'Net Features : commerce

Grow Your List with Text-to-Join

Allison Howen — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:52:00 GMT

Growing your email list can be as simple as receiving a text message, thanks to a new SMS feature from Bronto Software.

The commerce marketing provider has added a Text-to-Join feature to its marketing platform. The feature provides marketers with a simple interface for managing customer acquisition and organizing email and cross-channel campaigns to drive revenue.

“Text-to-Join is a great way for retailers to drive signups because it’s such an effective and widespread medium,” said Joe Colopy, CEO of Bronto. “With the majority of consumers tied to their mobile phone during shopping, it’s a matter of creating a relevant experience using the right medium. In recent months, we’ve been innovating to help marketers grow revenue by remarketing to current customers. We also recognize that acquisition and list growth are among the top priorities for marketers, so we wanted to make Text-to-Join easily accessible to them.”

In order to create a Bronto Text-to-Join campaign, marketers must choose a keyword consumers will use to sign up, and then generate an automated response message to be triggered when a consumer texts the keyword. Additionally, marketers can promote Text-to-Join through a variety of channels, including on social profiles, shipping boxes, invoices, receipts, posters, flyers, in-store signs, direct mail pieces and catalogs.

It is also important to note that Text-to-Join is integrated with other functions within the Bronto Marketing Platform, such as contact management and reporting. Moreover, marketers have the option of adding consumers who sign up via Text-to-Join to a list or to multiple lists. There’s also a visual activity report that makes it simple to monitor the effectiveness of Text-to-Join campaigns.

B2B Online Commerce: Breaking Down Barriers

Administrator — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 14:30:00 GMT

B2B (business-to-business) commerce organizations have always operated in a complex multichannel world. Engaging customers in this world remains increasingly complex. It requires a focus first on breaking down barriers— taking steps to minimize channel conflict with internal sales teams and outside partners and then going directly to the business buyer. For companies that can move nimbly to navigate the channel complexities and bring value directly to the business buyer, the future has never looked brighter for B2B online commerce.

The B2B Online Opportunity

B2B online commerce continues to grow at a tremendous pace. According to a recent report from Forrester Research, in 2009 – the latest year for which data was available – the U.S. Census Bureau reported that B2B online commerce totaled $352 billion –net of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). That's up from just $25 billion in 2000, for a 34% compound annual growth rate in nine years. In addition, many B2B companies predict that online commerce will soon comprise 50% of total sales.

Challenge Dominates the B2B Ecosystem

As great as the B2B online opportunity is, so are some of the challenges in deploying a successful B2B program. One of the biggest barriers may be your own organization. An existing channel strategy and architecture often loom as the most formidable obstacles. Many organizations are not structurally, nor culturally, ready for the challenges of a robust, direct-to-business-buyer online commerce operation.

In a sense, with any direct-to-business-buyer sales effort, channel conflict is unavoidable. Many businesses were built largely through the strength and growth of their traditional channel strategy. The sales pipeline, its accompanying organizational structure, and incentives and compensation are specifically designed to funnel sales efficiently and in large volumes.

Attempting to bypass any partner in your channel operations by going direct-to-business-buyer could conceivably threaten to upend an established and, potentially, well-functioning system. But if carried out strategically, a well thought out B2B e-commerce plan can provide the best of both worlds – opening new revenue sources while boosting the success of the entire organization and all of its channel partners.

Keys to Optimizing Your B2B Model

Evolving your channel strategy to go direct-to-buyer requires a nuanced approach that fits the overall company goals and appetite for risk. The following three areas of focus can unlock significant additional revenue from your B2B online commerce program:

1. Improved User Experience

Customers’ expectations for B2B online commerce have dramatically shifted and continue to evolve rapidly. Just like everyone else, your customers are spending time – whether work or personal – on Netflix, Zappos and OfficeMax. B2C sites such as these are increasingly setting the bar for B2B in terms of the level of customer service, ease of navigation and overall online shopping experience that users look for – whether in a B2B or B2C setting.

Understanding how your business buyers are shopping means meeting their desire for a richer, deeper shopping experience. One area where B2C online commerce sites typically excel is in their ability to gather relevant data and provide recommendations tailored to each buyer. Knowing the right products or bundles of products to place in front of your business buyer opens tremendous opportunities for upselling, cross-selling and cross-promotion.

2. Subscription and Renewal Revenue

Your relationship with the business buyer doesn’t end at the initial sale – it’s only beginning. But channels usually focus on landing that initial sale. They often overlook the customer lifecycle; ignoring opportunities for follow-up sales, and other ongoing revenue streams such as subscriptions and renewals.

