'Net Features : customer feedback

7 Key Principles for Mobile Commerce Success

Administrator — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:45:00 GMT

:: By Nathan Joynt, Volusion ::

There are currently 115 million smartphone users in the U.S. and an estimated 200 million users by 2017. According to Internet Retailer, in 2012 U.S. smartphone and tablet users spent over $24 billion in mobile commerce sales, accounting for 11% of total ecommerce sales. The digital age is advancing quickly, and with the boom of ever-increasing technology use and some promising statistics, online businesses can’t deny the fact that there is huge moneymaking potential in mobile business. Mobile commerce, or m-commerce, is the browsing, buying and selling of products and services on mobile devices. If being able to shop from your home computer wasn’t easy enough, smartphones and tablets enable you to research and compare products in a physical storefront. Often this can lead to a direct sale online – often from a competitor of the storefront. If you are looking to maximize your online business through mobile, this post will give you some important factors to consider when developing your m-commerce strategy.

7 Key Principles to Maximize your M-Commerce Strategy

To keep your m-commerce strategy running effectively and help your online business grow, make sure you adopt these principles:

1. Do on-going research to determine what mobile devices are popular with your target market.

This is about understanding how you need to prioritize your mobile strategy to maximize ROI. Not every online market makes use of mobile devices. You may have a business where users actually find it more difficult to research and shop for your products through a smartphone. What does your current analytics data suggest? Also, what is your competition currently offering in terms of mobile presence? A story can be formed by performing gap and opportunity analysis. The more persistent you are with research and analysis, typically the better you will be able to focus on what’s most important.

2. Keep brand consistency across your web and mobile properties.

Make sure your ecommerce and m-commerce sites are consistent and congruent in terms of design, product offering, content flow and overall brand messaging. If you are in a position to take advantage of responsive design, do so. Your visitors will expect a consistent branding experience, whether they know it or not. This builds trust, whereas any inconsistency is a sure-fire way to lose sales.

3. Try to keep it simple at first and then add complexity.

As a colleague states, “web users are finicky; mobile users are finickier.” Mobile users typically expect their content to load quickly. You have to take extra care to ensure your mobile content can be consumed in multiple formats. This means making the pages more light weight: use clean code, be careful with large data features like videos and make sure to test all your site’s features so you know what needs to be sped up, taken down or added in.

4. Remember to include mobile in your online testing strategy.

Smart marketers understand how to increase ecommerce sales through practices like user testing, landing page testing and conversion rate optimization. Due to the fact that the user interface and user experience on mobile devices are different, it’s important to understand what your target market expects from your mobile site and include these considerations in your testing strategy.

5. Remember to QA your mobile site.

The concept seems simple enough, but it can be overlooked, especially as websites continue to grow and stakeholders forget to take into account the mobile experience. Does the design break at any point? Is the site cross-browser compatible? Does the checkout process work? Are you able to track everything appropriately in terms of analytics? Do the forms work? Does every link and do all calls-to-action perform as expected? It can be frustrating to try and purchase something through a mobile device and encounter a broken link. This will typically lead to a lost sale.

6. Keep reading more about mobile optimization.

Things move quickly in this area. In order to correctly optimize your mobile business make sure all your mobile data is in order, know what metrics are key to your success and know the specifics of what your customers are searching for most. Mobile optimization is a key factor when looking to increase sales and improve customer satisfaction. This leads to…

7. Leverage customer feedback.

It’s very important to have a customer feedback page, suggestion box, review section, etc. Most businesses have drastically increased their online sales by listening to customer feedback, so why not do the same for your m-commerce business? Utilize your Facebook and Twitter friends/followers to understand their likes/pain points. Send out a survey to your email list. What one customer wants, usually many more will want. If you tailor your mobile business to your customer feedback you will keep them satisfied and coming back for more.

eMarketer estimates that by 2017, approximately 25% of online retail transactions in the U.S. will take place on mobile devices. As technology is changing and rapidly increasing, so is the way consumers buy their products, which means you, as an online business owner, has to change as well. The potential for your business to grow through m-commerce is extremely promising and is up to you, with a little help from the experts, to make the most of your mobile business.

Nathan Joynt is a Marketing Manager for Volusion, a leading mobile and ecommerce software company. He specializes in SEO, user experience and content marketing. Follow him on Twitter @nathanjoynt.

