It’s about the internet foremost and then retailing.

Though not offline retailing….. Online retailing.

Ecommerce 101

The key to developing a killer strategy and avoiding astrategy that kills you means focusing on;

• Your users and their needs.

• Your website and whether it delivers on these needs.

• Leveraging the web to support both.

• There is no one strategy, no one technology knock-out punch. The killer strategy is not developing a killer strategy.

Overview

• Nobody enters a store to browse.

• Beware of the browse / buy disconnect. The cheapest website does not win the lion’s share of business.

• Relationships are built during the browse phase and not the buy phase. The cheapest website never had the chance. “Rock stars buy Porsches”.

• In this room “we” can find the cheapest price, but users will not be able to.

Basic Ecommerce Premises

• The average user does not attend internet conferences, they cannot qualify or find the “lowest price”, and they do not have the inclination to do so.

• Everything online is cheap. Only you and me know it’s not.

Basic Ecommerce Premises

• Understand how quickly your products move.

• Have a strategy and story for everyday between 1st contact and the purchase day.

• Users are not interested in the technology behind the site.

• Understand your website in terms content, features and how it addresses each day of the buying cycle.

Basic Ecommerce Premises

Ecommerce conversations I have are usually aboutunidirectional web behaviour :

• Get the site up • Add Features & functions • Free delivery, gift wrapping

Don’t talk about the user, be the user.

Typical Ecommerce Concerns

• Develop with the user, from their perspective not yours.

• Don’t guess at what users want, ask them.

• Understand the users goals and how quickly they can achieve them.

• Where are they in the buying cycle?

It’s all about the user

• If price is the point, there is nothing else they can take from you.

• The more times a buyer returns to a shop during the buying cycle, the more likely they are to buy from that shop.

• The relationship is strengthened and strengthened.

• If they have everything they can get from your shop (i.e price) they have mush less of a reason to return during the buying cycle.

Why will they come back?

• “Build it and they will come” isn't true and yet the trend from many offline retailers moving online, is around “people buy TVs, we’ll put TVs on our website, they will buy them”.

• “Retailing” online usually flies in the face of how the web works and how users work and people buy products.

• You need to understand the “value chain”.

Reworking the Value Chain

• Develop a brand which is identified with certain characteristics.

• Having a web strategy to sell TVs online isn't a brand.

• Offline brands rarely transpire to online. – ask Soul Pattinson.

Long Term Ecommerce Strategy

Ecommerce Funnel

Focusing on the key areas of:

• Traffic.

• Engagement.

• Conversion.

Practical takeouts

• You can have the cure to cancer, but without traffic who cares?

• The key is have the least expensive and relevant traffic you can achieve.

• Organic traffic beats non organic traffic every time.

• Mainstream can have a place, but sophisticated online retailers know this a very expensive and short term strategy and cannot be supported long term given the margins that may exist online.

Traffic

• SEM is a good traffic generator, but it must convert or its just expensive traffic.

• For product that sell on first visit, SEM can be very relevant for longer lead time products, a different strategy is required.

Traffic

• Leverage the power of the web.

• Let others do the heavy lifting such as affiliates, Twitter, Facebook and advertising.

• Harness user generated content.

Traffic

• Appreciate the buying cycle, what else can they take away?

• If its just about the product, then its just about the price. That’s not about engagement.

• It’s all about user experience and how they feel about their experience with you.

• You need to help drive them to their goals, you need to develop empathy and a relationship with them.

Engagement

You need your value proposition to be clear to the user. Some example propositions;

• Find it here first – bestbuy.com

• Love the product – winelibrarytv.com

• Massive range choice – amazon.com / oo.com.au

• Use community - threadless.com

• Demos and in-depth reviews – cooking.com

Engagement

Key on pages ideas;

• Publish Stock levels.

• Clear and concise delivery costs

• Return Policy

• User Recommendations.

• SSL.

• Quality photography & video

Engagement

Bring them back to the website;

• Email newsletters.

• Behavioural targeting.

• Retargeting.

• Custom RSS Feeds.

• Twitter.

Engagement

Are they comfortable they can buy and receive theProduct?

• Delivery.• Security.• Payment options. • Support. • Warranty.• Returns.

Conversion

• Email them 7 days later.

• Show that you care.

• Deal with their issues.

• Remember, be the customer.

Conversion

Presentation is available at

www.robertbeerworth.comwww.wiliam.com.au robert.beerworth@wiliam.com.au

Questions?