Selling Online Like the Big Boys

Ecommerce

× Its Easy× Its Cheap× Everyone is doing it× It’ll make me a fortune× It’ll save me a fortune in

marketing costs× It allows me to compete

with high street retailers

Myths

Ecommerce

× I can cut out the middle man× I’ll discount more & get better sales× I can use manufacturers photos× I can use manufacturers product descriptions× It’ll run itself× I got better value by getting a cheaper website× An ecom site is the same as any other site

Myths

Change the Way You Think!

Think ShopThe Retail Manual• Shop windows encourage users into the store– (shop windows are regularly refreshed)

• Walkways help shoppers intuitively find their way around the store

• Pause Points for example tables placed strategically on walkways encourage shopper consideration

• Shop Assistants answer shopper enquiries, enhance the experience & encourage sales

• Shop Assistants also often overcome ‘Buyers Remorse’

Think Online Shop

The Ecommerce Manual• Shop windows = Home page– (Home page images need regularly updated)

• Walkways = Navigation• Pause Points = ‘You might also like’, banners• Shop Assistants = Search box, faceted search,

options, zoomable images, clear delivery and security information at checkout, failed checkout autoresponders

When Technology Loses Sight of Customers

Its a Bit Like...Excuse me, where are your spanners?

‘Dunno love.

REAL Customer Service Online

Now That Hopefully You’re Beginning to see Ecommerce Differently...

Have a Strategy Before You Start!

Website Strategy

• Choosing a web developer/ agencyHow Many of you made the decision based on?– Word of Mouth Recommendation– You already knew them– Cheapest– Design or look– Location/ Convenience to you

Website Strategy

• How many of you considered?– CMS / Management tools available– Ability to create new pages– SEO technical structure & administration– Merchandising tools– Support of product feeds– Blog– Offer management– Search facility– User Experience

First Steps / Already Got An Ecom Site?

• Optimise Conversion– Test, Measure, Change

• User experience• Usability and accessibility

• SEO– Review technical structure– Content– Location– Links

WARNING: Both are Ongoing Tasks

Website Conversion

• Dependant on sector, ecommerce conversion rate averages tend to be between 2-5%

• Analytics!!• Testing tools• Analytics!!

– http://www.google.com/intl/en/analytics/iq.html

So Now the Scary Bit...

What Are These?

And These?

Your Site

SEO

PPC

E-mail

Display

Affiliate

Re-Targeting

Social Media

Shopping Feeds

CRM

Mobile

Channels

• They are All Marketing channels• All have different audiences & qualities• Where are your audiences?• Which channels already convert better for you?• Which channels send you your most valuable

customers?• How do your channels interact?• Analytics!!!TIP: Search ‘Google segmentation’ & ‘Google Multi

Channel Funnels’

SEO... ‘Nuff Said

SEO Basics• Content!!!• Relevancy• Quality• Consistency• Accessibility• Freshness• Links• Persistance• Knowledge

Q: Does it work?

A:Yes! If you take time to

understand it and follow Google’s Guidelines

http://support.google.com/webmasters/

SEO Benefits

• Can be managed in house• Can drive more engaged

visitors• Can reduce PPC costs• Needs a balance (long/short

tail keywords)• Needs knowledge

– http://googleblog.blogspot.co.uk/

– http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/

– http://searchenginewatch.com

BUT• Knowledge take a long

time to build• Its a long term

approach• Its constantly changing• There is a resource cost• It can take a while to

see benefits

PPC Basics

• Relevance• Quality Score• Landing Page• Ad Text• Knowledge

Q: Does it work?

