Hello all,
Thank you for all your support over these three months. 3P Logistics have decided to move the blog under our website's domain, with link as followed:
http://www.3p-logistics.co.uk/news
From now on we will no longer update this site. Please visit our official website for further information.
Best Regards,
3P Logistics
Wednesday 17 April 2013
Monday 15 April 2013
Your ecommerce daily routine...
As we always say 'do what you do best, and outsource the rest!'.
3P Logistics pride ourselves as the true 'one-stop shop' - from factory gate collection through to end delivery point we have it covered. We even offer e-commerce services such as inbound telesales, clearance outlet and marketing, etc.
This makes some people question: if you are doing everything, what should I be doing?
Well, there is SO MUCH that you can be doing! First of all you should constantly be looking for something new to grow your business. If you are busy picking and packing how can you research on ways to improve? Secondly, there are so many daily actions that you should be doing, just to name a few:
(source:
)
1. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
It is a life time job to boost your ecommerce site's search engine rankings, unless Google is dead. Online retailers need to focus on the contents, and to build relationships with authority sites that will link back to yours. Each single page should be optimised separately. Do your homework - research keywords, ensure that the page structure includes H1 and H2 tags, and put in optimised titles and descriptions. Remember to link related content throughout the site and bold key phrases. It is all about keywords density. I know it is a lot of hard work (that's why my colleague is doing it instead of me, ha) but you would be over the moon when you appear on the first page of the Google search result. Oh, maybe you already are on the first page, then try to get to (or maintain) the first place!
2. Sourcing
Our cheesy slogan: 'you source and sell, leave the rest to 3PL.'
Sourcing is the key to your business. Keep your eyes peeled. Spend at least an hour a day reading trends and check what you competitors are doing. Is there any new products available? Is your price still competitive? Is there better alternative to what you are selling? Make sure you are targeting the right audience with the right product.
According to Dale Traxler, '... it's likely that you sell consistently to a similar demographic. Check that for yourself. Ask your customers why they buy from you. Find out what other products they would like to see you sell'. You should understand your customers as much as you can!
3. Marketing
Yes we can do the 'startup' marketing for you such as web photography, listing and website design, but you still have to do the maintenance bit. Have you tried promoting your business via social media? For example Twitter is a great platform for engaging with customers and Facebook is good for hosting competitions and promoting events. And have you done any email marketing? Send your customers thank you email, seasonal greetings, or promote new products that you would be selling in the near future. These are all low cost and low risk ways to advertise your business so why not give it a go?
Remember, if you are doing multichannel marketing, you should always be consistent, to establish and maintain your brand image. Choose a tone of voice which will appeal to your target market. For example be fun and lighthearted if you sell gadgets.
4. Business strategies and report
Every business should have detail and clear strategy report. This allows you to know if you are on the right track. Set objectives and see if you can achieve them. Address key performace indicators (KPI) and measure return on investment (ROI). As suggested by Dale Traxler, 'At a minimum, monitor sales, average order value, cost of goods sold, traffic, conversion rates, abandonments rates and your cash position'. With your report in hand you can plan your future actions and continue to grow your business in a logical manner.
3P Logistics pride ourselves as the true 'one-stop shop' - from factory gate collection through to end delivery point we have it covered. We even offer e-commerce services such as inbound telesales, clearance outlet and marketing, etc.
This makes some people question: if you are doing everything, what should I be doing?
Well, there is SO MUCH that you can be doing! First of all you should constantly be looking for something new to grow your business. If you are busy picking and packing how can you research on ways to improve? Secondly, there are so many daily actions that you should be doing, just to name a few:
(source:
)1. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
It is a life time job to boost your ecommerce site's search engine rankings, unless Google is dead. Online retailers need to focus on the contents, and to build relationships with authority sites that will link back to yours. Each single page should be optimised separately. Do your homework - research keywords, ensure that the page structure includes H1 and H2 tags, and put in optimised titles and descriptions. Remember to link related content throughout the site and bold key phrases. It is all about keywords density. I know it is a lot of hard work (that's why my colleague is doing it instead of me, ha) but you would be over the moon when you appear on the first page of the Google search result. Oh, maybe you already are on the first page, then try to get to (or maintain) the first place!
2. Sourcing
Our cheesy slogan: 'you source and sell, leave the rest to 3PL.'
Sourcing is the key to your business. Keep your eyes peeled. Spend at least an hour a day reading trends and check what you competitors are doing. Is there any new products available? Is your price still competitive? Is there better alternative to what you are selling? Make sure you are targeting the right audience with the right product.
According to Dale Traxler, '... it's likely that you sell consistently to a similar demographic. Check that for yourself. Ask your customers why they buy from you. Find out what other products they would like to see you sell'. You should understand your customers as much as you can!
3. Marketing
Yes we can do the 'startup' marketing for you such as web photography, listing and website design, but you still have to do the maintenance bit. Have you tried promoting your business via social media? For example Twitter is a great platform for engaging with customers and Facebook is good for hosting competitions and promoting events. And have you done any email marketing? Send your customers thank you email, seasonal greetings, or promote new products that you would be selling in the near future. These are all low cost and low risk ways to advertise your business so why not give it a go?
Remember, if you are doing multichannel marketing, you should always be consistent, to establish and maintain your brand image. Choose a tone of voice which will appeal to your target market. For example be fun and lighthearted if you sell gadgets.