Fire up the Feedback Machine

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:30:00 GMT

Market research is one of the fundamental elements of Web success – you should never, ever engage in a marketing or advertising campaign (much less a new enterprise) without it. But spending the money and the time to acquire important data points can be too much for many enterprises.

Enter Zipinions, a crowd sourced polling application launched today that hopes to disrupt the current consumer feedback industry. The platform provides businesses with access to an online workforce (estimates of 500,000 have been made) who can complete questions to provide feedback. Zipinions’ instant polls can be used for comparing logos, online advertising, print advertising, political mailers, real estate photos, slogans/taglines, product packaging and even tweets and social updates.

“The idea for Zipinion was born when we looked deeply into how business decisions are made today,” describes Zipinion’s GM/Partner Michael Gualano. In most cases advertising, social media, and countless other decisions are bounced around the office between friends and colleagues for feedback. This helps but can be biased and subjective. We’re excited to bring a low cost objective solution that will literally reinvent how decisions are being made.”

Pricing seems to be on the high side. A standard Zipinion Instant Poll (or ZIP for short) costs one ZipChimp and each Zip consists of 100 unique respondents. Bulk pricing is available but expect to pay between $1.50 and $2.00 per unique response.

iPerceptions Launches Budget Friendly Platform

Allison Howen — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 20:25:00 GMT

iPerceptions has made it easier for businesses of all sizes to obtain valuable feedback from their customers.

This is because the Voice of Customer (VoC) solutions provider has launched the Active Research Platform, which makes the functionality of its previous programs developed for large enterprises now available to all marketers – regardless of budget. In fact, the Active Research Platform includes Free, Plus, Premium and Professional-level subscriptions.

According to Duff Anderson, Vice President of Insight at iPerceptions, the Active Research Platform represents the evolution of VoC solutions because it helps capture the voice of the customer in the moment of truth – which is any instance, contact or interaction between a customer and a brand that gives the customer an opportunity to form an impression.

“(The Active Research Platform) is taking the sophisticated VoC programs that we develop for large organizations – with six figure budgets over the last twelve years – and making that available at various subscription levels to organizations of all sizes,” said Duff.

The new platform is customizable at every level, which means that users can tailor the look of their surveys to stay consistent with their business’s branding. Marketers leveraging the Free subscription will be able to launch Certified Surveys, which are based on 4Q Task Completion research methodology. These surveys help users evaluate the online experience, measure customer satisfaction and identify areas of improvement. Moreover, the Free subscription provides a user-friendly KPI dashboard, support for 32 languages and integrates with Google Analytics, as well as enables users to collect an unlimited survey responses.

That said, marketers leveraging the Plus, Premium and Professional subscriptions, have the ability to launch not only Certified Surveys, but also Custom Surveys, tablet surveys, smartphone surveys and Comment Cards. Furthermore, these subscription levels allow marketers to conduct an unlimited number of surveys simultaneously, which results in shorter, more relevant surveys that deliver more targeted insights. Additionally, the platform’s Word and Concept Clouds create a visual representation of data and allow users to filter feedback by popular terms. The platform also leverages iPerceptions’ real visitor, real time industry benchmarks to give users an instant snapshot of performance for evaluating results. It is also important to note that Professional customers have the ability to integrate with Tealeaf’s customer experience management (CEM) solutions from IBM.

“Time-to-Action has become paramount for marketers,” said Audry Larocque, CEO of iPerceptions. “The convenience of online comparison shopping and shrinking product development cycles have made customer loyalty more challenging than ever. Today’s marketers don’t have the luxury of waiting weeks or months to capture customer feedback, they need to know what inspired customers in the ‘moment of truth.’ Our new SaaS survey model empowers marketers to create VOC surveys in minutes and gives companies the opportunity to use an ‘Active Research’ approach to VOC analytics.”

Check out some screenshots of the Active Research Platform below:

Valuing Consumer Input Makes All the Difference

Allison Howen — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 16:00:00 GMT

A new study from Customer Experience Management (CEM) solutions provider Empathica Inc. reveals that despite a strong desire to provide feedback, consumers are disappointed by brands’ lack of responsiveness.

The Consumer Insight Panel study shows that although 85 percent of consumers have provided some form of feedback to big box retailers, only 46 percent of respondents believe that brands actually use their feedback to make changes to the customer experience. Additionally, only 52 percent believe that their feedback is shared with individual locations – despite 81 percent of consumers claiming that feedback should not only be shared with local managers, but also with all of the brand’s employees.

