Primed: How Amazon Finally Converted Me

If you know me or have ever listened to The Commerce Marketer Podcast, you know I am not a Prime member.

Until now. Dun dun dun.

I know, right? I spend my life analyzing the ecommerce world, ordering my products online, and yet I rebuffed all of Amazon’s attempts to draw me in. But the scale finally tipped. It was slow and gradual. I saw the writing on the wall. I finally got to the point where I could no longer rationalize not subscribing. This was years in the making. But in all of this, there is a lesson for retailers to learn from my journey.

So, what took me so long to sign up, and what changed? Let’s explore.

Why Not Prime?

Why was I so resistant to Prime? It’s not like I didn’t shop on Amazon, but, frankly, the value I received compared to my lifestyle did not match. Like other consumers, I have come to expect free shipping. While Prime offers a lot more than free shipping, I always viewed it as paying for shipping. People commonly point to the free shipping as a main reason for subscribing.

Competition with Amazon also benefits non-Prime members. Consumers today have options: If I needed items in a relative hurry, Target and Walmart would often get it to me within two days. Many times, it would arrive the next day. If I needed something that day, I would just run out and grab it. And, not to be forgotten, prices on Amazon were frequently higher — sometimes drastically — than elsewhere. Every time I would see this it would cause me to take pause on a free trial.

Were there times I would have liked one-hour delivery? Sure. But those occasions were more the exception rather than the rule.

And those extras, like Prime Video – I didn’t need them. I have Netflix, a television package, Apple TV, and Roku devices at home. I also have two children, which means my television time is further reduced. I have enough content to satisfy me. Others, however, may be able to take better advantage of those services.

What Changed?

It was a gradual change, but one I noticed along the way. First, I live in an area with one-hour delivery. I saw that as convenient, but again, more of a nice-to-have than a necessity. Then came the emergence of Alexa-enabled devices, which interests me – and I think this is going to be huge. Then came the big one: Amazon acquired Whole Foods (WF). I am a Whole Foods-first household. This acquisition intrigued me because I knew something would come of it.

I have also had an Amazon credit card for years. It is one I rarely ever use. However, as a non-Prime member, using this card at WF allows me to receive 3% cash-back at Amazon. Prime members receive 5% on the same purchases. This is something I had to take a serious pause to consider. The question I asked myself was whether the 2% difference would pay for Prime. After all, I am shopping at WF anyway. For one month, I tracked how much I received with 3% cash back and calculated how much the extra 2% would have been. Then, on two trips, I was given the in-store Prime member discounts while checking out. Amazon is sneaky like that. Based on my purchases, I saved roughly $3 per trip with the in-store discount alone. If I shopped two times per month (which I easily do), this would extrapolate to roughly $72 per year. Amazon was breaking down my walls.

Then came Prime Day 2018. It all changed. Not because I care about Prime Day itself, but because Amazon announced that if you shop at WF the week of Prime Day you would receive a $10 credit to spend on Prime Day. I bit the bullet and signed up for a free trial. GASP! Of course, I got the $10 credit. But to my surprise, so did my wife. Now I am at $92 saved. On Prime Day itself, I again saved $3 on member-only sales.

After Prime Day, I received an email from Amazon thanking me for everything and giving me another $10 credit toward an Amazon purchase through August. And of course, I ran out of batteries two days later. Guess what I did? Now I am up to $102. If you throw in the extra 2% I have spent during the first two weeks of my trial membership, I have surpassed the $119 price tag.

Is this enough to keep me renewing? Maybe. Maybe not. But I am excited to see what’s next. What I am most anxious about is same-day WF delivery to my area. I expect it sooner or later. Now you’re talking value that fits my lifestyle!

What Retailers Can Learn

At the end of the day, Amazon took a slow and steady approach. But they kept at it! Ultimately, they added value to my experience, with both cost and convenience. As a retailer, how do you compete with Amazon? It’s imperative you understand how your brand and products fit into your customers’ lives. Reinforce this value at every step along the customer journey, from email to your website to your social channels. Make it hard for people to say no to you rather than finding a reason to say yes.  

Consider email marketing, for example. When it comes to email, make sure your automated emails speak to what matters to them most. Do they care about price, convenience, quality of products, satisfaction guarantees, flexible return policies, a commitment to a cause, or a combination of these? Are your marketing emails relevant to consumers and help them along their journey?

Most importantly, be patient. Focus on improving one thing at a time. Improving 10% of 10 things will get you nowhere. Continue to make things better and see them through to completion. Optimizing the customer experience and providing value to your subscribers is what will ultimately win them over.

