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How Your Business Can Profit From Retail Showrooming

May 21st, 2012 ::

By Rieva Lesonsky

The proliferation of mobile devices—and shopping or price comparison apps to use on them—has retailers worried that consumers are using their stores as “showrooms” to check out merchandise, then go online on their phones or tablets to find the same product cheaper elsewhere. But a new study from Wave Collapse, reported in MediaPost, suggests that worry about showrooming may be overblown.

The study found that people who use shopping apps in-store to research products or compare prices aren’t necessarily more likely to go online to buy—they’re simply more avid shoppers in general, across all channels. In fact, 93 percent of those who used apps in stores also reported buying something at a physical retail store in the last week, compared to 84 percent of people who didn’t use shopping apps in stores.

While the research may ease your fears that people are standing in your store, checking out your products and then buying the same thing on Amazon for less, the news still doesn’t mean you can relax. Wave Collapse found that many people who use smartphones in-store aren’t looking for the same products online—they’re seeing if they’re available at other, nearby physical stores. In other words, they’re doing what they’ve always done—comparison shopping—but they can just do it faster now.

Wave Collapse’s data also shows that smartphone shoppers are desirable customers who aren’t limited to mobile purchasing. Some one-fourth of smartphone owners report buying a product on their mobile devices in the past week, 60 percent report buying something online, and 87 percent report buying something in a physical location.

It boils down to this: Mobile shoppers are power shoppers, whether online, on the phone or in the store. So if you see a customer whipping out a phone in your shop, don’t get grumpy. Get over and offer to help them by:

  • Providing more information about the product
  • Offering additional help such as setup or delivery
  • Explaining extras such as warranties and other offerings that might set you apart from the competition
  • Offering to find or order the product for them in a different size, color or style

Recognize mobile shoppers as power customers, and treat them accordingly.

Image by Flickr user whiteafrican (Creative Commons)

 

 

 

 

 

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Posted in Marketing, sales process, Search Marketing, Small Business, small business, Technology, Web Design | No Comments »

Are You Ready for the New Mobile Shopper?

May 14th, 2012 ::

By Rieva Lesonsky

U.S. consumers are more likely than consumers in other nations to shop online—and increasingly, they’re using mobile devices to shop online, according to the recently released Global Online Shopper Report, conducted by WorldPay and reported in Internet Retailer.

The study found that U.S. consumers spend an average of 23 percent of their disposable income on online purchases—above the overall average of 22 percent for consumers in all 15 countries that were surveyed. They also spend an average of 5.4 hours a month shopping online—above the global average of 5 hours.

The survey covered the three months prior to March 2012, and found that among customers who had made a purchase online during that time, 53 percent had used a smartphone or tablet to buy clothes, 46 percent had used a smartphone or tablet to buy books and 42 percent had used a smartphone or tablet to buy DVDs or online games.

Of course, purchasers of books or games could be simply downloading ebooks or games to use on their mobile devices. But to me, the fact that more than half of shoppers are buying clothes with their mobile devices shows a sea change is underway.

The report took a closer look at m-commerce spending among people who are “heavy spenders” online (spending 30 percent or more of their disposable income online) and who owned mobile devices.  Fifty-one percent of U.S. “heavy spenders” had made purchases on a smartphone and 55 percent had done so on a tablet. Globally, the figures were even higher, with 55 percent of heavy spenders having bought something via smartphone and 67 percent having done so on a tablet.

Other findings in the report:

  • 95 percent of e-commerce purchases worldwide are made at home;
  • 59 percent of online U.S. consumers watch TV while shopping online;
  • The most common time of day for online shopping among U.S. consumers is 10:30 a.m.

With online shopping rapidly moving mobile, it’s no surprise that the new Small Business Mobile Survey from Web.com found that 69 percent of small businesses say mobile marketing will be crucial to their growth in the next five years, and 64 percent plan to increase their investment in mobile marketing this year.

You can find a full copy of the Web.com Small Business Mobile report and Infographic at http://bit.ly/JwvrMU. Help your friends in the small business community go mobile during National Small Business Month by sharing this report on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn using the hashtag #smbmobile.

Image by Flickr user Lululemon Athletica (Creative Commons)

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Posted in Marketing, sales process, Small Business, small business, Technology, Uncategorized, Web Design | No Comments »

Why You Should Be Marketing to Women Online

May 11th, 2012 ::

By Rieva Lesonsky

It’s long been the stereotype that women are more “social” than men—in the offline world, they’re typically the ones who plan social events, keep family connections going and love to chat. Apparently, when it comes to the online world, women are even more social, according to a new study by Nielsen reported in The Atlantic.