4. Business strategies and report
Every business should have detail and clear strategy report. This allows you to know if you are on the right track. Set objectives and see if you can achieve them. Address key performace indicators (KPI) and measure return on investment (ROI). As suggested by Dale Traxler, 'At a minimum, monitor sales, average order value, cost of goods sold, traffic, conversion rates, abandonments rates and your cash position'. With your report in hand you can plan your future actions and continue to grow your business in a logical manner.
4 Key Ecommerce Metrics that Determine Success
Some boring but useful business knowledge...
There are four key ecommerce metrics that determine success. They are:
- Understanding lifetime value of a customer;
- Monitoring customer satisfaction;
- Measuring your sales funnel;
- Determining marketing ROI.
The most successful ecommerce brands incorporate these elements whether they realize it or not. If you’re an online retailer just starting or are trying to grow your business, implementing these four metrics will help your business thrive.
1. Understand the Lifetime Value of a Customer
Many companies calculate their return on investment on a single sale. Instead, the ROI should be focused on the lifetime value of the customer. It's the most accurate measurement of a customer’s economic worth for the company.
To determine a customer’s lifetime value — CLV, or CLTV — consider the following formula.
 |
| A customer's lifetime value is calculated using all interactions a customer has with your business. |
To accurately determine the “profit” in the equation, it’s crucial that you measure your inventory and sales margins accurately. Without accurate measurements, it will be impossible to determine CLV, which allows you to determine your actual return on invested capital. To find the average acquisition cost, simply divide your acquisition spending by the number of customers acquired from your marketing campaign. When you plug these values into the CLV formula, you should have a fairly accurate assessment of a customer’s economic value to your company.
Customer lifetime value is significant because it’s more cost effective to keep an existing customer than to acquire a new one.
To assess and predict your level of customer retention, consider adding an accurate customer experience metric such as a net promoter score — NPS. With this method, you can determine which consumers are "promoters," "passives," and "detractors." Higher customer satisfaction will usually result in promoters, though many satisfied customers are also “passive.” It’s important to remember that NPS is more than just about the numbers and rankings; it’s an opportunity for your brand to listen and respond to authentic customer feedback. When you understand the satisfaction of your customers, you will be better equipped to determine CLV and thus your return on invested capital.
2. Monitor Customer Satisfaction
Ecommerce offers many tools to understand customers. Whether it’s Google Analytics or your site’s internal software, you can track the demographics, psychographics, purchase history, and drivers behind your visitors. Furthermore, use this information and compare it to your target audience. Are these statistics lining up? How can you change strategy to improve performance?
Many ecommerce businesses that falter have outsourced customer service. It's best to perform customer service in house. After all, you know more about your business and products than anyone else. Doing it in house shows that you truly care about the customer experience, which is what drives repeat business.
When listening to customers, you can learn:
- What the experience is actually like from their perspective;
- Whether customer needs or desires are being met by your current offering;
- The truth behind the numbers.
Actually listening to a customer’s voice reveals more about the experience than numbers ever can. For instance, a customer might walk into your store, browse your shelves, and then purchase several items. From a numbers perspective, the purchase and transaction was a success.
However, communicating with the customer about the experience might have shown you that he walked into your store to purchase a brand new computer. Since he wasn’t able to find it, he purchased a few small items to prevent a wasted trip, and then went to one of your competitors to get what he needed. From this vantage point, the transaction was a failure. This is why knowing your customer is more important than simply knowing the numbers. The principles in this brick-and-mortar example also apply to ecommerce.
Now that you’ve gathered user information and have established a relationship with customers, it’s time to implement satisfaction metrics. Feedback requests and surveys are good ways to hear firsthand from the customer. Again, using the net promoter score system is a valuable tool to grow your brand. Since NPS measures customers' satisfaction and their likelihood to recommend your brand, you have a better barometer of measuring word of mouth sales. Use the information to improve performance.
3. Measure the Funnel
Online tools can track customer information. But they can also measure the sales funnel. Use Advanced Segments on Google Analytics to measure:
- Landing pages;
- Conversion rates;
- Types of visitors.
To ensure that your landing page is successful, make sure that the bulk of your important information is “above the fold.” The call-to-action and purpose should be apparent to the visitor without the need to navigate anywhere. By keeping navigation simple, your visitors are focused and will journey through the conversion path that you’ve created.
Practice A/B testing to determine helpful improvements. Perhaps resizing an image or repurposing a button is all that’s separating a dead page from incredible conversion rates. In short, clarity, headlines, large “red” buttons, and calls-to-action are all elements that will greatly enhance the effectiveness of your landing page.
Determining how people stumbled into your site in the first place can tell you a lot about your marketing efforts. Are you successful with search engine optimization? What keywords are people searching to find you? Are they "searchers," "comparers," "researchers," or "advice-seekers"?
4. Determine the Marketing ROI
Ecommerce sites typically rely on search engine marketing, affiliate marketing, and more to gain visibility and traffic. Calculate the margin per order and the customer’s lifetime value. Again, the mistake most ecommerce companies make is to calculate return on investment on one purchase instead of lifetime value. For repeat business, base the calculations using CLV for a more accurate prediction. Determining marketing ROI will let you know the status of your marketing efforts as well as how you can improve.