This occurs for a number of reasons: sales may fall below minimum order sizes; the sales cycles are different; compensation structures don’t create sufficient incentive to pursue renewals, etc.

Nonetheless, an attempt to capture subscription revenue through direct-to-business buyer sales is likely to be viewed as a channel conflict. Some of your sales channels may feel threatened that they are being asked to give up their customers, and in the process, lose opportunities for future sales.

The reality is that many resellers are not set up to manage subscription and renewal sales. A direct online channel can more effectively service those customers. Your resellers can be compensated for the loss in potential sales through an annuity-like revenue stream. We have seen some leading edge businesses employ this type of arrangement, resulting in improved renewal rates, lower channel costs, and closer relationships with customers - all while freeing resellers to pursue larger, more lucrative sales.

3. Closing Open Niches

The various B2B sales channels that companies rely on can deliver significant value doing what they do best – pursuing enterprise sales and large group orders. But this may also be leaving significant money on the table by neglecting smaller orders: everything from small businesses to individual orders from inside large organizations.

In fact, some of the sales channels companies rely on—both internally and externally—to deliver revenue are typically built to focus on large orders. Their compensation structures, order processing, sales training and management are specifically designed towards that. Some channels, whether resellers or internal sales teams, often even have minimum order size requirements.

Capturing smaller customers and orders requires coordinating ordering, payment processing, invoicing and supply chain with your existing infrastructure. When done correctly, pursuing untapped niches can add up to significant new revenue, as well as develop invaluable one-on-one relationships with business buyers and lead to whole new pools of opportunity.

Evolving the Ecosystem

Many organizations also struggle to adapt their internal sales channels because they’ve become dependent on the existing ecosystem. But at a certain point, it becomes somewhat of a bottleneck, restraining the business from fully realizing the opportunities for sales and preventing channel evolution.

Business buyers are rapidly evolving in terms of where, when and how they want to make their B2B purchases. And your commerce ecosystem needs to evolve with them in order to meet those changing expectations. In an increasingly competitive market landscape, you need to ensure that you are not only capturing those purchases, but also maximizing the revenue potential from each sale.

Optimizing B2B online commerce can be challenging. It requires buy-in from many parts of the organization as well as outside partners with whom you have long-standing relationships.

Some proven methods that can help bring about the organizational shift needed to achieve a successful B2B online commerce strategy include:

Understand where your business has been and where customers are going

How have you handled customers within various customer segments? What do analytics show about where customers and their buying patterns are moving to? How can your business use a direct B2B-buyer approach to address unmet needs?

Identify where power resides within the business

What are the biggest sales channels? Who “owns” each revenue stream? Every organization needs to have the proper balance of where their revenue comes from your internal and external sales channels– spend the critical time now to determine what your ideal balance is now and in the future.

Find an “internal champion” and a “channel champion”

See which leaders are open to learning about how B2B online commerce can drive success for the business. Find someone willing to advance the idea in the C-suite. Is there a key reseller, distributor or strategic channel partner willing to work together to create a win-win setup?

About the Author: Michael Chuma is from Digital River

Six Steps for Social Commerce Success

Linc Wonham — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 18:00:00 GMT

Recently, a few big brands such as Gap, Gamestop, Nordstrom and JC Penney closed their Facebook stores. As a result, many prognosticators sounded the death knell for Facebook commerce.

The fact is, nothing could be further from the truth.

As the second largest store-building application on Facebook, Ecwid’s aggregate data demonstrates that f-commerce is alive and well. The data shows that the small businesses that have both a website store and a Facebook store typically get 15 percent of their overall revenue from Facebook.

That’s a significant chunk. The data also shows the average revenue of each Facebook store powered by Ecwid’s software rose 40 percent in 2011.

“It’s a matter of time – within the next five or so years – before more business will be done on Facebook than Amazon,” says Sumeet Jain, principal at CMEA Capital.

That’s a pretty bold prediction. While this may not happen as fast or at the dramatic scale that Jain predicts, the trend is clear – social commerce is on the move, and SMBs may be leading the charge.

So why are some big brands failing while SMBs are finding their way? It’s all about how you engage your customers. Do small businesses have an advantage here? Is it easier for smaller, more personalized businesses to succeed at social commerce?

How effective are you at engaging your customers and selling products via social media?

Here are some concepts and best practices for selling on social networks and tapping this potentially lucrative avenue for expanding your business:

Recognize that social commerce isn’t new
“Social” has always been part of “commerce,” even when Facebook and Twitter didn’t exist. We listen to our friends’ recommendations and tend to buy more if we know a merchant personally.