Here are some of the findings:

Compared to the average online adult, women are 8 percent more likely to have a personal blog. Men are 9 percent less likely to have one.

Compared to the average online adult, women are 18 percent more likely to like or follow brands on social media sites. Men are 21 percent less likely to do so.

Compared to the average online adult, women are 6 percent more likely to have at least one social media account. Men are 7 percent less likely.

Not only are women more likely to get social online, they’re more likely to buy online. Compared to the average online adult, women were 12 percent more likely to have purchased a product they saw on TV. Men were 14 percent less likely.

What do these statistics mean for your business? If you’re marketing to women—and I sure hope you are—you need to get active where they are.

  • Reach out to women through social media accounts for your business and your brands. Create posts and content that resonates with women.
  • Find out which influential women in your industry or market have blogs of their own. Comment on them and encourage the bloggers to check out your own site or blog.
  • Don’t forget about women in business. Social media can be a powerful tool for selling BtoB to female decision-makers or women small business owners.
  • Connect your website, your print or offline marketing and your social media accounts so it’s easy for customers who see your product or service somewhere else to find you and buy from you.
  • Get active on rating and review sites, and encourage reviews from your customers. Respond to reviews in a positive manner and be part of the conversation.

By targeting women where they live today—online—you can raise your business’s profile and your sales.

Image by Flickr user Jerry Bunkers (Creative Commons)

 

 

 

 

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Posted in Branding, Business Development, Marketing, Sales Process, sales process, Small Business, small business, Social Media, social media, Uncategorized, Web Design | No Comments »

Adobe FormsCentral: Web-Based Forms and Survey Builder: Small Business Resource

May 10th, 2012 ::

Adobe FormsCentral

Adobe has updated its Web-based forms and survey builder, FormsCentral. The update makes it even easier for users to create, distribute and collect and analyze data using fillable Portable Document Format (PDF) forms, whether online or offline. The PDF recipient can choose from a Web form or a fillable PDF document. Also, form authors now have more options for collecting information online or offline. Users can post results directly to FormsCentral or distribute a fillable PDF form to respondents and have the data returned via a basic PDF. If you want to make the form available for collaboration, respondents can post to a Response table where you can see the results in real time.

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Posted in Marketing, Resources, Small Business, small business, Social Media, Web Design | No Comments »

How to Keep Your Ecommerce Customers From Abandoning Their Shopping Carts

May 9th, 2012 ::

By Rieva Lesonsky

Do you despair over the high percentage of ecommerce shopping carts that go abandoned on your site? You might be worrying unnecessarily. Website conversion company SeeWhy reported that the shopping cart abandonment rate rose in 2011 (as it has for the past three years) and predicts this trend will continue in 2012. Why? SeeWhy says consumers are simply becoming more sophisticated about shopping online, meaning they’re more likely to fill carts, seek deals and leave their carts for prolonged periods either as “wish lists” or because they can’t find acceptable discounts for the items.

But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do about abandoned carts. In fact, smart marketers look at them as an opportunity to convert to a sale. Here are some of the strategies you can try:

Remind them. You can send reminders via email to alert customers about an empty cart. Provide links consumers can use to follow up with you if the cart was abandoned due to a technical difficulty with your site, or because they had questions about a product. Season the pot with a discounted offer, if you like. Time is of the essence; aim to send the reminder within 4 hours of cart abandonment.

Advertise. If you use online advertising such as Google AdWords, you can “remarket” by using a conversion code so that remarketing ads (featuring the products customers were looking at) show up on the AdWords network. This keeps the products top-of-mind so consumers don’t forget their carts.

Don’t empty carts too soon. It’s a good idea to keep abandoned carts active for at least 60 days. With customers spending more time shopping online these days, you may need to be patient to grab the sale.

Consider the big picture. If you have a high percentage of abandoned carts that never get checked out, assess whether your checkout process is too complex, confusing or time-consuming. Make sure customers can easily get answers to questions about tax, shipping costs and delivery times without going through several steps of the checkout process. Make FAQs, customer service phone numbers and instant chat options easy to find.

Abandoned shopping carts don’t necessarily represent a lost sale. Treated correctly, they can represent opportunity for your business—as long as you know how to handle them.

