Content Marketing

Swedish furniture giant Ikea, fearing a legal backlash, has removed an article about a lesbian couple from Russian versions of a customer magazine that is distributed all over the world. An Ikea spokeswoman said the move was made in accordance with laws in Russia banning "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations." The company replaced the article in Russia with a story about a designer living in China.

The most important fact for retailers when thinking how to enhance their online shopping experience is that modern e-commerce has been a part of consumers’ lives for almost 20 years. Millennials don't know a world without online shopping, and even older consumers are extremely sophisticated e-shoppers today. Both groups have also had over six years to become obsessed with their smartphones. Imagery, and interactivity with images, is expected.

Social paid advertising and real-time marketing are changing the way retailers strategize their campaigns. Jennifer Kasper, group vice president of digital, new media and multicultural marketing at Macy's, spoke with eMarketer's Rimma Kats about how the retailer is approaching social media, as well as the key role Pinterest will play in its 2014 efforts.

There are misconceptions about every industry, and within retail, there are plenty about email marketing. But if we're going to make any kind of progression in the industry, it's important to debunk these mistaken beliefs. Below are my deconstructions of the five most common myths surrounding email marketing today:

According to Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, the purchase decision-making process is about 70 percent emotional and 30 percent rational. If your brand isn't emotionally connecting with consumers, there's a good chance that you're missing out on a huge number of sales.

Consumer expectations have changed significantly in recent years; the advent of mobile, online and social channels have seen to that. Rakuten has grown from a niche e-commerce player to a global online marketplace in just 16 years. In that time we've learned a few things about how to ensure online success for retailers in an ever-competitive climate. Consider the following five steps:

Omnichannel is the buzzword du jour in retailing. From large chains to midsize independents, brands across the retail industry are eager to leverage new digital opportunities as drivers of increased revenues and market expansion. But while many retailers are talking about omnichannel opportunities, a much smaller number understand what omnichannel really means.

If you're looking for a way to grab and hold a prospect's attention online, video works better than text. According to a Wharton Research Center study, 90 percent of internet surfers leave a text-only site in four seconds, whereas if video is present on the homepage, the drop rate decreases to 60 percent, demonstrating a significant increase in stickiness for sites with video.

With the rapid emergence of visual social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram, brands and consumers have drastically changed the way they interact online. Conversations that were previously held with text are now driven by images, creating valuable opportunities for social media marketers to engage with their fans.

Like real estate, retail has always been about location, location, location. But as the demographics of the American population continue to shift, retailers have placed more emphasis on targeting specific ethnic groups based on their location and spending patterns. As such, they must rely on advanced micro-geographic technology to get better insight into the prominent ethnicities of specific neighborhoods (both current and future projections) that they're targeting for stores nationwide. Having a better understanding of in-store consumers helps drive online purchases as well.