Whether the conversation happens at retail, on the phone, on the Web or in the form of direct response to mail and/or email, the interaction with your customer or prospect should be informed by customer intelligence. “Unified Marketing,” “Customer Engagement Marketing,” “Marketing 2.0” and “Consumerism” are all concepts of marketing practice that aim to create the most relevant dialogues with the possible.

Most of the focus of the season goes to the big-box retailers, who manage to sell flat screen TVs for $10, or so it seems. Photo Courtesy of Houston Style MagazineThe rampant use of the internet has changed where retailers should be focusing when it comes to holiday advertising. Instead of paper copies of the Target Black Friday ad or the Toys R Us Big Toy Book, most retailers are offering PDF downloads or just posting advertising directly on their own websites. Let’s explore some types of internet marketing that retailers can use during the holidays: · Email.

Retail stores. Retail Stores are using Foursquare to get shoppers to not only “check-in” but to buy. It’s coupon clicking for retail without the hassle of having to chase a sale. Corporations not necessarily related to customer service such as restaurants, retail stores and so forth are using Foursquare. I know. We are trying to figure this “foursquare&# thing out. understand completely. The research team at Brandswag (Rachel Elsts and Stephanie Gray) decided to put together 20 different ways foursquare is being using in the business setting. Expires 9/30/10.

Heightened activity and interest in mobile retail (spurred on by holiday shopping and the rapid uptake of price comparison services and apps), has paved the way for a variety of new and immersive mobile experiences that insert marketing messages and campaigns into our daily shopping routines. However, only a handful of companies are prepared to compete where it really counts : at the point of inspiration, otherwise known as the retail shelf. Joe pointed out that vast majority ( 75 percent ) of purchase decisions are made in front of the retail shelf. What does Aisle 411 do?

IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative has produced a new online retail benchmark study, research that compares Cyber Monday 2011 versus Cyber Monday 2010 and reveals some surprising trends. retailers. percent of people used a mobile device to visit a retailer’s site, up from 3.9 Apple’s iPhone and iPad continued to rank one and two for mobile device retail traffic (4.1 percent of all online retail traffic versus 10.2 Shoppers using the iPad also continued to drive more retail purchases than any other device with conversion rates reaching 5.2 percent).

Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley spoke to AdWeek last month about retailers’ perception of Foursquare’s user numbers: “I wouldn’t say scale is an issue. The #RLTM Scoreboard:  Social Networking Stats for the Week. Facebook: 1 billion active users. via  Facebook. Twitter: over 500 million users. via  Twopcharts. Qzone: 599 million monthly active users. via  TechCrunch. Sina Weibo: over 400 million users. via  Yahoo. Renren: over 170 million users. via  iResearch iUser Tracker. LinkedIn: 187 million active users. via  LinkedIn. Google Plus: 100 million monthly active users.

52% of retailers do not have a mobile website experience (You’re not alone!). For the past 5 years or so, research has predicted that mobile devices would overtake personal computers when it comes to internet usage. The infographic in this blog post pulls together data that shows that the turning point is here now. The Post-PC Revolution infographic was created by Moovweb , a company that has released a “Post-PC cloud-based Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) that syncs content, features and business logic across all Web experiences – in real time.” people on Earth).

Motorola Solutions has recently produced a survey identifying the future trends for the retail sector. 66 percent of retail respondents are interested in mobile Point-Of-Sale (POS), while 42 percent are currently piloting or starting trails within the next 36 months. Many retailers such as Bass Pro, Sephora and Eastern Mountain Sports have already turned to mobile POS, with a view to improving the quality of customer service and increase consumer loyalty. However, many respondents have not yet taken the critical first step. SOURCE: [link]. million in 2011. SOURCE: [link].

Lets look at a different scenario: Imagine there is a retail outlet in the brick and mortar world. The retailer buys some 10000 people to just come to the retail outlet. We hear one or all of the below: Buy Facebook Fans Want Facebook Fans Link Exchanges I Fan You And You Fan Me Do you think that outright purchasing Fans solves your marketing concern? Who perhaps could be looking at this? Why does this not take place in the brick and mortar world as a main operative thought? You may think that the shop capacity vis a vis the number of persons does not make sense.