So social media sites like Facebook and Twitter didn’t invent social commerce, but amplified it greatly. They introduced a convenient, easy and fast way to communicate with friends and others, and deliver “social messages” much faster and to a larger audience.

Fully utilize today’s powerful e-commerce tools
Merchants can now easily create f-commerce storefronts in minutes and make their offerings more targeted: e.g. show a discount on a particular book to all customers who like the book’s topic. This makes store offers more friendly, so social customers are more open to them.

Today’s modern store software also offers features previously found only in major brand storefronts, including powerful application program interface (API) options. Take advantage of this new breed of software and you’ll also spend less time on administration.

Decide what your unique social media strategy is
Most brands understand that they need to communicate with their customers, but many are not clear on what the conversation should be. A Facebook page is always a two-way communication, so if you’re not ready to engage your audience with a particular theme or approach, you won’t be successful.

This may involve trial-and-error, but eventually you’ll find a sweet spot of engagement. Also, always talk honestly and without marketing slang.

Don’t disrupt the conversation flow
If you’re going to make the leap from e-commerce to f-commerce – actually selling products on a site like Facebook – remember not to disrupt the original purpose of social networks, which is to connect people. You’ll want to make the process as seamless as possible, integrating your store into the conversation, and allowing people to shop without having to leave Facebook.

Avoid product “hawking” and focus on community building
Don’t try to just sell items on your Facebook page. Transforming your Facebook page into a list of links to your products will turn away customers.

Social networks are communications platforms, so maintaining a flow of communication with – and between – your customers is key. Try to build a community around your items, engage your customers, encourage fan-to-fan communication and product discussions, then simply offer a convenient way to buy.

Harness the power of your biggest fans
The enthusiast core of your audience loves to be recognized, so consider leveraging engaging, community-building applications such as “Fan of the Week,” new Open Graph API and frictionless sharing. This will help you to harness the power of your most avid customers.

Ultimately they are your biggest supporters, so it pays to offer them something special. You’ll be well rewarded as they spread their enthusiasm to friends.

About the author: Ruslan Fazlyev is the founder and CEO of Ecwid, a leading social commerce solutions provider that currently powers more than 140,000 online stores.

Consumers Want More from Social, Mobile and Local Commerce

Allison Howen — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:00:00 GMT

Social media and mobile devices have been a game changer for local businesses due to features that allow consumers to interact with brands, browse products, find nearby deals and more. But as features for these channels grow, consumers are also expecting more.

A new study from Commerce in Motion reveals that most retailers aren’t keeping up with consumer expectations in regards to social, mobile and local shopping.

Here is what consumers expect and the percentage of responding retailers that are meeting these expectations:

46 percent of consumers expect to be able to place orders through their smartphone, which is only being offered by 38 percent of retailers.
42 percent of consumers expect product pricing and availability via their smartphone, which is offered by 30 percent of retailers.
44 percent of consumers want to receive order status updates on their smartphone, which is offered by 30 percent of retailers.
40 percent of consumers expect the ability to use QR Codes to access product content, which if offered by 33 percent of retailers.
34 percent of consumers expect the ability to browse and make purchases with a tablet app, which is only offered by 28 percent of retailers.
38 percent of consumers expect to browse and make purchases within a social network, which is only offered by 22 percent of retailers.
26 percent of consumers expect to receive location-specific offers through their phone when near a store, which is offered by 20 percent of retailers.
28 percent of consumers expect to receive department-specific offers on their phone while inside a store, which is only offered by 12 percent of retailers.

So why aren’t consumer expectations being met? According to the study’s retailer respondents, 33 percent lack corporate commitment, 36 percent don’t have the ability to integrate new channels in their commerce platform, 36 percent have limited inventory visibility across channels, and 25 percent claim that their stores are unable to support new fulfillment and promotion challenges.

However, most surveyed retailers are intending to offer new social, mobile and local programs in 2012, including 38 percent implementing the ability to place orders via smartphones, 20 percent implementing geo-location strategies and 30 percent including product availability and pricing information for smartphones.

“The good news is there’s a heightened sense of industry awareness and onus to react to SoMoLo shopping behaviors,” says David Bruno, director of Commerce Studies for RedPrairie and the editor and publisher of CommerceInMotion.com. “For retailers that develop executive commitment, clearly defined all-channel strategies, and the right technology platforms, SoMoLo and the all-channel evolution offers unprecedented opportunity to increase brand loyalty and market share. It’s an exciting time for the retail industry.”

E-Commerce Drivers of Success - Endeca Survey

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:38:00 GMT

Search and business intelligence software company Endeca released results of an e-commerce survey of business to consumer and business to business organizations which revealed that user-centric, multi-channel commerce will be a big driver for success in 2011.