Image by Flickr user Adele Prince (Creative Commons)

 

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Posted in Business Development, Marketing, Sales Process, sales process, Small Business, small business, Technology, Web Design | 1 Comment »

How and Why to Use Mobile Marketing to Reach Your BtoB Customers

May 7th, 2012 ::

By Rieva Lesonsky

We’re hearing a lot about mobile marketing these days, with the proliferation of smartphones and tablets. But while most of the talk is about consumers and their changing shopping habits, it’s equally important for BtoB marketers to realize their customers’ behavior is changing, too.

For years, business decision-makers have relied on smartphones to get stuff done on the go. The advent of tablets, and their increasing adoption with the introduction of the latest iPad over the holiday season, has only accelerated the trend. Enterprises are adding tablets for their teams or, if they aren’t, a growing number of employees and executives are just showing up with their tablets and expecting to use them for work purposes (BYOD, or “bring your own device”).

Busy execs, in particular, are taking to tablets and using them for all types of purposes, from catching up on their industry reading to giving presentations to watching videos to taking notes during meetings. How can you take advantage of the fact that decision-makers are spending more time on their tablets?

Make sure your website is optimized for mobile viewing. You’d be surprised how few entrepreneurs do this. According to Web.com‘s recent Small Business Mobile Survey,  only 26 percent of small business owners have a mobile-friendly website ( the same layout/content as standard site adjusted to suit a smartphone screen), and just 14 percent have a stand-alone mobile site. Of those who do have a stand-alone mobile site, however, a whopping 84 percent saw an increase in sales as a result. Consider both tablets and smartphones, and be sure to include all platforms. Although the iPad is by far the dominant tablet, when it comes to smartphones, the market is less clear-cut and, especially in big business, many execs still rely on BlackBerry smartphones.

Consider adding a mobile app. BtoB apps need to be useful and solve a problem your customers have by making a process more fun, easier or faster. Think about how typical activities your customers engage in could translate into apps, or how apps can make it simpler to communicate with your business.

Look into mobile advertising. With more execs reading and researching on the go, you may want to move part of your ad budget into mobile. True, you might not be able to afford an ad in the mobile version of The Wall Street Journal, but think about running ads in the mobile versions of your industry’s key trade publications or in their mobile apps.

Get visual. The popularity of video online is skyrocketing, and today’s tablets with their crystal-clear displays are ideal for video viewing. Think about creating short videos demonstrating your product or service, providing customer testimonials or talking about a key issue in your industry.

Whatever tactic you choose, keep in mind that when it comes to BtoB marketing, it’s all about relationships. How can mobile marketing improve your relationship with customers and prospects? How can you provide answers to their questions or solutions to their problems? Make yourself a mobile resource, and your relationship can continue wherever the customer is.

Image by Flickr user Siddartha Thota (Creative Commons)

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Posted in Business Development, Marketing, Sales Process, sales process, Small Business, small business, Technology, Uncategorized, Web Design | 1 Comment »

Small Businesses That Use Mobile Marketing See Their Sales Soar, Survey Shows

May 3rd, 2012 ::

By Rieva Lesonsky

Is your small business using mobile marketing yet? In celebration of National Small Business Month, Web.com today announced the results of its Small Business Mobile Survey. The study found that while 69 percent of small businesses consider mobile marketing crucial to their growth in the next five years, and plan to increase their spending on it, a majority of them still haven’t taken full advantage of mobile marketing.

With 82.2 million Americans using smartphones, according to comScore figures, the benefits of mobile marketing are clear. Out of the 500 small business owners surveyed, 14 percent have a stand-alone mobile website; 84 percent of those entrepreneurs say they have seen an increase in new business activity due to their mobile marketing efforts.

Why are small business owners eager to invest in mobile marketing? Their top motivations were:

  1. Provide better service to existing customers (38 percent)
  2. Attract more local customers (36 percent)
  3. Gain competitive advantage (34 percent)

“With more and more consumers specifically searching for local businesses on their mobile devices, it is imperative that small businesses invest in a mobile presence,” said David Brown, chairman and chief executive officer of Web.com, in announcing the survey results. “Having a mobile presence can be a huge competitive advantage for small businesses trying to attract local customers by instantly introducing a potential customer to their business’ products and services in a mobile-enhanced way.”

But for most small businesses, there is still a long way to go when it comes to adding mobile marketing to the mix. While 60 percent of small businesses surveyed have a website, only 26 percent have a mobile-friendly website (the same layout/content as standard site adjusted to suit a smartphone screen). There’s also a large gap between the rapidly increasing number of mobile searches and small businesses’ mobile search strategy. Over 61 percent of small businesses currently do not have a mobile search strategy, meaning they’re missing out on consumers trying to find them via mobile device.