Other popular online activities among European consumers include: 3 in 4 visited a retail site. The average European consumer spends more than a day (25.9 hours) online every month, according to a new report by comScore. For those 397 million Europeans, social networking now accounts for 1 in 4 minutes spent online. 62% visited a games site. 50% visited sports sites and newspaper sites. Mobile and tablets are also making headway in the European market – particular in the UK, where over 16% of online traffic comes from non-computer devices. Download the full comScore report here.

The audience attracts Brand Managers, Marketing Directors and Retail Trade Marketers from M&S, Starbucks, Boots, Disney, Tesco, Argos and Lego, to name a few. Crowd will be hosting ten round table discussions over the two day event, in the new Retail Therapy Zone, talking exclusively on the subject of social media for retail. Many retail marketers still question its value and are unsure how best to use it.  How do retailers encourage experience, keep customers engaged throughout and then convert to a sale, whilst still being profitable?

Have your Link mentioned in the retail stores that you might have. Google+ is one more feather in your cap on the Social Media front. The question is how should you get more Traffic to your Google+ Page? Also what should you do so that they do not 'Un-friend' you. Here are a couple of points that you might want to work towards so that your Google+ Pages have a good Traffic flow which you can retain as well: Remember to update your Profile Page. Have an appropriate image and proper Bio-Data. Use Keywords wisely and sparingly. Have Content that matters. Make your Content SEO based.

They have also proven to be a great way for retailers to increase sales. 78% say consumer recommendations are the most credible form of advertising (Nielsen, 2007), What retailers have come to realise is that their customers trust each other more than they trust the brand. Retailers have been adding ratings and reviews to their websites. Despite all the evidence, we at FreshNetworks still run into uncertainty when discussing ratings and reviews with online retailers. Especially amoung UK-based retailers, there first reaction is often nervousness. The result?

ShowPony is simply a way for us to have a brand and environment that allows us to attract more retail, customer facing clients to take advantage of our team’s experience with these types of clients.  It’s been a whirlwind month or so and my blog and personal social media use has certainly suffered.  Finding time to attend to my personal stuff is always going to be a significant challenge with a full time gig.  The anxiety of a shrinking Klout score and Alexa rating always seems to reel me back in.  I’m so vain. I welcome the challenge. Social Media

How do online videos benefit retail? Catching the e-tail trend , 55% of online retailers used video on product pages in 2009 but this technique increased to 73% of retailers in 2010. According to Internet Retailer , an April 2010 report stated that consumers who watch product videos are 85% more likely to buy products compared to those who do not watch. Internet Retailer released a study that found shoppers were 144% more likely to add a product to their cart after viewing a product video on StacksandStacks.com compared to shoppers who avoided video. billion.

” Lots of technology vendors, retailers, clothing makers and other types of companies have satisfied customers. In retail, 42 percent of Nordstrom's customers connect at a higher level compared to 29 percent for Macy's and 23 percent for Walmart.” What is that sets brands like Apple, Nordstrom and Nike apart from their competitors? It isn’t “customer satisfaction.” We ‘expect’ to be satisfied.” ” Across industries, customer connection now drives increased brand loyalty, sales and referrals. So how do companies achieve this?

If you think that branding and retail have become complicated because of stuff like showrooming and attribution, you need to take a pause and try to figure out the myriad of complexities that e-commerce has created in the retail chain when laid out in this article. We also look to traditional retailers and wonder how they will keep pace against Amazon. That retailers have no chance against e-commerce plays when they''re not dealing with the traditional supply chain and logistic problems. retail attribution. retail. traditional retailer. Kearney.

In his ebook, Groupon: Why Deep Discounts are Bad for Business , Bob Phibbs (“The Retail Doctor”) relates stories of Groupon disasters. Retailers might offer an $80 product or service for $40 but after their cut with Groupon they receive $20 for an $80 value. FreebeeCards.com. I’ve watched with a bit of dismay as marketers have tried to figure out the social media environment, working to get consumers to buy products and services purely based on electronic communication. FreebeeCards bills itself as “the next generation of daily offers.” Digg Digg.