I am now a Prime member, but am I an Amazon loyalist? Certainly not. Amazon is hoping I am like other Prime members and will spend an extra $600 year more than non-Prime members. I am not confident that I will be that person, but I am 100% confident they will get more of my business than they had before.

Kudos, Amazon, you finally got me! But you have made me more paranoid than ever. I know that brunch, heat index, and wind chill are reading this and see this as their hope to win their own fight with me.

But those are topics for another day.  

Like reading my thoughts on Amazon? Here are a few other stories you might enjoy:

Amazon 4-star and What It Could Signal for Amazon’s Future Retail Business

Why Amazon is Trying to Out‑Walmart Walmart

Future of Ecommerce: How Amazon and Giant Retailers Will Change in 10 Years

Alexa, Order Me Browserless Commerce

The Commerce Marketer Podcast:

Episode 036: How to Get Amazon Reviews & Why Your First 50 Matter

Episode 034: Marketplace Bootcamp: Keys to Successful Selling

When Is the Best Time to Send Your Brand Emails?

When is the best time to send emails?

This question has been around as long as email marketing itself. If you do a quick search, you’ll find tons of different studies pointing to a variety of answers, leaving retailers just as confused as before. The common result: Brands are flooding consumers' inboxes with emails at seemingly random times throughout the day.

This over-saturation, especially when combined with a lack of relevant content, can quickly lead customers to unsubscribe or let unread promotions sink to the bottom of their inbox—never to be opened.

Let’s explore some of the nuances of the “best” email send times, debunk a few common myths, and review why you should be looking beyond the email open.

The Best Time of Day to Send Marketing Emails

Identifying the best time to send depends greatly on the products you sell and the makeup of your audience. For example, millennials and Gen Zers are digitally-native consumers. They have their mobile devices with them at all hours of the day and use them all the time. Assuming they’re only opening their emails somewhere around the 10 a.m. lull at work is a very misguided and antiquated notion. Sure, it might be true for some, but it’s not likely for both generational cohorts.

While millennials may be working, Gen Z consumers may be at school or just hanging out with their friends. The same principle holds true for evening sends. Does your target audience interact late in the evenings? For younger cohorts, the answer may be yes, but for baby boomers, it may be less likely. For me, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. is a marketing black hole. During that time, I’m eating dinner, playing with my children, and getting them ready for bed. Sending me an email at 6 p.m. is a wasted effort. But for households without children, it might be the perfect send time.

Another thing to consider when sending an email is the dreaded time zone. Even though you may want to reach your West Coast customers at 10 a.m., remember that means the same email will reach your East Coast fan base at 1 p.m. Always be sure to factor this into the equation, especially for particular messages. If you run a “lunchtime” flash sale and send the email just before noon West Coast time, your message may miss the mark for those in other time zones who are already well into the afternoon.

The Best Day of the Week to Send Marketing Emails

A very popular school of thought has been that Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were the best days to send, and weekends should be avoided. More on this in a moment. But this is another rule that has since gone by the wayside. Brands are sending more now than ever before, so focusing on one singular send day for your emails is not an option for most.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t find the optimal days for your customers. As I mentioned with determining the best email send times, when trying to find the ideal day, look at the products you sell, as well as your audience and their social lifestyle. Sure, some brands or products may not have much success on the weekends, but others may find that weekends are the best days. I have worked with companies on both ends of this spectrum. It’s all about understanding how your product appeals to your consumers and knowing how to engage with them.

Now, for those pesky weekends. Times have changed. People now have access to their email in their pocket 24/7. Are we really supposed to believe they don’t check it or shop on the weekends? Does Amazon not sell products on the weekend? Of course, people shop on the weekends! And with the ease and ability to shop whenever you want, there’s almost no reason to avoid sending on those days.

One more note: This shopping convenience has also given rise to the, let’s say, “tipsy” shopping phenomenon. This tendency to shop while feeling a little loose likely accelerates on Friday and Saturday nights. Based on your target audience, these days of the week may actually be quite powerful.

More on which days are the best to send your marketing emails here.

The Next Step

If you want to determine the best day and best time to send emails, testing and tools are critical. Use them to understand your audience. Using data analytics is a must. Take time to review your previous send data. Organize your email open and click-through results by the time and day when your brand emails were sent. But remember: If you’ve typically been sending on a particular day of the week, your data will be skewed and show that the best open rate comes from that day.

Begin by looking at the time of opens. You should see a relatively consistent pattern here, but try to look for patterns. For example, when sending an email, the majority of your opens will happen closest to the send time and decline accordingly. But if you routinely send emails at 9 a.m., but your opens spike at 1 p.m., this should tell you something.

