Jirafe & Plum Tree Group Present 16 Strategies To Transform Your Online Sales

Convert More Customers In 30 Days:

16 Strategies To Transform Your Online Sales

Meet Our Presenters: Laura Sankowich

Laura has more than 17+ years of experience in the technology space, and also co-founded a women’s apparel brand which she helped run and advise for 5 years.

As Jirafe’s Head of Marketing, Laura looks for ways that she can use her experience in both technology and commerce to connect with brands and help them understand how to better use their data to grow.

Laura Sankowich

Head of Marketing

Jirafe

[email protected]

Meet Our Presenters: David Caldwell

David leads Plum Tree Group's Research, Innovation, Optimization and Strategy division and also sits as the Managing Director across the Agency.

David has a degree in Economics with a focus in econometrics, from Wake Forest University. Before becoming immersed in digital communication, David worked as an analyst in the finance sector, focused primarily on econometric modeling, currency, and macroeconomic consumer behavior.

With this analytical and research background, David joined Plum Tree three years ago. Since his start, he has spearheaded the e-commerce strategy and optimization division where he oversees the execution of digital strategy for top brands.

David Caldwell

Managing Director

Plum Tree Group

[email protected]

• Retailers are leveraging data more than ever to execute mass operational efficiencies that impacts the customer experience

Current Trends Impacting Ecommerce

The Internet Of Things…It’s About The Internet Of Me! • Consumers are hyper adopting new technologies faster than

retailers can prepare

• Growth of smartphones has impacted how people interact with social media and ecommerce

• New wave of social media buy buttons

HOWEVER

Some Merchants Make it Look Easy

The Reality Is That Ecommerce Is Tough . . .

• The top 500 merchants grew their revenue 17% last year

• The top 10 online retailers have conversion rates above 10%

. . . and then there’s everybody else.

How Do You Measure Up?

Most merchants report between a 1% and 5% conversion rate.

How Well Do Merchants Track Conversion Rates?

Only 60% of merchants track conversion rates, while less than 1/2 track returning visitor percentages.

The Top Performers Are Data-Driven

Amazon is the only ecommerce business that has a repeat visit rate that is 2/3 of its total visits.

They Use Data To Optimize Around Customer Behavior

Loyal customers visit 3 times more often, and spend 3 to 5 times more.

They Don’t Let Customers Get Away

The average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate is 68.07%.

And They Measure Everything

Only 26% of merchants monitor add to cart rates. Even less monitor abandon rates on product pages.

• Use your ecommerce data to promote your brand and merchandise you products effectively

• Use personalization tactics to strengthen your bond between your brand and your customers

• Digital merchandising fundamentals to develop consumer relationships that drive conversions and encourage repeat purchases

30-Day Challenge: Convert More Customers

During this presentation we will share how you can:

Are You Ready?

Up Next: 16 Strategies To Grow Your Online Sales

#1 Influencer-Driven Campaigns

Convert Social Followers Into Buyers

• ModCloth has a dedicated “Style Gallery” where browsers can shop the look (posted by another customer)

• Tap into large audiences of potential customers

• Extend your brand further and create and establish a deeper connection between the brand and consumer

Tip: Engaging your brand’s active social followers can help develop brand ambassadors and spread awareness among receptive groups

#2 Social Media Click-To-Buy Buttons

Reduce Steps To Checkout With In-Feed Purchases

• Best way to monetize on social platforms and instantly convert customers

• Keep shoppers engaged in a single web page

• Speed purchase decisions and impulse buys

• Intent-based medium

Tip: Know which social platform your audience is likely to make a purchase from.

#3 Tiered Loyalty Programs

Target Customers With Messaging Based On Purchase Behavior

• Sephora uses a tiered loyalty program to motivate customers to spend more and progress to the next level

• Enroll your best customers and low AOV customers into loyalty programs

• Rewards repeat purchase behavior at a small cost to the retailer

• Loyalty data enables retailers to deliver relevant and meaningful offers

Tip: Never send full-price customers discounts!

#4 Personalize Your Email Campaigns

Present Relevant And Targeted Content

• Birchbox sends personalized emails to customers based on their preferences, purchase history and how long they've been engaged as a subscriber

• Personalize your customer journey and influence purchases with offers that are only relevant to your customers segments

• Purchase history data and product browsing data can help predict the types of offers to construct for your segments

Tip: Never send a “one-size-fits-all” email.

#5 Interactive Video Is The Next Frontier

Interactive Content Helps Move Customers Down The Funnel

• Kerastase’s how-to videos drove customer AOV by 18%

• Present an immersive and engaging experience.

• Clearly merchandise the product.

• Customers that view video are 1.4 times more likely to buy than shoppers who did not view video.