LocalResponse slices and dices data around check-ins to find out who, where, and when we check in so retailers can make the most of their strategy.  This is fabulous news for retailers and a data point that should assuage their fears about delving more into enabling — and encouraging — mobile-assisted shopping. Another curated collection of data points you need to know as you map out your #MobileFirst strategies to drive positive results further down in the purchase funnel. Check-in offers heaviest between 2-3pm on Saturdays. But don’t ignore Friday night either.  SOURCE: Nielsen.

Case Study Crunch: Retail Social Media Case Studies The social media strategy series: Identifying goals and objectives Case Study Crunch: FMCG Social Media Case Studies Contact us Which are the top tools and apps: The results Case Study Crunch: Social Media case studies in Entertainment (TV, Film, Music + More) The social media strategy series: Getting Buy In The social media strategy series: Is social media right for your business? Nestle anyone?) Did you enjoy this post? Then you might like to  subscribe by email or RSS to future posts, delivered straight to you. what a year!

They rank blogs as the third most influential digital resource (31%) when it comes to making purchase decisions, following retail sites (56%) and brand sites (34%). Blogging breeds community, where influence is born. new survey from Technorati has found that many consumers are turning to blogs when they’re looking to buy something. But it [.]. Blogging Marketing Social Media Social Media Marketing Social Networking Consumer Spending Facebook Influencer Marketing Twitter

The data (collected from Adobe AdLens and Adobe Social solutions) for this report comes from over 260 billion impressions for 338 companies in the automotive, CPG, financial services, media and entertainment, and retail industries and the activity of 70 million fans. A new study by Adobe found that brand engagement (defined as likes, comments, and shares) on Facebook rose 896% year-over-year. Mobile engagement is also way up; around one-quarter of Facebook engagement came from mobile users. What led to the increase in brand engagement? use of new acquisition and engagement metrics.

Every weekend without fail, my local electronics retailer runs a flyer in the local newspaper. You see, every weekend the retailer puts out his flyer, it’s always the same. They sit by their breakfast tables waiting for the newspaper to be delivered, grab the flyer, and drive on down to the retailer to maybe buy a new TV, or phone, or games console. Sure, you could say that the retailer must be doing alright, as the weekend business covers the quiet week, right? It highlights special offers and discounts and proudly displays “This weekend only!&# Wrong.

Pinterest leads Facebook in retail sales acquisition. February 24: this week in social media. View more lists from Sherrilynne Starkie. Related posts: Study shows social media drives sales. Facebook advertising facts. Click here to start to receive my newsletter. PLEASE LIKE  MY FACEBOOK PAGE. Related articles. Social media demographics. Pinterest for Business. Authors and Social Media: What Works? Facebook Headline Social Media Twitter

By Nick Trenchard Facebook is gearing up for the holiday season and expanding its roster of online retailers to help the social media giant transition into the world of e-commerce. new IBM analysis of real-time sales data from Black Friday shows that Facebook and Twitter aren’t about to become the revenue freeway for retailers. Take a look at the impact (or lack thereof) social media has on Cyber Monday in today’s must-reads. Cyber Monday: Facebook Adds Social Gifting Service. Social networks fail Cyber Monday test. Black Friday, Cyber Monday and now #GivingTuesday.

One example is  local retailers using video to bring the in-store experience to new prospects. The idea is that personalized service and first-hand experience with products differentiates a local retailer from an online merchant. Traditional retailer JC Penney has come up with an ingenious application that should give all of something to think about. QR codes are effective for bringing virtually any form of digital content to people via their mobile devices – and for the most part, that is how they are commonly used. That would really be something special. co.uk.