Once you’ve determined your general baseline, formulate a testing plan for both send times and days of the week, but preferably not at the same time. Focus on one before the other. You can then optimize as you go along. Be sure to use the send time optimization tools your commerce marketing platform provides. This can help you maximize the effectiveness of your email send times.

Go Beyond the Email Open

While I’ve focused on the best days and times to send emails, the open rate is only a piece of the bigger email marketing puzzle. Of course, you want as many people to see the emails as possible, but if they don’t result in conversions, what good are they doing?

Finding the balance between improving open rates and conversion rates is critical. If you find your open rates increasing but conversions lagging, something is missing. We know that consumers today are predominantly checking their email on their mobile devices. Are your emails mobile-friendly? If not, you not only lose the potential sale, but the consumer may stop opening your emails altogether, knowing the experience will be lacking. Is the content of your emails relevant, helpful, and engaging?

Sending batch-and-blast messages is not meant to engage individuals. If you do send batch-and-blast messages, incorporate individual and engaging elements in them, such as intuitive, subscriber-specific product recommendations or user-generated content. If you’re sending an email about preparing for the snowstorm in the northeast to those who live in Miami, don’t expect strong conversions from that segment, even if they all open your email.

Final Thoughts

Connecting the right time to the best day to the right content will help you create a more consumer-friendly customer experience. Your goal is to refine your marketing programs, create unique customer journeys, and ultimately earn more revenue. Need help?

Email campaigns serve as a bridge between brands and consumers. When done correctly, they allow you to effectively communicate and interact with your customers. So don’t waste the opportunity. Adapt to the changing consumer behavior and look beyond the outdated “myths” to find the send time that’s right for you.

The Importance of Relevant Recommendations

Imagine this scenario. You’re staying at a hotel, and you visit the concierge for a great dinner recommendation. You give him all sorts of information, including your craving for surf and turf. You tell him about the vintage red wine you like and your wife’s favorite chardonnay. You say you want a relaxed, romantic atmosphere – nothing too loud. After sharing all of those details, the concierge recommends the local sports bar. Wouldn’t you have expected more? Would you think less of the concierge and even the hotel chain as a whole? This same kind of interaction happens between retailers and consumers every day.

Such a disconnect can quickly turn consumers off and send them searching for other options. They are demanding personalized experiences and have come to expect relevant recommendations in exchange for sharing information about themselves. In fact, according to a recent Bronto-commissioned survey of U.S. consumers, 60% of millennials and 45% of Gen Xers expect retailers to make product recommendations based on their past purchases. Yet just 21% of millennials and 9% of Gen Xers are always satisfied with the recommendations they receive. What a major gap between expectation and reality.

When they’re done well, product recommendations are a powerful tool for connecting with consumers and making them feel like you truly understand them. They can be used in virtually any email, from day-to-day promotional emails and automated lifecycle messages, such as post-purchase and browse recovery, to order and shipping confirmations. They can even stand on their own as recommendation-only emails. And the best part is they don’t cause any additional strain for your likely lean email marketing team.

In this article, I’ll discuss:

• The dos and don’ts f using product recommendations

• How to make your product recommendations stand out

• Potential pitfalls to avoid

Click here to continue reading on Multichannel Merchant.

Are Loyalty Programs Still Doing Their Job?

It’s a pretty disloyal world out there, but can you really blame the consumer? Online shopping has never been easier, and stores have been stepping over each other to see who can offer the deepest discount. While discounting your way to a one-time purchase might work in the short term, at the end of the day, you need to aim for a higher prize: customer loyalty.

Many retailers attempt to accomplish this with an official loyalty program. There’s just one problem – they rarely work.

In this article, I’ll discuss:

• What makes a good loyalty program

• Why customers don’t feel loyalty to programs

• Examples from Starbucks, Macy’s, Bruegger’s Bagels, and Amazon

>>> Click here to continue reading on multichannel Merchant <<<

The Threat of Disappearing Brands in the Age of Voice Assistants

When you see a red and white can of soda or a Peter Pan silhouette on a jar, you see a brand. You know the product. But what happens when you don’t have those visual cues to draw you to certain items when you shop?

Brands used to rely on traditional advertising to embed their brand imagery in our minds and remain visible and relevant to their audience. But in today’s digital-first world, consumer attention is more fragmented. Television screen time is declining, while time spent on smartphones and other mediums is increasing. This has created challenges for brands trying to stay in front of consumers.

Voice assistants add an additional layer of uncertainty to the traditional means of keeping us brand loyal. With devices like Siri, Google Home, and Amazon’s Alexa-enabled options, consumers are relying more and more on browserless interactions. In fact, comScore predicts that 50% of all searches will be voice searches by 2020. That’s not that far away.

