in building Janome’s brand, Seminara says.
17 000 images have been shared through social networks – Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram
https://www.internetretailer.com/2015/07/13/sewing-machine-manufacturer-janome-stitches-together-new-site
Displaced Hybris some of the brand sites
Norrona – outdoor apparel
Builds experience on the simple point that consumers trust the brand more than the retailer
Nordstroms in US (Marks and Spencer in UK) have done a lot of work around style guides, which is another useful form of content
All meant to elevate your offer
Norrona uses articles to describe information that consumers want to understand
Why is their product better?
Does it match my needs?
Can I be successful with this product?
In this article they are highlighting the construction of extreme outerwear
It provides information that can give favorable comparisons
By educating the consumer
And to make it a great experience
They can merchandise right in the article
Which can be used to offer an alternate navigation approach
What I like to call the beginning of the end of the grid
And then of course there’s the direct to consumer space. Brand manufacturers who also retail.
Many of us today are investing in wearable technology, and companies like Suunto are growing successfully off of that trend.
Suunto manufacturers extreme sports wearable's, and sells online.
However, unlike many online commerce experiences, Suunto eschews the traditional side-by-side product display and shopping cart metaphor.
And instead uses EPiServer Find, our search and relevance technology, to help consumers connect quickly with content and merchandize from right within the search results.
Like many brand D2C manufacturers they’re creating brand loyalty through educational and compelling content that’s easy to find and carefully targeted.
There’s a maturity of multi-channel, starting with the basics.
Multi channel customer experiences are those that are delivered using multiple channels, but the communication isn’t always consistent and seamless across devices or touch-points.
Multichannel feels more modest and doable
Cross channel customer experiences are those where a combination of different touch-points or devices are used by consumers to make the same purchase.
Omnichannel customer experiences use multiple channels to engage consumers, however the communication is both consistent and seamless across all channels.
Omnichannel is more provocative and perhaps aspirational because it hints at omnipresence and omnipotence – which are attributes each individual customer would welcome gladly.
Omnichannel is Multichannel done right!”
However, as we are all-too aware, the customer journey has been irrevocably changed by digital.
Hyundai UK opened a DIGITAL-FIRST car showroom in Bluewater.
“Digital showrooms in shopping centres will dramatically increase casual researchers,”
“People who’d never consciously make a decision to travel to out of town dealerships can now stop in and buy a car, and have it serviced, in between buying groceries, visiting the cinema or lunching with friends.”
Customers can inspect up to three new Hyundai cars.
Shoppers browse and buy primarily via screens rather than asking a sales person for help.
The Rockar concept enables customers to buy their car over the internet – without ever talking to a sales person.
Supermarkets like Waitrose in the UK are already trailing Low Energy Bluetooth Beacons
There are using them to promote the in-store shopping experience through a companion app
Using beacons to alert customers of close items they need to pick-up and the closest offers base on their shopping habits
It’s these immediate rewards that will enhance the customer experience
Target – Testing across 50 larger stores
Outdoor advertising, airports and buses
Digital technologies are transforming retail and consumer sectors at a rapid pace:
John Lewis Labs - An innovation hub dedicated working with start-ups in these sectors
Tescos Digital Hub in London - 150 staff for all digital technologies – Hudle, websites, data insight, marketing automation etc.
Argos have digital small format stores – The CEO want to turns them into a Digital Retailer Leader.
So many external forces for change
Analytics – trends, big data and analytics
Mobility – Customers and staff - Schuh reported that took more transactions via mobile devices over the Christmas shopping season
Social media – Tweeting BA – I’ve waited nearly an hour to talk to someone in a call center before – I can tweet complaining about their mobile app not letting me
Smart embedded devices – beacons and more
Amazon Dash Button
IoT – connects to you home wifi
Configured using the Amazon App
Reacts the first press until your order arrives
For many brands in the initial phase
Research - Educating and performing necessary research to become familiar with Izotope products
Consideration - A user is comparing products, reading reviews to help guide selection; product downloads and educational resources
Purchase - User buys items in cart and may become a registered user
Advocate – Reviewing products, upgrading, creating an account for streamlined communication with Izotope
Customer Experience research has shown that it is not a ‘soft’ benefit. It has proven results on increased Stock Price through driving increased loyalty and propensity to spend.
CXi is highly correlated to NPS (but not the only factor)… blog below has good background
http://blogs.forrester.com/megan_burns/13-02-09-qa_from_last_weeks_customer_experience_index_webinar
Most common techniques including
- Blogs and microsites
- Video and tutorials
- User generated content
- Guided selling tools
Marketers need to address these points
Wider content marketing strategy
Support merchandising plans and help the business to focus customers on key product ranges and promotions. Campaign calendars alongside quick-win responses to trends
Single platform being the most sensible approach
CXM encompasses content management capabilities and digital marketing technologies
Multiple options ranging in user experience consistency
Side by side - the customer can not accomplish seamless digital experiences because they must create separate pages (frequently duplicating product information) which makes the experience different and difficult to market (especially organic search).
This a barrier to conversion, customer will drop out of the checkout funnel!
User details need to be in sync
Products need to used in campaign landing pages etc. This causes a tight dependency between the two systems
Cart – Separate systems
Media could be shared across systems
Duplicate functionality across the two separate platforms for development and User Experience
WCM: Content Services, Rich Media Management
Duplicated: Content Targeting, Recommendations, Search, Personalisation, Site Search, Personalization, Navigation
Commerce: Inventory, Catalog / PIM, Pricing, Cart / Check / Checkout, Payment / Tax Fraud
The realignment of, or new investment in, technology and/or business models to more effectively engage digital customers at every touch point in the customer experience lifecycle.