'Net Features : shopping

Mobile Shopping Patterns of the Holiday Season

Allison Howen — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:45:00 GMT

Hopefully your site is already optimized for mobile, because it has proven to be a popular avenue for consumer shopping – especially during this holiday season.

According to a study from Internet platform and services company Limelight Networks, 20 to 25 percent more consumers will research and/or purchase holiday gifts on their Internet-connected mobile devices this year compared to last year.

“As ownership of smartphones and tablets continues to rise, more consumers are shopping on these devices, making it imperative for retailers to seriously consider their m-commerce strategies,” says David Hatfield, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Limelight Networks. “Retailers who optimize their mobile shopping experiences will have the opportunity to increase sales conversions this holiday season and boost brand loyalty for future shopping.”

Further results of the study reveal:

Smartphones

Eighty-nine percent of consumers intend to research and/or purchase holiday gifts on their smartphone this year, compared to 71 percent last year
Thirty-five percent of consumers intend to research and/or purchase 20 to 100 percent of their holiday gifts on their smartphone
Eleven percent of consumers report that they are not planning to use their smartphone to research and/or purchase holiday gifts this year – a decrease of 62 percent compared to last year

Tablets

Eighty-nine percent of consumers intend to research and/or purchase holiday gifts on their tablet this year, compared to 74 percent last year
Forty-nine percent of consumers intend to research and/or purchase holiday gifts on their tablet for between 20 to 100 percent of their holiday gifts
Eleven percent of consumers report that they are not planning to use their tablet to shop for holiday gifts this year – a decrease of 58 percent compared to last year

Mobile Search Queries Spike on Weekends

Mike Phillips — Wed, 18 May 2011 13:56:00 GMT

This week Google and Digitas announced a collaborative effort to better measure mobile marketing by combining "original Google and Digitas search and marketing data to forecast trends, inform investment strategies, and drive the creation of mobile optimized Web sites," according to the release.

As part of that announcement, some interesting data was released about mobile search, centered on the period surrounding Mother's Day. According to the data, 33% of Google queries for the term "flowers" came from mobile devices. In the week leading up to Mother's Day, desktop searches for "flowers" increased Monday to Friday then declined on the weekend. But mobile searches steadily increased all week and throughout the weekend. Also, "flowers" was searhced on mobile devices over 100% more than last year, suggesting mobile search is on the rise across the board, and that consumers are increasingly using mobile devices to shop.

This is yet another reminder that mobile search is on the rise, is taking place anywhere and everywhere, and is not limited to any particular day of the week. In fact, this data suggests that mobile search is highest on weekends. Knowing this, Web professionals might benefit from testing dayparting mobile advertising strategies to target weekends, and timing promotions and discounts to take advantage of weekend usage patterns.

Maponics Offers Shopping Boundaries

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 11 May 2011 16:35:00 GMT

Location based data provider Maponics rolled out a new offering that includes the geographic boundaries of more than 3,000 shopping malls, districts, centers and outlets across 100 metro areas in the United States. Maponics Shopping Boundaries includes the boundary outlining shopping areas and adjacent parking, along with the name, address and type of shopping area.

According to a recent survey by mobile ad company JiWire, 57 percent of respondents said that they are more likely to engage with an ad that is relevant to their location - an increase from 46 percent in a survey conducted just a few months earlier. What makes this data so interesting (besides that it may be related to the recent wave of daily deal exhaustion) is that the Boundaries can be used as “geo-fences” to direct ads only to those consumers within defined shopping areas. As location-based advertising drives more shopping activity expect those serving the local market (apps and websites) to pick up on this quickly.

“We see Shopping Boundaries as a logical addition to our product line that defines a variety of social spaces where people live, work and play,” said Darrin Clement, CEO of Maponics. “There is no doubt that location based advertising opens huge new opportunities for companies to reach potential customers and with Shopping Boundaries, they will be able to improve targeting and response rates significantly.”