And now there’s a new study out from YesMai l, which looked at the social networks of 20 popular clothing retailers in order to discover how email boosts social engagement, what times of day and week are most effective, and how to standardize some of your engagement in order to succeed. . Ever wonder how much content you should be producing? What about how many times you should be posting to the social networks? was just asked this question during a speaking engagement yesterday, “How many times should I be posting to Facebook every day?” and 12 a.m. to 7 p.m. to 8 a.m.

The rise (and rise) of mobile retail, the advance of smartphones and connected devices, and the heightened interest among companies across all verticals (retail, automotive, finance, pharmaceutical — the works!) This year we have witnessed a seismic shift in how brands and agencies wield the power of mobile to deliver effective advertising, engage with consumers every stage of their daily journey and —ultimately — achieve business objectives that go beyond brand promotion and awareness to encourage commerce and continued customer loyalty. some tough questions.

According to the company, 20 per cent of US consumers have purchased something from a retailer using their cell phone. Interestingly, the company suggests that credit cards might be getting in the way of mobile commerce growing even faster than it already is, saying, “if you want more sales from mobile customers, make it easy for them to store their credit card info…&# They link that to the question, “if retailers can’t get the credit card out of the way, how about the carriers?&# 13% Said if their credit card was stored with the retailer.

Sales in the field, at the branch, or at the retail level which have little or no access to marketing programs and little expertise in marketing implementation or database management. Many business-to-business and technology companies struggle to effectively support the complexities of their marketing functions. These challenges include, but are not limited to: Control of brand consistency as well as the marketing programs, when there is a constant pull to decentralize the marketing function to support resellers, VARS and OEM partners. Read More

Burberry is regaining the reputation of a retail brand of the highest quality and moves into the 21st century as a juggernaut in more ways than one. On entrance to the store there are no signs of any clothing rails or robotic queues to cash tills, it seems that in Bailey’s mind those times are long gone, a new era has emerged in the retail industry. With nearly 15,000,000 Facebook followers and 1,800,000 tweeters making it the most popular online retailer, Burberry continues to conjure up effective campaigns appropriate to the digital world. Pivot. The Burberry Experience.

Almost like a Digg for deals, CheapTweet collates all the best retail offers being tweeted, and allows folks to vote on the best ones so you can save the most. As the new Twitter continues to role out across the network, it’s clear that the micro-blogging platform intends to be here for the long-term. Its initial use as a short message system has evolved into a truly multi-faceted and game-changing platform. Business, cause marketing, non-profits, customer service, lead generation and more – Twitter really does have something for everyone. SecretTweet. Twitter Tussle. ASKch.

 I had the pleasure of speaking to Gary Schwartz about his book Fast Shopper, Slow Store about perhaps the most transformative trend on the horizon – the impact of smartphone technology on business and retail. In the retail world it is a change in shopper behavior and some companies will suffer by not adapting and new companies will emerge to capitalize on this shopping behaviour. The key for any retailer is to understand their consumer and their “screen” activity. find it interesting that in a book on retail you spend time discussing the American presidential race.

Written on August 18, 2010 by Espo in Geotargeting As geolocation applications, like foursquare , Gowalla and SCVNGR , continue to gain integration with the general public and retailers, we are going to see a lot of cool things from companies benefiting retailers; however that is still a ways away. Home About Archives Press Clips Spark Advisors Suggested Reading Can non-profits lead the way for mass-adoption or geolocation applications? I know I do, at least unless there is a cheeky comment making me want to check out the location, but I still use the applications.

While talking with a small retail business in an what we'll call "Oldtown" recently, I asked why she hadn't updated her blog in weeks. We talked about how she could point to other businesses and events in "Oldtown" : Introduce other retailers in the area (show Oldtown as a convenient shopping area). The "what do I write about" is a great question. . I'd rather a conversation about the possibilities of what to write than a have a constant sales pitch coming from the keyboard of a small business blog. Write about some of the food and drink options for shoppers (.and

One major retailer has created a campaign with a QR code as it’s centerpiece and through their marketing efforts, they are educating more consumers about QR codes. Now that Macy’s, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, and other mainstream brands and retailers have embraced QR codes in their marketing, the time is right to look into using them for your business. Stephanie True Moss , is chief creative officer at True Moss Communications , Inc., a creative design group that offers Web Design | WordPress | Mobile | Print | SEO | Graphic Design | Social Media | QR Code Consulting.