This lack of consumer confidence should be a serious concern for retailers, especially because 83 percent of consumers agree or strongly agree that they would be more loyal to a brand if they knew the brand would act on their feedback.

“Our research proves that consumers really do want to provide feedback and engage in conversations with brands,” says Dr. Gary Edwards, chief customer officer, Empathica. “But at the same time, they are clearly disappointed by not having any visibility into what happens afterwards. Feedback remains a one-way street and what consumers are yearning for is two-way dialogue. They want to know that their feedback is being acted upon in ways that will drive meaningful changes to the customer experience at the locations they frequent.”

The study also reveals insights into the delivery methods that drive customer feedback – with two-thirds of consumers preferring to share feedback online, and only 13 percent of consumers preferring to deliver feedback in person.

And when it comes to the motivations that consumers have for engaging with brands, approximately half of respondents have provided feedback in exchange for an incentive or coupon – which is actually not necessary. In fact, a larger amount of respondents offered feedback to simple provide either a positive (31%) or negative (25%) experience.

Another motivating factor of customer engagement is distance, with 82 percent of local customers indicating that they are more willing to offer feedback to locations that they visit frequently. Furthermore, three out of four survey respondents are interested in seeing other customer feedback in regards to brand experiences.

“Unfortunately, a lot of retailers fail at creating the transparency that customers desire. Admitting some areas of the business require more attention builds credibility and helps retailers realize the huge potential for brand advocacy,” added Edwards. “There are large numbers of customers out there who are motivated to provide feedback for the brand. The challenge is identifying them and making it easy to share their experiences not only with the brand, but also with other local consumers.”

Are You (Really) Listening to Customer Feedback?

Linc Wonham — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 16:00:00 GMT

A survey of more than 6,500 U.S. consumers found that despite a high desire to provide feedback, most are disenchanted by brands’ lack of responsiveness.

The results of the study from customer experience management firm Empathica showed that 85 percent of consumers have provided some form of feedback to retailers, yet only 46 percent of respondents believe that brands actually use this feedback to make constructive changes to the customer experience. An overwhelming two-thirds of consumers prefer to share their feedback online, while the next most popular feedback delivery method was in person with only 13 percent.

Incentives not necessary
When it comes to consumers’ motivations for engaging with brands, approximately half of respondents provided feedback in exchange for an incentive or coupon. Surprisingly, though, consumers don’t necessarily need an incentive to provide feedback – a larger share of respondents offered feedback simply to provide either a positive (31 percent) or negative (25 percent) experience with the brand.

Loyalty at stake
The shortfall of confidence in brands’ willingness to implement changes rooted in customer feedback is a serious concern for retailers. In fact, 83 percent of consumers agree or strongly agree that they would be more loyal to a brand if they knew the brand would act on their feedback.

“Our research proves that consumers really do want to provide feedback and engage in conversations with brands,” says Gary Edwards, Empathica’s chief customer officer. “But at the same time, they are clearly disappointed by not having any visibility into what happens afterwards. Feedback remains a one-way street and what consumers are yearning for is two-way dialogue. They want to know that their feedback is being acted upon in ways that will drive meaningful changes to the customer experience.”

Share with others
Also, three out of four survey respondents were interested in seeing the feedback that others have provided about their brand experiences.

“Unfortunately, a lot of retailers fail at creating the transparency that customers desire,” says Edwards. “Admitting that some areas of the business require more attention builds credibility and helps retailers realize the huge potential for brand advocacy. There are large numbers of customers out there who are motivated to provide feedback for the brand. The challenge is identifying them and making it easy to share their experiences not only with the brand, but also with other consumers.”

VoC Feedback: 42 Percent of Shoppers Leave Disappointed

Linc Wonham — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 19:00:00 GMT

Online Voice of Customer (VoC) analytics provider iPerceptions has released an e-commerce report that found that only 58 percent of retail website visitors were able to complete the purpose of their visits in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The study also found that more visitors indicated they were onsite with the intent to purchase during their current visit compared to the previous year, by a margin of 22 percent of all visitors in 2011 to 16 percent in 2010. With the increase in visitors ready to purchase, online retailers should analyze and address the specific needs of this important segment and identify where they may be falling short.