As a small business owner, you probably know that the biggest hurdle to embracing mobile is lack of time and resources. Some 64 percent of small business owners in the survey said they are their own one-person marketing team. It’s tough to wear multiple hats and find the time to build a mobile presence as well as running other aspects of your business.

Still, it looks like 2012 might be the year when mobile-savvy small businesses step it up. Some 64 percent of small business owners surveyed plan to increase their mobile investments this year.

You can find a full copy of the Web.com Small Business Mobile report and Infographic on in our Small Business Resources secton. Help your friends in the small business community go mobile during National Small Business Month by sharing this report on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn using the hashtag #smbmobile. Presenting on Small Business Mobile please see our handy Powerpoint presentation on the side bar here.

Image by Flickr user Mikigo (Creative Commons)

 

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Posted in Marketing, Search Marketing, Small Business, small business, Uncategorized, Web Design | 3 Comments »

Chartbeat: Analytics Dashboard for Your Website: Small Business Resource

May 2nd, 2012 ::

Chartbeat

If you’re looking for an alternative to Google Analytics, you might try Chartbeat, a simple-to-use but feature-rich real-time analytics dashboard. Log in and get a view of every user on your site, including what page they’re on and where they came from. Track key traffic flow and know which users are actively participating and which are doing nothing. Chartbeat can also help you determine which of your SEO efforts are working and which are not. Try the free 30-day trial and then pick a pay plan that suits your needs. Plans start at $9.95 per month.

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Posted in Marketing, Resources, Search Marketing, Small Business, small business, Web Design | No Comments »

SmartCalls: Solution for Mobile Specific Ads: Small Business Resource

May 1st, 2012 ::

SmartCalls

Capturing your local market has never been easier with Web.com’s new small business mobile advertising solution, SmartCalls. Taking action to reach the millions of Smartphone users, SmartCalls is a customized mobile marketing campaign tailored to your industry that enables customers in your area to click, call and find you. SmartCalls works with Google AdWords advertising service and Google mobile search ads and their “click to call” feature to connect local customers to your business by phone, then gets them to walk through your front door. The SmartCalls product also provides lead alerts, call tracking and call recording.

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Posted in Marketing, Resources, Search Marketing, Small Business, small business, Technology, Web Design | No Comments »

Consumers’ Preference for Mobile Shopping Continues to Grow

April 30th, 2012 ::

By Rieva Lesonsky

The rapid growth of mobile shopping, which we first saw in earnest over the 2011 holiday shopping season, is continuing to gather steam. A recent survey from new Deloitte, reported in MarketingDaily, asked consumers about their shopping preferences and found some valuable insights for retailers.

Nearly half (47 percent) say they are doing more purchasing online, an increase from the 38 percent who said so last year. Almost two-thirds (65 percent) say they now do more online research before they buy in order to find the best deals, up from 60 percent last year.

The shift to mobile shopping is especially pronounced among younger shoppers (those under 45). Deloitte found that some 40 percent of shoppers in this age range “expect” retailers to provide information about products, prices, availability and more via downloadable apps or mobile coupons. Among consumers over 45, just 19 percent expect stores to provide information in this fashion.

The biggest reason consumers are using their mobile devices while shopping, of course, is to find deals. Even though shoppers are more confident about the economy this year, they still want to save. Deloitte found that half of consumers who will be getting a tax refund are using it to pay down debt, 36 percent say they will save it and  36 percent are using some or all of it for daily living expenses.

While they are still holding onto their cash, consumers also feel they aren’t getting their money’s worth from retailers. Just 22 percent said stores are offering them “more for their money,” down from 27 percent who said this last year and 45 percent who said so in 2010. Now that stores can stop offering deep discounts, consumers can tell the difference.

But while consumers don’t think they’re getting good deals in-store, 58 percent do believe they get better prices online, up from 53 percent who thought that last year. No wonder consumers who have smartphones are wielding them to search for better prices (46 percent), shop on retail sites (43 percent), download coupons (34 percent) or read reviews (28 percent). In fact, 19 percent say they’d like to get coupons or special offers from stores on their mobile phones while they’re in-store.

With younger shoppers particularly eager to use their smartphones to make the shoping experience better, faster, cheaper and more fun, retailers need to keep up.

Image by Flickr user incase (Creative Commons)

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