January 31, 2013 by MarketingCharts staff
More retailers are trying to lure back cart abandoners via email, and it benefits them to know what's causing these consumers to abandon their online purchases in the first case. According to survey results [download page] from LivePerson, the top reason why online shoppers abandon a purchase is due to encountering unexpected delivery costs, cited by 70% of respondents across the 5 major Western markets studied (including 71% in the US).
The survey of almost 6,000 respondents across the UK, US, Australia, Germany, France, and Italy also found 56% to abandon an online purchase due to lack of information about the product and 50% due to security concerns.
A less common reason - though still cited by 30% of respondents - for abandoning a purchase is difficulty getting any help or customer service on the website. The LivePerson study looks at customer service issues in further detail, finding that 71% of respondents expect to be able to access help online within 5 minutes. Getting the issue resolved quickly is the key element of a great customer experience for 82% of shoppers surveyed. Interestingly, while slightly more shoppers would like to see a telephone number (61%) or email (60%) listed as a help source than live chat (57%), user satisfaction is higher with the latter (73%) than with either of the former sources (each at 61%).
Online retailers still have some ways to go to close the gap in customer experience with brick-and-mortars, though. 77% of respondents said they were generally satisfied with in-store customer service, compared with 67% who shared that sentiment regarding online service. That mirrors the attitudes of mobile-toting shoppers surveyed by Wanderful Media, who recently indicated that in-store shopping beats e-commerce across various customer service and relationship measures.
About the Data: The LivePerson survey was conducted by Loudhouse at the end of 2012. The countries surveyed were USA (n=2,012), UK (n=1,126), France (n=538), Germany (n=502), Italy (n=530), and Australia (n=1,002).
Best Practices Winner: Workflow Automation Category Manulife Financial Affinity Markets and Distributech Inc. - "Manulife Financial Moves to On-Demand Enrollment Kit Fulfillment"
Manulife Financial mails enrollment kits to prospects who visit their website or respond to a marketing campaign. Traditionally, these were standard format with limited personalization and included about ten pre-printed components, chosen from 2,500 potential SKUs, making fulfillment a complex nightmare. Their new solution has decreased costs by 22% while executing same-day fulfillment on relevant, highly personalized orders and eliminating inventory management issues. "Transforming the Enrollment Kits to an on-demand workflow has enabled Manulife Financial to deliver a professional and relevant communication to their Affinity Market members in a streamlined process and at a reduced cost. The flexibility of updating various components of the kit versions without any risk of obsolescence has resulted in substantial savings," says Distributech account manager, Robin Taylor. "It was a pleasure working with Manulife Financial on this transformation and Distributech is pleased to have been awarded the 2013 Best Practices Award in the Workflow Automation category for the 'Manulife Financial Moves to On-Demand Enrollment Kit Fulfillment' solution."
FAO: Direct Mail Doubters..
I have spent the last few weeks having conversations with existing and prospective data buyers on the relative value of Direct Mail- and how that fits into the Direct Marketing Mix (i.e. versus email) and within the overall marketing strategy versus the Inbound trends of Social Media & SEO.
Have been asked more than once about Direct Mail- including at a regional Marketing Expo yesterday- 'What is the value/return on investment?'
Well- for all the doubters and new marketers out there…Check out these stats below from the DM industry (citations at end of article- plus a FREE download)
Once you have had a read- feel free to get in touch to discuss your next direct mail campaign.
Meanwhile- enjoy the sources I mentioned listed below- including some really cool Infographics . Cheers:
Business 2 Community - '15 Irrefutable Proofs..' http://bit.ly/dmpoint15
Infographics Archive- Small Business Infographic http://bit.ly/dmpSB AND 'Does Direct Mail Work With Familie's http://bit.ly/dmpfamily
Direct Mail Fulfilment.org.uk (Send Marketing Solutions)- 'Direct Mail Response Rates' http://bit.ly/dmpinfo,
Visual.ly -'How Social Networkers Interact with Direct Mail' http://bit.ly/dmpsocial
By Anna Papachristos | Published 09/10/2012 in 1to1 Magazine
While the proliferation of digital channels brings increased opportunity to connect with customers on a personal level, companies must ensure each medium conveys a consistent, relevant message in line with their overall mission.