A:Yes! You see immediate results

and there is a LOT of support if you want to start off in-house

http://support.google.com/adwords

PPC Benefits

• Can support SEO• Its immediate• Sends traffic quickly• Conversion can be

measured• Fully under your control• Geographic locations

can be targeted specifically

BUT• You can waste a lot of

money very quickly if you don’t start with knowledge

• Sending traffic is NOT the same as sending qualified leads

• Always pursue ROI first, traffic second

Cumulative Bonus

PPC AD

Natural Listing PPC AD

PPC ADNatural Listing

PPC Ad Here

Or Here

=20% More Clicks Here

Display Basics

• Banner ad positions • Banner ad formats• Creatives (Ads) and

Ad text immensely important

• Its primarily for branding, then ROI purposes

• Very strong offering

Q: Does it work?

A:Yes! But be realistic about what

you are measuring/ expectations. Mass marketing results in sales- though sometimes not immediately

Display Benefits

• Can support PPC• Its immediate• Sends traffic quickly• Provides strong

branding opportunities• Offers mass

marketability• Suggests affiliation with

hosting sites

BUT• With the main benefit

being branding- this is the online version of billboards

• CTRs usually around 11%

• Brand recognition can’t be measured but is still valuable

Cumulative Bonus Combine Search & Display Efforts

The combination of search and display advertising was

7x more effective than the display

...and three times as effective as search

alone in driving traffic to the advertiser’s website

Net uplift in people visiting advertiser website (percentage point change)

Source: MSA

Behavioural Re-Targeting

• Similar to display• Re-targets visitors to your site who left

without making a purchase• Persistently shows them a range of ads to

attempt to encourage a sale• Only suitable when you are driving enough

traffic to your site to begin with

E-Mail Basics• Consider newsletter

signups on your site as a goal

• Keep e-mails short and not too text heavy

• Use core calls to action• Test success of e-mail

subject lines• Get more than just name

if possible to allow segmentation

• Push good offers• Lots of free tools

Q: Does it work?

A:Yes! Especially for customer re-

engagement, upselling & targeted sales.

http://www.mailchimp.com

E-Mail Benefits

• Can support Social Media growth

• Encourages re-engagement• Direct channel for

marketing • Correlation between e-mail

and sales uplift• Cheap until you start

talking thousands of subscribers

• Low barriers to entry

BUT• Better conversion

achieved when greater targeting is used

• Targeting can only be used if you are collecting customer data (CRM)

• E-mail isn’t dead- its just matured – your strategy MUST do the same

Social Media

• Achieving massive success from social media is the exception rather than the rule

• Its not free- success is time heavy• You need to have a strategy• The first step in any strategy should always be to

listen• Be genuine, be real, be representative of your

company but BE YOU• Personality is a MUST – as is PROFESSIONALISM

Social Media• Can be a customer acquisition tool– But this does require hard work, and can be very difficult

if your product/ service is niche• Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, You Tube – All maturing• Location based services supported by apps, Pinterest

& gamification – All driving forward• Social can help SEO, customer retention, customer

acquisition somewhat • BUT requires proactive not reactive management,

focus, resource & must be interlinked with all other marketing channelshttp://www.socialmediaexaminer.com

Shopping Feeds/ Aggregators

• Just another channel• Can provide you with a trusted & proven

platform on which to sell your products• Does take away some of the marketing

requirements/ costs• BUT does add on commissions/ selling costs

TIP: Maximise on existing feeds... Re-Use in Google shopping, for affiliate marketing etc

You Snooze, You Lose

The One Opportunity NOT to be missed...MOBILE• British Retail Consortium: Total retail search volumes

in the UK increased 24 percent year-on-year in Q4 2011

• PayPal: the [mobile] market will grow an average of 42% each year and be worth £2.5bn by 2016

• WorldPay: UK consumers are predicted to be the biggest mobile shoppers in Europe in 2012

• Think Mobile Enabled Website (Not app)

You’re Ideal Strategy?

• Its not the same as everyone elses• Its unique to your business & your audience• Consider the channels & which channels suit

your current audience• Test, Improve, Test, Improve• Try and conquer the channels of least resistance

first• Learn first, set up second, test third & start

again

So... Just to Finish...

Twitter @jillculbertson

LinkedIn http://linkd.in/jillCul

Skypejill.culbertson

Webwww.excel-

ecommerce.com