Posted on Tue, Dec 13, 2011
As you may have seen, today we’ve announced some very exciting news regarding
our acquisition of Searchandise Commerce. First of all, let me say that we’re thrilled about the combination of our companies. John Federman and his entire team at Searchanside have truly innovated within the Shopping Media industry, and the combination of our capabilities provides an incredible channel of value for both retailers and brands. By joining forces there is simply no company in the marketplace with a more powerful media offering within online retail. We couldn’t be more excited about the success that lies ahead of us.
As importantly, the team members who’ve joined the RichRelevance family from Searchandise share so many of the {rr} values. Creating long-lasting value in the online retail world is just simply hard, so it’s paramount that our values are reflected across our core—by every one of our employees.
The Searchandise product will be a key addition to our personalization platform. In these challenging economic times, Brand advertisers are being asked to do more with less, and Shopping Media provides them the most powerful tools to get more “bang for their buck.” Brands will now be able to have a true one-stop shop for their digital budgets within online retail, and retailers will also be able to add more content that accelerates the conversion cycle with their consumers. By combining search capabilities with our core personalization offerings, we’ve got a 1-2 combo which will be unbeatable!
As you might guess, there’s a lot of innovation and integration to do, so we’ll have a lot more to share with our retail and brand partners, in the coming months. We’ve barely scratched the surface for what’s to come in 2012 and beyond—so stay posted. Innovation will be the name of the game for us in 2012.
In the meantime, the Searchandise team, now officially part of Team RichRelevance, have made some great contributions to our Holiday Memories Blog – we invite you to partake in their stories and remember what’s most important at this time of the year, and frankly any time of the year: friends and family. We’re thrilled that Searchandise is now part of our family.
Posted on Thu, Dec 01, 2011
It's that time of year again. Everyone has their top 10 lists, the top search terms of the year, top earners, top trends, so why not the top 10 top 10 lists?
1. We start with the National Retail Foundation and their BIG Blog post on the Top 10 Holiday Trends for 2011. The list includes all of our favorites from the year - the proliferation of apps, the meteoric rise of the smartphone, retail growth despite economic woes. It also includes some sound advice for retailers - manage inventory to avoid the woes on a few years ago, remember the multichannel customer and demonstrate the versatility of your merchandise.
2. Five of the top sales and traffic days occur the week before Christmas, which historically accounts for 1/3 of all holiday sales. ShopperTrak tells us which other days make up the list of top 10 busiest shopping days:
- Friday, November 25 (Black Friday)
- Saturday, December 17 (Super Saturday)
- Friday, December 23 (Father's Day)
- Monday, December 26
- Thursday, December 22
- Saturday November 26 (Black Saturday)
- Sunday, December 18
- Saturday, December 10
- Monday, December 19
- Saturday, December 3
3. IBM reported on the top 10 Cyber Monday trends:
- Online sales were up 33.0% over Cyber Monday 2010, with the average order value up from $193.24 to $198.26 for an increase of 2.6%.
- Online shopping momentum hit its highest peak at 11:05am PST/2:05pm EST. Consumer shopping also maintained strong momentum after commuting hours on both the east and west coast.
- 10.8% of people used a mobile device to visit a retailer's site, up from 3.9% in 2010. Additionally, mobile sales grew dramatically, reaching 6.6% on Cyber Monday versus 2.3% in 2010.
- See the rest of the trends here.
4. What are the top 10 consumer electronics products desired by 6 - 12 year olds? Nielsen reports that number one on the wish list is the iPad with 44% of the sample hoping to acquire one in the next six months. Following the iPad - 30% want the iPod Touch, 27% want the iPhone, 25% want a computer, the same percentage desire a Nintendo 3DS or a tablet computer and rounding out the top 10 are the Kinect for Xbox 360, Nintento DS, DSLite or DSi and a television.
5. David Berkowitz, Senior Director of Emerging Media & Innovation for 360i, predicts the top 10 mobile and social trends for 2012. Included in the 10: social fashion, interactive TV, NFC (near field communications) and augmented reality. For the full list, check out his Marketers Studio blog.