Sample Shopping Boundary from Maponics:

Related Reading on Maponics from Website Magazine:

- Mapping Services: Extending the Boundaries

- Maponics Provides School Attendance Zone Boundaries

- Neighborhood Level Data Goes Global With Maponics

Rec.fm Makes Online Shopping Charitable

E-Commerce Express : feature — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 14:43:00 GMT

New fundraising platform Rec.fm announced a special holiday promotion that doubles the amount of money consumers can earn for their favorite charities. Rec.fm normally gives 51% of its site earnings to charity, but now through December 31st, 100% of revenue...(read more)

Facebook Fails with Social Shopping

Mike Phillips — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 19:00:00 GMT

Facebook is missing the mark on the social shopping, perhaps the biggest money-making venture in the social era of the Web.

Sites like Groupon and LivingSocial have seen tremendous success by crowd-sourcing deals. Even Twitter has @earlybird. But where is Facebook? As the largest social network in existence, shouldn't they be leading the way, or at least be a major contributor? Well, apparently they are attempting to dominate this part of the social Web, too, although you would hardly know it. And this lack of presence is due to the fact that Facebook refuses to give its users anything without requiring your privacy in return.

Facebook recently announced Deals. And, according to Fast Company, their first big promotion with The Gap was a huge success. This promotion - and all other Facebook Deals - included the requirement to "check in" using Facebook Places. So, not only did your friends now know that you were about to shop at The Gap, but they also knew exactly where. And that you got a free pair of jeans for doing so. What's more, you are now a part of Facebook Places, like it or not. (The Gap, by the way, is quickly becoming the darling of social shopping, while threatening to make the whole world look very plain.)

That seems like a lot to do - or give up - for a free pair of jeans. And you can bet that "free" will not be the regular fare on Facebook Deals.

Is it worth it? With Groupon, I can secretly slip a waiter my coupon and I sure don't need to tell everyone I know what I bought that day. With Facebook, I need to broadcast my frugality all over the Web and, no doubt, share certain information with marketers. Do I want to tell the world whether I wear boxers or briefs? No, I don't. Not even if I get a six-pack for the price of one pair.

Facebook also has Marketplace. But about all that does for me is to send annoying emails everytime a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend lists an old coffee table for sale. And, like Deals, unless you want everyone and your mother to know that you want to hock last year's Christmas present that you never used, Facebook Marketplace might not be the best way to go. (Especially if that present was from you-know-who.)

I don't need everyone to know my shopping habits. And I don't want everyone to know, either. In a way, it's like telling people about my finances. If I want to tell people about a great deal I got on a dozen cupcakes, I'll tell them. I'll send them an email or Tweet, or post it on Facebook myself.

Comparison Shopping & Brand Awareness

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 14:30:00 GMT

For building brand awareness, shopping search engines are a retailer’s best bet.

As the online shopping experience becomes more social every day, it is important for retailers and their products to be seen in all the right places. High on the list of those destinations are comparison shopping search engines, on which consumers are increasingly relying to drive their purchasing decisions.

Read "Comparison Shopping Engines: A Retailers' Best Friend" by Website Magazine's associate editor Linc Wonham now.

This article appears in the November 2010 edition of Website Magazine.

WM Radio: Google's Instant Search, Social Shopping Survey

Mike Phillips — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 19:20:00 GMT

This week we discuss Google's latest search innovation with Editor-in-Chief Peter Prestipino, and what it means to your Web business. Also, we analyze some recent survey results about how consumers use social networking to discuss shopping, and discuss how you can get in on the conversation.

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If you would like to have your questions answered on Website Magazine Radio, please send email to mike@websitemagazine.com with "WM Radio" in the subject field.

Streamlined Shopping with Visa Rightcliq

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:58:00 GMT

Visa today launched an online shopping tool that aims to improve the way consumers browse and compare products, checkout on merchant websites and track packages.

The offering, dubbed Rightcliq™, was developed to relieve the “frustration points” consumers experience while shopping online. According to a recent Visa survey, half of all online shoppers rely on inconvenient methods – like bookmarking and written lists – to track items they are interested in buying, but not yet ready to purchase. More than 90 percent said they would do more online shopping if they had an easy way to compare items and see available merchant discounts and promotions.