The digital age has arrived, bringing with it an array of new ways to connect with customers. Whether via email or social media, companies now have the opportunity to deliver relevant messages and encourage engagement on an individualized level. However, to cultivate loyal customer relationships, companies must seek consistent messaging across channels to sustain their reliable reputation.
Just as companies must come together to understand, develop, and maintain a consistent message, digital and traditional media must merge, not battle. We are not looking at a time of old versus new, but a time of convergence instead. Companies are beginning to embrace the digital space by integrating these new interactive technologies with traditional tactics.
In fact, according to Capgemini's Digital Shopper Relevancy study, 60 percent of digital shoppers expect a unified shopping experience to become mainstream and expect seamless integration across online, social media, mobile, and physical stores by 2014. In fact, the study reveals that more than half of digital shoppers are likely to spend more money in a physical store if they have used digital channels to research products beforehand. An Experian Digital Trends report also shows that 91 percent of adults use social media regularly and are more likely to use brands that are active in the social space.
However, with the continued looming threat of showrooming, companies must quickly jump at the chance to use mobile to their advantage. With Google at people's fingertips 24/7, it's easy for customers to enter a store, explore the available products, and then conduct a search online to find a competitor offering the same item or service at a lower price. To combat this obstacle, companies are beginning to incorporate interactive technologies, such as QR codes, to engage customers within their brick-and-mortar stores and regain the attention of that wandering eye.
Yet, while respondents to the Digital Shopper Relevancy survey predict physical stores will become showrooms to select and order products by 2020, there's no reason why anyone should count these traditional channels out just yet, says Jay Henderson, strategy program director with IBM's Enterprise Marketing Management Group. "It's important to remember that, when channels proliferate, the old channels don't typically go away," he says. "A classic example is when ATMs were first introduced, pundits were predicting the death of the branch. Yet decades later, there are more bank branches than ever."
Channels don't disappear-they evolve. And companies must exert their greatest efforts to make sure old and new collide in a way that promotes engagement and fosters loyalty.
Understand your customers' behavior
Marketers and customer service professionals are flocking to these digital outlets in an effort to stay ahead of the curve. While traditional channels, such as print media and brick-and-mortar stores, have their advantages and appeal, companies that fight the transition to digital will only encounter struggles along the way. Instead, businesses must seek an even balance that blends all relevant channels in an engaging manner while maintaining consistent messaging along the way.
"Consumers have become more and more numb to traditional marketing and advertising efforts where they're being talked at," says Kim Martin, director of marketing for Voxeo. "Now, with the ubiquity of digital channels, people are growing more accustomed to engaging with companies and brands and being part of the conversation as opposed to simply being the target of it."
Before businesses can cultivate consistency, they must first understand what channels their customers frequent most. As Brian Girouard, leader of the global consumer products and retail sector at Capgemini, highlights, the typical shopping journey goes through stages-awareness, choosing, transacting, delivering, and after sales care. In order to support the "all-channel" experience, companies must observe customer history so they may sense and respond to their needs consistently on an individualized scale.
By engaging across this journey, companies can develop conversations with customers in both traditional and digital channels, giving the average consumer a voice that would have otherwise gone unheard in the past. Customers provide candid feedback, helping companies to improve their strategy and increase satisfaction. It is only by listening to these voices that companies can begin to assess which channels are right for their client base.
By understanding the types of customers, their channel preferences, and how their preferences change over time, companies are bound to garner a better response across both digital and traditional channels. With so many channels begging for attention, companies must know where to put their focus so they don't spread the reach too thin by becoming irrelevant and unreliable.