But while performing informational searches is one thing, the idea of searching for products and actually buying them via browserless commerce is quite another. This begs the question: if consumers are searching and buying via voice, will this erode the value of brands as we know them?

The Age of Voice Is Upon Us

Amazon claims it sold millions of Alexa devices over the Black Friday weekend and that the Echo Dot was the top-selling item on the website worldwide during the holiday season. That equates to a lot of people saying, “Hey Alexa, order me batteries.” In this scenario, the first result you get is for Amazon private-label batteries. So how do Duracell and Energizer compete with this? How do their branding efforts influence a consumer’s purchasing decision when those visual brand cues are no longer available? Are either of these two brands stronger than Amazon? Battery sales figures from Amazon indicate they’re not.

And what about those instances when Alexa fails to deliver the brand name you’re looking for and suggests you open a browser to find it? With convenience so in demand, you may opt to purchase the suggested non-branded product just to avoid spending one more second shopping for batteries. If you’re willing to take the extra step to switch devices just to make the purchase, you must really love the brand.

What Do Voice-Assisted Consumers Want?

There is no doubt that the post-Gen Z generation, often referred to as Generation Alpha, will have voice assistants as a part of their everyday life. Gen Z is coming of consumer age during this evolutionary period, and they have the spending power and skills to navigate technology. And what about millennials? According to eMarketer, thirty million were expected to use voice assistants monthly in 2017. So, what do these consumers want from the experience, and how can brands provide it?

Millennials are loyal to strong brands. And they’re drawn to both value and hyper-convenience. What does this have to do with browserless commerce? In a recent conversation with millennial marketing expert Jeff Fromm, he said this age group is loyal to brands when the brand is strong, but will trade down when it is weak. If you pair that idea with the millennial interest in value and convenience, you understand the magnitude of the challenge brands are facing. Voice assistants are the definition of hyper-convenience.

Millennials also appreciate value, which doesn’t always mean the lowest price. Think bang for the buck. It’s one reason millennials often mix brand names and private labels. If we use the Amazon battery example, Amazon hits the trifecta: a strong brand, value, and convenience. How can brand-name battery makers compete?

But millennials are just one example. Other generational groups share many of the same values. In a browserless era, brand-name paper towels, peanut butter, ketchup, underwear, mouthwash, or any other branded basic runs the risk of fading away without the visual cues that advertising built and in-person shopping enhanced.

What Can Marketers Do?

Focus on communicating your value in a way that gives consumers a reason to verbally request your brand. For example. I love Utz’s old-fashioned hard sourdough pretzels. Not pretzel rods, or small twists, but the big ones that crack my teeth! I need to convey to my wife, who does the majority of shopping, why she should specifically request that product and not settle for the recommended sourdough rods.

The same goes for when the household’s usual shopper isn’t the one ordering from the voice assistant. In the store, I might be able to recognize the laundry detergent we use by its color and logo. Without that visual, how do I choose the right one? My instinct might be to order the recommended product or the cheapest one. How you differentiate your product from generic brands is critical.

Voice assistants also change the SEO game. How we speak will become more important than the words we type into a search engine. As a non-SEO expert, I would optimize for voice by writing and producing web content in a conversational style. Consider what consumers might ask when searching for your product and how your product or content might help solve their needs. For example, I might ask, “Hey Google, what’s the best way to keep my toes warm in cold weather?” Would the content you produce or the way you write your sock’s product description be relevant enough to return a query result?

In an age of voice, the potential for brand erosion certainly exists. How far will it go? Frankly, we don’t know yet. This evolution should force existing brands to rethink how they target and interact with their audience. Staying top of mind at a time when consumers are constantly connected, value is weighted, price comparison is commonplace, and convenience is essential is difficult. And it’s especially true when the actual device returning the consumer’s request may be a direct competitor. Will brands as we currently know them be forever changed by this evolution?

In the age of voice, a familiar logo is no longer enough.

This was originally published on Multichannel Merchant.

Millennials: From Punchline to Powerful Consumers

By now, you’ve heard the term “millennial” a million times over — and with good reason. They represent 25% of the US population and hold $1.3 trillion in spending power, which has turned them into quite a powerful consumer group.

Millennials have mostly been given the credit, for better or worse, for redefining consumer expectations. These expectations now go well beyond millennials, prompting retailers to change how they engage and market to consumers of all ages.

So, what do millennial consumers want? What do they care about? And how can retailers adapt?

