forrester & sdl - optimizing ecommerce experiences
DESCRIPTION
Sucharita Mulpuru of Forrester shares online retail research and best practices for eCommerce marketers to optimize and personalize the customer experience. Tom Smith, SDL, talked through the 6 key elements of experience-Commerce with examples from ASOS, Majestic Wines and many others.TRANSCRIPT
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SDL Proprietary and Confidential
Turning Browsers into Buyers: How To Optimize the eCommerce Experience
Sucharita Mulpuru, VP and Principal Analyst, Forrester
Tom Smith, Product Marketing Manager, SDL
March 19, 2014
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From brand experience, to customer experience
“A brand is more than just your logo”
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Customer Experience = Brand & Commerce in Harmony
“Your customers have one view of you, don’t give them reason to change that perspective”
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Likes HP
52 years old
Bought a tablet month ago
Looking for a sports car
Shopping for golden ear rings
On the street using 3G, no wifi
access points
Location: New York
The Rise of Context“Tying the scattered, digital existence to the actual, physical self”
Early evening
Using an Android 5.7 inch device
Travels KLM
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Shoppers don’t think online vs. offline
“Being relevant, is more relevant than ever”
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‘Old school’ merchants and marketers limit their focus to
the transaction
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The Millennial Generation demands more ‘experience
Commerce’
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© 2013 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 8
Three drivers of web shopping
Top 2 box of 1-5 scale
CONVENIENCE
SELECTION
VALUE
Source: Forrester Benchmark Recontact Survey 2013
I find better values and deals online
I save time by shopping online
I find products online that I cannot find anywhere else
63%
68%
70%
Base: 4,476 online adulsts
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© 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
Most sales will continue to happen in stores
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© 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited
The number of smartphone and tablet users are growing rapidly
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Site metrics continue to be challenged
2000 20100%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
2.2% 2.9%
Conversion Rates
2000 20100%
10%20%30%40%50%60% 53% 55%
Cart Abandonment Rates
2000 2010$0
$1
$2
$3
$4 $3 $3
Customer service $/order
2000 20100%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%40%
35%
Repeat Shopper Revenue
Source: Forrester and Shop.org State of Retailing Online Studies
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Phase 1 (1990s-2001) Phase 2 (2001-2008) Phase 3 (present)
Site optimization efforts have evolved
Site launches
• Licensed solutions• Limited budgets• Functionality constrained by
bandwidth• Functionality
enhancements from point solutions
• “Plug-in” modules• “One-for-all” execution
Basic site improvements
Dynamic optimization
• Integration of broad datapoints
• “One-to-one” execution• Mainstreaming of cloud
infrastructure
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Phase 2 introduced many now “industry standard” features
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Agenda
›Optimizing the experience
›Examples
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Interactive marketing helped to evolve eCommerce executives to “dynamic” thinking
› Testing of copy and creative
› Dynamic adjustment of datafeeds
› Personalized content and segmentation based on previous clickstream history
› Landing page optimization
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Turn browsers into buyers by using…
› Intent from on-site search, or search engines
› Current interests from clickstream
› Recommendations which can be adjusted to a shoppers’ visit
› Items in cart as a trigger for cross-sells and upsells
› Insight on whether the visitor is a repeat or first-time visitor
› Location of the customer (direct or inferred)
› Dynamic pricing
› Browser type and mobile information to adjust content
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Some retailers have been doing this for over a decade
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Smarter store windows can be incorporated throughout the site experience
Site touchpoint Opportunity
Homepage/landing page Promotional offers to various customer segments “Smart shipping”; vary offers based on the most cost-effective shipping optionContent variance based on geography of viewerSort site search by inventory availability
Product detail pages Personalized recommendationsLive support for shoppers based on inferences about likelihood to buyChanges in pricing or offers based on browser and location (e.g. in-stores and mobile search)Offers based on consumer likelihood to buy
Checkout Personalized recommendations and offersSame session offers
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Agenda
›Optimizing the experience
›Examples
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Do incorporate recommendations throughout the shopping experience
1
2
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3
4
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Recommendations during search results expose useful products at key moments
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Do put recommendations in email
Order Confirmation
Shipping Confirmation
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Do put recommendations above the fold where possible
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Product detail pages should upsell while checkout cross-sells best
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Do think about the verbiage for describing your recommendations
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Faceted navigation is now table stakes
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Different treatments for different visitors
First time visitors get a special offer
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Do consider suggestive search
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Do constantly tweak your algorithms
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Adjust what is rendered according to the device
www.t.staples.com
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A few “don’ts” to think about
› Don’t neglect your product recommendations feature, even if you plan to “set and forget”
› Don’t expect recommendations to overcome clumsy taxonomy
› Don’t underestimate the challenges of doing this in-house
› Don’t ignore your company’s unique challenges in the due diligence process
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A superior customer experience = a stronger company overall
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The eCommerce Experience Challenge
How do I build a differentiated, forward-
thinking digital shopping experience while everything changes around me, day to
day?How do I invest in top priority projects while
thinking about the customer experience – is mobile more important than video, than
international, than merchandising, than
omnichannel?