To calculate this, use the following formula.
 |
| Determining ROI helps you improve marketing efforts. |
Dividing "Acquisition Spending" by the "Number of Customers Acquired" will give you your acquisition cost. By comparing this with the customer lifetime value, you can check whether your CLV is lower, the same as, or higher than your average acquisition cost. Once you know your marketing ROI, continue tweaking it for the results you desire.
Source:
Friday 12 April 2013
Checkout page optimisation
Following the success of the previous article 'product page optimisation', 3P Logistics are going to present you with 'checkout page optimisation'. Hopefully this can give you a few guidelines when modifying your website. Feel free to call us for professional
1. Provide guest checkout option
According to esurverypro, 23% of shopping cart abandonment are caused by site requiring registration before purchase. If you have been reading best practice articles, each and every one of them would tell you to eliminate your compulsory registration. Why are people are still doing it? Please, just make things simple and easy for your customers. ASOS remove any mention of creating an account (using New to ASOS? instead) and this has halved their abandonment rate. Impressive, huh?
2. Only ask for necessary personal information
Customers feel their privacy is invaded when they have to submit seemingly unnecessary personal information. As suggested by Baymard, either make it optional, or provide a valid reason to ask for this information. For example, I don't want to give out my phone number unless I bought food and they have to call me before delivery or something.
3. Display delivery and payment information
We are talking about absolute transparency here. Make sure you have every single detail explained. Apple has a question and answer session at the bottom of the page, giving people a peace of mind. It can also save time for customer service team - less phone calls and emails.
4. Remove distraction
It is like teaching your kid to learn something - you wouldn't put a toy right next to him, right? Same applies to your e-commerce site. If you take away other navigational elements, advertisement, external links, obvious voucher code box (people are likely to wander off to search for the code, and some may even forget the shopping), customers are more likely to focus purely on completing the purchase. Instead, make shipping and livery information and security logos etc., very prominent. As you can see from above, Apple makes their 'shipping', 'payment', 'account', extremely large and obvious to draw customers' attention to the main task.
5. Provide variety of payment methods
According to WorldPay via eConsultancy, alternative payments account for 22% of global e-commerce transactions. There is no reason limiting the way that customers pay. I have friends abroad who only has Paypal in GBP currency so she couldn't buy from a site which only accept credit card. Allowing people to pay in different ways can certainly expand your market.
6. Show the progress
People really do have no patience - they want to know when will things be done. Either you can show a progress bar, or make everything into one page like the Apple one, and just expand each session when they are on it. Make sure you let people go back to the previous step if they enter something wrong/ change their mind. Again, it is all about clarity and convenience.
7. Remind them to stay/ come back
Have you ever filled your baskets up and then realise - ah, you can't really afford this. And then you decided to delete your cart? Well, I have. You can consider hitting your customers with a notification (pop-up) when they click delete cart. This may give them second thought. You can also send a reminder style, autoresponder email, a while after they have abandoned their cart. According to a survey, a lot of merchants agree that abandonment autoresponder has excellent ROI.
To conclude, do your own usability test. Be a customer yourself and try to understand how customers navigate through the page. And remember to compare it to other e-commerce site. Is yours simple and straightforward like the others? Have you missed out any information? Is it a pleasant checkout experience?
1. Provide guest checkout option
According to esurverypro, 23% of shopping cart abandonment are caused by site requiring registration before purchase. If you have been reading best practice articles, each and every one of them would tell you to eliminate your compulsory registration. Why are people are still doing it? Please, just make things simple and easy for your customers. ASOS remove any mention of creating an account (using New to ASOS? instead) and this has halved their abandonment rate. Impressive, huh?
 |
| I can only afford to buy one item, please let me checkout as a guest. Thank you, Apple. |
2. Only ask for necessary personal information
Customers feel their privacy is invaded when they have to submit seemingly unnecessary personal information. As suggested by Baymard, either make it optional, or provide a valid reason to ask for this information. For example, I don't want to give out my phone number unless I bought food and they have to call me before delivery or something.
3. Display delivery and payment information
We are talking about absolute transparency here. Make sure you have every single detail explained. Apple has a question and answer session at the bottom of the page, giving people a peace of mind. It can also save time for customer service team - less phone calls and emails.
 |
| Large, clear, and attention seeking checkout 'keywords' with Q&A session below (apple) |
4. Remove distraction
It is like teaching your kid to learn something - you wouldn't put a toy right next to him, right? Same applies to your e-commerce site. If you take away other navigational elements, advertisement, external links, obvious voucher code box (people are likely to wander off to search for the code, and some may even forget the shopping), customers are more likely to focus purely on completing the purchase. Instead, make shipping and livery information and security logos etc., very prominent. As you can see from above, Apple makes their 'shipping', 'payment', 'account', extremely large and obvious to draw customers' attention to the main task.
5. Provide variety of payment methods
According to WorldPay via eConsultancy, alternative payments account for 22% of global e-commerce transactions. There is no reason limiting the way that customers pay. I have friends abroad who only has Paypal in GBP currency so she couldn't buy from a site which only accept credit card. Allowing people to pay in different ways can certainly expand your market.
 |
| Every single payment type you can think of. (asos) |
6. Show the progress
People really do have no patience - they want to know when will things be done. Either you can show a progress bar, or make everything into one page like the Apple one, and just expand each session when they are on it. Make sure you let people go back to the previous step if they enter something wrong/ change their mind. Again, it is all about clarity and convenience.