Tip: All content is not created equal. For starters, instructional content is ideal to help customers make an informed purchase decision.

#6 Win Back Customers

Target Inactive Customers

• Starbucks rescues revenue by examining their inactive customer data and sending offers to steer them back to their online store

• Segment customers to see who hasn’t purchased in a while

• Email high-value, inactive customers with win-back offers

• Enroll these customers in rewards programs to encourage loyalty, and more frequent purchases

Tip: Also segment potential customers who have subscribed to promotional emails/ newsletters but have not made a purchase.

#7 Retargeting Campaigns Boosts Brand Awareness

Retarget Browsers With High-Converting Products

• Nasty Gal uses ecommerce data to retarget browsers with their best sellers

• Re-engage browsers with popular products that are likely to convert

• Retargeting influences purchases even at a later date

Tip: Overexposing your merchandise could lead to “banner blindness” - Implement a frequency cap.

Optimize Category Pages

• Nasty Gal places best sellers at the top of category pages to encourage conversions

• Anthropologie provides navigation to best sellers in subcategories to ensure customers can easily jump to seasonal items they are looking for.

• Increase sell through rates by strategically placing top sellers at the top of category landing pages

• Provide additional navigation to best sellers in subcategories

#8 Maximize Revenue From Category Pages

Tip: Your product page conversion ratio should determine which products get the most visibility on your category pages. (Product page conversion rate (as a %) = [number of purchases / number of pageviews] x 100.).

Align and measure your content to improve conversion rates

• Audit your existing content to see what works

• Talk to your customers to see what they want to engage about. The digital space is for conversations, not just advertising

• User persona driven methodologies and customer segments to target content strategy

• Have a real content strategy that you are committed to...

#9 Measure Your Content, Not Just Your Product

Tip: After you align your personas to content, then align your content to product to determine a an actual business value for online voice.

Automate email communications for improved business impact with a content strategy

• Welcome series

• Anniversary series

• Abandoned shopping series

#10 Automate Your Your Personalization

Use cookies or testing tools to target returning visitors and customers with the right content

• So I just purchased a Kureg from Best Buy and now every time I return I see...

• Dynamic content is applying the principles of an email drip campaign to real content that sits on the site

• This tactic alone is a conversion optimization technique

#11 Use Dynamic Content to Engage Returning Shoppers

Tip: Even if you don’t invest in dynamic content in 2015, get comfortable with it, because its the foundation upon which content strategies will be built moving forward...

Emails and transactions can and will exist on devices of all sizes...

• Smartwatches...

• Automobiles are now being equipped with purchasing technology

• Email is being more deeply integrated into messaging / information systems within automobiles and homes

#12 EMAILS AND TRANSACTIONS WILL EVOLVE WITH THE FOREFRONT OF THE INTERNET OF THINGS

Tip: Users that are early adopters of new technology like seeing their taste acknowledged and are more likely to spend larger amounts online.

Today, there is no reason all ecommerce merchants aren’t using custom data

• Tags have been dramatically simplified, and testing often offers a more cost-effective and risk-averse way of evolving websites

• Colors and imagery have time and time again shown to have a consistent impact of buying / decision making

• It will stop becoming a competitive advantage and is soon becoming the cost of entry

#13 Test Everything Strategy

Merchants need to make sure that they are evolving with the expectations of consumers

• Ecommerce sites aren’t just for purchasing product anymore

• Consumers want to read, learn, and shop while also connecting socially with other shoppers

• Consumers are looking for a reason to connect, otherwise price and sales will always win

#14 Branding And Storytelling Matter

Fulfillment needs to make sure that they are evolving with the expectations of consumers

• Google and Amazon and heavily investing and expanding same day fulfillment options accessible to many merchants

• As we become more connected as consumers, immediacy and instant gratification will continue to becoming a growing expectation

• For a brief period of time, same-day fulfillment will function like a whole new open market for some brands, because there is strong existing demand for this service and lack of participating merchants

#15 Same Day Can Change The Game

#16 Having a Strong Content Strategy Connected to a Product Strategy is Key in 2015

A great content strategy gives context to the brand and the product in the right way and at the right time

• When clicked on, product recommendations increase conversion rates on average by a multiple of 5.5 times

• An estimated 31% of all ecommerce website revenue is driven by product recommendations

• Recommended products and content can be measured, tested, and optimized to manufacture improvements in efficiency and growth

Ready, Set, Go!

• Know who and where your customers are

• Develop a personalized approach to how you engage with them

• Pinpoint where they are dropping off in your funnel

• Optimize the channels that bring the most revenue first

• Use content to help complete transactions (i.e. free shipping, discounts, promotions)

• Think about creating an overall flawless experience to encourage your browsers to become buyers.

Getting Started:

Q&A

Thank You!