It all starts with the smartphone. Thanks to the access these devices grant, millennials are consuming a lot of content. They read – and value – things like product reviews. They digest what’s happening on social media, both from brands and their peers. They watch videos. And yes, they communicate with their friends and family.

While content consumption is one thing, how brands drive action from them is another.

Building Millennial Loyalty

There is a notion that millennials are not loyal to brands, but this isn’t quite accurate. In fact, millennials are loyal to brands that clearly communicate a meaningful purpose and core values – and stand by them. They’re also more likely to stand behind a company that makes philanthropy part of its mission. They’re not going to go with a brand based on name alone, no matter how long the brand has been around.

For this generation, convenience is not only important, but it’s also essential. And ultimately, the consumer, not the company, defines convenience. Your brand may think four-day shipping serves its needs, but in this age of two-day, same-day, and even two-hour delivery, it may not be enough. To some consumers, four days can seem like an inconvenient eternity.

Millennial marketing expert Jeff Fromm takes it one step further and says it’s not convenience they care about, it’s hyper-convenience. As a retailer not named Amazon, you should think of ways to create customer experiences that make people want to engage with you and talk about your brand. After all, people don’t Google or ask Siri to find them an average restaurant or an average pair of shoes. To appeal to millennials, you need both a good product and good service. Here are a few ways to think about upping the experience you offer to millennial consumers.

Employees: Think about your frontline employees. Customer service representatives and store associates can help create an exceptional consumer experience. Train them to be advocates for the company. They are, after all, the face (or voice) of the business. If they’re unhelpful or treat people poorly, don’t expect repeat customers. In today’s age, news travels fast.

Content: The strategic focus here is to give consumers the information they desire when they go to look for it. Are your in-store product counts online accurate? Do you offer product reviews or how-to videos? Can I easily reach your customer service department to ask them a question? Providing easy-to-access content helps millennials navigate their customer journey.

Inspiration: Great brands inspire people to create great content. Does your brand inspire content creation, such as Instagram posts or product reviews? I don’t mean simply sending an email asking customers to review their purchase, but actually providing inspiration for doing so. Do you make consumers want to share with you on social media? Look at your messaging strategy – does it feel authentic or forced?

Email Marketing: Are your emails relevant and timely? Consumers, especially millennials, will quickly tune out generic batch-and-blast emails. Think of opportunities to send a more targeted email, such as browse recovery messaging, or adding product recommendations and user-generated content to your messages. In fact, according to one of our recent studies, 60% of US millennials fully expect stores to provide recommendations based on their past online purchases.

The customer journey today is more fragmented than ever before, especially for digitally native shoppers. Consumers today may still touch all four bases on a baseball field, but they may not do it in order. But if you can optimize your strategy and give them what they want at each stop, you’ll be a brand they remember and come back to time and time again.

For more information on marketing to millennials, check out episode 14 of the Commerce Marketer Podcast. Listen on Apple Podcasts.

Holiday Predictions Recap: Did I Hit the Mark or Shoot My Eye Out?

The holiday season exploded, much like a shot fired from a Red Rider carbine action, 200-shot, range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time. Back in October, I laid out my predictions for the 2017 holiday season. Now it’s time to take aim at my predictions and see whether I had Black Bart in the crosshairs or ended up shooting my eye out.

Where I Hit the Mark

Prediction: More Mobile Sales
Last year, mobile accounted for 30% of all online sales. I predicted mobile sales would increase to roughly 35%.

Result: We all saw this coming. Mobile accounted for 40% of online purchases, 33% of online revenue, and 56% of traffic, according to Adobe. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times; if you’re not optimized for mobile, you’re not optimized.

Prediction: Early Sales

Online holiday sales will start in October.

Result: Seeing as every day in November drove $1 billion in online sales, we know people were shopping the deals early. From my personal inbox, the incentives offered by retailers during the final week in October were right in line with those offered in November.

Prediction: Exclusions Apply

You will see fewer “off everything” promotions and an increase in discounts on “select items.”

Result: I did notice an uptick in select categories of sale items, such as discounts on pajamas one day and sweaters the next. While I did see exclusionary sales, I think they were handled much better than last year. Last year, in many instances, I would cart items only to find out at checkout that they were not discounted. This year, I noticed the sales having their own sections on websites and emails clearly defining which categories of products were on sale.

Prediction: Black Friday and Cyber Monday

I predicted both days would drive over $1 billion in mobile commerce and that the promotions for these days would start on Sunday or Monday prior.

Result: Black Friday raked in nearly $1.9 billion in mobile revenue, nearly 37% of all of Black Friday’s online revenue. Cyber Monday became the first day ever to reach $2 billion in mobile revenue, setting a new mobile benchmark.