7. Remind them to stay/ come back
Have you ever filled your baskets up and then realise - ah, you can't really afford this. And then you decided to delete your cart? Well, I have. You can consider hitting your customers with a notification (pop-up) when they click delete cart. This may give them second thought. You can also send a reminder style, autoresponder email, a while after they have abandoned their cart. According to a survey, a lot of merchants agree that abandonment autoresponder has excellent ROI.
 |
| Progress bar on top. Pop-up box appear when you click delete. (boots) |
To conclude, do your own usability test. Be a customer yourself and try to understand how customers navigate through the page. And remember to compare it to other e-commerce site. Is yours simple and straightforward like the others? Have you missed out any information? Is it a pleasant checkout experience?
Wednesday 10 April 2013
Monday 8 April 2013
Product page optimisation
Product pages do make a difference - I would rather pay a bit more to buy from a well presented, informative website. Below summed up 10 points that you should pay attention to when creating the product page. Attention to details, folks...
1. Image
As I have said before, people cannot touch or feel the actual products so all they can rely on is the pictorial information you display. If you are having a DIY session, consider having a light box when taking pictures as it can make them look so much more professional. Images should be taken from different angles, and should be uploaded onto your product page in high resolution. Oh, and do offer zoom feature - people do not like sticking their face onto the screen to check the details.
2. Discounts!
When you have an offer, such as giving discounts or launching promotions, make sure they are seeking as much attention as possible. 62% of buyers consider 'special sales and discounts' as the most important features that influence their buying decision. Boost your conversion rate by highlighting your discount!
3. Call to Action
Yes, even the call to action button has a best practice guide, available HERE.
4. Easy navigation
This includes offering a well organised menu, site map, and product search function. No more Easter egg hunt - people simply do not have the patience to search around. Categorise your products in a clear manner and make things simple for your customers. If you have problem sorting your products into groups, type them into eBay search bar and see which groups your products belong.
5. Emotional Message
Your product page may be perfectly displayed but adding an emotional trigger can connect to customers' emotions. It can certainly affect buying decisions. Great article HERE.
6. Consumer Reviews
Believe it or not, 63% of customers are more likely to make a purchase from a site with user review. Product reviews best practice available HERE.
7. Show Other Products
Personal experience - I put a dress into the shopping basket and then I saw the matching shoes. Well, lets put that in as well. Did you know that the cost you need to successfully recruit a customer is far much more than retaining one? Tempt your customers with other products (of course pick something that they are interested in) can result in cross-selling and boost your profit instantly.
8. Social Media
Social media has the ability to reach so many potential customers, yet it can be free. Put social media buttons onto your product page so people can share your products with their social network. It is a free advertising opportunity so why not? You may as well throw in the 'email your friend' button as well.
9. Live chat/ free call back
I am sure you have had the experience of getting really frustrated because of bad customer services - either you get no response or you are put on hold for ages. Live chat is a convenient way to tackle this problem. If you do not want to invest in such technology you could consider offering a free call back. Do not charge customers for calling you - it will simply make them abandon their shopping cart. Customer service is the key, and it can really make you stand out from your competitors.
10. Peace of mind
Must have feature! Make sure you display absolute transparency by showing your shipping, return, privacy, security policies, and all those bits and bobs. You may not care but your customers do. The more the know the merrier.
1. Image
As I have said before, people cannot touch or feel the actual products so all they can rely on is the pictorial information you display. If you are having a DIY session, consider having a light box when taking pictures as it can make them look so much more professional. Images should be taken from different angles, and should be uploaded onto your product page in high resolution. Oh, and do offer zoom feature - people do not like sticking their face onto the screen to check the details.
 |
| Multiple pictures, with zoom, videos (asos) |
2. Discounts!
When you have an offer, such as giving discounts or launching promotions, make sure they are seeking as much attention as possible. 62% of buyers consider 'special sales and discounts' as the most important features that influence their buying decision. Boost your conversion rate by highlighting your discount!
 |
| Big, dead centre, sharp colours, sale message (asos) |
3. Call to Action
Yes, even the call to action button has a best practice guide, available HERE.
 |
| The most common one would be 'add to bag' (urban outfitters) |
4. Easy navigation
This includes offering a well organised menu, site map, and product search function. No more Easter egg hunt - people simply do not have the patience to search around. Categorise your products in a clear manner and make things simple for your customers. If you have problem sorting your products into groups, type them into eBay search bar and see which groups your products belong.
 |
| Excellent filter feature to find the thing you want (asos) |
Your product page may be perfectly displayed but adding an emotional trigger can connect to customers' emotions. It can certainly affect buying decisions. Great article HERE.
 |
| 'Love the space you're in' (rose & grey) |
6. Consumer Reviews
Believe it or not, 63% of customers are more likely to make a purchase from a site with user review. Product reviews best practice available HERE.
7. Show Other Products
Personal experience - I put a dress into the shopping basket and then I saw the matching shoes. Well, lets put that in as well. Did you know that the cost you need to successfully recruit a customer is far much more than retaining one? Tempt your customers with other products (of course pick something that they are interested in) can result in cross-selling and boost your profit instantly.
 |
| Cross selling (Amazon) |
8. Social Media
Social media has the ability to reach so many potential customers, yet it can be free. Put social media buttons onto your product page so people can share your products with their social network. It is a free advertising opportunity so why not? You may as well throw in the 'email your friend' button as well.
 |
| Email and social media buttons, with clear display of delivery and return information (John Lewis) |
9. Live chat/ free call back
I am sure you have had the experience of getting really frustrated because of bad customer services - either you get no response or you are put on hold for ages. Live chat is a convenient way to tackle this problem. If you do not want to invest in such technology you could consider offering a free call back. Do not charge customers for calling you - it will simply make them abandon their shopping cart. Customer service is the key, and it can really make you stand out from your competitors.