Rightcliq is actually a downloadable plugin that gives consumers the ability to add products to their Wishspace™ (a visual wish lists for collecting, organizing, and sharing products they are considering purchasing), purchase with a digital wallet (the plug-in lets consumers auto-fill personal, payment and shipping information), and track the shipping status of packages.

“At Visa, we know consumers love to shop online, but they also want better ways to streamline the experience and eliminate some of the frustrations they encounter in the process,” said Gerry Sweeney, global head of ecommerce and authentication, Visa Inc.

“Rightcliq is unique in the marketplace, as it adds value across the whole shopping experience and offers the convenience and peace of mind consumers expect from Visa,” Sweeney said. “We think people will find Rightcliq not only helps them make smarter shopping decisions, but also makes online shopping simpler and more fun.”

Shopping on the iPad

Administrator — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:51:00 GMT

E-Commerce solution provider Shopatron has some data that might get you even more excited about the iPad possibiliites.

An analysis of its data collected since March 2010 indicates that average conversion rates for non-optimized stores on mobile devices (including iPhone, Android, and iPod devices) average just 0.37% - significantly below PC conversion rates. The iPad, however, performed much better as an eCommerce platform than mobile phones, with an average conversion rate up to 2.04%. For some stores the iPad conversion rate was as much as double the conversion rate from personal computers.

While this could be attributed to first adopters being heavy online shoppers, it might also be that the user experience on the iPad is that much better than smartphones.

“In finalizing an upgrade to our mobile browsing experience to enhance purchasing behavior from phones, we began by analyzing the current environment,” commented Mark Grondin, SVP of Marketing at Shopatron. “We were surprised to find that the iPad performed so well. Because shopping on the iPad is so much easier, we believe that is can perform an important role driving mCommerce into the mainstream. And as more consumers become comfortable with researching and purchasing products on the move, Shopatron will be there for our member brands.”

Email & Social Growing Closer

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:31:00 GMT

Email service provider What Counts must sense that social media is a better friend than foe, announcing a partnership today with social media tracking provider Meteor Solutions and Quorus, a word-of-mouth (WOM) social shopping engine, for a Social Media Suite.

Incorporating technologies from both partners into the WhatCounts platform, the new Social Media Suite will be available as a Web-hosted application or as part of the WhatCounts Broadcaster appliance line.

“For too long, email service provider solutions for social media have been limited to monitoring functions, just listening to the social media conversation that’s going on around them,” said Brian Ratzliff, president of WhatCounts. “Our partnerships with Meteor Solutions and Quorus will provide a robust platform for brands to proactively create rich social media experiences for consumers, and develop deeper relationships with their best social media advocates.”

Benefits of the service seem quite useful overall. The ability to create a deeper and more meaningfull social shopping experience that allows consumers to invite friends to shop and converse with them online seems, while not new or innovative, has been shown repeatedly to influence conversion. This is a great example of email marketing and social media marketing working hand-in-hand to accomplish the same goal.

“Marrying the power of our social media platform with WhatCounts’ proven email-marketing system is a natural way to extend the availability of word-of-mouth tools to enterprise marketers,” said Ben Straley, CEO at Meteor Solutions. “This partnership will enable WhatCounts clients to achieve whole new levels of return on investment with their best customers as well as their prospects.”

Top 10 Reasons Consumers Will Shop Online

Mike Phillips — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:26:00 GMT

In a recent Shop.org eHoliday '09 survey, consumers were asked to give their top 10 reasons they would shop online this holiday season rather than head to brick-and-mortar stores. Many of the responses are expected, but a few stand out as good opportunities - and potential pitfalls - for online retailers. First, have a look at the top 10:

24-hour shopping convenience
Ability to compare prices
Free shipping offers
Convenience
Not wanting to fight crowds
Ease of finding wanted items
Variety
E-mail promotions
Not having to pay sales tax
Wanting to avoid checkout line

Reasons like convenience, price comparisons and not wanting to fight crowds are expected. A little unexpected is #8, e-mail promotions. This is a great opportunity for online retailers to grow their e-mail subscriber list for this holiday season and beyond. Of course, only those e-mail campaigns that provide real value to the consumer will be successful - be it e-mailed coupons, discount codes or special (and meaningful) product announcements.

