Digital commerce 3.0: the challenges of selling products in a digitized world anno 2010

Selling products and services in a digital world is at a cross-road, most e-tailor teams have been created in the period 2000-2005 and it looks like they got stuck in their own vortex. Signs like we received last week that 91% of all american e-commerce managers is going to invest in 2010 in social commerce (source: eMarketer.com). But are they not forgetting something? Are they doing such a good job? Let's look at it more in detail...

 

If we look closer to the reality, than we have to start asking ourselves if most of the digital retailers are doing a good job. Recently I read in a newspaper that only 1 out of 3 e-tailers in the US is having a system for pushing people again into the sales cycle when they leave the sales process online. (abondon shopping cart). Which means that we don't even care about the people that are distracted when buying our products and services. On top, we all complain that our conversion rates are awfully low. Why are only 3 to 7 % of our clients buying our products online?

On top  if we want to sell more, we increase the inflow, without even asking if there are other ways. Are there other ways? The answer is lukily positive and like Joseph Jaffe said it in one of his speeches, retention is the new acquisition!

Time to change:

You are not alone

E-commerce teams of the world, don't think that you are alone! In the past, most of the e-commerce teams were seen in the organisation as the freaks, nobody understood them as they were talking about portlets, cookies, CPC, CPM, CPA, etc etc. In fact, most of the time, e-commerce created a cloud around their business. Well, 10 years later, most of the business people start realising that it was just a cloud. So it's time to reach out and selling products in a digital world is not different from the offline world:

- you need to get people to know your name before you can sell. Make them love your brand.

- selling on its own is damn easy, letting people come back is the new gold

- personalisation and product differentiation goes further than just having 2 different websites or a system that investigates what products you want to psuh to the consumer.

- it's about the consumer, not your back-office system

Getting personal beyond the newsletter

Most e-commerce teams have only one personalised medium (and no, having a profile page with your name on it is not personal), nl. the newsletter. It's most of the time considered as the Holy Grail, but most of the time we forgot to have a personalisation strategy. Having only a newsletter and a profile will not convince people that you know who they are. You have to go beyond the two obvious.

So start adding to your strategy behaviour marketing and again, It's not about behaviour advertising! The biggest challenge for e-commerce teams will be the next couple of years to acquire e-commerce platforms that allow them to tweak the system in such a way that when your consumer clicks through the website changes according to its needs. Again, slamming your clients down with banners that don't even matter are just a way of proving to yourself that you don't care about the consumer.

Just imagine yourself that you would do the same when a consumer walks into your store, are you also screaming at him or her with all possible reductions, as wide as advertising baby products to luxury wines. No, you wouldn't do it as you know that your consumer would feel threatened... why are you than doing this online? If you would answer that it's easy and cheap, than you have a strategy that I wouldn't tell out load, as you would be considered a fool.

e-commerce platforms of the future

Most companies see e-commerce as only selling online. Think again, the good examples will have a platform that can be tweaked to sell online, on mobile platforms, digital TV and on on social networks. If it would cost you more than a month to change your current platform into one that would be able to sell on a different media, than you don't have the right tools in place. This would mean that your infrastructure isn't scalable.

Scalable,... another expression that is abused often. Again a reality check, if your supplier tells you that your system is fully scalable, but that a change like having a browsing environment for social commerce, if this would take more than a month work, than your supplier din't supply you of a scalable system. Scalable doesn't only mean having the possibility to have double of the amount of visitors/orders, but also means that you can multiple instances on different media. Are you scalable?

What about lead generation tools

Lead generation tools were born because we created sales flows that were so complicated that you lost 80% of your customers only after the first page. Most companies invest in lead generation tools because their e-commerce team can't admit of course that the way they planned the sales cycle was incorrect or at least created bottlenecks for consumers (as we want to shift products and not focus on what the consumer wants or what he expressed in the past). This is because websites and e-commerce websites in particular are created by creative agencies. Guess what their "forte" is ... design. Getting you the most colourful, bright and sexy looking design but those creative agencies are not the best partners when talking about behaviour science.

Behaviour science is the way people use screens (websites, PSP screens, e-mail, etc etc) and how elements like findability, searchability, design, content etc can influence the buying process. This specialty goes beyond usability and user experience. Don't only think about wireframes and eye tracking. It's about how people use your platform and you would be surprised how a slight change in colour can influence your conversion in your e-shop. And don't think that an inverted L shape is the best way of presenting a menu structure.

As we work with creative agencies, guided by internal staff, we most of the time get creations that are similar to the competition. Look at the clothing industry or banking, if you would close your eyes and describe how a typical website or e-shop looks like in those industries, than your "wireframe" would be similar to probably most of the websites within a certain industry. How do you want to stand out of the crowd if you do the same as your neighbour. And don't argue that it's good because your neighbour does it... he's having also less than 5% conversion, so he's also not doing a splendid job.

So, what's next?

It's about putting the right people where they belong and mix it. 90% of purchases will start on a digital platform, so it's time to put those teams in front of your business. Business processes are shifting or have shifted  already. Get a grib on it or get extinct!

On top, it's about re-engeneering your existing back-office as most of the time you didn't made large changes the past 20 years and start integrating systems.

When you have an integrated strategy and the structure, start reaching out to your consumer. what do they want and where are they talking? Be present on the places where the buzz is happening and take part in it. But above all, use your consumer as an ambassador of your products and don't think from products to consumers, but from your consumer to what you can offer to him to keep him as an ambassador.

For all critics... mobile is not a trend or hype, it's already present, the same for social and behaviour marketing, except, most companies are not realising it, your consumers did!