6. The folks at iMedia Connection came up with the list of top 12 (okay, it's over our top 10 limit, but a good list is a good list) mobile apps, the ideal holiday gift for your inner circle:
- AmpKit for iOS
- All-in Fitness for iOS
- Sleep Cycle for iOS
- Tweetbot for iOS
- Gilt on the Go for iOS
- Curbside Cuisine for WP7
- Tasker for Android
- Airbnb for iOS
- Free-Time for iOS
- Tozzle for iOS
- Zinio for Android Tablet
- Scrabble for iPad
7. The E-tailing Group just released a new report "The Connected Consumer." The survey asked shoppers what online marketing tools helped to influence their decisions:
- Search results listings (43%)
- Search results showing local availability (37%)
- E-mails from retailers for which consumers have opted in (34%)
- Ratings and reviews from friends and family (32%)
- Group buying (i.e., Groupon, Living Social) (30%)
- Display advertising for products previously viewed online (23%)
- Mobile apps (19%)
- Facebook (17%)
- Text messages from favorite merchants (13%)
- Twitter (11%)
8. Every year, all of the search engines report on the top search terms of the year. This year, Bing says Justin Bieber is the #1 musician searched for, Maria Sharapova leads in sports, and the Casey Anthony trial was the most sought after news event. So what about consumer electronics?
- Xbox
- Kindle
- Playstation
- iPhone 5
- iPad
- Wii
- iPad 2
- Nook
- Windows Phone 7
- Macbook Pro
9. You can't have a top 10 list without looking at what's happening in mobile, lately it's just everywhere! Gartner has been keeping tabs on the space, and their analyst, Nick Jones, provides a look at the Top 10 mobile and wireless technologies to keep your eyes between today and 2015.
- HTML5
- NFC and “touch to act” applications such as payment
- Platform independent AD tools
- Location and context — indoor and outdoor
- Bluetooth 4
- 802.11ac
- M2M — cellular and Wi-Fi
- Augmented reality
- Multiplatform MDM
- LTE
10. Ever wonder what the top 10 Position Matters blogs have been?
Posted on Tue, Nov 29, 2011
With much of the discussion about search revolving around the notion of encrypted searches, there have been some other noteworthy new entries to the market, as well as new features available:
Loku: This local search site helps searchers find news, events, deals and other relevant information specific to a local area. Using natural language search, Loku lets searchers look for relevant results in a number of categories ranging from "eats" to "culture." Its differentiator from other local search solutions is that rather than presenting information hierarchically, Loku synthesizes information for easier consumption. The engine uses Twitter data to compile how people are talking about venues, and categorizes that feedback by keyword.
WireDoo: Started by the former rapper MC Hammer of "Can't Touch This" fame, WireDoo is working on a deep search engine positioned to take on Google and Bing. The premise is based on relationship-driven searches which leverage relevance and related information to provide the searcher a package of results for each query. As an example, if a searcher runs a query on a particular zip code, the results will yield listings on the area, but also on related content which might include schools in the area, homes, and local attractions.
Simpli.fi: As an enhancement to their demand side platform, Simpli.fi is now offering instant search retargeting. The feature enables marketers to target searchers as soon as they land on the page selected from the search results with which they've been presented. As a complement to their offering, instant search allows the company to deliver keyword-informed display ads, a true mix of search and display effectiveness, and it enables marketers to retarget within minutes of the initial search.
Marchex: They've introduced Marchex Free411, a first of its kind mobile application that integrates voice, automated directory assistance, text and mobile web search into a single application. Some of the features include on-touch calling from search results, maps and GPS capabilities, the ability to share search results across multiple channels and social networks. The application is designed to provide maximum value and information for searchers however they prefer to receive and share that information.
And finally, for a little search humor, using Chrome or Firefox, type "do a barrel roll" - minus the quotation marks, into your browser and see what happens!
For more on search innovation, click here.
Posted on Wed, Nov 23, 2011
Position Matters will be laying low this week - eating turkey, watching football and resting up for the Black Friday madness.
Searchandise Commerce wishes you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving. We'll be back on November 29th.
Posted on Tue, Nov 22, 2011
Maximizing retail and media.