10. Peace of mind
Must have feature! Make sure you display absolute transparency by showing your shipping, return, privacy, security policies, and all those bits and bobs. You may not care but your customers do. The more the know the merrier.
Thursday 4 April 2013
Do you have to pay Royal Mail’s increased rates?
The short
answer is no – there are other options!
(photo courtesy: neopost)
As
Fulfilment Houses such as 3P Logistics operate on behalf of a large number of
online retailers, this means that their collective buying power and expertise
in negotiating with carriers can bring benefits, which can then be passed onto
their clients.
The
increases implemented this week by Royal Mail have led online retailers to take
another look at their distribution costs and delivery timeframes offered to
their customers. Fulfilment companies can
offer a real alternative; not only can distribution costs be lowered, but the
overall proposition of an in-house v an outsourced solution can bring enormous
benefits in terms of time saved and the refocusing onto vital areas such as
sourcing and selling more effectively, through multiple channels.
John Scully,
Business Development Manager at 3P Logistics, explains:
'Clients often arrive
at a crossroads, where, to expand their business further, they need to either
take on additional resource and space, or outsource on a pay-as you-use basis'.
'The recent
hike in Royal Mail’s prices especially affect the small to medium sized online
retailer – there are alternatives out there that can not only bring savings but
can take their businesses onto new levels.'
Price changes details HERE
Price changes details HERE
Wednesday 3 April 2013
From online store to high street...
Yes I know, everyday you heard news about high street brands going online, selling online. It is always going from offline to online, how about the other way round? Does it even work?
Guess what - MOO.com, an online business cards printer, went offline instead. Their shop is located in Shoreditch, London, in a mall filled with hip brands. Paul Lewis, the director of marketing, says 'We’ve taken our digital service and moved it into the real world. Though sadly we are seeing many brand name shops go under, this does mean that the meaning of the high street is changing for people. It gives opportunities to smaller businesses and startups.'
Moo offline store has replicated the layout of a webpage (you can even see the drop down menus!), which certainly adds the fun factor. (picture from TNW)
The store allows customers to choose and design their business card on site. They can also order online and collect in-store. I guess the most interesting part is the 'inspiration' corner, which showcases examples of sticker cards and prints that have chosen the service from Moo. All these allow more interaction between customers and products.Going offline can actually be beneficial to a company since customers can actually touch and feel the product, which can encourage engagement and reinforce brand loyalty.
Indeed, people's shopping habit has changed. Quoting Internet Retailing, We expect the future of retail to be about shops as well as online. But those shops will be ones that are highly-targeted, aimed at a demographic whose interest was first measured online, and offer plenty of added value services'. I cannot agree with this more. There is still plenty of opportunity in the high street, it is just that shoppers are evolving and the high street stores have to evolve with them in order to survive. I guess it is time to redefine the purpose of having a physical store. Shops are not just for displaying and selling products anymore, it should be a part of the multi-channel marketing and selling experience. I am not sure if Moo offline store will work but this can certainly generate a hype and excite potential customers - at least it works on me! Good luck :)
Guess what - MOO.com, an online business cards printer, went offline instead. Their shop is located in Shoreditch, London, in a mall filled with hip brands. Paul Lewis, the director of marketing, says 'We’ve taken our digital service and moved it into the real world. Though sadly we are seeing many brand name shops go under, this does mean that the meaning of the high street is changing for people. It gives opportunities to smaller businesses and startups.'
Moo offline store has replicated the layout of a webpage (you can even see the drop down menus!), which certainly adds the fun factor. (picture from TNW)
The store allows customers to choose and design their business card on site. They can also order online and collect in-store. I guess the most interesting part is the 'inspiration' corner, which showcases examples of sticker cards and prints that have chosen the service from Moo. All these allow more interaction between customers and products.Going offline can actually be beneficial to a company since customers can actually touch and feel the product, which can encourage engagement and reinforce brand loyalty.
Indeed, people's shopping habit has changed. Quoting Internet Retailing, We expect the future of retail to be about shops as well as online. But those shops will be ones that are highly-targeted, aimed at a demographic whose interest was first measured online, and offer plenty of added value services'. I cannot agree with this more. There is still plenty of opportunity in the high street, it is just that shoppers are evolving and the high street stores have to evolve with them in order to survive. I guess it is time to redefine the purpose of having a physical store. Shops are not just for displaying and selling products anymore, it should be a part of the multi-channel marketing and selling experience. I am not sure if Moo offline store will work but this can certainly generate a hype and excite potential customers - at least it works on me! Good luck :)
Tuesday 2 April 2013
Hello, voucher codes!
