A Fine Balance: Optimization of Marketing Automation & Merchandising
It’s particularly hard when marketers consider the vast number of new vendors eager to help them. “Everything sounds wonderful and valuable in concept, but the hard part is figuring out how to prioritize, synergize and make existing investments more valuable,” said Shop.org Board Director and long-time retail marketing executive Anne Ashbey. “Technology can sometimes mask the art of merchandising — the part that relies on us really knowing our customers, helping them uncover new needs, or find the perfect item or gift. The science can be so overwhelming, but we must be careful to use digital platforms and all that data intelligently in order to empower and nurture the art that retail merchandisers do so well.”
Not only are vendors eager to help retailers, but consumers seem eager to help themselves. “Does anyone make a buying decision on their own anymore?” lamented McCann. The social nature of buying has changed how consumers interact with brands. Retailers that enable social buying are finding some success.
Wet Seal offers its teen buyers a group chatting feature so that choices on the best outfits can be made with input from friends. Jeremy Stayton of Adgregate Markets showed some very cool social sharing and group buying features enabled in its Facebook store platform. For example, you can invite several friends to join you on a virtual shopping trip, and earn a major discount if you all buy the same items(s). Retailers can take full advantage of the unique power of a Facebook store to increase sales and grow its customer base by creating ambassadors of existing fans.
Across all channels, it’s imperative to balance both your marketing and merchandising needs, said September Fleming, internet content manager at Woodcraft. “Customer acquisition and conversion efforts go hand-and-hand,” she said. “Both are important, especially if you're spending money to send people to a landing page. Marketing can drive all sorts of visitors to a destination, but without coordination with the merchandising team, conversion could suffer. A great landing page experience is about answering needs — which is specific to the customer source, need and channel.”
Conversion optimization is different between channels, even when channels support each other, Fleming said. “My needs when I shop online from a catalog are different than when I shop via the internet or via an email promotion. Everything from customer service links to the wording on a button to cross-promotions can impact order size and conversion.
Optimization and search expert Bryan Eisenberg agrees. In his keynote address, he offered dozens of site optimization tips based on testing with many retailers. “Acquisition isn't about targeting; it's about experience and conversion,” he said. “Budget where the customer experience happens — on the website. Your website is the center of the universe for your customer experience."
Eisenberg's advice: Just start. “Next week, do something to improve conversion. When you start, it will be hard. But it gets easier. Keep practicing, keep doing it.”
