five hot new technology developments -...

Technology Workshop: 5 Hot New Technology Developments

Five Hot New Technology

Developments

Aaron Mandelbaum – CEO, Icebreaker

Marta Dalton – Manager of eCommerce, Wesco

Ryan West – Senior Vice President, West Music

Ross Higgins – Director of User Experience

Howard Blumenthal - Director, Ecommerce Platform Solutions & Business

Bernardine Wu – CEO, FitForCommece

#IRCE @FitForCommerce


5 Specific Investments to Dig Deeper

Data is everywhere. Data plays a role in every advanced technology and can help create a competitive edge.

Social Media Optimizing User

Experience

Personalization

Geo-Location

Data & Analytics


Social Media

Aaron Mandelbaum

Icebreaker Consulting

1


Selected eCommerce experience:

• Launched the world’s first flash-sales site for a brick & mortar retailer

• Launched a price comparison search engine

• Developed ecommerce monetization strategies

• NBC Universal (Managed 4MM+ email list strategy)

• 2 Books in the NY Times Bestseller list

• Conversion Rate Optimization

• Ecommerce, Advertising and Search

We connect your mission and vision with your digital presence


FB algorithm change

FB attrition

Google Algorithm Changes

Optimization

Social Strategy vs. Management

NEW TECH IN SOCIAL

1

2

3

4

5


FACEBOOK ALGORITHM CHANGES

• December 2013

• Brands lost 40-90% post exposure

• Facebook is forcing ads

• How can brands stay relevant?

• Start questioning the platform

• Post engaging/sharable content

• Provide value suited to Facebook


FACEBOOK ATTRITION

• Princeton University: “Facebook will lose 80% of its user base by 2017”

• Instagram

• Whatsapp

• Occulus Rift

• Millennials prefer video

• 27 Facebook executives have left in the last 3 years


GOOGLE ALGORITHM CHANGES

• Guest posts are now devalued

• Manual penalties delivered in March

• 8 years of SEO best practices are obsolete

• Focus on content and inbound marketing

• Is your SEO team up to date?


OPTIMIZATION

• Adaptive design - Responsive is a standard; adaptive is next

• Customize your site and landing pages for each visitor

• CRO - Boost conversion through functional design vs aesthetic design

• Test > Measure > Optimize > Repeat

• 40% increase in conversions ($1MM in revenue) in one test

Measure

Analyze

Test

Optimize CRO


SOCIAL STRATEGY VS. MANAGEMENT

• 5 jobs on Monster for “Social Media Strategy”

• 200+ jobs on Monster for “Social Media Manager”

• Marketers are not fully digitized

• Need training in:

• Engagement

• Platform best practices

• Analytics

• Social Media ROI


Personalization

Marta Dalton

Wesco

2


The Personalization Journey

• Personalization in the funnel – awareness, consideration, intent, evaluation, purchase

• Each step requires different levels of personalization and different types

– Higher in the funnel, beware of becoming too specific

– Lower in the funnel, being exact is critical

• Across channels – email, web presence, mobile

– Intent & funnel position differs by channel

– Channels are better together than by themselves

DRIVING GROWTH > CREATING VALUE


Setting the Target

• Known vs. anonymous users – Known: use what you’ve learned!

– Anonymous: can be a big win or a huge fail

• End-user markets – products & services – When targeting different end-users, you may find different

combinations of products & services

– What they want may surprise you – never assume!

• Purpose of the conversion – lead vs online buyer – Depending on where they’re going, you’ll provide different

“guidance” in the funnel

– Data needs are different here



Complexities & Challenges

• Merging online & offline data – especially legacy systems – Offline sources could include PoS systems, CRM, loyalty

– Online data includes on-site web activity, source information, email participation

– Merging data when the unique identifier is different, use third-party services vs utilizing internal data cleansing/appending

• Personalization across brands/sites – when to use it and when not to? – Personalization for cross-sell across sites can be powerful, but

may not always make sense

– Data from behavior on one site may not make sense in the context of another



The Bottom Line

• What’s the ROI of personalization? – May have high upfront costs, continuous ongoing monthly/yearly fees

– Provides value immediately, but becomes more accurate over time (meaning increased performance 6 months+ from launch)

– Drive returning traffic, which typically has higher average order values and conversion rates

– Introduce new products more effectively, especially add-ons/accessories

– Leverage current site success for a new brand/site

• Key metrics to measure success in personalization – Average order value

– Conversion rate

– Bounce/Exit

– Returning visitors/Returning buyers



Geo-location

Ryan West

West Music

3


• Family owned business focused on serving and

creating music makers

• Founded in 1941 by Pearl West

• Transformed from Bricks & Mortar to Catalog to

Ecommerce

• Today: Omni-Channel retailer 8 retail locations,

catalog operations, and Ecommerce presence at

WestMusic.com

Technology Workshop: 5 Hot New Technology Developments IRCE Ecommerce Technology Workshop: 7 Five Hot New Tech

Location, Location, Location

Technology Workshop: 5 Hot New Technology Developments IRCE Ecommerce Technology Workshop: 7 Five Hot New Tech