People love coupons and vouchers. According to Webinar by Yahoo! Small business, having vouchers/ coupons is one of the 5 must-have features in a Ecommerce platform. However, some retailers may become skeptical of them, since customers are likely to wonder off to other sites to find the voucher code when they see the box for entering the codes. Yes, I have done this as well, and if I cannot find anything I will be screaming 'it is not fair!!' and become a bit reluctant to continue the purchase. Sometimes I even got distracted and forgot to finish the purchase. I am not the only one. According to a study by PayPal and comScore, 27% of online shoppers has abandoned their carts because they 'wanted to look for a coupon'.
At the end of the day, it is about achieving the balance. You want to attract people by having voucher codes, but when customers are already attracted you do not want them to be hunting for the codes. Get Elastics have suggested some useful tips to minimize the damage of voucher code, while still offering them:
1. Exclusive visitors only
Using URL parameter, you can identify a certain group of audience hence you can have your voucher code box available to them only. For instance, only customers which have arrived through a certain link will be able to see the voucher code box. This way you would not be teasing them with the it. Alternatively, you can have the code auto-applied when they click through the link, or you can send them 'pre-discounted' links.
2. Private codes
These codes are sent to selected individuals only and they can only be used once, by the associated email address or account profile. The only concern is people who do not have the code may still be able to see the box and think they are missing out.
3. Obtain data by giving out vouchers
Suggest people to opt into your email list and reward them by a voucher code. When people checkout do not force them to register. Instead, show them that the voucher code is available, and also show them how to get it (by registering). This way you can have more subscribers! Below is an example of getting Facebook likes with giving out discount code.
4. Have you own voucher code page
Just like any other landing page, it is good for SEO purpose. Have the link to your own voucher code page in the checkout and people would not wonder off to find a code somewhere else, which can minimise the chance to abandon the shopping cart. For example, Argos has its own voucher code page:
5. Make it less obvious
Make your box less visible. Make the process of entering the voucher codes more difficult. Only people who have the voucher code will be looking for the box. This can improve the shopping experience of the no-voucher customers - at least they are less likely to see the code box.
At the end of the day, it is about achieving the balance. You want to attract people by having voucher codes, but when customers are already attracted you do not want them to be hunting for the codes. Get Elastics have suggested some useful tips to minimize the damage of voucher code, while still offering them:
1. Exclusive visitors only
Using URL parameter, you can identify a certain group of audience hence you can have your voucher code box available to them only. For instance, only customers which have arrived through a certain link will be able to see the voucher code box. This way you would not be teasing them with the it. Alternatively, you can have the code auto-applied when they click through the link, or you can send them 'pre-discounted' links.
2. Private codes
These codes are sent to selected individuals only and they can only be used once, by the associated email address or account profile. The only concern is people who do not have the code may still be able to see the box and think they are missing out.
3. Obtain data by giving out vouchers
Suggest people to opt into your email list and reward them by a voucher code. When people checkout do not force them to register. Instead, show them that the voucher code is available, and also show them how to get it (by registering). This way you can have more subscribers! Below is an example of getting Facebook likes with giving out discount code.
Just like any other landing page, it is good for SEO purpose. Have the link to your own voucher code page in the checkout and people would not wonder off to find a code somewhere else, which can minimise the chance to abandon the shopping cart. For example, Argos has its own voucher code page:
5. Make it less obvious
Make your box less visible. Make the process of entering the voucher codes more difficult. Only people who have the voucher code will be looking for the box. This can improve the shopping experience of the no-voucher customers - at least they are less likely to see the code box.
Thursday 28 March 2013
Fixing eBay images to comply with new policies
eBay has changed their policies - it must be a headache for some retailers since all their images need to be redone. According to the new policies, images have to be:
- Borders, text and logos are are no longer permitted
- Watermarks must be small, text only with an opacity of less than 50%, not obscuring the item.
- Images must be at least 500 pixels on the longest side but eBay recommends 1600 pixels for the best possible display on all pages and devices.
- Ebay also strongly recommends that the item fills 80-90% of the frame and is placed on a plain background.
Instead of flaffing around with Paint, I suggest doing the following... may I present you with a brief tutorial on how to fix your images, complete free. I suggest using a basic programme called pixlr. It is online based, so no installation required: http://pixlr.com/editor/. Now select 'open image from computer' and do the usual uploading... I have randomly picked a picture from an eBay listing to show you...
1. First, have a high resolution image.
I am sorry if your previous photos have low resolution, but a low pixel picture cannot turn into highly pixel one . So you just have to do it again. As people cannot touch or feel the product they would love to have as much pictorial details as possible. So do not be lazy on this one! And to make things easier, make sure your background is plain. The plainer the easier your job would be.
2. Crop the image.
Crop out the unwanted part. For this one you dont want the flag and the words. Tab 'c' on your keyboard and hold down your left mouse button and make a rectangle around the area you want.
3. Remove the background.
Now tab 'w' on your keyboard and you are on magic wand. It selects things for you as a patch (it auto detects the edge of the colour patch). Can you see 'Tolerance' on the top left? The higher the tolerance the less sensitive it is to color difference, hence the larger the patch it will select. So I usually work on something between 20-30 to start with... you have to try it yourself to see how much you want to select. If you think after selecting there are still a lot of black left then you may want to increase tolerance. Vice Versa if you think it is selecting too much.
now click on the black background, and press 'delete' on your keyboard. Do it on the other part of the black background until you have get rid of them all.
Now we need to tidy up the left over black. Use the eraser (tab 'e' on keyboard). Hold down the mouse button to keep erasing. On the top left you can select the size of the brush. There are hard and soft brushes. Use the hard one for this circumstances (you want hard edges). Erase the rest of the colour.