Black Friday wasn’t just a day – it was a weeklong event. Even though Gray November was in full effect, many retailers started their Black Friday earlier that week. I made 92% of my purchases prior to Black Friday, and the other 8% on Black Friday itself. The deals were out early.

Prediction: Thanksgiving Day

I predicted that Thanksgiving Day would cross $2 billion in online sales for the first time ever.

Result: Online sales clocked in at $2.87 billion for the day. This day keeps growing as a critical online shopping day.

Prediction: Browserless Commerce

I predicted voice assistants would be the hottest sellers of the season, with Amazon devices being the No. 1 sellers in this group.

Result: Well, Apple’s HomePod was delayed until 2018, handing market share to Google and Amazon, and Google did not disclose how many devices were sold during the holidays.

But does it even matter? Amazon appears to be the big winner here. Amazon’s David Limp, head of devices, said that millions of Alexa-enabled devices were sold over Black Friday weekend. Amazon later said the Echo Dot was the top-selling item on the website worldwide during the holiday season, while the Fire TV Stick was runner-up. Can households claim Alexa as a dependent?

Prediction: Amazon’s Take

Amazon captured 38% of the online holiday sales in 2016, and I predicted this figure would inch up to the 45% mark.

Result: Amazon is king. GBH Insights estimated Amazon accounted for between 45% and 50% of online sales during the holidays. On Thanksgiving and Black Friday, Amazon accounted for 45% of online transactions among the 50 top retailers, according to Hitwise. Amazon also announced Cyber Monday was its best day ever, surpassing even Prime Day. Considering they were responsible for 44% of all online sales in 2017, this all sounds like just another day in Amazon-land.

A Few Half-Baked Holiday Results

Prediction: Even More Mobile Clicks
In Q4 2016, mobile accounted for nearly 57% of paid search clicks, with 47% coming from smartphones. I predicted we would see continued increases.

Result: At the time of writing, the data is not yet available. However, with 56% of holiday traffic coming from mobile, I would expect this prediction to be a successful one.

Prediction: In-Store Exclusives

In an attempt to drive in-store traffic, I predicted you might see a rise in brick-and-mortar retailers offering “off everything” or deeper discount sales for in-store only.

Result: There was a noticeable increase in retailers offering an additional discount, on top of the online discount, for shopping in-store. However, a relatively small number offered store-only discounts. In fact, I was astounded to see some omnichannel retailers make specific mention of the discounts being for online purchases only. Why would they not want their customers to come into the store? If anything, make it available in both places.

Prediction: Re-engineering the Brick-and-Mortar Experience
I predicted we’d see a lot of in-store-only Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, as well as some in-store price-matching.

Result: While there was a noticeable rise in extra in-store incentives, there seemed to be relatively few in-store-only sales for these signature days. This might be why Shopertrak reported that foot traffic to physical retail stores was down 1% on Black Friday.

And to no one’s surprise, Black Friday deals were widely available for the entire week (and weekend) of Thanksgiving. Looking at my own inbox, more than 20% of all email subject lines contained the term “Black Friday” on the Monday before.

And yes, price-matching was seemingly everywhere. Stores like Dick’s, Walmart, Best Buy, Sears, Newegg, and even Amazon, in some cases, all deployed price-matching strategies during the holidays.

Prediction: Email Marketing Will Continue to Dominate

Result: This one is still pending, as complete data is still being analyzed. Adobe did report that on Cyber Monday, email drove 24.9% of sales, closely followed by the 22.9% from paid search. My inbox was extremely busy. In November, I received almost 25% more emails this year than last year. Year over year, Bronto sent more than 25% more emails on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Email continues to be a highly effective marketing tool for retailers.

Where I Shot My Eye Out

Prediction: More Billion Dollar Days.

I predicted we’d see 60 of the 61 days in November and December rake in $1 billion in online sales, up from the 57 days in 2017.

Result: 58 of 61 days topped the $1 billion mark. Every day in November reached this milestone, further reinforcing Gray November as a mainstay, not a trend. While improving upon last year, December let me down. Come on, December!

Prediction: The largest online shopping day of the year

I predicted that for the first time, Black Friday – not Cyber Monday – would be the largest online shopping day of the year.

Result: Here’s the big one. I predicted Black Friday to be the online king of the year. My reasoning was based on the industry-accepted benchmark of 2016 Black Friday and Cyber Monday online sales of $3.34 and $3.45 billion, respectively. We have been seeing this gap seemingly close year over year. Inexplicably, when the 2016 baselines were referenced, these numbers were surprisingly different, at over $4.3 and $5.65 billion each day, respectively. What a difference! While the industry thought Black Friday was about to catch Cyber Monday in sales, these adjusted numbers show that this wasn’t quite the case.