Free shipping is high on the list, at #3. This is unsurprising and, for online retailers, almost expected at this point. However, when asked about return shipping, more than half of respondents stated that free shipping for returns is "very important" to them. This is an area where merchants can offer value over their competitors. According to Shop.org, Davis Sasson, CEO of overstockArt.com and Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh believe that offering free return shipping "removes many of the fears, uncertainties and doubts of online shopping."

Finally, note #6 from the survey - ease of finding wanted items - bears watching. Make sure your site's search function is easy to locate and functions properly. Consumers expect online shopping to be fast and accurate when they are searching for what they want. Make it cumbersome and they will find another website to shop.

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Beating Big Retailers at their Own Game

Mike Phillips — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:30:00 GMT

Beginning Black Friday, November 27, brick-and-mortar retailers will see a deluge of consumers, ready and willing to buy merchandise. Beginning Cyber Monday, November 30, online retailers will enjoy a similar spike in visits and purchases. Most of those consumers will make purchases through large online retailers, like Amazon.com, Overstock.com or BestBuy.com. But, smaller online retailers and affiliates don't need to get left behind. Let's look at a page optimization tip to help turn browsers into buyers this year.

Large retailers (like the three mentioned above) have thousands of products to sell and countless pages that a user can browse to find what they want. Your site (and products) might be slightly more limited in scope. But the big retailers also share a common strategy that any Web property can employ - product and user recommendations.

Take advantage of the fact that, at this time, users are shopping. They are likely not quite sure what they want to buy yet. Help them get there. Overstock.com's home page prominently features navigation and browsing based on "Buyers' Picks," "5 Star Reviews," "Top Sellers" and "Clearance Items." BestBuy.com's page is featuring "Door Busters," "Featured Offers" and "Outlet Center," where users can find new arrivals, reduced cost items and deals of the week. Amazon.com's page (while dedicated to the Kindle) also features personalized recommendations, "Most Wished For" items, and "Bestselling" items.

It's your job to steer consumers in the right direction - and you can do it on one page. Look into your data and optimize your landing page based on your products. Instead of a giant "featured item," consider breaking your page into easy-to-view sections like "best sellers," "highest rated," "clearance," or "online bargains." Find out what your consumers are recommending to each other - both on your site and industry-wide - and get those items front and center. You might be featuring fewer items per category, and some consumers might see fewer items overall. But, you are also increasing the chance that particular items are purchased - and that's the bottom line. By giving browsers a look into immediate benefits (popular and highly-rated items, best bargains, etc.) and providing a way to shop with minimal effort you can accomplish the most important task to online retail success - shortening the distance to a sale. A strategy like this reduces clicks - therefore reducing the chance the consumer gets lost on your site or becomes distracted. This becomes particularly important when designing your PPC creative for searching shoppers. Give the shopper a reason to click, then an immediate reason to purchase without any further searching or dawdling.

For example, let's say the following is a PPC ad (click the link):
"Give the best keyboard for your busy Web professional this holiday!"

What do you notice after clicking? Limited but good choices, with clear explanations and benefits - making a quick decision easy. The consumer is immediately presented with clear choices, and not too many of them that could potentially become distracting or overwhelming. What that means to you is a better chance at an immediate sale.

Stay up to date on the latest Internet trends:
Request a professional subscription to Website Magazine,
the most popular print publication on Web success.

Comscore Top 50 - November '08

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:10:00 GMT

Digital measurement company Comscore released its monthly analysis of U.S. consumer activity at the top online properties for November 2008. The start of the holiday shopping season drove Web users to retail sites, pushing the toy, electronics and department store categories to major traffic gains.