From Macro to Micro


Macrolocation: GEOIP


Macrolocation: GEOIP

http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:Geoip.png

http://xkcd.com/license.html


Macrolocation


Enter Mobile


http://www.estimote.com/estimote-for-retail.html


http://www.imore.com/sites/imore.com/files/styles/xlarge/public/field/image/2013/09/mlb_at_the_ballpark.jpg?itok=gGhoxymC


http://cdn.itproportal.com/photos/ibeacons_1_contentfullwidth.jpg http://blog.automatic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ibeacon.jpg


http://cdn.itproportal.com/photos/ibeacons_1_contentfullwidth.jpg


Advanced Analytics

Howard Blumenthal

Advance Auto Parts

4


About Advance Auto Parts

#1 Auto Parts Retailer and Wholesaler $9 Billion in Annual Sales Over 6,000 locations (CQ and AAP) Launched eBusiness in 2009 – 3 divisions: B2C Consumer B2B Commercial B2B eServices Leverage Real-time inventory Over 70% Online orders are In Store Pickup (ISPU/BOPUS)

Mobile and Social Both Play Growing Roles


What’s Old Is New Again

Technology Can Refresh Our Older Tools


Technology has Transformed Tag

Management Platforms

• Becoming Digital Data Distribution Platforms (D3P)

• Easily append data from disparate sources

• Run calculations on data in real time

• Create and analyze segments on the fly

So, Let’s Use Two Customer Satisfaction Examples


Use CSat to Identify Server Issues

Normal CSat score may look acceptable

Servers 1, 2, 4, 6 Servers 3 & 5

However, appending server data can tell a different story – such as corrupted data, missing file. Issues not typically identified by IT alerts or monitors

CSat scores for servers 3 & 5 are lower, indicating a potential issue


Integrate CSat Scores into A/B

Testing 1. Test versions can be fed to CSat Respondent data

Now CSat score can be used to select winner

2. CSat score can be used as a test parameter for personalization Example: Change the visibility of Live Chat based on CSat scores (pop-up frequency higher for those with low ease-of-use scores, lower for those with high ease-of-use scores)

Other Opportunities: Mouse Movements, multiple searches, frequency of informational calls, close actions, pop-up complaints


Key Takeaways

New tag management technologies can help you better leverage your existing tools (CSat, A/B testing, CRM, etc.)

Often saves time and resources: • Tools are managed by business, not IT • New views of data (such as our CSat server example)

can quickly uncover issues or opportunities

Opens new ways to optimize your business: • New success criteria (such as using Csat score in

evaluating A/B tests) • Personalize with greater relevance as more data

(CSat, Mouse Movements, etc.) becomes available


Usability & Design

Ross Higgins

Newegg.com

5


About Newegg

25M+ users

registered

3M+ product

reviews 1.8M+ social fans

Named #1 in Online Electronics Stores

2012 by Consumer Reports

35M Monthly

Unique Visitors

Headquarters:

Los Angeles, CA

Worldwide Employees:

Approximately 2,600

$2.7B in revenue for 2013,

profitable every year since 2001


Hundreds Of New Features Every Year 2013 • Guest Checkout • New Homepage • EggPoints Program • MAP pricing workaround • Password Strength • EggXpert Reviews • Predictive Search Ahead • IAB Standard Ads

• Combo Configurator • Homepage Takeover Ads • Marketplace Daily Deals • Flagship Brand Stores • Promotional Store Layouts • Faceted Search • Third-Party Features

Tradition of Innovation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlEpJjWH0N0


Easy To Use There is no instruction manual

Meet Customers Needs

If they can’t find it, they can’t buy it

Lots Of Competitors

Don’t give customers a reason to leave

Usability is Imperative


Behavior Of The Customer

• Website Analytics • A/B & Multivariate Testing • User Testing

Voice Of The Customer

• Social Media • Onsite Feedback Surveys • Reseller Ratings • Customer Service Feedback

Sources of Information


People Don’t Do What They Think They Do

Don’t ask, observe Real customers Real tasks You will be surprised

Why Conduct User Tests?


User testing can be quick and inexpensive once a system and process is in place. Where To Test?

Dedicated usability lab Conference room Will-Call Center

What Equipment? Laptop with webcam Inexpensive software

How Many Participants? 1-5 will do

No Excuses, Just Do it


Our company utilizes both In-person and remote usability testing throughout the year. Types of tests conducted includes:

Interviews

Prototypes

Benchmark Current Designs

And Competitor’s Designs

Desktop & Mobile

Types of Usability Testing


Remote Usability Testing: m.newegg.com Test Goals:

Identify usability issues throughout the browsing

and purchasing paths. Understand ways to optimize

the navigation elements of the site.

Test Task:

With an iPhone ask users to access m.newegg.com

and shop for and buy a lightweight laptop to be used

for both work during the day and watching movies at

night.

Benchmark Current Design


Test Early & Often Test at every stage if possible. Be sure to test wireframes, prototypes and mockups. It doesn’t always have to be a live site.

Test The Old Design

Identify the good and bad. Understand what currently works and what needs optimizing

Test The Competition

Similar problems, different approaches. Get a better understanding of the strength and weaknesses of your competitors.

Usability Testing Guidelines


Q&A

Aaron Mandelbaum

Icebreaker Consulting

[email protected]

917-477-7957

@icebreakerstrat

Ross Higgins

Newegg.com

[email protected]

@rmhiggins

Bernardine Wu CEO, FitForCommerce [email protected] @FitForCommerce

Marta Dalton

Manager of eCommerce, Wesco

[email protected]

@digitallyspeakn

Howard Blumenthal

Advanced Auto Parts

[email protected]

@howblum

Ryan West

West Music

[email protected]

Technology Workshop: 5 Hot New Technology Developments 50

#IRCE #techworkshop

Technology Workshop

five hot new technology developments -...

Documents