All in all, this year’s Cyber Monday reportedly clocked in at $6.59 billion, and outperformed Black Friday by $1.5 billion. Although Cyber Monday has some breathing room as king of online sales, Black Friday, at over $5 billion, is no day to smirk at.

And What About My “Bold” Predictions?

Predictions:

• Starbucks will take flak over its holiday cup design. ‘Tis the season!

• I will once again purchase my tree on Black Friday.

• Fruitcake, while good in theory, will continue to be a poor party dessert.

Results: A little, yes, and yes!

The Starbucks cup design faced only minor controversy this year. Hey, someone has to complain, right?

I again purchased my tree on Black Friday, but not from the usual store. Upon arriving at my usual retailer, I was greeted with a ghost town. My local fire department’s tree lot was the winner this year. I absolutely loved my tree, and that usual retailer may have just lost my tree business forever.

And no, I did not serve fruitcake at my holiday party.

While not all of my predictions for 2017 hit the target, coming up with them is always fun. And by all accounts, this holiday season was great for consumers looking for a deal. Although retailer margins may have been squeezed, retailers certainly benefited from the high shopping turnout. This year, I look forward to seeing who Amazon acquires (I have my thoughts), how consumer behaviors will shift, and how retailers will adapt to meet their needs. These will, of course, all affect my predictions. Hopefully, next year, my predictions will be more like a Red Rider and less like pink bunny pajamas. Only time will tell.

This was originally published on Multichannel Merchant.

Confessions of a Holiday Shopper: Why I Didn’t Wait Until Black Friday

This holiday season was predicted to be the best yet for online retailers – and it was. Fifty-eight out of 61 days drove over $1 billion in online sales, including every single day in November. Gray November, the month-long period of deep discounts, is now commonplace. But do people buy more or simply buy earlier?

This year, I wanted to find out how early discounts affected my own shopping behavior and see what lessons it might offer for retailers. So, I conducted a little experiment.

A Little Background

My yearly holiday shopping comes with a double whammy. See, my wife’s birthday falls one week before Christmas. After buying gifts for my wife and the kids, my digital wallet looks more like a countdown clock in an email message, getting smaller and smaller as the seconds tick away.

I traditionally draft my gift list a few days before Black Friday and then purchase over that weekend. But this year, I pivoted. Having tracked the Gray November phenomena over the past several years, I felt confident that the discounts would be just as strong prior to Black Friday weekend as during it.

You can’t write about holiday shopping (or conduct your own holiday shopping experiment) without addressing the elephant in the room – Amazon. Although I purchase from Amazon, I am not a Prime member. Am I allowed to say that? I guess the first step is admitting it. As a non-Prime member, here's what I was looking for in my shopping experience:

• Could other retailers compete with Amazon for my attention and wallet?

• Would I regret buying “early”

• Was Amazon the right retailer, or did someone else offer value or service that was better?

• In the end, how much wallet share would Amazon nab, and why?

Let the Purchasing Begin

Although my very first purchase took place on November 13, my primary shopping started on November 16. I completed 75% of my shopping prior to Thanksgiving Day and 92% prior to Black Friday.

To Amazon or Not to Amazon?

HitWise reported that Amazon accounted for 55% of Black Friday sales and 45% of Thanksgiving Day sales. For the holidays overall, GBH Insights estimates Amazon accounted for about a 50% share of online revenue.

For me, 33% of my purchases were made on Amazon, accounting for 11% of my wallet. However, my November 13 purchase was a one-time, big-ticket item. By removing this specialty purchase, the adjusted wallet share Amazon earned from me jumps to 29%. Even though money spent is money spent, I view this adjusted 29% as a more accurate number, as it's based on my typical gifting habits.

One of the main reasons I chose Amazon was the convenience of buying many diverse products in a single order at a price that was comparable to or better than a competitor’s. When the price was comparable, I mostly leaned toward Amazon for value-add reasons, such as my confidence in their customer service.

But Amazon certainly lost out on a few of my purchases. Twenty-five percent of the time, the price was higher. Another 25% of the time, I was concerned about the quality of the Amazon offerings (particularly the private-label offerings), and 17% of the time, Amazon didn’t carry what I was looking for.

My Black Friday purchases all came from Amazon. I purposely shopped for the items prior to Black Friday, placed them in my cart, and left them abandoned. The prices at this time were comparable to other sites, and I knew that come Black Friday, I’d get a deal somewhere. Interestingly enough, Amazon was the one that came through with the largest price drops.

