As a digital marketer, you work hard every day to support your brand's e-commerce efforts. You strive to differentiate and capture the attention of busy consumers, and, of course, you mind your budget. Like any responsible marketer, you sometimes wonder how you can get even more bang for your buck. Savvy digital marketers know that one of the best ways to capture sales is to optimize their digital ad content.
Recent Forrester data shows that 39 percent of shoppers start their searches on Amazon.com (vs. 11 percent on Google). Given this trend, it's not enough just to list your products on Amazon. You need to be seen everywhere — including in the Buy Box. ChannelAdvisor has compiled six tactics to help increase your chances of owning this prized real estate.
Amazon.com's bid to be a key player in the world of mobile payments looks like it's taken a step back today. Amazon Wallet, an Android app developed by the company to store loyalty and gift cards, has been pulled from the Google Play store and Amazon's own app store, where links to each are now dead. "We've learned a great deal from the Amazon Wallet beta program and will look for ways to apply these lessons in the future as we continue to innovate on behalf of our customers," Tom Cook, an Amazon spokesperson said in an email to TechCrunch.
With 2015 upon us, it's time to evaluate your marketing strategy for the new year. Here are four areas that you want to pay particular attention to:
Google may be stocking its war chest to compete with Apple in mobile payments. The internet giant is reportedly in talks to acquire Softcard, a company that helps people to pay for things using their mobile devices, according to reports by TechCrunch and The Wall Street Journal. The deal for the payments company — a joint venture between carriers AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile — is said to be for less than $100 million. Both Google and Softcard declined to comment on the possible sale.
According to research from Monetate, sitewide conversion rates for new visitors to an e-commerce website averaged 2.11 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013. This seems to leave a lot of room for improvement for most e-commerce brands. Here are five areas and associated tactics that can help increase conversion:
Product recommendations that give a user that "aha!" moment may seem hard to build, but are actually not that complicated if you follow these fundamental principles:
The internet has flattened competition for retailers, big and small, and that means you have to build a personal connection with each shopper rather than compete for their wallets based on price. As competition in e-commerce continues to grow, global marketing campaigns have to become more tactical and focused. Here's how retailers can do that:
As rapidly as the retail industry has undergone change in recent years, there's no indication that it's likely to slow down anytime soon. In fact, I'd suggest that the coming year will see even bigger and faster changes for retailers across the globe. Mobile payment technologies, evolving customer behaviors, new and unexpected competition, and more will require retailers to continually evolve.
According to industry research, 91 percent of smartphone or tablet m-commerce consumers expect to make purchases via a mobile app this holiday season, which is a 14 percent increase over last year. Additionally, 96 percent of mobile consumers plan to use apps to research products, demonstrating the important role that mobile apps play during the holiday season. In order for retailers to maximize sales opportunities during the holiday season, it's important that they leverage mobile marketing opportunities. Here are four practical tips for consumer-friendly mobile marketers on how to sell more during the 2014 holiday season: