Multi Channel Shopping

Creative Way At Bridging The Online And Offline World Together

2007-10-15T10:43:00.001-07:00

In the past I have posted about TargetLists before, but this technology just gets more integrated and richer with time. It really is Amazon's gift list on steroids with a store based focus. The potential user applications abound for this as it really does offer a utilitarian tool to helping people better communicate and manage things they want or need to buy.

Target adds online and offline gifting and shopping list technology

Target Corp. has introduced a gift and shopping list tool that can be used online or at in-store kiosks. TargetLists is designed to enhance the process of creating or shopping from a list wherever consumers choose to shop. Accessible online at Target.com/targetlists, shoppers can browse products, create lists, add items or track items purchased, and share lists with family and friends. To browse and select items, list creators can scan an item’s barcode in-store or click on the item they want to add online.

Gift-givers can visit their local Target store to purchase gifts or shop from an online list where items can be purchased, wrapped and shipped. Target is No. 19 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.

To ensure gift recipients get what they want, they can add specific information about an item in the Comments section, offer general details to gift-givers about the items such as favorite colors or themes in the Message section, and add notes such as whether items are available exclusively online or in-store in the Notes section. List makers also can store future gift ideas, track items purchased, find other people’s lists, and e-mail their lists to friends and family.

Guests can make their lists open to public viewing or keep them private and accessible only with a user ID. In addition, there are no limits to the number or kinds of lists that guests can create.

“TargetLists is a unique tool for our guests who are either creating lists for their shopping needs or who want a little extra inspiration when choosing a gift,” says Gina Sprenger, senior vice president, merchandising. Shoppers also can access Club Wedd and Target Baby registries via the TargetLists web page and the in-store kiosks.

In-Store Marketing Is Growing @ 21% Per Year

2007-10-06T08:55:00.000-07:00

The below article describes Nielsen’s new research pertaining to “Shopper Marketing”, which includes retail circulars shows, that in-store marketing is growing +21% per year, almost as high as internet marketing. It argues that to be competitive in the marketplace that an advertiser needs to make sure to properly allocated advertising budget spending into this type to ensure a balanced and integrated campaign which will drive optimal results. Nielsen used Prizm data with the help of Deloitte to back up their claims.

What's In Store: The Rise of Shopper Marketing
P&G, Wal-Mart, Nielsen Dive Into Medium That's Growing Faster Than Web
By Jack Neff
Published: October 01, 2007

So this is what marketing has come to: The hottest medium around may be pasted to the floor at Wal-Mart or dangling from a shelf on aisle five at Safeway, segmented into such dayparts as "national weekday cereal aisle."

Laugh if you want, but some people believe shopper marketing will reshape marketing for some very big spenders. Senior executives from the world's biggest advertiser, biggest retailer and biggest media-buying agency turned up at the In-Store Marketing Expo in Chicago last week to tout a new way of measuring shopper marketing by the world's biggest research firm, Nielsen Co.

It was just one more milestone for shopper marketing, which is growing faster than internet advertising -- doubling since 2004 and on pace for a compound annual growth rate of 21% through 2010, according to a draft study by Deloitte from the Grocery Manufacturers Association.

"Shopper marketing is a new medium as important as the internet, mobile or gaming," declared Starcom MediaVest Group North America CEO Renetta McCann at the announcement of pilot results using Nielsen In-Store's Prism initiative, essentially a ratings system for in-store media and marketing that measures reach and frequency similar to TV. "It's a brand-new ballgame, and we're all in."

P&G steps up spending
Late last month, the world's largest advertiser, Procter & Gamble Co., restated 11 years of advertising expenditures in its financial reports, largely to reflect spending on shopper marketing. The moving parts in the restatement suggest P&G is spending at least $500 million annually on shopper marketing. And the Deloitte/GMA data suggest the marketer may actually be a bit behind others in the industry in share of marketing spending there. P&G also recently moved many of its shopper-marketing executives to the same brand teams that determine the rest of its $8 billion in global ad spending.

Nowhere, however, was the dissonance between shopper marketing's growing importance and its often lowly appearance more apparent than at the In-Store Marketing Expo. As some of the top names in marketing talked theory in the auditorium, the practice of shopper marketing was in full display in the adjacent convention hall, where the latest vendors of video-enhanced shopping carts vied for attention alongside makers of corrugated displays.

This brave new world means buyers need to know not just how to bet in May on ratings for fall shows but also how to hedge the price of corrugated paper for end-aisle displays or haggle with News Corp. over something called "shelf talkers."

It wasn't so long ago that media agencies weren't in the game at all, said Peter Hoyt, executive director of the In-Store Marketing Institute. Now he knows every time a big media review is under way, he said, because the institute starts getting hits on its website from media agencies -- and new members, since much of the data there is for members only.

Large stakes
Following SMG's initial involvement in the Nielsen/Prism initiative, five media agencies have joined the consortium behind the effort, said George Wishart, global managing director of Nielsen In-Store. The agencies are following the media companies; the parents of the four leading broadcast networks have a stake in some facet of in-store media.

So Nielsen needs to get in on the action to broker the deals, though Prism hasn't yet applied for Media Ratings Council certification as a bona fide currency.

The Pioneering Research for an In-Store Metric initiative uses a combination of electronic eyes and human counters to track how many people travel down each aisle in 160 stores representing about 60% of package-goods retail volume to date. Prism also measures what percentage of people who shop in an aisle actually buy something there.

It's the crowning achievement so far of Nielsen CEO David Calhoun's efforts to connect the pieces of the far-flung research firm to create new services. He likened Nielsen In-Store to his firm's TV and internet ratings. "It will allow in-store to rightfully take a seat at the marketing table and be considered in an analytical manner consistent with all good marketing and media planning," he said. "What you can measure, you can manage."

Therein also lies the pin that could prick the bubble. P&G Chief Operating Officer Robert McDonald politely declined to predict whether better measurement would lead P&G to shift more media money in store. But he noted another recent Deloitte study, this one showing that nine of 10 trade promos don't have a positive return on investment.

The right tool
He said P&G's spending on TV and print has been optimized extensively in recent years thanks to audience measurement and ROI analytics, but not shopper marketing. With Prism, he said, "we're going to have the data to make the right choices."

Mr. Calhoun said shopper marketing, if the definition expands to the trade-promotion dollars manufacturers pay retailers, displays or features in circulars, is already is a half-trillion-dollar business.

And the same marketers planning to spend more on shopper marketing are planning to spend around 2% less annually on trade promotion, the Deloitte/GMA study found. In the end, Prism could help manufacturers pry more money out of the black hole of trade promotion and put it into some form of measurable, brand-building media.

Who Knew That The Real Value Of Buy Online - Pick Up In Store Was Saving The Earth!

2007-10-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

OK The following story that shares some stats from a recent Wal-Mart press release is bizarre. I never in a million years would have used the "green" angle to justify and show value of this program. To me the two biggest values that buy online and ship/pick up at a local store are:

Lowers the retailer's overhead for checkout related expenses. Basically you move the cash register to the person's individual home and as a result you dont need an army of cashers, all the equipment that goes along and all of the precious store floor space that check out stands take up
Allows the consumer to benefit from a much greater depth of selection (which is a big issue for Wal-Mart since they actually offer less selection than most other stores there same size)

Wal-Mart Says Its Site-to-Store Program Doing Well
By Evan Schuman, Ziff Davis Internet
July 11, 2007

Wal-Mart's version of the virtually ubiquitous buy-online-pickup-in-store strategy has reduced customer shipping costs by $5 million while sharply increasing new customer acquisitions and in-store upsells, according to figures released July 10 from the world's largest retailer.

In announcing that it is extending its Site-to-Store program to more than 3,300 stores in the U.S., Wal-Mart released a handful of carefully selected stats to show that its approach to the strategy is working.

Wal-Mart's approach is slightly different than the traditional approach, which uses the Web to help move in-store merchandise. The twist to Site-to-Store—which was launched in March—is that Walmart.com promotes "tens of thousands of products" that are not available in stores and then offers to ship them free to a local Wal-Mart.

Since the launch, about one-third of all Walmart.com sales have beeen placed through Site-to-Store, Wal-Mart said, specifying that "more than half-a-million total units have been shipped through Site-to-Store, saving customers more than $5 million in shipping fees."

On the new customer acquisition front, Wal-Mart's statement said that "more than 50 percent of Site-to-Store orders [came] from new customers who make their first purchase at Walmart.com using the service." The chain also reported a 20 percent increase in the number of Site-to-Store "customers who spend an additional $60 on purchases in the store when picking up their orders."

In the environmentally green arena, the $345 billion chain reported a weekly gasoline savings of 1,000 gallons and a monthly box reduction of 20,000 "as a result of transportation and packaging efficiencies."

That last claim caught the attention of veteran retail observer Jeff Roster, a Gartner research vice president specializing in retail.

"People save on shipping costs only to put some of it back into costs to drive to the store to pick up the merchandise. For me, it’s about convenience. I want to make sure the kayak is there along with the size 14 shoes I saw," Roster said. "Given the mileage I get on my crew cab truck, I didn’t save much. But the idea that green initiatives are gaining traction is fascinating. This could have a major impact on store design, logistics and definitely IT. This will also force IT service providers to embrace green IT as a manufacturing as well as a marketing strategy."

As for the other figures Wal-Mart released, Roster applauded the progress, especially the claim about customers spending more on-site. "If people are going to drive to the store, they are going to make incremental purchases," Roster said. "It is just another indication at how nimble Wal-Mart is."

Greg Buzek, the president of the IHL Consulting Group, said that while he "loves the idea" of using this tactic to get customers into the stores—and also to help Wal-Mart compete with those who want to compete on pure price—he wasn't clear from the released figures whether the additional $60 referenced was actually new money or not.

"The question is whether those people would have been at the Wal-Mart anyway. If they were planning to be there anyway and spend the $60, then this is no big deal," Buzek said. "If they can quantify that this was an additional trip and that they spent $60, then that is huge. I can’t tell" based on the figures Wal-Mart released.

The Web's Influence Does Not Stop Within Traditional Retail

2007-09-12T16:07:00.001-07:00

This is an cool study that sheds some light on the fact that nearly industry segment is affected by online research. So even the most traditional sale channels need to take heed to this consumer behavior.

Web converts more tire kickers to buyers at Hyundai dealer

Visitors who fill out an information-request form on Coastal Hyundai’s web site convert to buyers at a 22% rate, compared to about 16% for those who walk into the showroom, Wade Wahy, Internet sales manager for the Melbourne, FL, car dealer says.

“The Internet is definitely taking the lead in bringing customers to the dealership,” he says.

Coastal Hyundai, whose web site is hosted by Dealer.com, uses search marketing as well as traditional TV and print ads to bring consumers to its web site, CoastalHyundai.com. “The web makes traditional marketing more effective because we get an instant response from consumers who log onto our site after seeing a TV or print ad,” Wahy says.

The site lets them view current inventory and fill out online forms for more information, engage in live chat with Wahy or other sales people, and e-mail questions that get forwarded to Wahy’s cell phone. Customers can also order parts online and have them shipped along with the bill to their home address. In some cases, buyers go through the process of choosing a car, applying for financing and arranging a pick-up date completely online, then show up at the dealer to pick up the keys and sign final papers, Wahy says.

Coastal Hyundai is considering other web site features such as online comparisons of different makes and models of cars, and it may eventually offer an online shopping cart to let customers complete purchase transactions online for parts or even vehicles, Wahy adds.

The web doesn’t replace in-person customer service, however. It enhances it, Wahy says, by providing more options for communicating with and serving customers and prospects. And that keeps them engaged and more likely to complete a purchase, he adds.

Groceries, Home Furnishings & Clothing Are Among The Top Categories Of Items That Consumers Prefer To Buy In Store

2007-09-07T12:40:00.000-07:00

eMarketer is on a serious role lately in regards to pumping out the reports on how internet users are using the web to guide their in store and online purchases. Most of the below findings are not that shocking, but one in particular stood out to me. Specifically how women use online sites to research items ahead of time before going in store to buy. Other item categories that show bright points are appliances, groceries, cosmetics and of course electronics.

Cross-Channel Sales Suit Online Apparel
September 5, 2007

Finding the proper fit for Web shoppers.

How can shoppers get a sense of how clothes feel? The answer for most shoppers is simple: Go to the store. A January 2007 Accenture survey found that two-thirds of online consumers prefer to buy clothing in stores rather than online.

"Apparel is a big cross-channel shopping category," said eMarketer senior analyst Jeffrey Grau. "Traditional retailers who understand the consumer purchase process will develop strategies for driving online shoppers to their stores."

Despite a preference for buying apparel in stores, many online consumers like to research their prospective purchases on the Internet.

In fact, the apparel category is second only to electronics in the percentage of adult online consumers who practice this form of cross-channel behavior, according to a 2006 holiday season survey conducted by BIGresearch on behalf of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association.

All together, 32% of online consumers indicated they had cross-channel-shopped apparel versus 51% of online electronics shoppers. Shopping across channels for apparel was most prevalent among female online consumers (36%).

The Ad Dollars Are About To Start Coming Online For Local Use

2007-08-30T15:01:00.000-07:00

I love the eMarketer group. The sift through ALL the primary research out there and make useful, consolidated information out of it all. Here is an encouraging piece that talks about the future growth rate of online ad spending that is done with local intent. Always makes me smile, being that this is the business that I work in.

Online Advertisers Start to Think Locally
AUGUST 30, 2007

Who you gonna click?

eMarketer projects that local online advertising spending in the US will reach $2.9 billion in 2007.

Interestingly, that is still only 13.4% of the total Internet ad market.

"The promise of local online advertising, at this stage, surpasses the reality," said David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, Local Online Advertising: Measuring the Market.

"But a number of factors are set to accelerate growth in the market: the wealth of small and midsize companies potentially available as online advertisers, the increased use of local Internet sites and services by individuals and the development of local online ad networks connected with local media, such as newspapers," he said.

Local online advertising's share of total media ad spending has fallen slightly, year over year, according to Universal McCann.

By 2011, eMarketer estimates that less than one-third of all US ad spending will be locally targeted. Spending will not match the time spent online. In four years' time, the Internet will account for only 7.6% of all local ad spending. "Nevertheless, as audiences continue to migrate online and away from traditional local media, such as newspapers and radio, it is only a question of time before online local ad spending catches up," Mr. Hallerman said.

The Lines Separting Channels Is Beging To Be Erased Completly

2007-08-29T11:51:00.000-07:00

The following article published by eMarketer unveils some new research that again reinforces the principal that consumers do not think of each unique channel as separate and distinct. Rather they think of them as all the same thing, with no difference between them. The real challenge is for retailers to embrace this view point and fully integrate all of their channels together into a seamless research/buying/returning solution.

Buyers Transact at All Retail Channels
AUGUST 29, 2007

Don't care how—I just want it now.

The distinction between online and offline retail is eroding, at least in consumers' minds, according to a Sterling Commerce survey of US adults conducted in June and July of 2007.

Sterling found that 55% of consumers thought it was important to be able to complete orders in a store, on the store's Web site or through a call center, regardless of which channel was used to initially place the order. Nearly two-thirds of consumers also expected to be able to cancel or modify orders through any channel.

"As retailers ramp up for the biggest shopping event of the year—the holidays—their readiness to address today's cross-channel customers' expectations could decide their success," said Jim Bengier, a global retail industry executive at Sterling Commerce, in a statement. "The cross-channel experience has created today's 'spoiled consumer,' and it raises the bar for every retailer."

Checking stock in different ways is part of why consumers like cross-channel retailing. More than one-fifth of shoppers said they check another store in the same retail chain for out-of-stock items. Nearly one-half said they look for items at a competitor's store, 13% order it online instead and about 20% decide not to purchase it at all.

More than three-quarters of consumers said notification of shipping and order fulfillment was very important to their online shopping experiences.

About 54% of consumers think that if a retailer is out of an item it should locate the out-of-stock item at another location and ship it free to the customer.

Mom Likes To Use The Web Before Making Purchases Online or Offliine

2007-08-29T11:43:00.000-07:00

Here is a new study that shows a potential unmet and growing multi-channel marketing segment - Moms. It suggests that by better using online search to reach this audience real offline results can be achieved.

DoubleClick Performics recently released data resulting from a usage study targeting "moms," and completed in cooperation with Microsoft and ROI Research, which showed that of the nearly 1,000 moms surveyed, 89 percent use the Internet at least twice/day, and 90 percent have been using it for more than seven years. 86 percent of respondents said search engines are the most efficient way to find information.

The data illustrates heavy search engine usage in support of online purchases, offline purchases, coordinating travel and many other planning activities among moms.

70% use search engines to gather information before making any online purchase
57 percent use search engines to gather information before making any offline purchase
64% use search engines to find out where to purchase products offline.
With regard to purchases made in the eight product categories under study, 92% of respondents say search engines were helpful in providing valuable information prior to purchasing, and 79% say the same for the offline purchases they made.

Stuart Larkins, vice president of search for DoubleClick Performics, said "... we gained a much better understanding of just how much moms rely on search engines to accomplish a wide range of tasks, literally on a daily basis."

Respondent demographics looked like this:

Respondents are highly educated and affluent
46% of the moms are employed, with 26% employed full-time and 20% work part-time
The majority of respondents are between the ages of 35 and 49
60% of the respondents have college or higher education
And about 1/3 of the respondents have HHI of $100k+
A third have a single child and 40% have two children at home

Key findings of the study include such things as:

Respondents spend the most time with the Internet and television. Three-quarters spend one hour or more per day using both the Internet and watching television
76% spend one hour or more per day using the Internet, and 36% spend three or more hours per day
Respondents are heavy Internet users: 89% are online twice a day or more, and over two-thirds (69%) say their average online session lasts 16
minutes or more
95% have been using the Internet for more than five years
97% go online once a day or more

Reporting on search behavior, the responses indicate that:

86% feel that search engines are the best way to find information, and 89% always start with the same search engine
82% will modify and search again if the initial results do not provide what they are looking for, and nearly two-thirds will view multiple results pages before abandoning a search
57% primarily search using a browser toolbar
40% say they will try a different search engine if their first search is unsuccessful

In the eight product categories included in the study:

information prior to purchasing offline specifically

72 percent compared prices on consumer packaged goods (72 percent)
71 percent used search engines to find retail locations for consumer packaged goods

Scott Haiges, President of ROI Research Inc., concludes that "... marketers (advertising to) this audience... should... integrate a well planned Search campaign. Sixty-four percent of women reported using a search engine to gather more information after seeing an advertisement,"

Please visit ROI here to get more information about the study.

Looking For Ways To Get People Into Your Physical Store? Provide Rich Information Online

2007-08-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

Here is an easy way to lock in shopper to your store/brand. Provide a great, rich web experience loaded with detailed, up-to-date product information. The result. Well, according to the below research, 71% of shoppers that visit your online site will convert ion store, since those shoppers have a high degree of confidence and comfort with your store/brand already. Basically you meet their needs online, so these shoppers are using a simple mental heuristic that leads them to conclude that your physical store/brand will also meet their needs.

Survey Reveals Shoppers More Likely to Return to Websites, Shop in Physical Stores of Retailers That Provide Complete Product Information Online
NEW YORK, NY -(June 5, 2007)

The ability to research products online is very important to retail shoppers, according to a new study conducted for WebCollage, a New York-based company that provides content integration services to manufacturers and their retail channel partners, and retailers that do not provide their customers with the information they need to make informed purchase decisions risk losing these customers now and as they make purchases in the future.

In WebCollage's 2007 Survey of Online Consumer Product Research Habits, a full 91% of online shoppers polled said that they felt it was 'important' or 'very important' for retailers to provide complete product information to allow them to research products online. Shoppers, however, noted several current disadvantages to researching at retailers' websites. 44% said they felt retail websites did not have the most complete information on manufacturer's products. A third (33%) were concerned that retailer product content was out-of-date.

For retailers, the price of having poor online content can be steep. Shoppers who are not able to find the information they need to make a purchase are ready and willing to go elsewhere. In the search for more complete, up-to-date content, 37% of shoppers said they would visit a competitor's retail website to find the information they needed. Recognizing manufacturers as the best authority on their products, 55% said they would go to a manufacturer's website to find their information.

For retailers with poor product content, the cost of losing these customers goes far beyond the loss of one sale, though. While they lose customers, competitors that equip customers with the information they need to make informed purchase decisions inspire loyalty. 82% of the shoppers surveyed reported that they were more likely to return to retail websites that were able to provide them with complete product information to do research and make purchases in the future. In addition, 71% said that they would be more likely to purchase products in the physical store of the retailer whose website they had used to perform product research.

"WebCollage helps retailers establish their websites as important product research destinations for their customers. Providing complete, up-to-date product information from manufacturers helps retailers attract and retain customers at every stage of their purchase cycle," said Jed Alpert, Vice President of Marketing for WebCollage." And what we've found is that when a retailer establishes themselves as a trusted source of product information, this inspires customers to visit that retailer's website in the future for research and purchases and even helps drive customers to the retailer's physical store."

"With 71% of shoppers in our survey indicating they'd be more likely to visit and purchase from the physical store of a retailer whose website they had used for research, it's clear that there's a measure of trust and loyalty generated by providing customers with complete and up-to-date product information. There's a convenience factor for customers, knowing that when they see something on the Web, they can go into the store and get exactly what they saw on the website. Moreover, the survey reinforces results from WebCollage testing, completed across hundreds of thousands of consumers on retail websites, that shows when consumers see enhanced product information from manufacturers on retail websites their conversions increase by more than 80%."

About the WebCollage 2007 Survey of Online Consumer Product Research Habits

The WebCollage 2007 Survey of Online Consumer Product Research Habits is a national survey designed to provide insight into the product research habits of consumers that shop online. The survey was conducted in May 2007 via Zoomerang, an online survey services provider, and is based on 333 respondents aged 18 and over who shopped online at least once within the last year. The survey is sponsored by New York, New York-based WebCollage, Inc.

How Traditional, Off Line Advertising Drives Online Search

2007-08-21T10:24:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting article that talks about the influence of off line marketing to drive people online. This is basically the reverse of the behavior that this blog and the rest of the research community talks about - that is the web's influence on in store sales. This is the flip-side of that equation. Basically, there is strong supporting evidence that this store-to-web behavior is a powerful force that needs to be dealt with when designing offline advertising. All parts of a campaign need to be integrated together. From web-to-store and back again via store-to-web. There needs to be clear "links" and actions that connect these different forms of advertising together into a consolidated marketing message that crosses the multitude of channels that consumers live in.

Offline Marketing Drives Search
by Gavin O'Malley, Tuesday, Aug 21, 2007 6:00 AM ET - Published by MediaPost

What is an often-overlooked yet crucial part of any search marketing campaign? Offline marketing, according to a study from search firm iProspect and JupiterResearch.

"We figured we'd see an even split between those influenced to search by offline channels, and those not influenced by offline," said iProspect president Robert Murray. "Needless to say, we were more than surprised to learn that a full 67% of online search users are driven to search by some offline channel."

What's more, nearly 40% of online searchers influenced by offline channels ultimately make a purchase.

Fielded this summer by Jupiter, the survey was completed by 2,322 randomly selected individuals from the Ipsos Insight U.S. online consumer panel. They were asked 25 questions about their behaviors, attitudes, and preferences as they relate to games, digital imaging, portable devices, and service bundles.

Among its key findings, the survey showed that offline channels clearly influence a significant percentage of online search users to subsequently perform queries on search engines based on the company name, product/service name, or slogan that appears in the offline channel's messaging.

"It's intuitive," added Murray. "It makes sense that offline channel messaging could pique a user's curiosity enough to motivate them to search for additional information. But most offline advertising doesn't exactly make it easy for customers to find a company's Web site."

Beyond examining the power of offline channels to drive search, the study also examined purchase behavior. Specifically, offline-influenced online searchers were asked whether they ultimately had made a purchase from the company whose Web site had been the object of their search. The data revealed that more than one-third did so. This translates into a 39% conversion rate, suggesting a synergistic relationship exists between search and offline channels.
"Search is no longer an add-on consideration for marketers," said Murray. "It is front and center."

How To Increase Basket Size Of In Store Purchases? Get You Customers To Research Online Before Coming To The Store

2007-08-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

Here is a re-post of a press release that summarizes a study that once again shows that online ad exposure directly relates, and increase for that matter, in store sales.

Online pre-shoppers spend 41% more in stores
Wednesday August 8, 2007
http://www.marketingvox.com/archives/2007/08/03/yahoo-and-comscore-online-pre-shoppers-spend-more-in-store/

Exposure to online advertising is fundamentally changing the way consumers shop, according to research from Yahoo! and comScore, which found that those exposed to online advertising tend to research their purchases online before buying, ultimately leading to increased in-store sales.

The study, which examined the impact of search and display advertising on in-store sales for five major retailers, found that these highly-engaged "pre-shoppers" spend an average of 41% more in-store than consumers who are not exposed to online advertising. mdockery This article is copyright 2007 TheWiseMarketer.com).

Pre-shopping consumer opportunity
Although some research suggests that as many as 89% of consumers shop for information about products online, less than 7% of retail sales actually take place online, according to Amy Vener, senior retail category director for Yahoo: "This means that retailers have a prime opportunity to engage pre-shoppers through online advertising to boost incremental sales in-store."

For example, according to Dave Abbott, JC Penney's vice president of direct marketing, the JC Penney web site was found to be the company's main shopping hub, whether customers are planning to buy online or in a physical store. As a result, the company has focused on developing its online marketing and merchandising programs to better understand the relationship between customers' online engagement and in-store sales.

Key findings
Other significant findings of the study included the following:
Consumers exposed to online advertising are more engaged: Those exposed to display and/or search advertising viewed an average of 6 more web pages during the period in which they were researching compared to those not exposed to advertising.
Almost 90% of the incremental sales generated by online advertising take place in-store: Consumers exposed to online advertising spent an incremental US$6 in-store for every US$1 spent online.
Integrated search and display campaigns have the most impact: Combined search and display ad campaigns resulted in deeper engagement for consumers exposed to those ads, leading to increased sales.
The study involved a sample of more than 175,000 comScore panelists and compared the purchasing behavior of those exposed to online advertising with that of those who were not exposed but who were otherwise behaviorally and demographically identical.

More News That Multi-Channel Is Not Just A USA Trend

2007-08-16T07:48:00.000-07:00

Here is another sign that the rest of the world (eg outside of the States) is taking notice of the multi-channel trend.

Lasoo Ropes In Online Shoppers
By Glenn Freeman | Wednesday | 2007-08-15
http://www.smartofficenews.com.au/Business/Retail/G5S4T4P2

Salmat has launched lasoo.com.au, a central retail web hub connecting online shoppers with traditional retailers. The new site expects to cater to demand from around 5 million Australians who buy goods online.

Direct marketing and call centre company Salmat announced it will be launching the site in response to a perceived demand from shoppers who use the web to buy clothing, electrical and whitegoods.

Salmat Joint Managing Director Philip Salter yesterday told The Australian: "Right now there is no single place that they can go to perform that research.

"Lasoo.com.au is an aggregated internet site that is fully searchable and browsable for consumer to quickly find what their local retailers are promoting."

He described it as a "web to store" strategy, seeking to link online shoppers and traditional retailers who are less likely to respond to the more traditional forms of advertising.

Salmat's move into the digital sales channel is part of a broader plan to increase the digital element of its business model, which has until now relied on unaddressed mail campaigns, call centre and other traditional marketing efforts.

It used the announcement of its annual results to signal its move into online retail – Salmat's full year sales for 2007 were $601.9 million, up 14.3 percent from 2006.

The business recorded net profit after tax of $44.3 million for the year to 30 June 2007, an increase of 69.1% over FY2006 ($26.2 million).

Joint Managing Directors Peter Mattick and Phil Salter said: 'This has been one of our busiest and most
important year's on record with many key operational and strategic initiatives implemented. We're pleased that we finished the year with strong sales growth of over 14% and our earnings in line with guidance."

Salmat's call centre business Salesforce was one of its biggest profit sources, with the increasing uptake of business process outsourcing driving it to produce $243.6 million in revenue, up over 35 percent on last year's figures of almost $180 million.

Shoppers That View Online Store-Based Specials / Ads Convert At 90%

2007-08-07T14:29:00.000-07:00

Here is some really exciting primary market research that the team here just conducted (July 2007). These surveys were distributed across our network of online circular and catalog sites as well as on our national/local comparison shopping engine. The respondent number varies by question/topic, ranging from ~200 (for some very specific questions) up to ~2600 (for some of the more general directional questions).

Overall we found that the users of online catalog and circular sites tend to be:

Highly Motivated Shoppers. Shoppers who view on-line circulars are clearly “in-market” buyers, with a conversion rate of approximately 90% (about 50% bought during the week of the circular and another 40% plan to buy from the retailer within the next 3 weeks)
Prefer In Store Purchasing. In store trumps on-line by approximately 5:1 for SC shoppers, 10:1 for SL shoppers (in line with the general public)
Interested In Multi-Channel Shopping Tools. Shoppers are very interested (2/3 to 3/4) in shopping tools that will...

Notify them of a comparable product when their searched for/save one expires
Allow them to check-off purchased items (if it will help the retailer effect what is placed in future circular advertisements - eg making it more relevant to the shoppers)

Consistent In Which Channels They Buy From, Regardless of Category. Retail channels like consumer electronics and office products, surprisingly, did not have an appreciably higher on-line buying preference than general merchandise (for our surveyed shoppers)
Retailer Loyal. Shoppers were dramatically consistent about buying at the store where they viewed the item in the circular (90%)
Varying Basket Sizes. Retail channels like consumer electronics and office products did tend to be shoppers who “target buy” a single product. Department stores and general merchandise retailers did better with larger basket sizes, but some, who apparently do not appeal to shoppers across categories, did poorly.
Varying Levels Of Price Sensitivity. Categories like CE, office and CPG were very price sensitive (as expected). Price sensitivity across department stores, home improvement, general merchandise, apparel, etc, varied substantially by retailer within the channel.

Interesting New Ways Retailers Are Driving People In Store With Emergent Technologies

2007-08-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick re-post of an article that was published by Internet Retailer that talks about how some of the new and emergent technologies are starting to be leveraged to drive in store sales. A lot of these ideas have not quite landed yet, but it is great to see forward thinking companies start to dabble with them anyways in an attempt to beat the competition up the learning curve.

Driving traffic from the web to stores
As more shoppers spend more time online—on web-enabled phones and other mobile devices as well as on Internet-connected laptops and desktops—new technologies are opening ways for merchants to grab their attention and lure them into shops.

By Paul Demery

The web isn’t just out for itself anymore. It’s also becoming a key partner to its old rival, the physical store.

As more shoppers spend more time online—on web-enabled cell phones and other mobile devices as well as on Internet-connected laptops and desktops—new technology offerings are opening ways for merchants to grab their attention and lure them into retail shops. And as many retailers and studies have found, consumers spend more when they shop across multiple channels—up to 50% more, according to JupiterResearch.

From an Adidas footwear shop in Las Vegas to the local Ace Hardware store in communities across the U.S., shoppers are arriving for products and promotions that they learn about online. Their trip may begin through casual browsing on retail web sites like AceHardware.com, which recognizes a visitor’s location and greets the shopper with home page links to offerings in local stores, or, as with Adidas, through complicated marketing campaigns that coordinate outdoor advertising, cell phone text messaging and mobile commerce sites directing shoppers to nearby store promotions.

Bringing stores to life

“Our goal is to bring the local store to life,” says Dana Kevish, online marketing manager for Ace Hardware Corp., a retail cooperative of nearly 5,000 stores. “We’re making sure customers can find store-specific information whenever they want.”

The power of the web in directing traffic is materializing in an increasing number of ways and touching the store operations of all types of retailers—from large chains to single boutiques. In addition to Ace, retailers including Borders Group Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and high-end consumer electronics merchant Bang & Olufsen have launched online strategies in recent months that tie web site shoppers closer to physical stores.

And merchants of all types and sizes are tying in-store inventory to web-based services like NearbyNow and GPShopper that let consumers search for products over their cell phones and receive listings of local stores offering those products.

“We’re seeing a lot more integrated multi-channel communications campaigns, and over time they’re bound to get better,” says Jim Okamura, senior partner at retail consultants J.C. Williams Group.

But he cautions that while new online promotions to get customers into stores can cause spikes in store traffic and sales, long-term success in using the web to support stores will require consistency in web-to-store services and marketing. “There are all sorts of ways retailers are using the web to drive in-store traffic, but it has to be more than a one-off promotion to drive a steady stream of traffic,” he says.

Retailers should continue building on web-to-store campaigns and complementary support services, a process that will make both shoppers and store personnel more aware of the value of using both channels, he adds.

AceHardware.com is designed with geolocation technology to recognize an IP address and greet a visitor with a home page message about the nearest Ace stores. “There are 114 stores in your area,” a prominently placed home page section called “My Local Ace” tells a Chicago visitor.

A click takes the visitor to a Google Maps layout of the locations of those 114 stores; another click on a store icon switches to a page for that particular store, and here the visitor can get information on the store’s product lines and brands, special promotions, store-sponsored community events, and other details like hours of operation.

My stores

Borders and Wal-Mart are also offering new web-to-store services. A “My Stores” feature on BordersStores.com allows shoppers to check available inventory as well as current promotions and events at individual stores.

Walmart.com’s “In Store Now” feature provides information on promotions and events across the entire chain. Its “Site to Store” feature, which provides free shipping to a shopper’s Wal-Mart store of choice, is generating new multi-channel shoppers and incremental store sales. First-time Walmart.com shoppers place more than 50% of Site to Store orders, and the service has led to a 20% increase in the number of shoppers who spend an incremental $60 per order on in-store purchases, Wal-Mart says.

At AceHardware.com, which expects to do about $10 million in sales this year, 70% of orders now are fulfilled through the My Local Ace store pickup service, which offers free shipping of online orders to a shopper’s store of choice and helps drive incremental store sales from online shoppers, Kevish says.

Tied to the store

“When an online customer chooses to ship an order to a store, we tie them to that store,” Kevish says. The online ship-to-store customer submits an e-mail address for order confirmation and receives marketing and informational e-mails from the store fulfilling the order.

The My Local Ace feature also lets a visitor choose a favorite Ace store to appear in the top right corner of the home page in a box featuring a store photo and street address and a link to a page that features the weekly advertising circular and sections on that store’s products and services, including any dated educational or community events involving the store.

Store managers log onto an internal Ace network to upload and administer their store’s online content, which is reviewed by the company’s corporate e-commerce staff and made live within a day or two, Kevish says. Ace operates the site in conjunction with GSI Commerce Inc., which developed AceHardware.com and provides web hosting.

Room to improve

Ace plans to continue seeking ways to improve the system, Kevish says. It recently deployed customer analysis software from ForeSee Results Inc. to get feedback on how online visitors are using the My Local Ace service as well as other online features, she adds.

Meantime, Ace is planning to build tighter integration in its loyalty program to let shoppers view loyalty points on AceHardware.com earned for store as well as online purchases, and it’s looking into providing online views into the availability of specific inventory in stores.

Bang & Olufsen recently expanded its web presence with a new online store on Amazon.com, where it hopes to expose its product line of mostly high-end consumer electronics products to a broader audience, says Kim Gravesen, president of Bang & Olufsen America Inc.

Products offered on the Amazon site are less costly and easier to install than many of the products on Bang & Olufsen’s site or in its 54 stores. But by complementing the Amazon shopping experience with personalized communications from stores, the retailer expects to transform some of its new online shoppers into customers of its broader product line offered in stores, such as home theater systems, Gravesen says.

“We’re getting good traffic on Amazon and getting exposed to new customers who may not have been familiar with us, and it’s already beginning to increase the customer base of our stores,” he says.

Bang & Olufsen credits an online shopper’s nearest store by ZIP code for online purchases and has set a policy under which managers of those stores send the customer a personal welcome note letting them know about store products and services. “We recommend hand-written envelopes,” Gravesen says. “We ship from a central warehouse, so the store doesn’t have to do anything, just care for the customer after the sale.”

M-commerce for all

Merchants also are opening up new strategies through mobile commerce.

At the Las Vegas Adidas shop, a campaign coinciding with the National Basketball Association’s All-Star Game earlier this year lured enough visitors to sell out all 200 pairs of running shoes in a special All-Star promotion within an hour of when shoppers first received a cell phone alert, says Gene Keenan, vice president of mobile services for Isobar International, which oversaw the campaign.

The campaign, based on mobile marketing technology from Neighborhood America, directed shoppers to an Adidas mobile web site with information about the store promotion. A surge of customers continued past the brief promotion. “Store sales went up 25 times over a normal weekend,” he says.

While the Adidas campaign focused on a specific promotion, other online services assist large numbers of retailers through new forms of search marketing. Organizations like ShopLocal LLC and StepUp Commerce Inc. let consumers search the Internet for products in local stores, and now mobile search is letting shoppers search store offerings through web-connected cell phones.

Since last summer, NearbyNow has signed up most if not all stores at more than 80 shopping malls across the U.S. for its web site and mobile search programs, which let shoppers search mall store inventory on mall web sites powered by NearbyNow as well as through cell phone-text messaging, says CEO Scott Dunlap. “We can have tens of thousands of shoppers per mall browsing through hundreds of thousands of products in local store inventory,” he says.

NearbyNow alerts mall shoppers to the online search options on mall signage that announce “Find every sale, find every product,” and it provides mall kiosks for browsing on a mall’s NearbyNow web site. Signs also instruct shoppers how to send a cell phone text message to NearbyNow to receive lists of stores offering those products. NearbyNow lets retailers view real-time data and analytical reports on the number of shoppers searching a particular mall’s products, and it enables merchants to use that information to send instant in-store promotions to cell-phone carrying mall shoppers.

NearbyNow receives daily or twice-weekly inventory data from each participating retailer, depending on how often a merchant updates its inventory. Retailers have several options to send their data—over the web via automated XML feeds or FTP files, or fax transmissions—to NearbyNow, which keeps the information in a web-based database that supports both the web site and mobile product searches. NearbyNow earns revenue by selling ads from retailers posted to mall web sites and sponsored listings in mobile searches and charging fees to access analytical data.

I need bluejeans, now

GPShopper also offers mobile search of products in local stores, but it’s not limited to malls. Using its Slifter mobile shopping software, which it makes available for a free download to a cell phone, shoppers can search a web-based database among 65 million products in some 20,000 retail stores. Shoppers key a ZIP code into the Slifter program, search for a particular type of product, like bluejeans, and receive listings of the closest participating stores offering bluejeans.

Merchants eyeing mobile commerce as a tool for bringing shoppers into stores should figure out ways to build customer databases of cell phone numbers, such as with in-store promotions and suggestions from store personnel, says Patti Freeman Evans, a retail analyst for research and advisory firm JupiterResearch.

Indeed, that same kind of strategy—only in maintaining databases of customer e-mail addresses—has become crucial to successful strategies of tying web sites to physical stores, she adds. And by maintaining multiple means of connecting with shoppers, and coordinating web site and mobile promotions along with store activity, retailers stand to build the most rewarding relationships with customers, experts say.

“It all has to come together,” Okamura says. “That’s when you’ll have something that really works.”

Innovative Local Promotional Content Integration With Staples & DisneyFamily.com

2007-08-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

OK. So if you are interested, here is how to navigate to a really innovative program that mashes up the local promotional circular content for Staples and places this content in a highly integrated manner within a top tier publisher web site - DisneyFamily.com Hat's off to the Staples and Beyond Interactive team for stepping out and taking a risk and being innovative. It's great to see a leading edge advertiser and agency that want more than search terms and display ads, and are looking for ways to reach their customers in an authentic manner right where they are. I really see this as a great step forward in blending advertiser content with publisher content. It's the concept of the 'AdZine' right? Part advertising, part useful information. Sounds like a recipe for some serious success.

So once you are at the homepage of the site (www.disneyfamily.com), click on the 'All Tools' tab to get things started...

Then click on the 'Staples' section within this menu...

That will bring up a Staples online circular specific navigational element. You then need to pick either a brand of interest (first drop down) or a category of interest (second drop down)...

Once you select what local circular content you want to view, you will finally get the rich localized promotional content brought back right within the overall DisneyFamily.com site shell.

Are Consumers Using Online Or Offline Sources Of Information?

2007-08-02T08:03:00.000-07:00

One more quick post from a nugget of knowledge from Greg Sterling. The below chart shows that consumers are inclined to use both offline and online sources of information. This really speaks to the fact that retailers need to equip consumers with valuable research type information across both store and online channels. It is not a question of which one, rather it needs to be both - always.

Source: Yahoo!-OMD (2006) n=4,301 US adults

The Proof Is Always In The Numbers

2007-08-02T07:52:00.000-07:00

Here is some more empirical confirmation data points that the ever entertaining and omni-blog present Greg Sterling (from Sterling Market Intelligence) just shared with the group here at the conference...

89% of consumers making in-store purchases in key categories have conducted online research prior to purchase (source: BIGResearch)
Major Yahoo consumer study: 88% of sales revenue generated from online advertising budgets of participating retailers came from in-store purchases (source: Yahoo!-comScore 2006 - 2007)
92% of Internet/search influenced consumer electronics purchases happened in local stores (source: TMG Directional Marketing 2007)
82% of the people using local search sites follow up their research with offline action (source: TMG Directional Marketing 2007)

Where Do People Turn For Online Research?

2007-08-02T07:34:00.000-07:00

Here is some information that Greg Sterling just shared with the group here at the conference that helps shed some light on what sources of information online do consumers turn when researching products online.

Source: MORI Research for the NAA (2006) n=4,020 US adults

Multi-Channel Is A Global Behavior

2007-08-02T06:55:00.000-07:00

Here is a new release that came out yesterday that is covering a new company that is based in India. It talks about how this online shopping firm is helping connect consumers to local in-store deals, and it appears that this is somewhat measurable by the use of coupons.

OffersForShoppers.com, the first company to offer coupon based discounts in India, has added Fedders Lloyd to their retailer network in India. This partnership helps customers buy Fedders Lloyd Air Conditioner, Lloyd Microwave Owen, Lloyd DVD Player etc. in Bangalore and Delhi at discounted price.

Through OffersForShoppers.com, shoppers in India can now access a database of discount coupons and offer coupons. The growth of the OffersForShoppers Network is proof to consumer demand for an online shopping tool. The click and brick model is gaining prominence in India" says Kumar Setu, CEO of OffersForShoppers.

OffersForShoppers.com gathers information about various offers, sales and discounts in India for shoppers who use the Internet to research information before they go to a local shop and buy. Users can create email alerts for the items they are interested in and OffersForShoppers will alert the users when a discount on that item starts. Customers can then print the coupon and show it to shop owners and avail discounts in Bangalore and Delhi.

Shoppers can search by store or product within a specific area in the city. They can find deals at local shops as well as malls. These include Apparels Sale, Discounts on Health and Fitness, Home Décor Coupons, Discounts on Travel, Discounts on Food and Groceries, Sale of Electronics, Discounts of FMCG etc.

For shop owners in Bangalore and Delhi, OffersForShoppers.com is the easiest way to reach the more tech savvy shoppers in Bangalore and NCR. They don’t have to spend money on various advertisement mediums when a sale or offer starts at their store.

Ways Retailers Have Historically Attempted To Measure

2007-08-01T12:32:00.000-07:00

Just heard Sucharita Mulpuru (Senior Analyst, Forrester Research) just speak, and she shared a very interesting chart from a study that Shop.org and Forrester conducted. It shows some of the wonky and/or complicated ways retailers have tried to measure multi-channel shopping. Interestedly enough, her conclusion was that the easiest and arguably most effective way of measuring this type of behavior are simple and focused surveys. Yes, not glamorous but it is fast and relatively low cost to perform.

Overall Ad Spending Does NOT Match Up Against Consumer Behavior

2007-08-01T12:14:00.000-07:00

This research really excites me. What this means for those that are in the online space that are trying to get media dollars moved over from traditional sources, there is hope. It will take time, but markets are efficient and they will come to a balance or equilibrium state.

The below chart from Morgan Stanley shows how advertising vehicles like radio and especially the internet have a huge imbalance of media spent on them compared to the amount of time (usage) that the audience is spending with that media type. For the overall US media audience, the ratio is about 4.7x. Looking just at the US youth media audience, this ratio moves up to about 11.3x

Source: Morgan Stanley, SRI-Knowledge Networks, Universal McCann, Internet Advertising Bureau, Veronis Suhler

Consumer Can Change Their Media Usage Behavior

2007-08-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting chart from Forrester that shows the amount of time that people spend online. It really demonstrates that consumers are changing their behavior. Probably old news to most of you, but maybe it's a good reinforcement of what is considered common knowledge.

Why Display Ads &Search Ads Should Be BFF (Best Friends Forever)

2007-08-01T11:36:00.000-07:00

The below new research from Yahoo! & comScore exactly fits with some older research (click for the PDF version of this Atlas study) that the Atlas Institute published in July 2006 found a 22 percent increase in conversions when users were exposed to an advertiser's search as well as display ads, rather than only to the search ad. The range of a lift in conversions was 20-65 percent among eight of the 11 advertisers studied; there was no discernible effect on the remainder. The study examined the behavior of 1.8 million and found a 44 percent overlap of users seeing search and display ads from the same advertiser.

Search, Display Ad Combo Best At Driving Store Sales
By Tameka Kee - July 31, 2007

New research from Yahoo! and comScore found that retailers who targeted consumers with both search and display ads got the most bang for their buck--as the combination yielded greater increases in converting researchers to purchasers, average amount spent per consumer, and total in-store revenue than either method alone.

The study, titled "From Clicks to Bricks: The Impact of Online Pre-Shopping on Consumer Shopping Behavior," compared the purchasing behavior of more than 175,000 comScore panelists over a period of eight months--an unexposed control group and a group that had been exposed to ads from five major retailers, including JC Penney and Office Max.

Retailers saw an 83% lift in dollars spent per in-store purchase from consumers who saw both display and search ads, compared to 26% and 11% lifts from search or display ads, respectively.

They saw a 90% lift in incremental in-store revenue overall from the combination, in contrast to the 43% and 15% increases from search or display.

During the course of the study, Yahoo says that the campaigns generated more than $10 billion in total revenue for their advertising partners--nearly a quarter of which was incremental.

The study also found that a joint display and search campaign was more effective at converting online researchers to in-store purchasers--as the combination pushed 43% more in-store purchases than search (26%), or display (6%) alone.

Display's effectiveness at driving in-store activity lagged far behind search in all categories, but when it came to increasing online user engagement, the two methods had similar lift rates, with display ads increasing the number of page views by 37% compared to search's 46%.

The combination of the two still trumped both ad types on their own--causing a 68% increase in pages viewed on the retailer's own Web sites.

Case Study: How The Web Is Driving More In Store Sales --> Laptop Comptures

2007-07-30T09:41:00.000-07:00

In an article in last week's Wall Street Journal entitled PC Shopping: Online vs. In The Store, the author points to an interesting case study of multi-channel shopping behavior around the purchase habits of laptop computers. One such quote that sums this up was...

All this has taken a big bite out of online PC sales. During the first five months of this year, 60% of PCs sold to consumers were bought in a store -- the highest share this decade -- up from just under 53% two years ago, according to NPD Group Inc.

This trend is really being powered by the web's growing influence over in-store sales, most specifically how the empowerment of product information, reviews and research is affecting consumer's buying habits. Another quote from the article said...

In revamping their sites, online vendors are trying to take advantage of the fact that many consumers research their PC purchases online. According to a May study from Forrester Research, 66% of PC sales in stores are influenced by online research.

Now this trend on in-store purchasing could be related back to the simple fact that some items are best purchased in-store. The classic examples are of furniture and appliances. I never thought laptops were in this same category, but the data seems to support this fact. Here is a sound byte from an industry expert that was referenced in the article...

While user reviews and online videos may appeal to consumers who are purchasing their second or third PCs, novice tech buyers have more reasons to shop at retail stores, says Richard Shim, an analyst for research firm IDC. First-time PC buyers typically learn more through a tactile experience at a store -- for instance, when choosing between a 12-inch or 17-inch screen. Also, retailers can often help set up the computer, for example, in a home's wireless network, through specialized services.

So it appears the brick and mortar guys are taking heed to this new trend. To close, here are a new real examples that were offered up in this article...

Retailers are working hard to continue increasing their share of PC purchases. Many are increasing their selection of notebook computers and beefing up accessories such as software and carrying cases. H-P and Dell are now also working with retailers to build exclusive PC designs or configurations for their customers. Over the past year, Office Depot Inc. has shifted to instant rebates from mail-in rebates for certain PC models, making it simpler and less confusing for customers to buy PCs.

How Many People Are Using Online Catalogs & Circulars?

2007-07-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

A client of ShopLocal just asked this question, so we all did some digging. It had been awhile since we aggregated all of the unique visits that occur across the many online catalog/circular sites that ShopLocal hosts. Currently (July '07), we are seeing about 18 million unique visits to this localized, in- store promotional content per month. Now during the busy season (holiday shopping period), this number will grow to about 40 million unique visits per month, with much of this spike happening over a very short period of time (talking about capacity planning being important!)

These figures are of course not fully representative of the entire marketplace as they only take into account the traffic and visitors that ShopLocal hosts (yes, unfortunately there are a few other competitors out there that do something similar - although light years behind as far as reach, distribution models and user experience)

Which Are The Fastest Growing Market Segments For Multi-Channel Shopping?

2007-07-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

A colleague here was recently pouring over the much talked about multi-channel Forrester report. Below is a graph of the exact data from this report (minus the automotive category since it completely dwarfs the rest as it currently is, and will remain at over 50% of the market for the next five years).

What he found was that there was an unexpected category with a high growth rate. Home Décor/Appliances. In only 2.5 years, it will surpass Consumer Electronics and become the #1 category (aside from automotive). This is fairly shocking considering the strangle hold that CE and computers have online and cross-channel (ex. the electronics retailers were and still arguable are the farthest along with buying online, picking up in store).

Grocery is a little more hockey stick and won’t catch the Home Décor/Appliances category for another 6-7 years, but this is old news for you regular readers as I have already posted about this exact topic.

Finally when looking at this data, the Tools/Hardware/Garden and Apparel categories also look like good mid term growth markets for bringing multi-channel solutions to.

(figures are in thousands)

What The Real Industry Folks Have To Say About Multi-Channel Marketing

2007-07-11T14:28:00.000-07:00

Recently, ShopLocal (the company I work for) just hosted a really great webinar, with the help of Mediaweek. During this webinar that had about 200 people participating so we thought it would be fun to run a few interactive polls that I found particularly insightful. Keep in mind that the audience answering these questions were online marketing and advertising industry folks, so the data is pretty meaningful and telling. The biggest news flash that I can see is that people are not yet putting their money in what research and consumers are telling them.

Q: What % of your/your client's media budget is spent online to drive offline sales?

12% responded - None of the budget is spent on this type of marketing
41% responded - 1% to 5% of the budget is spent on this type of marketing
18% responded - 6% to 10% of the budget is spent on this type of marketing
29% responded - greater than 15% of the budget is spent on this type of marketing

Q: What Is The Biggest Challenge You Face in Leveraging The Internet To Drive Offline Sales?

Reallocation of budgets / spending - 32%
Challenges associated with putting local offers online - 18%
Measurement of results / effectiveness - 34%
Other - 16%

Q: Which Online Methods Do You Use Most Often To Drive Offline Sales?

Email - 28%
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) - 22%
Online Catalogs / Circulars - 8%
Online Advertising Featuring Offline Offers - 42%

If you are interested in downloading the presentation from this webinar, click here

Coupons, Web Site Visits, Catalogs & Online Circulars Are The Most Influencial Ad Vechicles For Driving Multi-Channel Shoppers In-Store

2007-07-11T14:20:00.001-07:00

Here is some very recent data released (eg aggregated) by eMarketer. Of particular interest was the influence that online newspaper ads had on in store purchases. Notice that it is one of the strongest drivers of multi-channel shopping. Also interesting, but not surprising, was the ever declining affect that newspaper print ads have

Along with the same study, eMartker also tried to shed some light on whom exactly these multi-channel consumers are. It appears that it is the typical online user - male, younger with a higher income.

(Yawn) - Yet Another Study That Shows How Online Research Impacts Offline Sales

2007-07-10T14:44:00.000-07:00

This was a clip from a press release that went out on 7/10/07. Within it are a number of data points that exactly line up with other studies. The interesting thing to me is, as more research is done and released it all tells the same exact story. That to me is powerful, as often times research can widely vary. Having so many reputable sources all tell the same story and predict the same impact and growth rates is amazing.

According to new research from Yahoo! and ChannelForce, consumers who search online for televisions and digital cameras spend ten percent more when making their purchase in-store than those who did not use a search engine. The survey also found that a vast majority research products online prior to making in-store purchases, and that online research is helping consumers make key purchasing decisions before they enter a store.

Key findings include:

Seventy five percent who researched their purchases before visiting a retail location used the Internet as their primary source of information. The leading online resources were retail Web sites (73 percent), manufacturer websites (68 percent) and search engines (49 percent).
Those who search spend an average of $31 more on digital cameras and $46 more on digital camera packages; and an average of $139 more on TVs and $190 on TV packages.
More than 80 percent of consumers who research before making a purchase end up buying a brand from their original consideration set. The remaining 20 percent said the in-store sales person was highly influential in their decision.
About 75 percent of people did not know the model they wanted when they walked into a retail store.

David Rubinstein, senior director, Yahoo! Search Marketing, says "This study confirms and quantifies that a more informed consumer is a more valuable consumer... "

Kurt Higgins, president, ChannelForce, noted "... the brand experience begins well before the shopper walks into the store, and this study confirms how critical the in-store experience is to the consumer's decision..."

The Power Of Online + Offline Media = Print + Web

2007-06-28T15:38:00.000-07:00

Within the top 25 US markets (eg NYC, LA, Chicago, etc..) and looking at a target audience segment of people that are over the age of 18 years old, print + online reaches about 47.5 million people in total. By including online in this total reach calculation, the advertiser is able to reach an additional 16% (or about 6.6 mill). So here is the big money question of the day. Why are not all print buys augmented by an additional 16% that is earmarked for online spending?

The Aggregated Power Of Local Online Sites

2007-06-28T15:32:00.000-07:00

This simple chart from ComScore MediaMetrix (April 2007) really struck me. Out of all of the super large publishers on the web, local publishers (as an aggregate) are the 7th largest online audience. It's fun to be part of a bigger movement. I'm proud to be driving this local publisher rank.

Some Insights Into The Total Size Of The Local Online Advertising Business

2007-06-28T15:25:00.000-07:00

Here is a small tidbit that Borrell Associates, Inc. released in 2007...

And from the same firm and study, here is the forward looking outlook as it relates to local online advertising growth rates, extending out until 2010...

Comparrisons Between US & Europe Consumer Multi-Channel Behavior

2007-06-27T14:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a nice summary that one of our great analyst here at ShopLocal put together (thanks Chris!) of the recent Forrester teleconference that was held on Monday June 25, 2007. The topic was The State of MultiChannel Shoppers in The US and Europe and it was lead by Tamara Mendelsohn.

European consumers are making the move to multichannel shopping
- By 2011, 54% European consumers (16 and older) will shop online
Consumers using the internet for their shopping
- 79% of US online consumers researched products online during the past 3 months
- 87% of European online consumers researched products online during the past 3 months
- 57% of US online consumers purchased products online during the same period
- 53% of European online consumers purchased products online during the same period
Online Consumer Demographics
- European
  - Females now 50% of market from 37% more than 4 years ago
  - Younger than the US counterpart; down from 39 to 37
  - 62% are using broadband
- US
  - 55% female from 47% over 4 years ago
  - Average age has climbed from 43 to 45
  - 55% are using broadband
Web shoppers in Europe tend to be newer to the internet than the US counterpart.
- 53% of EU web buyers have been purchasing online less than 2 years
- 28% of US web buyers have been purchasing online less than 2 years
51% of US online consumers are cross-channel shoppers (research online purchase offline last 3 months)
57% of EU online consumers are cross-channel shoppers (research online purchase offline last 3 months)
Consumer electronics is the top cross-channel category in the US (ranked by purchases)
Apparel is the top cross-channel category in the EU; CE is the 3^rd category
www.Argos.co.uk has taken several of the successful US tactics and applied it to their retail site
Recommendations
- Cross-channel trends both in US and EU continue to prove a need for the SL business model
  - Eventual entrance into the EU market seems to be the next logical step
- Inventory management is growing increasingly more important to cross-channel shoppers
- The potential up-sell when cross-channel consumers purchase offline averages over $150/shopping trip
  - Retailers would rely on CSE’s or Local players to drive in-store traffic both here and abroad

Updates On Walmart's Site To Store (S2S) Program

2007-06-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

Here are a few quick facts that were 'published' at the Internet Retailer 2007 expo by a top Wal-Mart exec...

2/3 of all (web) site to store shoppers were already in a (physical) Wal-Mart store weekly.
Sales through this program have doubled since it's introduciton in March 2007.
By driving people back into a phyiscal store, these same shoppers have been found on average to spend an additional $60 in the store while there to pick up their original order. Therefore this program has been found to drive additional sales (larger basket size) and more frequent store trips.
There is already a program in place to start bringing in-store stock availability to the web site. Currently in phase #1, Wal-Mart is bringing in 600 SKUs of inventory status, all within the electronics category (for major ticket items)

Quick Fact Pact - Some More Multi-Channel Research To Support Your Cross-Channel Marketing Efforts

2007-06-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

Several recent studies suggest that:

In the 90 days before making a purchase, 87% of adults research
the product online. (Source: BigResearch CIA, June 2006)
Multichannel shoppers might be more attractive to retailers than single-channel customers. A study by DoubleClick found that 65% of consumers were multichannel shoppers and their size was increasing at about 16%.
Forrester Research found that more than two-thirds of the consumers search products online, but make a purchase offline.
A study by JC Penney found that its customers who use all three channels (store, catalog and the Web) spent $887 per year compared to $150, $195 and $201 spent by customers who only use the Web, store, and catalog, respectively.
Another study by McKinsey & Company found that, on average, retail customers using multiple channels spent about 20-30% more than customers using a single channel.

Is There A Market For Grocery Services Online?

2007-06-25T07:20:00.001-07:00

Two quick thoughts on this topic of bringing more local grocery information to the web, which has been greatly discussed around here at ShopLocal. According to Forrester Research...

1. A lack of access to online grocery services is a major reason that 90% of web shoppers don't purchase groceries online.

2. Over the next five (5) years, grocery is predicted to be the fastest growing category in which the web directly influences in-store (and for that matter multi-channel) sales.

How MobileTools Will Be Driving Multi Channel Shopping In The Future

2007-06-14T09:21:00.000-07:00

Here is a forward looking piece from Forrester Research that talks about how consumers in the coming years will be turning to their mobile devices to assist them in shopping across channels. The one interesting omission from this article is that the author does not address GPS enable phones and all of the innovative applications that are possible using this location based technology.

Mobile shopping looks to change retail self-service
By Tamara Mendelsohn, Forrester Research 11 Jun 2007

Retailers struggle to adapt as the online channel shifts the balance of control into consumers’ hands and increases pressure on stores to deliver superior experiences. Consumers who research products online before buying them offline will influence more than $500 billion of offline sales in 2007.

Now, retail’s newest sales channel, mobile, promises to change the dynamics of shopping yet again.

Over time, mobile will bring three new attributes to the multichannel shopping experience — portability, location awareness and ubiquity — characteristics that bring consumer control to a whole new level.

More than three-quarters of households in the United States (88.4 million), own at least one mobile phone; the average is two per household. As carriers continue to offer low-cost services such as prepaid and family plans and as new entrants target underserved segments, Forrester predicts household penetration in the U.S. will exceed 85 percent by the end of the decade, outstripping the Web.

As U.S. consumers grow comfortable with using mobile devices for activities beyond voice, the mobile channel stands to exert a greater impact on their shopping habits. Although buying products through the mobile phone still is far from becoming mainstream, using the device as a self-service tool to aid in the shopping experience is much more imminent.

As the form of mobile commerce with the lowest consumer risk and greatest value proposition, product search will be the starting point to mobile shopping for most consumers. Mobile applications for search and comparison are emerging to aid shoppers and give them more control at the point of decision. SCANBUY, for example, enables shoppers to compare retail prices with online prices by taking a picture of the barcode or tapping the barcode number into a downloadable mobile application. The application then retrieves prices for the product from online comparison shopping engines.

GPShopper, which has more than 100,000 users through its mobile application, lets consumers search for products at local stores and compare prices and promotions. NearbyNow, another local search-based application, gathers local inventory feeds from mall-based stores; when users search for specific products, the application sends back an SMS detailing which stores carry the product and whether it is in stock.

Mobile-based product search threatens to turn brick-and-mortar stores into showrooms for Web-tailers such as Amazon.com and other lower-priced online pure plays as consumers compare prices while in-store. So not only do retailers have to compete with low-priced online pure plays in the Web channel, now they have to do so within their stores.

Retailers can’t fight consumers who want to compare retail store prices to Web prices; instead, they should give consumers an incentive to identify themselves through their mobile devices when in the store, which will provide an opportunity to target in-store shoppers. This requires store-based technologies such as Bluetooth-enabled kiosks and, eventually, mobile-location-aware services that can engage consumers when they are in the store and help to prevent them from defecting to a competitor.

Local search also takes center stage as on-the-go consumers search for products and where to buy them. This places pressure on retailers to release local store inventory data (when available) to engines such as NearbyNow, Channel Intelligence and ShopLocal, and to begin buying keywords on local search engines and general search engines.

There is no rest for the weary retailer as consumers increasingly connect themselves to new channels and to each other, arming themselves with information to make smarter decisions and take control over a process that traditionally has given retailers the upper hand. Retailers that want to succeed in this new world are given little choice but to engage with consumers on their terms and use technologies of their own to grant them entrance into consumers’ connected lives.

Platinum Guild International Uses the Internet to Bring Customers Into Their Store

2007-06-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

Here is yet another "case study" of another "store" that has realized the importance of having a web site presence that focuses on research and information, as a way of preparing and driving people into local stores at a later point. On an interesting side note, it was great so see that the presenter of this 'case study' (Jenny Luker, PGI senior vice president) actually used and referenced some of the ShopLocal W2S research that we published in the past.

To read the whole news story, go to: http://www.jckonline.com/article/CA6448208.html

How Rich Media Display Ads Driving Serious Results - Espically Off Line

2007-05-29T14:49:00.000-07:00

Just two small tidbits about the increasing impactful role that rich media ads are playing...

1. Phil Cara, director of Yahoo Consumer Direct, was recently quoted for saying:

"We (Yahoo!) get insights and then advise on best practices. For example, when rich media became popular, we did a side-by-side comparison of all the results and saw that there was a better than 50% higher result from those campaigns that included rich media. So we were able to improve our product by including rich media at no additional cost in more campaigns."

2. New research from eMarketer that suggests that rich media display ads will grow from about $1 billion per year to over $7 billion by the year 2011

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New Way Of Closing The Multi Channel Shopping Loop

2007-05-29T14:40:00.000-07:00

Looks like AC Nielsen and Yahoo! have really done the impossible. They can now measure the impact of online research on offline sales. Simply amazing. The process and methodology seems really solid as do the results. This brings new meaning and definition to the words "ad targeting" and offline accountability and measurement.

Bringing BT Home Once Again
by Steve Smith, Friday, May 25, 2007

AS WE COVERED LAST WEEK with AC Nielsen's Steve Warshaw, Yahoo and the research company's four-year partnership on the Consumer Direct product combines online ad serving and user tracking with offline scanning of actual retail habits. The result is a remarkable view into the ways online advertising directly affects buying patterns. This week, Phil Cara, director of Yahoo Consumer Direct, explains how the product has evolved from an accountability measure to a targeting tool.

Behavioral Insider: How has Consumer Direct evolved over the last four years? What are some of the key learnings here?

Phil Cara: It was really a measurement tool when we created it. CPG sales happen in stores. So when we started, the whole concept was, how can we provide better understanding to our customers of how online marketing can impact offline sales.

Four years later, the whole model has flipped. Accountability is just a feature in the product, but the product is really the targeting -- and that is what our customers have embraced. They see the targeting as a way to gain efficiency in their marketing plans. The real promise of digital marketing is not just to do it the way we do it offline, but to do it better. And the product is much better today than just two years ago. We now have over 90 results. In the first 40 results we saw an average offline sales difference [as a result of exposure to online campaigns] of 19%. Today that number is 29%.

Behavioral Insider: What explains the increase in results?

Cara: Some of it is improvements in predictive models. The other, I think, is just the experience of the advertising community. The creative is much better than it was a couple of years ago. And then things like broadband adoption and even the technology continues to improve our ad serving. Our frequency capping is better. Our BT is better.

Behavioral Insider: Walk me through how the process works on Yahoo's end.

Cara: There are three parts to this product; first is targeting and segmentation. Nielsen creates a predictive model, they give it to us and we run it on our BT engine, which enables us to identify the consumers that fit the model. We create predictive models.

And then we score our database of 130 million Yahoo users and we create an audience. So typically we will score 10% of the network. We now create an audience of about 13 million Yahoo users in probably eight to ten million households. We serve an ad campaign typically of about 60 million to 100 million impressions to that audience. As the campaign is running we will naturally hit some of those 46,000 Homescan panelists, and we are able to track which of those panelists have been exposed to the advertising and which have not.

At the end of the campaign, we send that exposure file back to Nielsen, which now knows that, say, 4,000 of this 46,000 were exposed to this campaign. Nielsen will create a control of 4,000 that were not exposed that have basically the exact same purchasing and demographic profile of those that were exposed. And then from that Nielsen does a very detailed sales impact analysis.

The key things we are looking at are, what was the sales difference? How did it come about? What is the projection of actual offline sales attributed to this campaign? How much in dollars did I drive to the store? Then the customer has the ability to do some ROI calculations.

Behavioral Insider: Can Yahoo also take these findings and use them to improve targeting and creative?

Cara: We get insights and then advise on best practices. For example, when rich media became popular, we did a side-by-side comparison of all the results and saw that there was a better than 50% higher result from those campaigns that included rich media. So we were able to improve our product by including rich media at no additional cost in more campaigns.

Behavioral Insider: How does the Homescan data help deepen your profile of Yahoo users?

Cara: It is the core of helping us create good predictive models. There is a difference between someone who is a heavy category purchaser and a light purchaser, and that has a lot of value in the model. If you think about the way most advertising is conducted, you might go after, say, women 25 to 54. The reality is that not all women 25 to 54 are even buying a category. And then there are those who are buying a category heavily, so 20% may be driving 80% of the volume. So we are using this insight [from Homescan] to find that 20%. And that is what adds lift to the campaign and proves efficiency.

Behavioral Insider: Is that what you mean when you say that the model has flipped from accountability to targeting?

Cara: Yes. Most of the CPG companies and other industries understand that if they can find people in the category, that it is going to add efficiency to their marketing. The problem is most media can't do that.

Behavioral Insider: Finally, walk us me through a case where all of this comes together, where you use Homescan data to hone targeting on your network and then prove its effect back at retail.

Cara: We had a food manufacturer that had a specific initiative to increase buying rates in Wal-Mart Super Centers. So we got into Homescan and identified consumers who buy that category, in this case cereal, and who also shop at Wal-Mart Super Centers. And from that we created a predictive model. We scored our network, created an audience. Ran the campaign, which included a promotional offering, and at the end of the campaign measured the purchasing across all outlets and also Wal-Mart. While the campaign did well across all outlets, it did substantially better, over 50% sales lift, in Wal-Mart Super Centers.

Retailer Shopping Channels Continue To Converge

2007-05-24T07:48:00.000-07:00

In a recent Forrester study (The Inevitable Convergence Of Retail Channels -- How POS, Commerce Platforms, And Contact Center Applications Unite - 5/17/07) that talks about how more and more consumers are now demanding consistent information from retailers as they cross channel shop. The type of information that these consumers are looking for integrated access are loyalty programs and promotions to inventory visibility and availability. Retailers are going to have to build bridges across these channels so as to offer these multi channel shoppers universal, up to date access to all required data points.

Here are a few stand out findings from the study, but make sure to take a look at the chart at the bottom. It gives a little more insight into whom exactly is multi channel shopping these days (as far as life stage clusters):

Need for more consistent experience

Single unified loyalty program
Consistent promotions across channels
Inventory and fulfillment tracking
Returns regardless of purchase channel

Consumer Facing Features
- Loyalty programs – might allow for identification of users
- Mobile technology – allows for immediate pricing information
- Inventory management – online and in-store inventory will available in one place

Over half of online consumers research online but purchase in store
- Expectation of one single experience across channels

How Simular Do Online Shoppers & Off Line Shoppers Behave?

2007-05-24T07:38:00.000-07:00

Very recently (5/21/07), some new research came out from Performics DoubleClick (via the e-tailing group) that talks about the loyalty of online shoppers. Below are the two most interesting sound bites, but here is my question? Would the same results apply to those that shop off line? I would guess not, as price comparison shopping is much more costly and difficult to do in the physical world than it is in the virtual world. This has to be good news for retailers, unless some of the mobile comparison shopping services take off.

Seventy-one percent of shoppers “browse multiple online stores prior to completing a purchase."
Four out of ten (42 percent) shoppers “price shop a product via comparison engines."

For more on the results on this survey that Performics DoubleClick ran, click here

A New Way To Think About Tracking Multi Channel Shopping

2007-05-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

So I just read the below article on some a new framework on how to track those shoppers that cross shopping channels. Interesting read which I encourage you all to read. My big take away is the best wat to track this behavior is through offering tools that encourage and make this type of shopping easier and more possible. As a result, if you build and release a useful tool full of utility, people will use it and you will be able to capture loads of data points as a subsequent result.

How to Embrace Multichannel Behavior
By Jack Aaronson - May 18, 2007
We've looked previously at ways to understand multichannel user behavior and about Web-to-store and store-to-Web analysis. Today, we'll step back and look more generally at the methodology needed to really understand multichannel behavior. I call it "embrace it, then trace it."

To understand the philosophy, I'll use a folklore tale of an architect. (I believe the story is true; if you know the source, please tell me.) According to the story, an architect was hired to design a college campus. He put up the buildings but created no sidewalks. When the head of the school asked him where the sidewalks were, he replied, "The students will create the sidewalks." Sure enough, a year later the architect visited the school and built paved sidewalks where the students had created well-worn paths in the grass.

I love the images and inspiration this story conjures. It's truly customer-centric (needs-based) design. We can learn from this story as we create a methodology for modeling multichannel behavior. You're most likely aware of how your users act within a channel. You know how to create the best brick-and-mortar experience, catalog, Web site, kiosk, call center, sales office, Web 2.0 widget, and the like. In the story of the architect, these channels are the buildings. They run fairly well on their own. But how do users move between them? What paths do they create? And, most important, how can we analyze the paths' success and value?

Here are the three steps to the "embrace it, then trace it" methodology:

Embrace It

Embracing multichannel behavior is like paving the sidewalks between the buildings. First, you must spend time watching user behavior. Then you can understand what pathways the users are creating. Some pathways we've seen created in the last few years include:

* People researching online, then buying in the stores
* People going to a store to feel and touch, then finding the cheapest price online
* People browsing a catalog, then calling the call center or ordering online
* People browsing online, then calling to buy
* People banking online and at the ATM
* Businesses interacting with a supplier's sales rep in person and via client extranets

While we have seen these behaviors before, your users might be creating paths unique to your industry or unique to their needs.

The problem is most companies don't know how to track this behavior. That's because there are no pathways that make this behavior traceable. Once you understand what these paths are (or at least some of them), it's time to pave the sidewalks. Create functionality that not only enables the behavior but also makes it easy for the user to take these paths.

I've given store/Web examples in previously. In a nutshell, here are some ways people create pathways between channels:

* Create "catalog quick order" features on your site to enable catalog users to easily buy online while holding their catalogs.
* Create printable shopping carts and integrate "pick up in store" functionality that allows people to buy online and pick up in store.
* Let sales people create accounts for in-store customers that contain wish lists of the products they viewed in the store, allowing them to purchase them online.
* Print vanity URLs in your catalogs that enable quick links online that show the merchandise in that section of the catalog.
* Let salespeople have their own extranets for each of their business clients.

All of these ideas create paths and encourage the behavior by making it simpler.

Trace It

You can't track behavior and understand its value until you enable it. Once the sidewalks are paved, it's time to track who's using which ones. Analytic packages like Coremetrics and Omniture are making great strides in multichannel analytics. With integrated point of sale systems, online and Web 2.0 metrics, and the like, work with vendors to install tracking systems on each pathway. Once the analytics are in place, you can understand the value of not only each path but channel permutations. In other words, what type of multichannel user is more profitable? Those who use channels X and Y, or those who use channels Y and Z? What about those who use X, Y, and Z together?

Credit It

The last piece of the puzzle has to do with credit. Who gets credit for a sale that starts on the Web and finishes in the store? Does the catalog get credit for a purchase that began there? Business rules must be put in place to assign value to the paths. Not only does the value have a path, it's split between the path's endpoints. Perhaps a path from the catalog to the store is credited X percent to the catalog and Y percent to the store for the first purchase. Subsequent online purchases by the same customer might be attributed differently. The catalog was responsible for the beginning of the relationship and should be credited to some degree for subsequent purchases, up to a certain amount.

Each business is different, so this is the most vague and mystical part of the process. An accounting structure must be put in place that all channels agree upon. That will encourage multichannel users, which is what we want. By splitting the credit for each path and letting each channel retain some percentage after the first sale, the fear of channibalism is lessoned.

Conclusion

People fear what they can't control or understand. A lot of the concern around the multichannel user experience is simply that companies haven't figured out how to capture the data. Once the data is captured, it's a matter of creating business rules to understand credit and value.

The first step is understanding the paths people are taking between your buildings and why. Once you create the sidewalks that let them do this easily, everything else will follow suit. The technology exists to track these sidewalks, attribute value to them, and credit the channels appropriately.

The Buying Decision Making Process Is Not A Funnel Any More

2007-05-15T13:42:00.000-07:00

Here is a little challenge to my (and probably your) thinking. We’ve always imagined the purchase process as a funnel – but it’s not. New technology allows consumers to gather information at all stages of the purchase process. Half of all consumers are still gathering information from a variety of sources right up to their point of purchase. Wow, that really does shake up my mental thought process of how I think about leading a user towards conversion.

Purchase Intent Of A User Goes Up If They Searched Before Shopping

2007-05-15T13:36:00.000-07:00

Here is some interesting research from Yahoo! Search Marketing that talks about how searchers make up their minds online & are less likely to change them when actually going offline to make a purchase. It indicates that these users that are searching online and ahead of time and are building their expertise prior to purchase, that this group is less likely to change their mind about the product they wanted while shopping offline.

Source:

Retail Fluency Report, Summer 2005

CMO Council, in partnership with ConsumerEdge Research Group

Target: Offline Purchasers of Consumer Electronics (Digital Camera, Computer/Laptop, DVR/DVD player, Printer, TV purchasers)

Significant difference at a 95% confidence level

Online Search Influences Over 50% Of Online Sales. Does This Hold Up For Off Line Sales?

2007-05-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

So here is the big question...What percent of online searches influence off line sales? All of the below research talks about online search's direct influence over eCommerce sales. I wonder if this research holds true for influencing off line sales? I would imagine that the influence of search is actually greater. Yes? No? Leave a comment and tell me what you think?

Search Before the Purchase Understanding Buyer Search Activity as it Builds to Online Purchase
Feb 2005

To better understand how consumers use search engines in the online purchase process, DoubleClick commissioned comScore Networks to use its panel of 1.5 million U.S. Internet consumers to provide further insights. comScore identified people who made purchases on one of 30 sites in four categories: Apparel, Computer Hardware, Sports/Fitness and Travel. comScore then captured all relevant search activity of those buyers within the four specific categories during the 12 weeks prior to purchase, separating their search terms related to their ultimate purchase topic from other types of searches they may have conducted.

Most Buyers Complete Their Relevant Search Activity Well in Advance of Purchase

Most searchers observed in the comScore panel completed their search activity well in advance of purchase, as shown in the below graph. This is a striking observation, as many marketers consider that a click from a search engine that does not convert into a sale in the same session is worthless, while the research indicates that buyers do considerable advance planning and research before completing their transactions.

Looking at searchers, the story is even clearer: the majority of buyers never searched for a retailer brand at all in the 12 weeks preceding their purchase. In the Computer Hardware vertical, 92% of all searchers used some kind of generic search but only 27% performed a brand-only search, as shown in Figure 3 (note that the numbers add up to more than 100% because some searchers may have employed more than one search style).

Summary Level Findings From This Study

Search plays a role in roughly half of all online purchases.
The majority of pre-purchase search activity (searches and clicks) involves generic terms, not the merchants’ brands.
Branded terms peak in search activity closer to the purchase.
Most buyers complete their relevant search activity well in advance of the purchase.
Generic terms represent an opportunity to attract and engage in-market searchers throughout the buying cycle.
Search result analyses (sales and ROI) that consider only a short period prior to purchase do not account for the value of generic search activity earlier in the buying cycle.

Online Research Once Again Proven To Be An Integral Part Of The In Store Shopping Experience

2007-05-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

Here is a news clip that I pulled from Accenture Research that is yet another data point confirming what we all know to be true about the web's influence on in store sales. Thanks Ted (Westerheide) for catching this and pointing this study out to me.

"In an recent Accenture survey (4/4/07) of more than 600 U.S. consumers has found that the majority of consumers use the Internet as part of the shopping process even if they go to stores to purchase or pick up items. The data suggest that retailers and consumer goods companies need to focus on customer service and information available both from call centers and online or risk losing customers researching potential purchases.

While two-thirds (67 percent) of survey respondents said they prefer to make purchases in physical stores respondents also said they research product features online (69 percent), compare prices online before shopping in a physical store (68 percent) or use the Internet to locate items online before going to a store to purchase (58 percent). Only 13 percent of respondents said the Internet has not improved their in-store shopping experience.

“Instead of replacing bricks and mortar stores, the Internet is an extension of consumers’ in-store shopping experience providing a resource to research product and price,” said Jeff Smith, global managing director of Accenture’s Retail practice. “Retailers and manufacturers must understand this consumer behavior trend in order to reach shoppers, educate them, serve them and earn their loyalty.”

Awareness and loyalty

When asked to identify the most powerful influencers of their purchase decisions, the greatest number of respondents – 60 percent – said word-of-mouth, followed by advertising (47 percent) and online information (43 percent) are the most influential. The top three ways consumers said they learn about new products are television (64 percent), word of mouth (47 percent) and print ads (37 percent).

Half (50 percent) of consumers surveyed said they value special promotions to retain their business while 37 percent said they look for improved customer service. Promotions for frequent customers appear to be more effective for women than for men with 54 percent of female respondents saying they value these promotions compared to 47 percent of males surveyed.

Timing seems to be a bigger influence than promotions for new product purchases of both health and beauty items. For example, 33 percent of respondents said they bought a new health or beauty product because they needed it at the time compared with only 22 percent who said they bought such a product because they had a coupon or found the product on sale.

“It’s critical to understand customers’ wants and needs before, during and after the actual purchase,” said Keith Barringer, global managing director of Accenture’s Consumer Goods & Services practice. “Increasing insight into the customer – and acting on it – can help manufacturers successfully time new product launches and help retailers know when to offer promotions to increase revenue and customer loyalty.”

The majority (55 percent) of respondents said new products are introduced before they realize a need for them while nearly half (47 percent) said that new products are introduced that they don’t feel they need. Almost one-third (30 percent) of respondents said they could think of new products they need that have not been developed yet.

“This research shows there are significant opportunities for manufacturers to improve their innovation and product development processes,” added Barringer.

Service and selection

The survey findings indicate that consumers want better service and product selection both online and in the store. More than two-thirds (67 percent) of respondents reported that, when shopping in physical stores, they often find too few registers are open and more than half (54 percent) say there are not enough sales people available. Many respondents said they will go elsewhere if they don’t find the appropriate selection at a certain store; this is particularly true for items such as footwear (81 percent); music, movies and books (78 percent); and jeans (76 percent).

“Consumers are telling us that there is a need for more efficient customer service departments,” said Smith. “The phone, and increasingly a company’s web site, are the first points of entry. If the on-hold time is too long, if the customer is passed around to different departments or if online navigation is confusing the sale can easily be lost. Customer service can be a powerful – and profitable – differentiator for retailers that know what their customers want and how to deliver it.”

Only 50 percent of respondents report getting help always or most of the time for electronics stores and household furnishings with 47 percent saying the same for specialty stores. According to 43 percent of respondents, mass retailers provide help some of the time but 29 percent report the mass stores rarely or never have help available when needed.

The survey also found:

Location is not shoppers’ main concern. Consumers say price and product selection matter more than store location when shopping. The key criteria respondents cited for deciding where to shop are price (85 percent), and product selection (69 percent) followed by store proximity (57 percent).
Gender differences. More men than women (51 percent vs. 39 percent) report the Internet has improved the in-store shopping experience by allowing them to order items online for in-store pick-up. More men than women (17 percent vs. 9 percent) purchase in-store to get better prices while more women than men (16 percent vs. 8 percent) purchase in-store to avoid shipping charges."

To read the full article, go to:
http://newsroom.accenture.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=4529

It's Rare That Two Independant Research Companies Agree - Espcially Forrester & Jupiter

2007-05-08T11:28:00.000-07:00

So I am still really amp'd up that another credible research source (Forrester) has also concluded independantly that "almost $400 billion of store sales — or 16% of total retail sales — are directly influenced by the Web as consumers research products online and purchase them offline. This will grow at a 17% CAGR over the next five years, resulting in more than $1 trillion of store sales by 2012." This research is exactly inline with what Jupiter released a few months ago. A few other interesting sound bites from this new Forrester report are:

Slightly more than half of online consumers have researched a product online and then purchased it offline in a traditional brick-and mortar location.
45% of W2S shoppers say that they buy additional products once in the store, spending on average $154 in incremental purchases.
Offline sales not influenced by the web will decrease by 24%
Cross-channel sales (web 2 store) will grow to 38% of total retail sales over the next five years

Source: Forrester report titled, "The Web’s Impact On In-Store Sales: US Cross-Channel Sales Forecast, 2006 To 2012"

Forrester Reports On The Web’s Impact on In-Store Sales

2007-05-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

In a fresh report posted today by Forrester titled, "The Web’s Impact On In-Store Sales: US Cross-Channel Sales Forecast, 2006 To 2012", it reports on the web's impact on in-store sales:

Estimates that $400B of store sales (16% of total retail sales) directly influenced by web

Will grow at 17% CAGR over the next five years; $1T of store sales by 2012

eCommerce sales equal 11% of total retail

Cross-channel sales equal 38% of total retail

Manufacturers Are Now Believing In The Influence That Online Research Has On In Store Conversions

2007-04-27T06:43:00.000-07:00

Here is some proprietary research that WebCollage has put together on the role that online has over off line sales...

According to WebCollage research, in store purchases increase when marketer content is available. In tests where half the audience saw the additional content online and half didn't, Mr. Alpert said, there was a 6% to 15% increase in shopping-cart value among those who had access to the content (done via A/B testing - conducted across hundreds of thousands of consumer visits on channel partner websites ). This research also sited that more than three-fourths of consumers research products online before they buy, and they're twice as likely to do so on a retailer's site as on a manufacturer's site.

Old School Web To Store Stats - Circa 2001

2007-04-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

Here is some old research that really shows that a few folks saw the potential of how online research could severely impact offline shopping. Talk about disruptive technology on such mediums as print & broadcast.

Research/product information is the top reason (after email) Internet users go online.

The Strategis Group, Inc. , Midyear Report 2000

Consumers who visit a retailer’s web site and then buy from the retail store spend 33 percent more on an annual basis in-store, compared to the retailer’s typical store customers.

National Retail Federation, Channel Surfing: Measuring Multi-Channel Shopping

Seven dollars are spent offline, as a direct result of online research, for one dollar spent online.

Jupiter Communications, June 2000

Where In The Decision Making Process Are Shoppers?

2007-04-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

Below is an interesting visual representation that Forrester put together that helps diagram the series of related buying activities that take place across the local search funnel.

What Types Of Goods Are More Fitting For Research Online But Instore Purchase?

2007-04-11T10:19:00.000-07:00

According to a March 2007 trend report by Forrester, there are two main types of goods that consumers are most likely to research online and buy in store (see below). This makes a lot of sense and based upon the internal ShopLocal research, this tracks really well with what categories are often the highest interest to our local shopping guests.

1. Carefully Considered Major Purchases (like cars, jewelry & appliances)

2. Urgent, Disposable Goods (like food, office supplies and over the counter drugs)

Note: Both of the above graphs are from Forrester’s NACTAS 2006 Benchmark Survey

Interesting Multi-Channel Retailing Trends

2007-03-31T15:28:00.000-07:00

Just was reading my email, and ran across a report from Forrester called Best Practices in Multichannel Retailing 2006. Some of the top line conclusions of this found that:

88% of all online consumers will use the internet to research products.
Cross-channel shopping is quickly becoming a mainstream activity; more than half of online Gen Yers, Gen Xers and Younger Boomers engaging in online research behavior.
Multi-channel retailing has been a “nice-to-have” capability. With consumer adoption of technology, specifically the internet, multi-channel will be a “must-have” capability over the next 2 years.

Frequent Online Circular Users Are Also Frequent In Store Shoppers

2007-03-31T15:20:00.000-07:00

Based upon a ShopLocal customer research study that was conducted in Q4 of 2006 (n=37,500) across 32 retailer web sites spanning multiple categories, it found that those users that consumed localized in-store sale information online were more likely to visit a retail store location and do so at a higher frequency than those users that did not see this in-store sale information. This to me is just another validating data point that proves the web to store behavior happens at a measurable and impactful rate.

Alexa.com Shows ShopLocal Being THE Black Friday Shopping Resource

2007-03-31T15:08:00.000-07:00

I am sick off all of this talk about cyber-monday being the most heavily trafficked day during the holiday season. It is just not true. Not even close, according to JupiterResearch Internet Shopping Model (11/06 - U.S. Only) which sites Black Friday and Thanksgiving as the heaviest online traffic days. This makes a lot of sense here at ShopLocal, as both our internal web logs and Alexa reporting show this exact same trend where the peak traffic days are these two and NOT cyber-monday.

How Local Search Engines Drive More Business To Local Retailers

2007-03-31T09:17:00.000-07:00

Here are four interesting reports that all essentially tell the same story of how online search is driving retail in store sales.

The first comes from Jupiter Research, were it points out the large disparity between online influence and online ad spending. If you are in the online advertising industry, this clearly demonstrates the market potential that this market sector has.

The next two reports come from the Kelsey Group, where they are attempting to show the diminishing influence that traditional local information source are having (like newspapers and paper based yellow pages). This means that yellow page searches fell 13% over the course of these two years (2003 - 2005) and online local search grew by 10% over the same period.

Here is another chart from the Kelsey Group that essentially tells the same story of how the yellow pages are losing their influence and being replaced by local web searches

Finally in a TKG / BizRate survey from 9/04, it shows that of the total number of online searches that are performed across all search engines, nearly 10% of all of these queries have been localized AND are intended for local retail businesses. That really is a strong statistic if you think of it in context of ALL the billions of searches that are performed by users online.

Online Shoppers Purchase More In Store

2007-03-30T14:51:00.000-07:00

According to a study from ShopLocal, the leader in multi-channel shopping services, 85 percent of adult Internet shoppers used the Web to make more informed shopping trips to their local stores. Results of the annual American Interactive Consumer Survey, conducted by The Dieringer Research Group on behalf of ShopLocal, indicate that consumers are using online circulars and other tools to compare prices for big- and small-ticket items alike.

“Nearly nine out of 10 adults – from the 110 million Internet shoppers 18 years and older who go online at least once a month – were found to have used the Internet for local shopping, not an online purchase,” said Bob Armour, chief marketing officer for ShopLocal. “This confirms that the Internet is now widely used for local shopping information as well as making online purchases.”

The annual survey from ShopLocal found that nearly two-thirds of multi-channel shoppers now say the Internet is the most important shopping information resource, confirming the high value of online information about products and stores to local shoppers. In fact, online consumers overall responded that they spend more time researching products online than they spend shopping in person.

Multi-channel shoppers also tend to purchase more at local stores than they originally planned to after doing online research, according to the new study. During the three months prior to the survey, nine out of 10 local shopping trips made by multi-channel consumers for products researched online resulted in purchases worth $125 more than the products researched online – a figure that rose 25 percent from the prior year. This means that retailers get added leverage from advertising their goods and services online due to this spending “halo effect.”

The most frequent use of multi-channel shopping is associated with purchasing of home furnishings, tools, men's apparel, sports and fitness products and major appliances. Other leading products more likely to be purchased locally after online research included household products, tools, small appliances, cameras and telephone products.

The annual American Interactive Consumer Survey, conducted by The Dieringer Research Group (Milwaukee, WI.) was fielded in the fourth quarter of 2006, and interviewed 2,2001 U.S. consumers by phone and online.

Chance Of Pace - How Offiline Research Can Drive Online Search Traffic

2007-03-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

This is a short excerpt of an article by Sarah Mahoney at MediaPost where she writes about...

"A new survey from the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA) finds that traditional offline advertising--especially in magazines--plays a major role in generating online searches.

The poll found that 47.2% of shoppers are most likely to start an online search after viewing a magazine ad, while 43.7% said reading an article was most likely to send them surfing. TV ads (42.8%) came next, followed by newspaper ads (42.3%).

There were also gender differences. Women were more likely than men to be motivated by both coupons (41.8% versus 29.0%) and in-store promotions (29.0% versus 24.5%). And word of mouth inspired more of men's searches: 36.1% of men's searches were inspired by a face-to-face conversation, compared to 29.5% of women.

The poll, which included more than 15,200 shoppers, also turned up some insights about the way consumers share what they have learned online with others. "After searching, online consumers said they are most likely to communicate with others about their search through face-to-face discussion (68.9%)--although e-mail (53.1%), telephone (50.9%), and cell phone (30%) communication were also popular choices," RAMA says. Young adults (18-24) also say they send IMs about what they've learned (37.5%), text message (23.7%), and use outlets like online communities like MySpace and Facebook (20.6%).

While traditional media may spark searches, the poll also affirms that online communication is huge for retailers. According to the survey, 92.5 percent of adults "regularly or occasionally" go online before making a purchase. Electronics continue to be the most researched category (50.8%) followed by apparel (31.9%), and appliances (27.0%).

"When it comes to advertising, retailers always need to be careful not to put all of their eggs in one basket," RAMA says in a release. "While search engine marketing continues to be a popular strategy, retailers should not lose sight of traditional advertising channels to promote products and services.""

Newspapers Are Still The Primary Source Of Pre-Purchase Information For Local Purchases

2007-03-09T07:19:00.000-08:00

In the Dieringer Research Group’s American Interactive Consumer Survey 2005 survey (that the NAA was a sponsor of) that attempted to quantify the impact of the internet on shopping related behavior in the U.S, we now know that even as the Internet grows in importance for discerning shoppers, local print newspapers remain top of mind for local purchases by a wide margin.

Among the some highlights taken directly from the study:

Local TV, the next most commonly cited “primary source” for local advertising, falls 13 percentage points behind print newspapers.
Broadband, tenured and early adopters lead in citing newspapers above all other media for local shopping, and online users are ever more likely to site newspapers as their primary source for local advertising than offline adult users.
Nearly 9 out of 10 adult Americans view or read newspaper content in print or online.
Overall Internet use still ranks somewhat behind reading of daily print newspapers in terms of the overall size of universe, trailed only slightly by Sunday newspaper readership.
Local online newspapers lead national online sources in their branding impact for online consumers.
Younger shoppers actually seek out online shopping information in local online newspapers, citing this content as third behind only weather and local entertainment as what they prefer.

Even Wal-Mart Is Hoping Aboard The Web - To - Store Bus

2007-03-09T07:14:00.000-08:00

This last Tuesday (3/6/07), Wal-Mart Stores rolled out an initial phase of it's Site - to - Store service to about a dozen states, which allows customers to buy merchandise online at walmart.com and pick it up at any store (that is currently participating) for free. The rest of the US stores plan to have this service in place by late summer '07. This is Walmart's first major entry into offering customers a multi-channel shopping experience. The new service gives the Wal-Mart customer access to thousands of items not sold in stores, especially electronic, home, toy, baby and sports items.

"A key advantage of Wal-Mart's online channel is the ability to offer a much larger assortment of products through our virtual shelf space," said Mike Smith, walmart.com's director of store integration.

Site - to - Store not only offers these customers access to thousands of additional online products, but also gives them the added convenience of picking up those items at the store during their weekly shopping trips without paying for shipping.

Buy Online, Pick Up In Store Leads To Higher Average Cart Values

2007-02-21T18:10:00.000-08:00

Below is an older article (from the Puget Sound Business Journal) back from 2003 that I just ran across. It's interesting to note the effect of a consumers total purchase that the physical store had. Many people have stated that web - to - store pickup is nothing more than moving the cash register / POS into a person's home. I would argue that it is a lot more, and this simple case study proves it. It not only saves time for both the retailer and customer, but leads to a better experience and to higher average shopping basket values....

"Recreational Equipment Inc., the Kent-based outdoor gear cooperative, introduced an in-store pickup option in July. Within two months, about one-quarter of all online orders at REI.com and REI-outlet.com were being picked up in REI's 67 stores, the company said. For REI-outlet, nearly 40 percent of orders are being picked up in stores.

"We thought it would be successful, but we were surprised at how quickly it was successful and adopted," said Joan Broughton, REI's vice president of multichannel programs. "By the end of the first day, 60 stores had become involved in this."

It seems logical that bargain-hunters shopping REI-outlet.com would want to skip the shipping charges and pick up their goods at a store, Broughton said. Even better for the retailer, since there is no physical REI outlet store, it brings those shoppers to full-line REI stores, where they can peruse the company's full-price goods.

REI's data showed that 36 percent of online customers who chose in-store pickup ended up buying additional items when they came to claim their purchase. Those customers spent an average of about $90 apiece on additional gear."

To read the rest of the article, click here.

How To Assess The Market Opportunity In Online Influence On Offline Spending

2007-02-15T09:06:00.000-08:00

OK. I am still pondering that new Jupiter research report that talks about the influnce of online research on in store sales. This report stated that there was $100 billion in eCommerce sales in 2006. If you apply the generic rule that the typical comparison shopping engine (CSE) gets a lead/commission fee of about 2% (of each dollar spend in revenue) for all the high-value traffic that they send to online retailers, this equates out to about $2 billion in revenue. So all the CSEs and affiliates out there collectively share in this $2 billion pie. This is a crowded and highly competitive market. A market that is predicted by the same report to become stagnant and flat in the not so distant future.

So rather than chasing the eCommerce marketplace, why not target the off-line sales that are directly influenced by online research? Seems pretty obvious to me. Less players. Bigger market. A market that is growing (vs becoming flat like eComm). If you applied the same math as above to the in-store spending that is influenced by online research, this market is about $200 billion by year 2011 (the overall pie is about $1 trillion in 2011).

So why doesn't the same model of lead generation and traffic hold true for web - to - store purchases? Tracking, tracking and tracking. There is just not the level of reporting and tracking of these leads.

My mission is to prove that the same referral model that happens online should and does absolulty hold true for web to store sales.

Measuring The Degree Of Influence Newspaper Ad Inserts Have

2007-02-12T11:03:00.000-08:00

In a research study that was release in late 2006 by Vertis Communications (Customer Focus®/RISC) it revealed that 51 percent of adults use advertising inserts or circulars to decide where to shop for clothing items. The study analyzed the shopping habits of four core segments (below) identified through RISCAmeriscan and the motivating factors influencing how and where these groups shop for their fashion items.

1. “Movers and Shapers”
2. “Daredevils”
3. “Guardians”
4. “Wannabes”

“The four groups analyzed through the study show that, despite demographic similarities, consumers are unique individuals with different values and personalities influencing their habits,” said Jim Litwin, vice president of market insights at Vertis Communications. “In order to connect with consumers on a personal level, it is important for marketers to understand these groups and their motivations; this will help them develop relevant and effective advertising and marketing collateral.”

Consumers who are part of the “Movers and Shapers” category are often described as open-minded individuals in constant pursuit of new things from clothing to careers. They are a high-energy group that does not like to be controlled or limited, but seeks the acceptance and companionship of others.

“Daredevils” are known for their competitive nature and constant need for recognition from others. Often times they accomplish this by being risk-takers or though unorthodox behavior. These individuals value status, which is often reflected by their physical appearance and purchase selections. Adults in the

“Wannabes” often aspire to be like other groups who have what they want and know how to enjoy life. These adults use their energy and activity to achieve the entertainment they seek and are often attracted to unique and different experiences. This group has a difficult time connecting with others.

Of all the groups, “Guardians” are least likely to accept change and often plan ahead to avoid unexpected situations. Close, personal relationships are important to this group, which values tradition and routine. They are least likely to become leaders, but will always follow others.

This same study, which surveyed respondents for the first time via the telephone and Web, also revealed the following:

Shopping Behaviors of Adults

58 percent of Daredevils and 50 percent of Guardians research by circular and then purchase at store
In comparison, 21 percent of Movers and Shapers research by circular online and then purchase at store
According to the study, 13 percent of Daredevils research by circular online and then purchase online, compared to 10 percent of Wannabes and movers and shapers
8 percent of Guardians and 8 percent of Wannabes research by circular and then purchase online

Discount Stores Are Shopping Preference for Movers and Shapers

40 percent of Movers and Shapers surveyed shop at discount stores most often for their fashion items, compared to 18 percent of Wannabes
Although 16 percent of Movers and Shapers shop at department stores, this group is most likely to shop at stores where they can get the best value for their money
Movers and Shapers are busy individuals and 18 percent are attracted to stores where they can get items for the entire family
37 percent of consumers in this group have a combined household income of less than $30,000

Wannabes Seek Specialty Stores for their Unique Shopping Needs

21 percent of Wannabes shop at specialty stores for their fashion items, compared to 1 percent who shop using catalogs
When selecting where to shop, 38 percent of Wannabes look for stores with clothes that fit them, compared to 11 percent who shop at locations carrying the latest fashion
50 percent of Wannabes have a combined household income of $50,000
Of the women 23-54 surveyed, 44 percent are classified as Wannabes

Daredevils Frequently Visit Value Retailers For Fashion Needs

According to the study, 33 percent of Daredevils shop at value retailers for fashion items
For 32 percent of adults classified as Daredevils, “best value” is the most important factor in selecting where to shop, while 29 percent shop at stores with clothes that fit them
Daredevils are least interested in stores carrying the latest trends, with only 6 percent of respondents stating this is important when selecting where to shop
38 percent of Daredevils have a combined household income of $50,000, while 34 percent have an income of less than $30,000
30 percent of women 50 and older are categorized as Daredevils, compared to 8 percent of women 18-34

Guardians Find Fashion Needs at Department Stores

27 percent of Guardians shop at department stores for their fashion needs
Out of the four groups studied, Guardians are most likely to shop using catalogs, with 9 percent of respondents using this shopping tool
For 33 percent of Guardians, best value is a motivating factor when selecting where to shop for fashion
37 percent of women 50 and older and 20 percent of women 65 and older are classified as Guardians

New Technologies That Are Helping Take Printed Ads Online To Drive W2S Shopping

2007-02-12T07:41:00.000-08:00

The NAA's publication called PressTime has written a rather interesting article about digital newsprint technologies that are allowing user to receive a digital version of the newspaper and then take this eCopy with them wherever they are and consume this content across a whole host of digital devices. My take on all of these new advancements is that these emergent technologies will all come to play some role in a consumers buying process of first going online research a product before heading into a physical store to make a purchase.

Advertisers need to take note and embrace these technologies as soon as possible, even if they just "test" them out. It is important to get a understand of each and determine how to best leverage them to meet their business goals. The only way to do so is to get your hands dirty and just try things out. I am not talking major ad spends, but small defined tests to learn about the technologies and to gain expertise and position yourself as a thought leader, so that when these technologies do reach the mainstream, your firm has a head start on the rest of the competition. To read the entire article, click here.

For this blog post, I would like to focus in on one of of these technologies that I find especially interesting. Introducing the Times Reader, available in a free beta on NYTimes.com. The Times Reader is a downloadable application that enhances the onscreen reading experience of The New York Times for Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista users. It offers consumers access to The Times electronically, online or offline from a desktop, laptop, tablet PC or ultra-mobile computing device. Times Reader lets users retrieve the latest news and photos, through a synching process that lasts approximately one minute.

This new reader technology combines the interactivity and immediacy of the Web with the portability of a newspaper through Windows Presentation Foundation (which is Microsoft's advanced display technology that is avaialble only in Windows Vista). The text in Times Reader is displayed in a format to fit the size and layout of any computer screen and enables readers to customize the display according to personal preferences.

The NYTimes.com is the first to offer advertisers and readers this unique and advanced capability to date. It really gives the users of this technology and content the ability to experience the phyically printed paper in a new electronic way and provides advertisers greater visibility for their ads through this unique platform.

For advertisers, the application provides another creative platform to reach readers. Advertisements can be as small as a button or expand into multi-columns. In the beta version of Times Reader, only one advertisement appears on each page, giving significant visibility to that ad space. Future iterations of Times Reader may accommodate more advertisements on a single page. Furthermore, once downloaded, the content on the userseIU PC allows readers to click through advertisements to a designated landing page from that advertiser, even when not connected to the Web.

Anyone who is currently running Windows XP and is a registered user of NYTimes.com can participate in the Times Reader beta by signing up on http://www.nytimes.com/timesreader. Times Reader is free during the beta period. It will officially launch in 2007.

To learn more about this cool new online service/product, click here.

Influnce Of Online Research On In Store Sales Will Approach 1 Trillion USD By 2011

2007-02-07T08:13:00.000-08:00

In some rather shocking research that was recently released by JupiterResearch last month (Jan, 07), showed what a large role the retail web will play in influencing offline sales. This ever emerging sales channel is and will continue to be the major force to be reckoned with.

This report stated that the Internet will influence 47% total retail sales in 2011, compared to just 28% in 2005. This projection combines total sales transacted online with those carried out off line but directly influenced by online research. These offline sales will grow at a faster rate than online sales over the next five years.

The real conclusion that needs to be drawn from this is that retailers must embrace and become multichannel and to do so they must integrate their offerings so as to have clear, simple and convenient links to offline channels. Driving this growth are the 85% of online shoppers who said they used the Internet to research their offline purchases in 2005.

Also rather counter to the the market "noise" that continues to hype the continued growth rate of online sales, this report concluded that U.S. online sales are expected to plateau at 10 percent to 15 percent of the total amount of dollars consumers spend with retailers.

The impact of online behavior on offline sales will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12% over the next five or so years. This should lead retailers to realize that the retailer centric web holds a tremendous advertising and marketing value in helping to persuade shoppers to head to brick-and-mortar location.

Largest W2S Survey Ever Conducted - Breaking Results

2006-12-21T10:45:00.000-08:00

Back in late September 2006, I launched an effort here at ShopLocal to conduct the largest and most comprehensive W2S survey that has every been conducted. After working with our great clients, we got 30+ retailers on board from a wide range of retail categories. I honestly never expected the massive number of responses that we ended up getting from a small, non-obtrusive free (eg no compensation for the respondents) survey. I was and still am really blown away. If this has taught me anything it is that people online like to fill out surveys and tell you what they think.

Below are some of the highlights of this landmark survey taken from the official company press release that launched today...

"The Online Circular and Shopping Benchmark Survey Finds 95% of Shoppers Who Check Online Deals Weekly Visit a Retailer at Least Once a Month with 53% Shopping Every Week

Consumers who first research products online are more likely to spend more and purchase more in-store rather than over the Internet, according to a new survey from ShopLocal, the leading multi-channel shopping resource. Of the more than 37,500 people who responded to the quarterly survey, 69 percent said they gathered information on products online and then made at least one purchase at a local store compared with 27 percent who bought over the Internet.

The majority of respondents (56 percent) went to the online circulars specifically to browse sales and discounts before purchasing and another 35 percent cited new specials piqued their interest. There was some variance from category to category with respondents indicating they browsed through the online circulars for less costly items, such as comparing groceries and beauty specials, but with a specific consumer electronic in mind, people often used the online circulars to research and compare specific items before visiting their local stores.

The Online Circular and Shopping Benchmark Survey was conducted by ShopLocal from October 26 through December 5, 2006 from 32 retailers and across five major categories: consumer electronics, food/beverage and health/beauty, home and garden, mass merchant and office supplies. Over 37,500 shoppers who went to the retailers Web sites responded to the survey."

Why Do People Go To A Newspaper Website?

2006-12-01T09:42:00.000-08:00

According to the a new study just released by the NAA (Newspaper Association of America - Internet Shopping & Advertising Study -- Consumer Usage of Newspaper Advertising 2006 - Prepared by MORI Research), about one out of three visitors to a newspaper web site went there to get information on retail stores...

"Newspaper Web Sites and Shopping Information
One-third of Internet users (32 percent) and 24 percent of all adults visited a newspaper Web site in the previous 30 days

Newspaper Web site visitors on average do more things online, including shopping, than is the case with other Internet users. This is amply documented in the recent “Power Users 2006” report from NAA. For example, among past-30-day, newspaper-site visitors, 55 percent have seen or used online preprint advertising, compared with only 42 percent of other Internet shoppers.

Why do users visit newspaper Web sites? Almost two-thirds of past 30-day visitors mentioned various types of advertising information, including 30 percent citing retail shopping information in particular. This proportion spikes up to 39 percent among the 25-to-34 age group.
Internet Shopping & Advertising

Question: Thinking of all the reasons you have visited the newspaper’s web site, for what types of information or services have you looked at or used the site? (aided)

Reasons Visited Newspaper Web site

News (net) 88%
Local or regional news = 80%
National news = 66%
Advertising (net) = 62%
Shopping information for retail stores = 30%
Homes or real estate search = 29%
Job hunting information = 28%
Shopping for cars or trucks = 19%
Weather = 57%
Movie listings or other entertainment information = 46%
Sports scores & information = 42%
Stocks or stock market = 21%
None of these = 2%

Base = Adults who visited newspaper Web site in past 30 days"

Online FSI / Circulur Ads Give A Better Sense Of A Product Than A Printed Insert

2006-12-01T09:36:00.000-08:00

In a new study that was just released by the Newspaper Association of America (Internet Shopping & Advertising Study -- Consumer Usage of Newspaper Advertising 2006 - Prepared by MORI Research) some more interesting insights were found about the whether an online FSI / circular ad gave a consumer a better idea about a product...

"Product Appearance: Earlier, it was noted that 53 percent of newspaper preprint users agreed that they give a good idea of what products look like. The Internet, however, seems to have an advantage over preprints on this characteristic, although there obviously is much room for variation. By a 62 percent to 25 percent margin, online shoppers said that they get a better sense of product appearance on the screen than with a printed insert. Women (55 percent) are somewhat less inclined than men (62 percent) to favor the Internet on this question. (Newspaper preprint users who shop online are about average on this question.)

Question: In general, would you say that you get a better idea of a product’s appearance by seeing it in a printed advertisement in a newspaper insert, or by seeing it online, on a web site?

Product Appearance in Printed Insert vs. Online

Better seeing product online = 62%
Better seeing product in print advertisement = 25%
About the same = 11%
Neither = 2%
Don’t know = 1%

Base = Adults who shopped online in past 30 days"

New Research About People's Awareness That FSIs / Inserts Are Available Online

2006-12-01T08:33:00.000-08:00

In a new study that was just released by the Newspaper Association of America (Internet Shopping & Advertising Study -- Consumer Usage of Newspaper Advertising 2006 - Prepared by MORI Research) some very interesting conclusion were found about the general public's awareness that FSIs / Inserts / Circulars are available online...

"Awareness of Online Inserts: Almost half of online shoppers said that they have seen or checked online versions of newspaper advertising inserts that are available at some store Web sites. Young adults, especially women age18-34 (57 percent), are more likely to have seen online preprints. Awareness also is higher in the Northeast (52 percent) than the Western (42 percent) census regions.

Question: Some companies who advertise in newspaper inserts make the same information available online. That is, you might go to a store’s web site, enter your zip code, and see pictures of the same insert that appeared in your local newspaper. Have you ever seen or used a feature like this on any store’s web site?

Aware that Inserts Are Available Online

Yes, have seen or used this type of feature online = 47%
No, have not seen or used this type of feature online = 52%
Don’t know = 1%

Base = Adults who shopped online in past 30 days"

Online Price Comparisons Fuel Local Offline Shopping

2006-11-27T12:07:00.000-08:00

Here is some interesting W2S data that just came in off the wire. comScore is starting to recognize that people use online resources that end up driving people in-store. Below is the press release excerpt.

From comScore Networks - RESTON, Va., November 26, 2006:

E-COMMERCE SPENDING ON BLACK FRIDAY JUMPS 42 PERCENT
VERSUS LAST YEAR

Higher Than Expected E-Commerce Spending During Thanksgiving Weekend Has Online Retailers Eagerly Anticipating Cyber Monday

Online Price Comparisons Fuel Local Offline Shopping

"...An analysis of traffic to online comparison shopping sites revealed a distinct surge in visits on Black Friday, as consumers began their traditional hunt for holiday bargains. Visits to the leading shopping engines collectively rose 21 percent on Black Friday, versus the average number of daily visits during November. ShopLocal.com, however, saw a triple digit increase in visits on Black Friday and during the preceding three days, as consumers took advantage of the site’s ability to help them pinpoint bargains available at local offline retailers.

“Clearly consumers are increasing their use of online resources to drive their offline shopping,” commented Mr. Fulgoni. “On Black Friday, when many consumers were drawing up their ‘battle plans’ for finding in-store bargains, it appears that the savviest among them had already used the Internet to price items for purchase at local stores offline. We expect this trend to continue during the holiday season.”

Actual Web-to-Store Data From A Leading Retailer - Amazing Results

2006-11-13T13:04:00.000-08:00

Here is some new and very interesting W2S research that one of the largest retailers in the world recently conducted. This retailer found that those customers that visited their online circular site were on average:

Conducted 47% more store transactions than the regular customers that did not view the online circular.
Visited a store 32% more than the regular customers that did not view the online circular.
Spent 26% more overall (total spend over a 12 month period) than the regular customers that did not view the online circular.

This research was based upon a 12 month slice of data that included all household purchases.

How Influential Is The Internet In A Consumers Buying Process?

2006-09-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

According to a Pew Internet & American Life Project (2005) survey, 70.6% of households with incomes of $75K or more say the Internet is their primary source of information when evaluating and comparing products

Online Activities Often Drive In-Store Sales

2006-09-19T09:26:00.000-07:00

In a recent survey by The Multi-channel Shopping Transformation Study, The e-tailing group/J.C. Williams Group/Start Sampling , 2006, a sample group of consumer where asked, How frequently do you shop in the following ways? Below are the behaviors that the survey respondents indicated that they were very to somewhat frequently performing:

Go to the store, then buy online - 19%
Browse a website then buy in-store - 37%

Receive an email, then buy online - 15%
Receive a coupon then buy in-store - 60%

Read a newspaper circular then buy online - 15%
View a newspaper circular online then buy in-store - 34%

Receive a catalog and buy online - 36%
Receive a catalog and buy in-store - 25%

Who Are W2S Shoppers?

2006-09-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

On average, your typically W2S shopper is:

An average age of 39.7 years

A male between the ages of 18 – 49

Same education/income as e-commerce shoppers

A frequent shoppers

A broadband users

A college graduates

Makes more than $75,000 income (households)

English speaking

Why Online Shoppers Still Go Instore To Buy

2006-09-05T07:30:00.000-07:00

Most consumers still prefer to buy in stores they trust, close to where they live, and here is the data to back this up...

Interesting Web - To - Store (W2S) Tidbits

2006-09-05T07:26:00.000-07:00

Comscore says: "63% of purchases resulting from online search (and research) occur offline"

Jupiter says: "Ther internet is expected to influence nearly half of all retail sales in 2010"

Burst Media says: "57% of shoppers 18 or older say the intenet is their primary source of information pre-purchase"

How Significant Of Role Does Online Research Play On Offline Retail Spending?

2006-09-05T07:24:00.000-07:00

How Mobile Technology May Help Bridge The Web - To - Store Gap

2006-08-30T07:30:00.000-07:00

"An interactive marketed for one of the major mobile carriers told me recently that the Store Locater function on his main Web site produces one of the big blank spots in his knowledge about the effectiveness of his online spend. Almost all of his other online investments produce reams of detailed metrics he can use to optimize, calculate ROI, and spec out future projects. The Store Locater gets a ton of traffic, but he has no idea where it goes and how effectively it drives people to the retail stores themselves. There remains an enormous gap between the Web and retail and our understanding of how the two work together. We just know that they do work together--somehow." (Let's Go Shopping, by Steve Smith, Tuesday, Aug 29, 2006 3:01 PM ET)

This is such a great example of the current opportunity that exists in the W2S world. I am betting (as many others are) that mobile applications (such as couponing) will lead the charge in connecting the Web with in store shopping. To drive this bridge forward, the new Web - to - phone space will need to continue to evolve.

To read the full article, click here

Circuit City Claims That 50% Of All In Store Sales Are A Result Of W2S Behavior

2006-08-29T15:00:00.001-07:00

Here is a clip from a recent DM News article that demonstrates how much of a part web - to - store sales constitue for one major retailer. It just goes to show how powerful the W2S behavior pattern is becoming.

Multichannel Marketing is Key Says Shop.org

"Another key point is that Web-to-store traffic is a big business. Circuit City gets 50 percent of its customers visiting its Web site at www.circuitcity.com before coming into its store, Scott Silverman (executive director for Shop.org) said. The electronics retailer has also seen a lot of traffic to the store for online returns, which results in new sales.

The Web site not only works in concert with stores, but also with catalogs. Mr. Silverman said that catalogs are evolving and that there is often a spike in online sales just after a catalog drops."

Coupon, Inc program goes contextual to drive web-to-store sales

2006-08-16T07:57:00.000-07:00

Coupons Inc. is now putting a spin on contextual ad serving with a new program that serves up coupons contextually, for home printing and store redemption.

For example, the system works when a "bot" scans copy relating to children’s nutrition and healthy cereals on a host site, and then generates links to consumer-printable coupons for whole-grain cereals manufactured by or available at the coupon’s sponsor. The offer of a printable coupon appears in a small window that’s launched when a consumer mouses over highlighted words in the copy. When printed, the coupons are then redeemable at local retailers.

One metric of success for the system, will be an increase in coupon printing and redemption for participating marketers. While many CPG and other sites already offer printable coupons, consumers generally have to look for them in a dedicated area of the site. The contextual presentation of the coupons in the program already is producing multiple double-digit increases in the rate of coupons being printed on participating sites. Coupons, Inc. anticipates that it could increase the store redemption rate, now averaging about 15% to 17% by a few percentage points.

What makes this interesting is that coupons are one of the "tools of the trade" that W2S firms use to help prove that consumers are in fact making the leap from researching online to purchasing instore. However, using coupons to make a business case has traditionally been a very difficult task as the print and redemtion rates are usually very low (much lower than the claimed 15%-17% redemption rates that Coupons, Inc claims). What would be interesting is to possible try out this new technology of serving coupons to consumers in a more relevant manner, and then to see if the results of viewing -> printing -> redemption is any better.

To read more about this store, click here

Newspaper Free-Standing Inserts Helps Consumers Plan Their Shopping

2006-08-16T07:50:00.000-07:00

According to a survey study conducted by Scarborough Research (for the NAA), 78% of newspaper readers have used a free-standing insert (FSI) to help them plan an upcoming shopping trip. In addition, 76% of these readers said that these FSI ads helped them save money.

This is good news for the online circular market, as this only goes to prove that FSI's remain a great marketing vehicle to reach consumers with relevant local sale information.

Local Search Could Grow To $13 Billion By 2010 (source: The Kelsey Group)

2006-05-02T12:35:00.000-07:00

Will Google dominate local search? How much market share will the IYP's end up owning? Is there an available market play out there for the small upstart to get in and own a piece of the pie? These questions are debated in Forbes this month. The general conclusion - Yes, there is an un-meet need in the market right now to reach mop & pop businesses. The only question is then, who will step up to the plate?

For more information, click here

Local Shoppers Rely on Online Shopping Search Twice as Often as Nearest Media Influences

2006-05-02T12:20:00.000-07:00

More interesting W2S research being released from ShopLocal. Within the third installment of the Web-to-Store Benchmark Survey conducted by The Dieringer Group (The DRG), the survey revealed that the number of W2S shoppers has grown by 20%; from 83MM to 100MM. Shoppers also continue to use the Internet, at increasing rates, to research shopping before local shopping trips; relying upon online information nearly twice as often as other media.

Top Media for Product Information Used by Shoppers:
-- Web-to-store internet research
-- Newspaper ads/inserts
-- Local TV ads
-- Local radio Ads

"Consumers depend upon online research to help them decide how, when, and where to shop," said ShopLocal CEO, Brian Hand. "The research shows that most shoppers do both Web-to-store shopping and direct online shopping based on what's most convenient for them. They're smart shoppers looking for readily accessible, trusted and relevant information."

An estimated 100.4 million shoppers utilize the to research products prior to shopping locally. The W2S survey indicates that many of those shoppers purchased locally as opposed to online, for the following reasons:
-- Prefer to avoid shipping costs
-- Did not want to wait for shipping
-- Concerns over product returns
-- Prefer to support local retailers and economy
-- More fun to shop in person at local stores

Products from the following categories are much more likely to be purchased locally after online research includes:
-- Major Appliances
-- Home Improvement
-- Vehicle Parts & Services
-- Cameras
-- Electronics
-- Small Appliances
-- Tools
-- Baby Products

Additionally, 85% of shoppers indicated that they purchase products instore beyond those they researched online. Typical spending is one hundred to two hundred dollars above the products researched online prior to their local shopping trip.

More W2S Shopping Research Data

2006-04-28T12:29:00.000-07:00

Here are some interesting results from a W2S study that Schulman, Ronca, & Bucuvalas, NY did for the The Olympian newspaper in December 2003:

- 2/3 of online adults engaged in Web-to-Store shopping in Q4 of 2004.
- Web-to-store shoppers say they saved an average of 8.1 hours of shopping time in the last 3 months by conducting online research before making local shopping trips.
- For every dollar spent online, Web-to-Store shoppers spend $1.60 offline.
Retailers prefer newspaper sites.
- Sixty-five percent of retailers report that newspaper web sites are efficient in assisting them in meeting marketing needs compared with other sites.

Nothing new or suprising here, but again just another source confirming all other research being done on this topic.

ShopLocal.com Survey Finds That 37% of Consumers on Shopping Site Plan to Make Web-to-Store Purchase Within Two Weeks

2006-04-26T07:22:00.000-07:00

Proving that what consumers browse and research online leads to actual in store purchases has always been a very difficult challege for anyone in the W2S industry. ShopLocal has tried numerous intiatives to help gage and quantify these types of purchasing behaviors. In the past, the ShopLocal team has looked at special W2S coupon redemption rates, bumps in in-store (physical) traffic, puchase data collected from private label credit cards, web surveys and a host of many other techniques to capture this elusive data. Well the team is at it again and by working with the Dieringer Research Group, it has come up with some very insightful information on how many people actually take action (eg make a purchase) based upon being presented with localized product and store information. Below is the full press release that was put out yesterday that has some finer detail of the survey findings:

Chicago - April 25, 2006: ShopLocal, LLC, the leading provider of Web-to-store (W2S) and e-commerce marketing solutions for retailers announced today that in a recent ShopLocal survey conducted by The Dieringer Research Group, 37% of ShopLocal.com consumers planned to make a Web-to-store purchase within fourteen days of visiting the site.

This proves the ROI on local shopping search and information," said ShopLocal CEO, Brian Hand. "The survey about ShopLocal.com speaks to a larger retail and search trend; when consumers are presented with relevant localization on the Internet, they feel empowered to go out and shop their local stores."

The average reported spending by survey respondents was over $250 and 70% of those shoppers purchased other products at local stores besides those they originally researched. Top categories of additional products purchased included "Food and Beverage," "Household Products," and "Health and Beauty." 30% of respondents also indicated that using the Web site influenced the selection of the bricks and mortar store where they finally made their purchases.

National Retailers Must Embrace Localization On Internet

2006-04-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

An interesting column in AdAge earlier this month stated that larger national retailers are going to have to begin to bend their marketing and web site efforts to meet shoppers growing need demand for locally relevant content argues. One of the biggest areas for opportunity is local search. Below is a short clip from the article that goes onto elloborate on the demand, growth and currently available technology solutions for creating relevant local search results:

"National retailers are also failing miserably in providing consumers with a relevant online local search experience. Industry prognosticators report that anywhere from 25% to 40% of the 5 billion monthly search engine queries are local in intent: A 2004 study by The Kelsey Group and BizRate.com, based on 5,000 online buyers, found that 25% of commercial searches were local. Another Kelsey study in December 2003 found that 60% of all searches were local in nature. And a March 2006 study by eMarketer found that "the growth of local search will outstrip national search in every year from 2005 through 2010."

Of course, Google and Yahoo pay attention to large numbers. Each is competing to develop local search results that provide relevant local information, including maps and consumer reviews of local businesses. For example, Google late last month launched a paid service that lets local advertisers place display ads for their businesses within the map that appears along with local search results. Search-engine upstarts such as Metrobot, which arrays merchants on street-level pedestrian-friendly maps, and TrueLocal, which winnows search results to actual bricks-and-mortar stores, are delivering on the consumer's desire to have a local Internet experience.

While most national retailers use search engine optimization techniques to make their Web sites pop up when a consumer types in their store name and a city, or a product category and a city, the payoff to the consumer is anything but "local." The consumer ends up at the retailer's main home page, where she must then search again for her desired product and then navigate to the store locator feature, which merely provides a map and telephone number.

Some technology companies are developing solutions that allow retailers to create more relevant local search results. For example, ShopLocal, Local Thunder and ReachLocal have each developed unique platforms-with different emphases-that allow retailers to create relevant content to respond to local search queries. The Local Thunder platform also features a technology that builds local-content landing pages that operate off the retailer's Store Locator feature and local search-engine queries."

To read the entire article, go to: http://www.adage.com/article.php?article_id=108378

Consumers Searching Retailers' Local Online Circulars Grew 18.7% in the Q1 of 2006

2006-04-20T07:40:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting statistic that the analysts team here at ShopLocal came up with. Within the first quarter of 2006, as compared to the same period in 2005, consumers interest for local store and sale information grew at 18.7%. This clearly helps demonstrate that internet users are ever interested in searching the web for localized pre-sale information. Retailers that help equip their customers with this local pre-sale information are seeing the direct benefits such as increased in-store traffic and higher promotional sales lifts, as consumers are more and more doing their pre-shopping research and decision making online and then going into stores to buy.

To read the entire press release, go to: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060419/clw504.html?.v=37

Target's Online Weekly Ad Site Finds A Way To Keep The 'Lights On'

2006-04-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

Target during the week on 04/16 - 4/22 is running a very interesting concept. Instead of not offering their online guests any online specials and deals on their very successful online weekly ad site during a week were no regular Sunday circular/FSI was produced, Target took one another small step forward to bridging the web - to - store divide. The online marketing team @ Target decided to create unique web only content for this one week period. What makes this innovative is that the marketing department was not constrainded with the typical limitations of the circular print production process. Rather the team was able to explore new presentations of local in-store sale content to their online guests. I am really excited for this concept to catch on with other retailers as it opens up new doors for content creation and publication (by not having to follow the newspaper ad / FSI model of creating localized sale information).

To check it out, go to: http://target.shoplocal.com/target/

Multichannel Retailers Will be Bringing The Web Into The Physical World More And More - Forrester

2006-04-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

Here is an intresting clip from a September 2005 Forrester Research paper that talks about some future growth predictions that mixed multi-channel retailing is in for:

"With more retailers offering the ability to buy online and pick up in stores — bringing eCommerce experiences into stores with kiosks and using the Web as a test market for new product lines — multichannel retailers do their share to introduce and hype online shopping to consumers. As store networking costs fall and retailers look for innovative ways to differentiate their store experiences, this trend will accelerate during the next five years, introducing eCommerce and technology to the masses. As consumers find themselves surrounded by technology in retail experiences, even some of the 30% of online Web buying holdouts will submit — fear and reluctance to use technology is the main reason that they don’t shop online today.5 Women make up a large portion of this group, and as they now outnumber men in the online shopping ranks, they buy from new product categories. The health and beauty category will grow at a 22% CAGR during the next five years, and the entire apparel category (apparel, accessories, and footwear) will total nearly $26 billion in 2010."

How To Leverage Multi-Channel Fulfillment To Produce A Seamless Customer Experience

2006-04-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

Converged software solutions are beginning to make it possible for a multi-channel retailer to provide to their customers product information, customer service, shopping experience and order fulfillment throughout all areas of their business. While in the past, most retailers adopted a very compartmentalized approach to their online and store channels, consumers are now being trained to expect retailers to be able to do actions like: buy online --> return in store or order in-store via a kiosk --> get the item shipped to your home for free. The number of consumers performing these types of web-to-store (W2S) behavior will continue to increase, so there is now a real incentive for retailers to begin to offer these types of services to their consumers. My prediction still stands that ntegration of systems, channels and processes will continue to be one the key driving forces in retail over the next 5-7 years.

To read the entire store, go to: http://www.catalogsuccess.com/leadstory/285803600896825.bsp

Shop Online, But Pick Up At Your Local Store

2006-04-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

For years, the folks around my office have all deemed local in-store inventory information the "holy grail" of web-to-store shopping information. Well, Jeff Bezos would differ. He states that he does not see the value often times of providing consumers this type of information online as most larger retailers manage on-shelf inventories so well that most items are always instock. For the Wal-Mart's of the world out there, this is true. But when it comes to smaller niche retailers, knowing whether an item is availble in-store for pickup today before leaving the house is a powerful value proposition. Circuit City proved this with the recent (successful) launch of their buy online, pick up in store campaign. They claim about 50% of their web orders are being fulfilled through local brick-and-morter retail stores. This simple fact really shocks me that other retailers are not getting on board with this idea as a key way of leveraging their phyisical retail assets. Only time will tell...

To read the entire article go to: http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_24/b3685268.htm

What It Takes To Be A Leading Local Search Engine

2006-04-03T12:06:00.000-07:00

Just read an intersting article that details some of the partnerships that Local.com is doing these days to build out its local search service. From pay-per-call, to reviews, to local shopping cotent Local.com seems to be gathering, organizing and making this fragmented information useful to users looking for relevant answers to their questions. Personally, I am most excited about the potential of pay-per-call advertising, as it is currently demanding costs from about $10 - $25 per qualifed call. That is some serious cash when compared to cost-per-click models that typical range from $0.10 - $0.60 cents per click.

For more info goto: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/?p=3204

Local Search & Advertising Projected To Take Off In 2007

2006-04-03T07:29:00.000-07:00

A recent blog post by Peter Krasilovsky (March 29, 2007 - reposted below) suggests that 2007 will be the year for local merchants to start taking to the net for advertising and search. As the tier one and two search engines jockey for position in this every expanding vertical, it will be intersting to see who ends up leading this market. While the IYPs appear to have an early lead, I am doubtful that in the end, these sites will be able to keep their market position, since the information they leverage is not all that unique. All in all, those sites that can tell you what to buy, where to buy it, what's on sale, what's for sale, and where it is available I predict will win out in the end.

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ShopLocal, the women-oriented sales service from Tribune, Knight Ridder and Gannett, is breaking through on local and will see revenue from smaller, local stores outpace revenue from larger, national stores such as Target by 2007 , CEO Brian Hand told The Local Onliner.

Hand notes that the site gets 25 million unique users a month, and has been ranked by ComScore as one of the fastest growing sites anywhere on the Web. The traffic boost is the result of free print- and- online advertising from its partners, as well as carefully-placed SEM and SEO efforts.

Currently, the site has about 20,000 local advertisers. It is pushing to boost the count via local services directories, powered by Planet Discover. It is also getting heavy sales efforts by its newspaper partners, which include the TKG papers, as well as The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, The Houston Chronicle and The Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The site also benefits from additional distribution from IYP/search sources such as Switchboard, SuperPages, Local.com and Froogle Local (and consequently, GoogleBase). In all, it has 400 distribution partners, including 150 private label sources. “I don’t care if they know ‘ShopLocal’ as a name,” said Hand.

While Hand said that advertising is going strong, ecommerce revenue streams may take longer to develop. Rival StepUp, for instance, has been promoting inventory listing and product descriptions as an effective method for driving customers to local stores.

StepUp CEO Kendall Fargo told the Kelsey Drilling Down Conference that store owners are “very excited” about inventory lists. “Typically, they’ll say things like: ‘I never knew that product drove people to my store,’” said Fargo. Such capabilities represent a new generation of marketing for store owners previously under-whelmed by their return on investment from websites, and then search engines, he added.

But Hand countered Fargo, noting that “we’ve been trying to do that for seven years. Nobody wants to give you inventory.” Hand also said that 75 percent of products are “soft goods” that simply don’t require boosts from descriptions and images

http://localonliner.com/?p=86

Web - to - Store and Back Again?

2006-04-03T07:22:00.000-07:00

Below is an intersting study that CoolSavings did awhile ago. Basically, they were able to prove that consumers where able to be prompted online to take instore action, and as a result earn the ability to get rewards back online. This multi-merchant and multi-channel promotional test is key to understanding what it takes to motivate and guide shoppers along what can be a fragmented and complex shopping experience of crossing distribution channels. The major take away that I see from this is that this type of promotion must be easy for the consumer and offer a very clear path to action and results.
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From Internet Retailer 10-14-2004...

A loyalty program that goes from web to store and back again

An online promotion isn’t unusual. But how about a program that creates loyalty by driving consumers from the Internet to the store and back again, without requiring them to jump through multiple registration hoops? CoolSavings Inc. recently wrapped up a continuity program on a promotion involving Kroger, Quaker Oats Gatorade and ESPN. Shoppers entered the program online at participating Kroger retailer Web site. To enter, they provided their loyalty number and also had to be a member of Kroger`s Internet Coupons program, in which coupons selected at the Kroger web sites are automatically transferred to loyalty cards.

Buying any participating Gatorade products while shopping with the Kroger loyalty card allowed the consumer to automatically earn points that could be redeemed for Gatorade/ESPN gear. In addition to raising category awareness and brand awareness within the category, it gave Kroger the opportunity to pursue another goal: that of driving consumers to Kroger.com. That not only introduced them to the site, but by registering and using their Kroger card, it allowed Kroger to launch an ongoing interactive relationship with them over time, says CoolSavings CEO matt Moog.

“Those consumers are now in the Kroger e-mail database, which CoolSavings manages for Kroger. Kroger is now able to identify their purchase behavior down to the product level. And using our technology, they can then target individual offers to those consumers using the electronic coupon infrastructure,” he says.

While Moog didn’t disclose specific results, he did say the program met or exceeded its objectives and that the retailer and the brands are interested in exploring similar programs in the future. “They are extremely happy,” with program results, he says.

Moog notes that grocery store sweepstakes and contests tied to specific products are typically implemented by requiring the consumer to cut something out – like a box top -- fill it out, and put it in the mail. On the other side, he points out, the process requires the fulfillment party to process what the consumer sends in, track and count it, and notify consumers by mail. “In this case, all the consumer had to do was register their frequent shopper card once,” Moog says. “They then get statements online telling them how much they have earned, and they can choose their award online and redeem online. It’s more effective for consumers and faster to launch and administer for the CPG brand.”

http://www.internetretailer.com/internet/marketing-conference/28448-loyalty-program-that-goes-from-web-store-back-again.html

Searching For Items Online Leads To Offline Sales

2006-03-24T09:04:00.000-08:00

Below is an intersting study that comScore did that further helps prove the effectivness of W2S marketing. In this case, the vehicle being used in online search but I argue that much like other simular studies, the vehicle used could be interchanged with simular results. Overall, it's great to see a heavy weight like Google chimming in here to help further prove the point.

Study suggests search marketing’s biggest ROI could be in offline sales

A comScore Networks study sponsored by Google further quantifies what retailers already know: online search is a powerful driver of offline buying behavior. Of 83 million Americans tracked by comScore who searched at one of the 24 top search engines in November and December, 25% purchased an item relating to their query, and of that number, the majority – 63% -- completed that purchase offline.

“Importantly, it’s clear from this study that the influence of search on offline buying behavior can often be responsible for the major portion of the overall financial return from investments in search marketing,” says James Lamberti, vice president of comScore Search Marketing Solutions.

Of 11 product categories studied, offline buyer conversion was highest in the video game and consoles category, where 17% of searches converted and of that number 93% did so offline; and in the toys and hobbies category, where 42% of searchers converted and of that number 88% did so offline. In fact, across these categories and the categories of consumer electronics, and music/movies/videos, more than 80% of all conversions occurred offline.

Other findings measured the latent effect of search on holiday purchasing. 56% of consumers` online holiday buying actually occurred in subsequent Internet sessions, not the session in which a search originated. Conversions off latent search, in which the purchase lagged the initial search, at 56% of consumers tracked were more common that direct conversions off search. Among product categories, conversions off latent search were greatest in the music, movies and video category, where they represented 77% of the buyers who’d searched; and the computer/ peripherals/PDA and the home and garden categories, where they represented 69% of buyers in each category. The study also determined that as a source of buying information, holiday buyers ranked online search second in importance only to physical stores.

The data on offline buying behavior of those that had searched online came from an e-mail survey of a selected statistically significant sample of online consumers in comScore’s panel.

ComScore executive John Miniati, is speaking at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition June 5-7 in Chicago on Who`s Online and How Do You Reach Them?

Is A Web Site's Content Restricted and Proprietary To The Site Operator?

2006-03-21T09:07:00.000-08:00

Within the ever advancing intellectual property (IP) field of the law, a new wrinkle has unfolded today. A court order recently issued against Cairo creates a precedent that a website's operator may have proprietary rights to the content posted on their site. This new directive could have long lasting and impactful repercussions across the web. For example, a search engine such as Google or Yahoo! may be restricted from accessing some sites if the web site operator does not want their unique and proprietary information indexed. Another aspect of this decision is that the terms and conditions that are posted on a website do in fact constitute an agreement with all visitors that choose to use the site. Again, this will have ongoing impacts to many different types of web companies, especially those that spider or index site content, and in turn profit from the re-distribution of that information / content.

For more information on the exact court order, goto: http://www.shoplocalllc.com/press24.html

Google Begins Running Remnant Space ROP Ads

2006-03-07T13:16:00.000-08:00

Is the Sun-Times doing business with the Devil? It certainly seems so by the looks at a new trial program underway where Google is buying unused space in the Chicago paper and running relevant ads. Google (and for that matter, most of large online media players) have been really trying hard recently to further their inroads into all things local. This is a play that I don't think most people expected, but should be noticed. I for one am interested to see how this test turns out.

To read the full atricle, goto: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=19053

Young People Turn To Online As Source Of Shopping Info

2006-03-02T07:51:00.000-08:00

According to the Newspaper Association of America and a new February 2006 research report that the Dieringer Group published, younger consumers turn to online newspaper sites for local shopping information and this group of people sites this behavior as their thrid most popular destination (only behind weather and local entertainment) This is great news for the online comparative shopping and search players, specifcally those that have true local content.

To see the full article, goto: http://www.naa.org/feds/onlineresource/web2store.cfm

W2S Shoppers Spend 60% More Than eCommerce Shoppers

2006-01-17T13:41:00.000-08:00

Here's some (un)sourced research I found. It fits with general benchmarks that I have seen, but I do not know the specific creator of this information...

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Online shoppers are not only buying online, but using the internet as their major source of buying decisions, creating a new category of profitable shoppers (Web-to-Store) who are spending on average 60% more from Web to Shop than online or shop-based alone.