Remember to zoom in and look at the edges so you erase them properly. Tab 'z' to zoom. On your right there would be the 'navigation' box which you can zoom in and out. Alternatively, the scroller on your mouse would do the trick too.
If anything goes wrong, hold down 'Ctrl + z' to go back a step.
To clean up the edges, try the lazzo tool (tab 'l'). Again on the top left you can select freehand or straight lines. I suggest straight lines since it is rather difficult to control the freehand one. Now you can choose the white part by 'lasso-ing' around them, and press delete. Click the mouse button when you want to anchor the end of the line. Doing this bits by bits would be easier. Again zoom in to get precision.
4. Remove watermark
This is the most difficult part. You just need a lot of patience. Basically you are painting over the watermark with the brush (tab 'b'). Select a proper size brush first, then hold down 'Ctrl' and click on the colour you want to use. For example if I want to clear the watermark on the light grey patch there, hold down Ctrl and click on the light grey right next to the watermark. Now you have selected the color. Paint onto the watermark to cover it.
Remember to keep updating the colour of your brush when you move around the picture. Even if the colour looks the same to you it can be slightly different.
5. Adjustment
On the top of the page, you can click on the adjustment tab and there are a lot of things to play around with. Such as lightness (make pictures brighter/ darker), contrast, hue/saturation (adjust colour) etc. Give them a try and maybe your picture will look even better!
This is very basic editing and of course things can be easier if you have Photoshop. At the end of the day this is free and the more you work on it the better you would be on this - and the faster you would get it done. I personally think this is better than Paint so just give it a go :)
Hope this helps.
Tuesday 26 March 2013
Improve conversion rate by product reviews!
I was doing some reading yesterday and I realise almost every single piece of article suggest putting product reviews onto your online store. According to PowerReviews, increasing review count from 0 to 1 can boost conversion rate by a whopping 20%. I doubt the accuracy of the figure but no matter what the truth is, putting the reviews on is definitely beneficial to your business! So why not try out the following:
1. Reward the reviews
Remember people are lazy. Unless they want to complain about something the majority would not be bothered to write a review for your products. You can have a look at tripadvisor, a lot of excellent hotels still get quite a few negative comments. If you want more positive reviews, try to offer your customers a reward and they will be more willing to do you the favour. A good example is WeLoveLenses, once they have dispatched your goods they would send you an email, saying 'review our service and get a gift with your next purchase'. This gives people a good incentive to say something positive about you.
2. Use/ partner up with an external review system
There are many reasons behind this. First of all it allows customers to see you when they do comparisons on the external website. Secondly it boosts SEO. Thirdly it looks less biased and more trustworthy! It is free advertising on a third party website so why not? WeLoveLenses have also partnered up with Trustpilot to do the review system.
3. Staff reviews
Employ people to write reviews for your product. This can be risky since it may sounds like a sales pitch! First of all, make sure the staffs have actually tried the products themselves. Secondly, do not use technical, informative product knowledge in the reviews - it would just look like product description. Describe the experience instead and make sure you mention the USP. Thirdly, do not be afraid to talk about the negative side of the products as well. Of course, your positive positive points have to be really good to overcome the single, minor, negative point.
Reviews can give customers a non-marketer opinion of the products and give them reassurance to make a purchase from you. According to GetElastic, break the ice with the first review and you could let customers pick up the slack. This article gives you ideas on how to attract more customer reviews: http://www.getelastic.com/5-ways-to-attract-more-customer-reviews/
1. Reward the reviews
Remember people are lazy. Unless they want to complain about something the majority would not be bothered to write a review for your products. You can have a look at tripadvisor, a lot of excellent hotels still get quite a few negative comments. If you want more positive reviews, try to offer your customers a reward and they will be more willing to do you the favour. A good example is WeLoveLenses, once they have dispatched your goods they would send you an email, saying 'review our service and get a gift with your next purchase'. This gives people a good incentive to say something positive about you.
2. Use/ partner up with an external review system
There are many reasons behind this. First of all it allows customers to see you when they do comparisons on the external website. Secondly it boosts SEO. Thirdly it looks less biased and more trustworthy! It is free advertising on a third party website so why not? WeLoveLenses have also partnered up with Trustpilot to do the review system.
3. Staff reviews
Employ people to write reviews for your product. This can be risky since it may sounds like a sales pitch! First of all, make sure the staffs have actually tried the products themselves. Secondly, do not use technical, informative product knowledge in the reviews - it would just look like product description. Describe the experience instead and make sure you mention the USP. Thirdly, do not be afraid to talk about the negative side of the products as well. Of course, your positive positive points have to be really good to overcome the single, minor, negative point.
Reviews can give customers a non-marketer opinion of the products and give them reassurance to make a purchase from you. According to GetElastic, break the ice with the first review and you could let customers pick up the slack. This article gives you ideas on how to attract more customer reviews: http://www.getelastic.com/5-ways-to-attract-more-customer-reviews/
Monday 25 March 2013
Selling on Amazon - get the clicks!
While users can browse for items using the categories on the left-hand side of the page, the search bar remains the primary method for locating products. As such, it is important to make sure product details are optimised for search.
Amazon’s search function harvests keywords from the product title, standard product ID (UPC, EAN, ISBN), brand/designer, manufacturer and search terms.