Google Sites continued to lead as the most visited property in November with 147 million visitors, followed by Yahoo! Sites with nearly 144 million visitors and Microsoft Sites with 123.5 million visitors. The holiday shopping season caused several retailers to gain in the ranking, including Amazon Sites (up one spot to #8 with 63.5 million visitors), Wal-Mart (up seven spots to #15 with 47.4 million visitors) and Target Corporation (up six spots to #18 with more than 39 million visitors).

Coupon sites ranked as the top-gaining category in November, surging 32 percent to 35.6 million visitors, as an uncertain economy and holiday deal searching led many Americans to seek coupons during the month. Eversave.com led the category with 8.6 million visitors (up 20 percent from the previous month). BlackFriday.info also saw strong gains, jumping nearly 1,500 percent to 5.5 million visitors in November, as eager shoppers planned their Black Friday purchases.

Cyber Monday? Think "Cyber December"

Mike Phillips — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:59:00 GMT

Cyber Monday brings Web surfers out in droves. They are looking for good deals on items on their lists, and products they don't even know they want yet. As such, it's important to be prepared, to strategize and make sure you get the biggest bang out of your marketing budget - not just for Monday, but also the coming weeks.

The National Retail Federation expects nearly 60% of workers to shop over their lunch hour on Monday. As a retailer, that means you should set your PPC bids at the highest your budget allows during these hours, then scale them back in the afternoon. Of course, if you're a local retailer, take time zones into consideration.

Naturally, traffic spikes for most online retailers on Cyber Monday. Look at the chart below from Compete.com and you'll see this holds true for some of the Web's most heavily trafficked retailers. That means you need to make sure your site is ready for the influx.

However, Cyber Monday is not the biggest online purchasing day of the year. That day occurs somewhere in the middle of December. Data from comScore illustrates this point, as does a study from the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs. Their annual study shows that only 11% of consumers say they have 50% or more of their gift buying done already. That is down from 15% last year, and 25% from 2004. In essence, consumers are procrastinating and that means they will be shopping feverishly as December draws to an end.

For retailers, this means that your budget should follow these trends - you want to garner the initial traffic surge, but also make sure you have enough left in your budget for when it really counts. Increase bids on Cyber Monday, scale back that week and start increasing them again towards mid-December. And get creative. Consider promotions or email blasts touting "last-minute" gift ideas, savings and shipping options and discounts.

2008 Online Retailer Holiday Strategies

Mike Phillips — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:38:00 GMT

Shopzilla's 2008 eHoliday study, conducted for Shop.org, reveals some strategies that online retailers are taking this year to beat a sagging economy. The study surveyed 60 online retailers from October 1-20, as well as 2,040 online buyers from September 29-October 3. And while many fear a slow holiday shopping season, apparently online retailers feel differently. More than half (56.1%) expect holiday sales to increase at least 15% over last year. So how do retailers plan on boosting profits?

Many retailers will deploy improved website features to lure and maintain customers. Improved or added site search is cited as a popular strategy this year (42.9%) as are functionalities for consumers to evaluate offerings - product video (42.6%) and customer reviews (32.7%) - that are designed to drive conversions.

One of the more prominent offerings for consumers will be free shipping, or reduced shipping costs. More than three quarters of retailers (78%) plan on offering free shipping, with conditions, during the holiday season, by renegotiating terms with shipping providers and reducing other promotions.

Many retailers will also focus on promotion this year. Social networking comes into play, with a full 25% of survey respondents adding a Facebook page this year to attract consumers. Brick-and-mortar retailers plan on offering email registration in stores (74.3%), advertise their website in stores (71.4%) and offer the ability for store employees to place online orders for customers (51.4%).

And there's good reason for heavy promotion this year. Of the more than 2,000 consumers surveyed, 20.1% say they have less money to spend this year, while 10.6% cited a poor economy. One in ten plans to spend less this year online due to high shipping charges, while 33% cite free shipping as a top reason to buy online.

Looking at these results, there are few surprises. Consumers are focused on saving money, while retailers are focused on increasing conversions. What are you doing this year to attract consumers and drive sales?