Henderson adds, "Just a few years ago, marketers would push out the same big campaign to everybody. Now with digital channels, there's a greater opportunity to provide a more refined message to a smaller audience."
This article provides some great strategies and case study examples of the social media channel is being leveraged by financial services including a couple of Canadian examples. Legal and compliance obstacles have resulted in very slow adoption of Social Media by FI's and it seems that the few FI's that embraced this channel are still considered pioneers. I think this article is well worth checking out…
http://www.cmo.com/social-media/social-series-part-2-best-practices-financial-services-success?cmpid=TT157
The representatives included Linda Gharib , senior vice president, digital marketing, for Citi's Global Consumer Marketing & Internet division; David Rosenbluth , vice president, marketing, Gerber Life Insurance Company; and, from the agency side, panel moderator Pam Haas , who is both vice president, sales, for agency services at Harte-Hanks (and first vice president for DMCNY), and Michele Fitzpatrick , senior vice president, strategy and insight, The Agency Inside Harte-Hanks.
Hearing from two financial service brands, and an agency that services brands in several markets (tech, consumer package goods, automotive, insurance, pharma and more), packed the house. I'm not sure if it was the topic or the brands who spoke, or both, that was the draw-but the information imparted prompted lots of audience interest and questions.
First, customer acquisition-at least in the financial services area-still appears to be very dependent on mail. At Gerber, Rosenbluth said, as many as a third of new business policies are still generated by direct mail, even as the brand is "omni-channel"-digital (including web site, search, display ads, email), direct-response television, as well as direct mail. For Citi, the brand is positioned No. 2 in the nation by Target Marketing in its " Top 50 Mailers" ranking for 2012 (which is ranked by overall revenue, not mail volume), Gharib said, solidifying its importance in both acquisition and retention.
Fitzpatrick agreed, noting that in financial services, where marketing is modeled most precisely for risk and performance, direct mail remains an acquisition workhorse, particularly on new product launches. For automotive and pharma verticals, however, where as much as 80 percent of transactions are researched anonymously beforehand online, digital media is used for hand-raising, and direct mail may be then used to deliver a brochure of other information in a highly segmented way to close the deal. "Consumer preferences [for media] are situational," Fitzpatrick said.
Who gets credit for attribution, when a multichannel communications mix produces a desired response? At Citi, Gharib said, such discussions are a "work in progress," where the final interaction point currently gets the credit, whether that is chat, direct mail, email or some triggered communication. Adding to the multichannel attribution discussion is the mix of advertising purposes-some are pure branding messages, while others are intended to elicit a response, but both may compel or influence customer behavior in some discernible (or indiscernible) manner. Hence, there is complexity in the attribution discussion.
Yes, indeed, says Rosenbluth, where "allowances" are given for each channel in regard to the brand's most importance metric to manage: total costs to convert a policy. Currently, "last touch" gets the attribution on response, but the policy conversion metric is the bigger-picture measurement, where everyone gets to take some credit.
Fitzpatrick pointed to recent Forrester research where "fractional attribution"-first touch, mid-touch and last-touch on the path to purchase share credit-and "engagement" is modeled, rather than response (alone). Every brand should undertake a channel impact study to determine, as best it can, the impact of incremental sales as a result of a multichannel customer experience, while also researching receiver reaction research. Clearly, direct mail, email, chat and other channels can be both or either "conversation starters" and "conversation extenders," but analytics is the only way to know the role of the channel for any given customer.
"There's credibility in paper," Gharib remarked, "that helps with both the brand and its consideration." Where email is cluttered, direct mail largely is not.
At Gerber, Rosenbluth, there really is no brand spend, all market spending is intended to produce engagement.