“While a drop-off in task completion is expected as visitors near the bottom of the purchase funnel, the fact that almost half of buyers were unable to complete their purpose of visit is somewhat alarming,” says Claude Guay, president and CEO of iPerceptions. “For a business that already earns $10 million in online sales, a 58-percent task completion among buyers means that an additional potential $7.3 million in qualified business is walking away from the table.”

For visitors who came to make a purchase and did not complete their task in Q4 2011, 34 percent claimed they couldn’t find the product they were looking for while 32 percent said the product they found was not immediately available. Other significant barriers were unclear pricing and comparisons (18 percent) and a lack of product information (7 percent).

Other important findings from the report include the following:

- Overall satisfaction for website visitors rose from 70 percent in Q4 2010 to 71 percent in Q4 2011.

- The share of visitors who came for support decreased versus one year ago, from 11 percent to 7 percent.

- “To shop” remained the most popular purpose of visit.

- The share of visitors who arrived via a search engine rose significantly, from 24 percent to 34 percent.

The report is based on immediate post-experience feedback from 129,563 visitors to 97 e-commerce websites around the world. The data represents aggregated information obtained from iPerceptions’ webValidator and 4Q Suite surveys.

User Reviews' Growing Importance to Business

Mike Phillips — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 19:10:00 GMT

Word-of-mouth marketing, feedback and testimonials have been a big part of every successful business long before the Internet even existed. Remember comment cards?

But today, user input and user reviews are more important than ever. Consumers can provide feedback for other users about your product with a single click (clicking a star to rate a product, for example), or reach thousands of people with a single comment - perhaps with a Tweet, Facebook update or a two-sentence review on Yelp.com. Users don't even need to write their own review. There are any number of ways to repurpose another person's review that echoes one's own sentiment - a retweet or 'share this review via email,' for example.

Not only are user reviews becoming easier to generate but also more numerous and prevalent, meaning that others are keenly aware of this resource. A quick search on Compete.com shows traffic increases year-over-year for three important consumer review resources: AngiesList.com (+ 34.3%), Yelp.com (+ 7.46%) and Buzzillions.com (+ 21.97%).

Speaking of Buzzillions.com, it's reported to have increased its total number of reviews on the site by more than 12 million, or 39% year-to-date. The site is also owned by PowerReviews. PowerReviews, in turn, recently cut a deal with Google to provide user reviews on the search engine results pages. And forthcoming is OnSite, a partnership between PowerReviews and Facebook.

"Facebook OnSite goes beyond the 'Like' button by bringing the Facebook experience to the retailer’s site," said Cathy Halligan, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, PowerReviews, in a recent press release. "This opens up new opportunities for retailers and brands to leverage the Open Graph to drive customer loyalty and sales."

Facebook and Google are two of the most visited, highly-trafficked websites in the world. And both of them see the value of user reviews. Now, do you?

There's no doubt that consumers are turning to each other for their purchase decisions. Mostly, becuase they trust each other. It is clear that consumer reviews are becoming a vital - if not involuntary - part of doing business online, and in online marketing. The importance of monitoring feedback and soliciting consumer reviews and responses cannot be overstated.

Don't forget the old adage about how a dissatisfied customer will tell 10 of their friends about their experience while a satisfied customer will tell one. (Or something like that.) Now, multiply that effect by 100. Or 1,000. Or maybe 10,000 - it depends on that particular customer's sphere of influence.

Find that poor review or dissatisfied customer and work to change his or her mind. At the very least, pay very close attention. They're out there and they are talking about you.

Data on E-Commerce and Customer Feedback

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:26:00 GMT

Survey solution provider iPerceptions crunched customer feedback on sites using its free 4q website survey tool and found some interesting data on e-commerce and customer feedback.

Retailers lag beyond other verticals and the webwide average when it comes to shoppers' ability to accomplish their primary task on a website. Only 68% of shoppers could actually get what they needed from the site, whether it was product information, company data, pricing, etc. This may be due to more shoppers coming to the website to research/learn (34%) than buy (25%) and more shoppers interacting with your brand and your site many more times before purchasing. In Web analytics speak, these shoppers are “lengthening the conversion funnel.”

In this environment, getting people to your site at the point they are ready to buy is a big win. But 44% of retailers are missing out on that opportunity, because of mundane but unnoticed things like broken shopping carts, limited product availability, inadequate pricing information or simply because visitors couldn’t find what they wanted.