Customer Service and the Consumer Experience

I had two notable customer service experiences while shopping. The first was from Amazon. For one purchase, I ordered a product that was fulfilled by Amazon. The product quantity showed there were six remaining. One full day after placing my order, I received an email from Amazon stating the item could not be fulfilled due to the product not being in stock. But the website still showed the product as in stock and ready to ship. Needless to say, I found this to be a very poor customer experience.

On November 18, I placed an order from a national omnichannel retailer. They had a 50% off sale on several items I was shopping for. However, one of the items on my list was not on sale. The question became: do I purchase now or wait to see if the other item goes on sale? I assessed the situation. Because they offered free shipping and free returns, I had nothing to lose. After all, if they discounted the item later, I could simply return the order and place a new one with all of the items on sale.

So I purchased, paying full price for the one item. The very next morning, the full-price item went on sale at 50% off. Because it was less than 24 hours since the order was placed, I emailed customer service asking if they would credit the difference. They declined to do so, instead instructing me to sign up for their emails so I don’t miss a future sale. Umm, OK. Instead, I let them incur the cost for not only shipping the new order but also processing the return. This incident reduces my chances of doing business with them in the future.

These two experiences highlight a lesson for retailers: Be sure the product counts on your website are accurate and that your customer service policies allow you to meet customer expectations. In both cases, I had a negative experience. For Amazon purchases, I’m skeptical of the value of paying for Prime. For the other retailer, knowing they won’t address a simple price adjustment gives me little confidence that they would satisfactorily address a more complex customer service issue.

Final Thoughts

I’m just one shopper, but I feel confident my buying behaviors are fairly representative – customer service and value trump price. Don’t leave the success of your business dependent on discounts. If you're a retailer, spend the next six months forging stronger relationships with your customers. Review your customer service policies. When issues arise, don’t just say you’re sorry. Go out of your way to make things right! Communicate value-adds that are meaningful for your customers.

When it comes to purchasing from you or a competitor, give shoppers a reason to choose you. If you rely on price alone, you’ll eventually lose.

Top Retail Trends for 2018: Industry Experts Share Their Predictions

(Intro by Daniela Forte) In 2017, we saw a tremendous number of changes happen in the retail industry. Artificial intelligence and virtual/augmented reality were just starting to take flight in terms of marketing to customers.

Amazon bought Whole Foods, changing how we thought about grocery as a whole. Voice ordering was all people could talk about as products like Amazon Echo and Google Home were changing the way people shop.

We saw Walmart take aim at Amazon with its checkout-less stores, its offer of free two-day shipping, testing in-home grocery delivery, and partnering with Google to make it possible for customers to voice order. The list goes on here.

We can expect to see more of the in-store and online battle as retailers push to win over customers by meeting them where it’s most convenient and catering to their needs and expectations.

Many in the industry called 2017 a “retail apocalypse,” and there were certainly strong elements of this. There were hundreds of store closings and several major bankruptcy filings as companies felt the ongoing pain of retail’s evolution. But the year ended on a high note with loads of anecdotal evidence of stronger-than-expected holiday sales; final figures will be in later this month.

Below, some industry experts provide their predictions on where retail and B2C commerce in general will be headed in 2018.

Greg Zakowicz

Amazon, Walmart and Winning Over Customers

Brick-and-mortar stores will continue trying to position themselves as a more customer-friendly shopping option. Meanwhile, online retailers will keep offering deep discounts to attract and retain customers. Consumers will continue to demand free and quick shipping, as that is the new standard. Brick-and-mortar, if done right, can use this to their advantage by enhancing their buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) offerings.

One big battle will be in online grocery, where the likes of Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Kroger are all trying to find ways to win over customers in the at-home-delivery market. This will not be solved in 2018.

The most intriguing aspect to me is how voice will continue to develop. Amazon is already trying to figure out how ads can be delivered via this medium. For name brands, figuring out how they will be able to compete in this Amazon-driven environment will be critical to defining if they view the ecommerce leader as friend or foe.

Who will Amazon acquire next? From a retail standpoint, they’re making a move into the superstore-type format. This will not only help them sell more private label brands but also provide a location for BOPIS and returns, which in turn cuts shipping costs. I don’t think all the Target chatter makes sense. A store footprint the size of Kohl’s seems about right to me. Ultimately, I see the bigger news story with Amazon being in the business and entertainment space, not just in direct-to-consumer retail. I can see something that would overlap with Amazon Web Services, such as an ecommerce platform solution. I could also see a media creation/distribution company acquisition that would make them a much stronger player in not only acquiring new Prime customers, but also becoming a major over-the-top media provider.

This was originally published on Multichannel Merchant.