With retailers evaluating new ways to make their sites more profitable, Searchandise Commerce president and CEO, John Federman, shares some ideas, just in time for the holidays.
The following is an excerpt from Federman's piece in iMedia Connection:
Retailers are always looking for ways to increase their revenue stream in-store and online. If back-to-school was any indicator of how the 2011 holiday season will play out, retailers know that research, not just purchases, is happening on their sites. This leaves retailers asking, "How can I improve my site for the holiday season?" There are many answers to how retailers can optimize their sites for the holiday season, and frankly, there really isn't anything new. The familiar advice focuses on free shipping, smoother checkout, and how to reduce cart abandonment. Retailers have heard it all before.
But what if I told retailers about a way they could turn their retail site into an online profit center this holiday season with no upfront cost, minimal IT support, and by leveraging their existing site technology? What if I told retailers this could be done by monetizing the traffic that is already coming to their site? I bet it would make for a very merry Christmas.
This new opportunity is called "retail media."
Click here to read the rest of the article.
Posted on Thu, Nov 17, 2011
Over the year, Position Matters has featured a series of monthly guest posts offering Expert Insights on topics ranging from digital media innovation to changes in shopper marketing and online retail trends. Sometimes, you just have to leave it to the experts:
John Ersnberger, co-founder and vice president sales, STELLAService, offers advice on how to succeed this holiday season:
Here are five elements of the shopping experience that all Internet retailers - regardless of their size, budget or focus - should consider as they gear up for the holidays:
- Show a globally displayed link to your shipping and return policies.
- Provide a detailed order confirmation page that clearly highlights “bill to” and “shipped to” information as well as the shopper’s email address where the order details were sent.
- Avoid forcing shoppers to leave a voicemail when calling your company.
- Send an email to confirm product shipment with an estimated time of delivery.
- Leverage third party seals (e.g., service and security) to increase your site’s conversion rate. Test a seal’s effectiveness in different key areas on your site (e.g., shopping cart) to maximize success.
Jason Caine, director of client services, Compete, provides insight on how retailers are competing to create the best and most consistent customer experience:
Ship-to-store is one way that retailers are trying to create a convenient experience for shoppers. Best Buy and Walmart have been aggressive in this area. The online experience is terrific – over 40% of Best Buy shoppers use the option. The key is making sure the in-store experience is just as convenient.
Peter Hoyt, CEO and founder of the Path to Purchase Institute, offers a look into the role of digital in shopper marketing:
The Internet has given us a lot more content to deliver. Consumers have gone digital, marketers and retailers have followed, and we've been here to chronicle the evolution. The store has always been a vital piece of the marketing plan, and it will remain so. But the ability to reach consumers through digital channels -- at home, on the road, or even in the store -- is the most dynamic aspect of marketing right now, and understanding how best to do that has become critical for product manufacturers and retailers alike. What's more, the very definition of "the store" has changed, and now reflects any location -- real or virtual -- that facilitates a transaction. So, naturally, digital communication has become a major aspect of our coverage.
Read more from Debi Kleiman, president of the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX), on innovation and New England's role:
I think we’ve become a real hotbed for marketing analytics and mobile innovations that are very exciting. We’re lucky to have so much great talent here plus a culture of experimentation and development that comes from being in close proximity to such great schools and universities like MIT. Companies like DataXu who have developed technology to create a model that’s totally disruptive to the online advertising business. Or Innerscope Research, who has taken their MIT Lab experiment to measure physical consumer response to advertising and marketing and commercialized it so that any company can get data on consumers’ subconscious responses through a process that is so much simpler than ever before.
If these stories capture your attention, please download the best of our Expert Insights series from 2011:
Posted on Tue, Nov 15, 2011
With the advent of local and mobile technologies, the reliance on search has only become more important. In fact, last month evidenced year-over-year growth in all search measures - revenue, clicks, conversions. Following are 5 research-based search marketing trends that are worth noting as you make holiday and 2012 plans:
Search is a key marketing technique:
According to the recently released "Connected Consumer" report by The E-tailing Group, online shoppers are relying on search results and local product availability information when making purchase decisions. Forty three percent of the 1,000 shoppers surveyed reported that search result listings were significantly more or somewhat more influential in their decisions this year. Other influences included: search results showing local availability (37%), opt-in emails from retailers (34%), ratings and reviews from personal networks (32%) and group buying programs (30%).