Fitzpatrick sees almost all "below the line" spending getting a branding blend-branding and direct marketing have come together. All the panelists agreed: it's really about the consumer experience across channels, and having a database that enables customer recognition and a full customer view. Having tons of data is not enough-it's having technology and processes in place for customer data integration and analytics to create smart engagement rules.
The verdict? Direct mail is and will remain a vital part of the media mix-because it's an anchor in the consumer's experience and brand consideration mix. As digital gets more clutter, boy that mailbox is looking pretty.
As seen on www.thestar.com - Moneyville
Retailers are ramping up for the back to school rush and according to a recent poll, the average family will spend $677 for school supplies, clothing and gear - including electronics.
More than a third in the poll by conducted by Pollara, on behalf of Visa Canada, started shopping during the first two weeks of this month.
Nearly a third wanted to avoid in-store crowds by shopping early, and many plan to shop online for lower prices and better deals. If you prefer shopping online, a back-to-school promotion from PayPal Canada can help you save on the essentials.
Until September 13, you earn 5 per cent cash back on online purchases when you pay with PayPal. All you need is a PayPal account. This is a good deal when you compare it with using a cash back credit cardto shop online, where you'll typically earn 1 per cent back on your spending.
The maximum cash back is $20 per purchase, and a maximum of $200 per PayPal account for the entire offer period. The cash will be transferred into your PayPal account between September 1 and October 13.
Office Depot, Dell, Sport Chek, Toys R Us, Home Depot, along with plenty of other retailers accept PayPal so you can do your online back-to-school shopping safer, faster and easier from the comfort of your home.
Robb Engen blogs at Boomer & Echo. Reach him at robbengen@gmail.com
Every email marketer wants to increase relevance, whether through timing, content or segmentation. The e-commerce marketers in this article push for one-to-one relevance. They send personalized content to individual subscribers and get great results.
MarketingSherpa describes three tactics that increased revenue by more than 10% across the company's campaigns. You'll see how the marketers weaved each tactic -- such as customized display ads and abandoned cart follow-ups -- into the strategy and their results.
Tactic #1. Target content to search behavior
Tactic #2. Target content based on past purchases
Tactic #3. Target abandoned shopping carts
Cart abandonment emails have been a boon to many e-commerce sites, including Motorcycle Superstore. Barney's team has achieved great results (all results are averaged):
52% open rate, more than three times higher than the team's standard emails
49% clickthrough rate, 48% higher than standard emails
7% conversion rate, more than three times higher than standard emails
20% higher average order value than standard emails
73% lower unsubscribe rate than standard emails
To read the full article, click here: http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=32231#
Multi-channel direct marketing will always be a moving target - as new channels are introduced and enhanced. This article profiles 2 emerging channels - augmented reality and video in print - as part of a high-impact multi-channel solution….
http://thedigitalnirvana.com/2012/07/direct-mail-will-never-die-heres-why/?utm_source=WhatTheyThink+Newsletters&utm_campaign=9bd1a53014-daily&utm_medium=email
This is one of the most innovative examples of 1:1 direct marketing. Personalization and relevance is such an important principle of a high-ROI campaign…..this campaign delivered a 36% response rate!!
SUSAN KRASHINSKY - MARKETING REPORTER
The Globe and Mail
Last updated Thursday, Jul. 19 2012, 7:39 PM EDT
The flyer showed a Porsche parked in the homeowner's driveway.
1. How can marketers win the attention of people who throw flyers away without even a glance? Put their house on it. At the end of June, Lowe Roche advertised Toronto luxury car dealership Pfaff Auto by driving a new Porsche to select homes in affluent neighbourhoods. It then photographed the car in each driveway, and designed a personalized flyer for each house with the photo and the tagline: "It's closer than you think." They've seen results: Since then, 36 per cent of those targeted visited the Pfaff website. Digital advertising has brought greater pressure to more traditional formats such as direct mail, agency chief executive officer Monica Ruffo said. Not only that, but "new media permit targeting like never before and create an expectation of 'no waste.'"