3. Search Index
Amazon’s search function harvests keywords from the product title, standard product ID (UPC, EAN, ISBN), brand/designer, manufacturer and search terms.
1. Product titles
Burnham said that product titles should use all the space available and be full of keywords, while also maintaining a customer-friendly structure. It is important to avoid punctuation, asterisks, caps or special characters as users won’t include these in search terms.
Similarly, customers won’t all use the same keywords, so merchants should vary their product titles and experiment to see what works.
2. Search terms
2. Search terms
Amazon allows merchants to include five additional search terms for each product.
Burnham said it is important to use all five, highlighting a Nokia smartphone that appeared fourth in a search for ‘Nokia phone’, but top for ‘Nokia phone with Bluetooth’. The boost in rankings was down to the fact that the merchant had used included the search term ‘Bluetooth’ in the product details.
To optimise the additional search terms, avoid using any words that appear in the product title.
Don’t repeat the title, product name or brand, it’s a waste of search terms.
3. Search Index
Amazon’s search index takes into account price, availability and sales history, but the better selling products will generally rise to the top. However, Burnham pointed out that Amazon occasionally shuffles search results to more evenly promote products.
4. Browse Nodes
These are essentially product codes that identify your items within the product categories. Merchants can select two for each product.
Again, it is about giving Amazon as much information as possible in order to increase your visibility in the marketplace.
5. Filtered Navigation
This allows merchants to include detailed product criteria, such as the size and colour of each item.
Users can then filter their product search to find more relevant items. Iit is very important for sellers to include the detailed information in their product listings otherwise they won’t appear in filtered results.
6. Product Variation
This tool allows sellers to group different variations (e.g. size or colour) of the same product. Users can then check different items from the same product page.
Burnham said the merchant has to provide an SKU and establish each item’s parentage, but it is a user-friendly way of giving customers access to your full product range.
(source: Econsultancy)
Thursday 21 March 2013
Tuesday 19 March 2013
5 tips on Online returns handling
Did you know 22% of delivered items are destined to be returned (source: Internet Retailing)? 3P Logistics have handled much returns and we understand that this could be a headache for retailers. On the bright side, we can use this opportunity to impress customers by offering exceptional services. ASOS is a good example of retailer which has a high customer retention rate, and one reason behind their success is their fuss free return policy. So what can we learn from them?
1. Display your returns policy clearly
This should be displayed throughout the whole shopping experience, including before and after purchase. ASOS has put its return information on every single item page. This can offer them reassurance, which is extremely helpful when they are not 100% sure about the purchase. The link leads to the policy page which has demonstrated absolute transparency and has included every single detail, giving customers a peace of mind.
2. Be nice!
ASOS' returns policy starts with the line 'Do you want to return something? No problem!', which gives a positive and friendly initial image.Most importantly, ASOS offers free returns. Think about it, customers would have to pack and take the product to the post office already for a return, why would they want to be paying as well? Of course free returns would cost you more, but this will help retaining customers and boosting extra conversion in the future (Econsultancy). According to Zappos, 'people who regularly return items can be some of your best customers'.
3. Show great images, videos, with detail product description
Since customers cannot actually see or touch the products, they may have their own version and interpretation of the product in their head. Once it has arrived and they find out it is not what they expected they will return it. To minimize return rate, clearly displaying your products is the key. Make sure pictures are as 'real' as possible, with high resolution so people can zoom in to look into the details. Not only does ASOS offer catwalk video and multiple images taken from different angles, it has also listed all the measurements, materials and even product care information for every single item. This way customers can get as much information as possible and they would have a clearer idea of the product, hence less returns.
1. Display your returns policy clearly
This should be displayed throughout the whole shopping experience, including before and after purchase. ASOS has put its return information on every single item page. This can offer them reassurance, which is extremely helpful when they are not 100% sure about the purchase. The link leads to the policy page which has demonstrated absolute transparency and has included every single detail, giving customers a peace of mind.
2. Be nice!
ASOS' returns policy starts with the line 'Do you want to return something? No problem!', which gives a positive and friendly initial image.Most importantly, ASOS offers free returns. Think about it, customers would have to pack and take the product to the post office already for a return, why would they want to be paying as well? Of course free returns would cost you more, but this will help retaining customers and boosting extra conversion in the future (Econsultancy). According to Zappos, 'people who regularly return items can be some of your best customers'.
3. Show great images, videos, with detail product description
Since customers cannot actually see or touch the products, they may have their own version and interpretation of the product in their head. Once it has arrived and they find out it is not what they expected they will return it. To minimize return rate, clearly displaying your products is the key. Make sure pictures are as 'real' as possible, with high resolution so people can zoom in to look into the details. Not only does ASOS offer catwalk video and multiple images taken from different angles, it has also listed all the measurements, materials and even product care information for every single item. This way customers can get as much information as possible and they would have a clearer idea of the product, hence less returns.
4. Send return document with your product
ASOS has always included return information, forms and labels in the packages. This makes things much easier for your customers and with the address pre-printed, less mistakes would be made in the return process. The return form should also be asking for feedbacks so you can uncover problems or trends.
5. Inform your customers
Don't worry - your customer would not be annoyed. The more information they receive about the return process the merrier. Send them an email when you have received the product, send them another email when the replacement is dispatched or a refund has been issued. Just keep them updated. I am sure they will appreciate the effort!
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)