Perhaps one of the most important insights to be gained from the survey is that merchants' investment in user experience is a top priority. 64% reported that optimizing the user experience with features like enhanced search, navigation, product content, and overall ease of use is a priority. Confidence-building elements that drive transactions like user reviews, communities, and personalization to further enrich the user experience is also an area of focus.

Some additional data of note from the survey includes:

- Improving and leveraging product content a top priority: 44% of respondents mentioned building out complete product content (like images, data, video, user guides, etc.) and purposing it across channels as a top priority for 2011.

- Mobile ranks number one for new areas of investment: 35% state they have a mobile programme in place, while 30% are in early stages of implementation and 25% are investigating options and plan to have a live mobile programme in 2011. Less than 5% reported no mobile initiatives planned in the next 12 months.

“Consumers are demanding content-driven, multichannel commerce,” said John Andrews, vice president, product marketing, eBusiness at Endeca. “The majority of B2C organisations we surveyed are attempting to deliver dynamic user experiences, but are finding it hard to do so consistently across channels. The B2B community is also pulled by the rich consumer experience its users expect in their professional interactions, but face greater complexity in terms of content, channels, geography and brands.”

Easy Mobile Marketing for Every Business

Mike Phillips — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 20:45:00 GMT

According to new data from comScore, people accessing email via mobile devices increased an impressive 36 percent, from November 2009 to November 2010. More than 70 million people accessed email on their mobile devices in the month.

In this age where “mobile” is so often equated with apps – and their astronomical development costs – this study is excellent news and a steadfast reminder that every business can be “mobile” without breaking the bank. All you need is an email list – which you should already have and, if not, get on it – and a few tips on optimizing messages for the best possible mobile user experience. That’s where we come in.

Let’s take a look at some mobile email, using an iPhone as an example. Devices vary somewhat, but this gives a good picture of the mobile email experience on a standard smartphone.

In all cases, rigorously test mobile email messages across several devices before executing a campaign.

Before Opening the Message

Who is the sender? The sender display name is limited to 16 characters. Good usage of the sender field are company names, individual names,

The subject line. The viewable subject line is somewhere around 35 characters, including spaces. Keep in mind that a Forward (Fw:) and a Reply (Re:) will take up five characters each. It is vital to make the subject line compelling enough for the user to open the email and not delete it with one swipe of a finger.

Content at a glance. The first few lines of content make up about 75 characters, including spaces. Again, be careful of a Forward, as the entire first line could be taken up. Often, I receive emails that begin with “Message not displaying correctly?” or “This is a post-only message. Please do not respond” and so on. That’s wasted space and a very good reason for your message to be ignored.

The first 10 or so words of your message’s content need to give the recipient an explicit reason to click the message to read more – be it an offer, discount, request for a reply or whatever motivates your users.

Optimizing Mobile Email Content

Continue the action. Once a user has clicked on the message, the call-to-action must be immediately clear and reinforce the first few lines the user has already seen. Tell the reader exactly what to do next – click a link or forward the message to a friend, for example. Remember, these are users largely on-the-go, so be succinct and actionable.

Users can be sent just about anywhere from a mobile email, but good options are mobile-optimized pages of your website and social destinations, where the user can spread your message. Recipients can be directed to Facebook Places, Foursquare or even Google Maps. Coupons are a good idea, along with the store’s location, conveniently linked to an interactive map.

Using images. Debate swirls around using images in mobile email. Some devices will have trouble displaying the image but today’s smartphones are well fairly well adapted. If your audience is tech-savvy, you might have more flexibility. However, images should be well-planned.

For example, text on an image can be difficult to read, particularly on a small screen. Oftentimes, I receive virtual flyers in an email. The images dominate and the text is tiny. I am forced to zoom in to see the message, and that is not ideal. If you plan to use images, do so responsibly and make sure the success of the email does not rely solely on the image. An image can make a nice addition to making mobile email more interesting but it should be used to support the message.

Selling product. Mobile commerce is still relatively new but that does not make it impossible. There are mobile payment solutions, including PayPal, and the mobile space is ripe for impulse buys. It is unlikely that people will buy major products through their phones but ringtones, music, e-books, etc.? That’s doable.

Video email. As email becomes increasingly mobile (and smartphones and tablets flood the market), it’s important to remember some different ways mobile email is used. For example, in an airport, at a café, on the couch, in the park… that means users have a potential need for entertainment. Therefore, don’t be afraid to include video. The best course of action is to use a YouTube link, as those videos do not require Flash and are viewable across devices.