Strategy

Six retailers that used product videos to improve conversion rates

Product videos are a great way to improve conversion rates online as they reassure the customer by helping them make an informed purchase decision.

One of the main problem with ecommerce is that you can’t hold the product in your hands before you buy it, which is why offering free returns is such a great selling point.

But video is also a great way to limit the impact of returns, as it gives customers a full view 360 degree of the product.

We’ve previously blogged best practice tips for ecommerce product videos, and recently looked at the rise of video in 2013.

With this in mind, here’s a round up of some stats showing how product videos have improved conversion rates for six online retailers…

How ASOS, Sky and Schuh use live chat to personalise online shopping

Live chat is still a relatively new customer service channel, though it’s proving to be an increasingly popular method of communicating with brands.

Stats from BoldChat show that more than 65% of US online shoppers have used live chat, up from 50.4% in 2009.

The figure is slightly lower in the UK but still growing at 53%, up from 41% in 2011.

The same research shows that 31% of respondents would be more likely to purchase after a live chat, however this stat should be treated with a decent amount of scepticism, as it’s difficult for people to accurately predict their future purchase behaviour.

Three things you can cut from your social marketing plan

If you need to create a social media marketing plan for your business in 2013 you’ll be smart to cut these three strategies completely out of your budget, providing they meet these “tough love” performance criteria.

This is the year when content marketing and social media focuses like a laser on leads and sales. Or else. 

Four ways publishers can address ad blockers

Major internet companies like Google may pleased that the French government told a major ISP that it must stop its automatic filtering of ads for subscribers.  

However, make no mistake about it: the dispute over Free’s ad blocking is a reminder of what’s at stake as more and more consumers seek ways to opt out of online advertising.

Ad blocking software, of course, is not new. Publishers have watched its popularity rise over the years, and while there is debate over just how much revenue publishers lose each year to ad blocking, it’s widely seen as a significant threat.

Five awesome open-source front-end frameworks

Thanks in large part to the popularity of the open-source model, companies of all shapes and sizes have access to technologies that would have cost six and seven figures to develop in-house a half a decade ago.

From high-performance data stores to countless software libraries, there are plenty of open-source technologies that make building a sophisticated web-based service far less costly and time-consuming than it would have been.

17 digital marketing and ecommerce trends for 2013 by Econsultancy CEO Ashley Friedlein

Following are my personal thoughts on what will be interesting and important in the world of digital marketing and ecommerce for 2013. As is traditional for my trends, there are around seventeen of them.

I haven’t spent too much time on giving extensive justification for any of these; they are based largely on the many conversations I have with industry influencers and practitioners.

Many are really just notes, or bullet points, but I’ve tried to give links to further information if you want to delve deeper. They are in no particular order though I’ve started with the more ‘strategic’ stuff.

As ever, I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts, or feel free to post a link to your own trends or predictions. 

A quarter of shoppers admit to ‘showrooming’ over Christmas

Almost a quarter (24%) of UK shoppers used their mobile while in-store to compare prices in the run-up to Christmas, according to a new survey from Foolproof.

The process, known as ‘showrooming’, means that retailers have to come up with new ways to encourage customers to make a purchase in-store.

Alarmingly for some retailers, the survey of 1,000 adults also found that 40% of showroomers, or one in 10 of all shoppers, bought items from a competitor after comparing prices on their phone.

Unsurprisingly the habit is more prevalent among younger shoppers, with 39% of 18-39 year olds actively engaging in showrooming over Christmas compared to just 18% of shoppers over the age of 40.

Six key questions to ask your prospective SEO agency

Over the last three years I have been involved in many pitches to win new SEO clients and we are often asked how we can really tell if what an agency says it can do is actually true. 

With this major question in mind I thought I’d share with you some of our thoughts and experiences that we think might help you if you do find yourself looking for a new SEO agency. 

This check list is a good list of questions to ask prospecting agencies when in the process of selecting your new SEO agency partner.

Dell’s ‘mystery’ discounts. Good idea or a guaranteed way to annoy customers?

We’re coming towards the end of sale season, but businesses are still sending out emails to tempt customers into making a purchase.

Normally the retailer is specific about the amount of money off each product, however recently we’ve noticed that some businesses are sending emails with ‘mystery’ discount coupons, which basically means you don’t know how much the discount is for.

Yesterday Dell sent one of these emails, which attempts to lure you in with the offer a discount that could be anything from 10% to 50%. The problem is you only find out what the discount is once you get to the checkout.

The mysterious coupon is presumably supposed to make the customer so curious that they can’t help but click on the call-to-action on the off chance they are rewarded a half price laptop, but personally I find it to be an incredibly annoying offer.

New BBC Sport app is a clone of its mobile site. Should it offer more?

The BBC’s drive to become the world’s foremost digital broadcaster took another step today with the launch of a new Sport app on iOS.

We’ve followed developments at the Beeb with interest over the past 12 months, with iPlayer updates, mobile sites and apps being unveiled on what seems like a fortnightly basis.

One of its most impressive launches was the Olympics smartphone app, which offered a great user experience alongside a massive amount of content. 

90% of agencies say clients expect more work for less money

Almost 90% of digital and design agencies believe their clients now expect more work for less money, according to a new survey.

The Design Industry Voices report, which interviewed 500 agency staff, found that 80% said client budgets have been reduced and more than two-thirds (70%) said clients expect more work in pitches for free.

The survey by Fairley & Associates, Gabriele Skelton and On Pointe Marketing is now in its fourth year and suggests that digital and design agencies are feeling the squeeze as a result of the economic downturn.

This is despite the fact that the Econsultancy and Experian Marketing Budgets 2012 Report showed increasing levels of investment across a range of digital channels and disciplines.

Infinite scrolling: pros and cons

It’s not exactly new, but you probably encountered far more sites with infinite scrolling functionality in 2012 than you did in 2011, and there’s a good chance you’ll come across even more in 2013.

With popular services like Twitter and Pinterest bringing infinite scrolling into the mainstream, it’s no surprise that more and more designers and publishers are considering doing away with old school pagination.

But is infinite scrolling a good trend or will it soon become a design worst practice?

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