Get smarter with your smartphone programs:
Smartphones are helping to bridge the gap between online and offline as new apps developed for in-store use are being introduced everyday. Consumers are using their phones to search, often doing price comparisons from the aisle to see if items are competitively priced, or if there's a better deal nearby. They're also looking up reviews, promotions and special offers all from within the store. For marketers, the opportunity is clear according to eMarketer: search marketers optimize for consumer intent to purchase whereas mobile apps look to draw on intent and bring research and purchase closer together. So new tools that drive consumers from the web to the store and satisfy needs for both information and instant gratification will pay off.
What role will search play in your 2012 planning?
The E-tailing Group recently looked at how retail marketers are allocating budgets to maximize conversion in a cross-channel environment. Search is poised to play a prominent role with 30% planning to leverage paid search, 11% in SEO with affiliate marketing, retargeting and behavioral targeting rounding out the field. As far as which marketing initiatives contribute to their business, 31% cited SEO, 22% cited paid search and 30% cited mobile.
Paid Search and the Holiday Season
Last year, retailers were called out for underspending on paid search, especially around the key holiday season. This year, leading up to the first milestone, Black Friday, Performics is seeing paid search spend up by 88% compared to this week last year and as such, clicks are up by 43%. PM Digital is seeing similar trends; their October 2011 Rewind Index, which measures monthly U.S. paid-search performance for online retail clients, reports 53% annual growth in revenue and 33% growth in clicks in October, the largest monthly increases in both metrics all year. Search is just one of the tools marketers are using to contend with what is predicted to be a very competitive season.
Mobile Search on the Move:
BRC/Google Online Retail Monitor reports that mobile searches are up 168% year over year, driving unprecedented growth of mobile search volumes. Retail search volume for multi-channel retailers are up 26% in the third quarter, and up 71% for pure play etailers. Mobile accounted for 10% of retail searches. The challenge for marketers is ensuring that once a shopper finds your site, you must present searchable, relevant information to keep them on-site.
The Bottom Line: Search, be it mobile search, on-site retail search or search through a traditional engine, is the initial point of engagement in the path to purchase. As such, it is growing at an unprecedented rate, and has solidified its role in 2012 plans.
What are your 2012 search plans?
Posted on Thu, Nov 10, 2011
Every year, experts and industry pundits try to size the potential of the holiday season, and identify online shopping trends. 2011 is no different, and despite a tough economy, the holiday looks pretty rosy for retailers.
The NRF reports that as of October 2011, 39% of Americans had already started their holiday shopping - 2 points higher than last year. Source: NRF via Wall Street Journal
53% of smartphone users report they will use their device to research products, redeem coupons, use apps to assist in their purchase, and purchase holiday gifts and items. Source: NRF
The average consumer will complete 1/3 of her holiday shopping online this year, according to a survey of more than 5,000 U.S. consumers conducted by consulting firm Deloitte; with 11% reporting they'll spend more online this year than last. 73% cite convenience, and 63% cite better prices as the key drivers. Source: Deloitte Forecasts a 2.5 to 3 Percent Increase in Holiday Sales
U.S. retailers should expect to see a 2.5 to 3% increase in sales as compared to last year according to Deloitte - with sales poised to reach between $873 and $877 billion. In a similar forecast, the International Council for Shopping Centers said it expects a 3 percent growth in holiday sales. Source: Deloitte, ICSC via 1 to 1 Media
84% of consumers intend to spend the same or less as compared to last year. 40% of U.S. households will spend less this year over last, while 44% will spend the same. Only 11% are predicting an increase. Source: GfK Custom Research
72% of U.S. consumers characterize their holiday spending as "careful" or "controlled" this year. 88% expect to spend the same or less than 2010; 71% of those earning in excess of $100,000 expect to spend more than $500 on gifts. Source: Accenture
Federal Express predicts they will ship 260 million packages worldwide between Thanksgiving and Christmas - a 12% increase over last year. They further predict that their busiest day will include the delivery of 17 million packages. Source: BizReport
Over half of consumers plan to spend at least $500 on gifts this year; 36% expect to spend less. Source: PriceGrabber
According to the CEA's 18th Annual CE Holiday Purchase Patterns Study, four of five adults plan to give a gift card this holiday season (up from 8% last year), many for digital services and content. 25% plan to give a digital music gift card, 20% for ebook purchases and 16% for apps. Topping holiday wish lists are tablets, eReaders and notebooks. Source: CEA
With 55% of consumers reporting they'll be doing their holiday shopping online, what's drawing them to the web? The biggest incentive is free shipping, cited by 74%; followed by finding better discounts (60%); and avoiding crowds (47%). Source: Accenture
To learn more about online shopping trends, click the cart below:
Posted on Tue, Nov 08, 2011
Last February, we pulled together a list of 10 Online Shopping trends ranging from the changing path to purchase to the emergence of social and mobile commerce. That post has consistently ranked as one of our most widely read and passed on blogs. To that end, with the holidays approaching, and the subsequent heavy online shopping season, we have pulled together 10 more trends for your information and enjoyment:
1. Online retail in the U.S. reached $175 billion in 2007, and is projected to grow to $335 billion by 2012. Despite strength in overall online retail numbers, there is no denying that ecommerce is beyond its earlier years of unbridled growth. Source: Forrester Research; U.S. Ecommerce Forecast: 2008 To 2012
2. The web is influencing more than $1 trillion of in-store sales, and search is the number one online channel for driving that revenue. Source: GroupM Search
3. Five retailers are making more than a billion dollars online: Amazon.com, Staples, Apple, Liberty Interactive and Costco Wholesale. Source: The Motley Fool
4. Online retailers experienced an online revenue increase of 18.14% in Q3 2011 versus the same period last year. In the same time frame, conversion rates improved by 13.18% to 4.55% and cart abandonment rate dropped to 61.48% in Q3 from 62.25% a year ago. Source: MarketLive Performance Index
5. Smartphone users are increasingly researching in-store, but purchasing online. 58% of smartphone users cited researching electronics in store, then purchasing elsewhere online. The same was true across categories: 41% for shoes, 39% for apparel, 23% for appliances, 22% for sporting gear, and 19% for home and garden. Source: Retrevo Pulse Report
6. The most common activity for mobile shoppers is researching products and comparing prices, a monthly activity for 15% of them. Source: Experian Simmons
7. 30% of tablet owners use their device for online shopping; only 25% of smartphone owners do the same. Source: eDigitalResearch
8. 70% of consumers research products before purchasing. One out of three uses their smartphone in a retail location to get more information. As a result, your online and offline competitors are in your store. Source: Cone Inc.
9. 57% of men use social, shopping and deal sites to research and compare products, while only 40% of women do. For a more granular look, men prefer shopping sites (63% men to 52% women), and more than half (54%) of men use social networks to research products versus 43% of women. Source: Performics
10. 35% of survey respondents report that Twitter has an influence on their purchase decisions; only 23.5% said the same about Facebook. Source: Kantar Media compete
If you're interested in more data points, please download our latest eCommerce Kit which contains 25 wicked awesome charts on eCommerce, mobile and CPG trends.
Posted on Thu, Nov 03, 2011
In a departure from our traditional coverage of the digital media and retail space, this month we sat down with John Ernsberger, co-founder and vice president of sales at STELLAService to learn more about a critical aspect of the retail business - customer service. Fresh on the heels of securing an impressive round of funding, John took time to shed some light on the importance of service and offer some tips, especially as we near the holiday season.
1. STELLAService has a unique offering in the retail market, can you tell us a bit about what the company does.
STELLAService’s mission is to provide transparency around the customer service performance of Internet retailers to benefit shoppers and businesses alike. We do this by actually becoming the customers ourselves (unbeknownst to the retailer) and “road-testing” the true shopping experience first-hand. Our proprietary and rigorous evaluation system assesses a broad array of criteria, including usability and online tools, shipping and returns and human-to-human customer support. To maintain our independence and objectivity, we pay for all products purchased and rely on our staff of trained, full-time customer experience analysts to test the companies we evaluate.
Our professional methodology allows for an apples-to-apples comparison of service performance across the market. Consequently, we’re able to help online shoppers make better buying decisions by highlighting an exclusive group of sites that provide top-tier customer service. Shoppers can utilize our Web site to review the ratings of every company we evaluate. In addition, stand-out sites are eligible to display our seal of service excellence so shoppers can instantly identify a company that has a proven track record of fantastic service.
Richer transparency around service performance is also helping businesses as well. E-retailers that perform well in our rigorous assessment can leverage STELLAService to signal to shoppers that they are a part of a minority of sites providing fantastic customer service. Since people spend more money for great service (on average 10% more), we’re finding that our mark is boosting key performance indicators for our partners. We’re also preparing to launch a data product in 2012 that will allow unprecedented insight into a company’s service performance.
2. One of the more significant trends in the retail market is to take proven in-store practices and adapt them for an online world, do you see this happening in the service arena?
I think that the core tenants of customer service are absolutely transferable across channels. This said, multi-channel merchants continuously struggle for ways to ensure the consistency of customer service across their business units. For instance, many multi-channel retailers don’t allow in-store returns for products purchased online. As you can imagine, this is not ideal for a shopper who doesn’t know (or care) about a retailer’s inventory constraints and can leave a poor impression with the consumer. No matter what the case is, it is essential that multi-channel players develop a legitimate method to continuously monitor, measure and benchmark their service performance, in both the virtual and physical worlds.
3. Are there common pitfalls you run into as you evaluate retail sites, or is each case unique?
Evaluating the service performance of thousands of businesses has its challenges. Perhaps that’s why STELLA’s the first company to take it on! That said, I think each case is fairly unique. For instance, subscription based sites (e.g., Shoedazzle.com) are exploding. By definition, shoppers interact differently with these types of businesses than – say – a traditional e-retailer, such as Zappos. They may have different questions about purchases, returns, or how to register for an account. At STELLAService, we are vigilant about our data quality to ensure that it reflects real and true engagements with a specific retailer. We spend a lot of time developing content for our interactions in order to accurately stress-test the business and identify the companies that stand out from the crowd.
4. Do you have any advice for retailers as they move into the critical holiday season?
Here are five elements of the shopping experience that all Internet retailers - regardless of their size, budget or focus - should consider as they gear up for the holidays:
- Show a globally displayed link to your shipping and return policies.
- Provide a detailed order confirmation page that clearly highlights “bill to” and “shipped to” information as well as the shopper’s email address where the order details were sent.
- Avoid forcing shoppers to leave a voicemail when calling your company.
- Send an email to confirm product shipment with an estimated time of delivery.
- Leverage third party seals (e.g., service and security) to increase your site’s conversion rate. Test a seal’s effectiveness in different key areas on your site (e.g., shopping cart) to maximize success.
5. What do you read to keep pace with the industry?
It’s not surprising that I’m a big fan of Tony Hsieh’s biography and manifesto, Delivering Happiness. Zappos is truly revolutionary in that it successfully built its brand on the concept of exceptional service. I have also recently read Marsha Collier’s Ultimate Online Customer Service Guide, which has some great information. I am an avid reader of Wall Street Journal’s Technology section and AllThingsD.com, and indulge in a variety of industry publications, such as Internet Retailer and the E-commerce Times. I also regularly read Seth Godin’s blog because of his focus on marketing and its relevance to customer service. Ultimately, the best form of marketing is delivering great customer service.
_______________________________________________________________________________
John Ernsberger is the Co-founder and Vice President of Sales at STELLAService, the first and only independent provider of customer service ratings for online retailers. John's passion for great service began when he was a kid working at an upscale restaurant where he observed the nuances of high quality customer care. John never fully appreciated the power and importance of customer service, however, until he moved to Seville, Spain, where the idea of outstanding service is not much more than remembering which product the customer actually ordered! Previously, John worked as a paralegal at Davis Polk & Wardwell, and prior to co-founding STELLAService he was a Sales Director at SEI Investments. John grew up in various places along the east coast and attended Bucknell University, graduating with a degree in Business Management.