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The eCommerce Experience Challenge
How do I stop working on a hunch and more on the data
I know will tell me more about how to optimize for my
customers?
How do I bring all the eCommerce experiences together into one holistic
experience that aligns with KPI goals AND brand goals?
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Towards Experience-Commerce
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From: Transaction Focus
To: Experience Focus
• Basic Catalog Content Exposed
• Minimal data points, little
understanding of customer
context
• Division between channels
• Pushing products
• Silos between content/brand &
eCommerce teams
• Minimal international
understanding
1. Catalog Enrichment
2. Context-awareness and Data-
influenced Experiences
3. Satisfying the Omnichannel ‘norm’
4. Influencing Product Discovery
5. Blending Content + Commerce
6. Refined, controlled international
eCommerce
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1. Catalog Enrichment
* Invodo research 2013 – How Consumers Shop with Video: http://www2.invodo.com/l/12102/2013-05-17/9399r
Video + interactive imagery = Engaging the Customer & Driving to
Purchase
55% of consumers are more likely to purchase after
watching a video*
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Likes HP
52 years old
Bought a tablet month ago
Looking for a sports car
Shopping for golden ear rings
On the street using 3G, no wifi
access points
Location: New York
The Rise of Context
• It’s about the mobile consumer, not the device
• Understand time, device, location and profile
• Derive insights from behaviors
• Guide the experience
Early evening
Using an Android 5.7 inch device
Travels Delta
2. Context Awareness
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2. Data-driven Merchandising
Moving an item by one row equals a discount of up to 6% for a short product list and medium position dependent products*
Moving an item by one row equals a discount of up to 21% for a medium-length product list and highly position-dependent products
= -21%*
Moving products has a similar effect as a discount
*Based on an experiment with hypothetical purchase decisions. 9 or 27 options per decision. Medium position dependent product: suitcases, highly position dependent product: wine.
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3. Satisfy the Omnichannel ‘Norm’
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Unified Experience
Flexibility and seamless shopping
Full product offering across all channels
Single view for the customer across all
channels
Single organization servicing all channels
Omnichannel Retailer
Some cross channel
capabilities
Single brand access across all channels
Separate supply chains and systems
Cross-channel Retailer
Different channels in
silos
Silo’d business units
Stock availability
High level customer service
Product variety
Differentiated services
Multi-Channel Retailer
Bulk of revenue from one channel
Traditional brick and mortar retailer
Pure play online retailer
Single Channel Retailer
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3. Satisfy the Omnichannel ‘Norm’
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4. Influence Product Discovery
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“One of the problems with e-commerce today is the tendency to equate “search” with “shopping”.
Shopping is not a utilitarian function, but instead, a process of
discovery. Think of a time you visited a store and found
something wonderful, something unexpected. You don’t have to give
that up in order to shop online.”
~ Hiroshi Mikitani, CEO, Rakuten ~
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5. Blending (Relevant) Content + Commerce
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5. Blending (Relevant) Content + Commerce
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5. Blending (Relevant) Content + Commerce
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6. Internationalization
• Centralized merchandising control? Or local flexibility?• Language considerations?
• Propensity to shop on smartphones, tablets?• Prefer video & imagery?
• Less likely to make a purchase without going in-store?
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7. Internationalization
“Sneaker”…“shoe”…“trainer”…“running shoe”?
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SDL for eCommerce: Optimize & Personalize
Optimize conversion rates 18-40% Make shopping inspiring, intuitive and
part of the complete customer experience
Give your merchants and marketers control over the digital shopping experience
Blend multiple data sources to personalize for each and every customer, regardless of channel
eCommerce
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SDL for eCommerce Optimization and Personalization
Data-driven Merchandising
Predictive Targeting
Business Management Layer
Predictive Analysis & Optimization
Data Manager
PersonalizationSearch
& Navigation
Brand or Shop – ‘Branded Store’ Experience
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Global Retailers We Work With…
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SDL’s VisionCustomer Experience Cloud
Deliver seamless, data-driven experiences at each point of the customer journey – across channels, devices and languages.
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SDL Customer Experience Cloud