35% of retailers actually erased a customer’s question on their Facebook Page. Tweet Last week Henriette wrote a blog post about the importance of connecting with your fans on a personal level when brands communicate on social media platforms. Today, I’m going to elaborate a bit further on this subject by having a look at some recent statistics about customer service on social channels. Include social media as part of your customer service strategy. If you don’t use social media as part of your customer service strategy yet – you should. Brands that don’t, lose. Infographic].

Many would agree that social media is emerging as one of the easiest forms of marketing for standard retail products and services, but what about the big purchases? Automotive Social Media is already big, but the biggest purchase most people make in their lives is only now starting to show signs of catching the “social media bug.&#. For most, purchasing a home is something they do once a decade at most. Is maintaining a strong presence on the relationship-building social media platforms a real strategy? This graphic by Fixr says yes, and does so very nicely I might add.

Retailers -- particularly around the holidays -- should also benefit from the opportunity. For three years, many of us skeptics have wondered aloud about the viability of Twitter. Will they sell sponsorships? Can they corporate tools help merit their billion dollar plus valuation? Would power users be wiling to pay for their services? Apparently, the answer is no (or at least not at the core). Instead, Twitter is taking a page out of the paid media book of tricks -- but with a social twist. Witness, the promoted trend. These accounts can include people, companies and services.

Their 2011 Cause evolution study include fantastic insights such as 83% of Americans wish more products, services and retailers would support a cause. Making the business case for doing good is absolutely critical to meaningful shift in corporate behavior to address our current economic crises and build a better world. fortunately that is easier than ever thanks to great new research and resources being made available by like-minded institutions. As the largest PR firm in the world, you won’t find greater research credibility than from Edelman PR.

For online business and retailers, it also becomes easier to keep track of popular products and logistics by number of shares and sales. Tweet. Social sharing is on rise. The aim of every business’s online presence is to encourage sharing and purchasing. Therefore, it’s good have a tool built into your website which enables customers to easily recommend products to their friends either through Facebook page or other social media channels. In this post, I will highlight the product features and benefits of using ConversionBuddy. Product Features.

Martin Wilson over at Mobileweb Company draws from recent industry reports and surveys to map out the opportunities in the emerging mobile retail/commerce space. How can retailers really deliver value via mobile? MobileGroove deep dives into Mobile Intel: Retail , a mobile intelligence report that draws from Millennial Media network data (data that was accumulated across 67 billion mobile impressions in 250 countries and territories) and consumer research conducted by comScore. A big reason why companies should grasp the mobile retail opportunity with both hands.

Just saw this photo on my friend Ben Lucier’s Posterous site – hardware retailer Home Depot reserved a parking spot for him at his local store in the “Pro&# parking section. Because he was the mayor. Smart way to reward their most loyal customer (well, the most loyal customer using Foursquare, anyway) with something that has zero cost to Home Depot but a nice benefit for the customer, all the while encouraging other people to compete for that benefit. location marketing Foursquare

The Internet is full of retailers and companies that want the visitor’s sensitive information, so it makes sense that users want to know that your website is safely collecting and guarding that information. Having your own website is crucial to your Internet marketing and branding strategy, even if you don’t sell anything directly on your website. However, a poor website is almost as bad as having none at all if it causes frustration or prevents consumers from doing what they want to do, which is learn more about your company. Guest post by Aubrey Phelpsis. Speed It Up .

Forrester Research is particularly bullish and predicts marketers and retailers will start investing significantly in cohesive mobile marketing and commerce strategies. ABI and other research firms have said they were caught off guard by the explosion of highly innovative use-cases deployed by retailers and third-party players, and many have had to adjust their forecasts upwards. prime example is Amazon, an online retailer that became the first to achieve $1 billion annual sales generated by shoppers using their mobile devices to clinch the deal. by end-2011. billion.

"Price comparison, consumer reviews and being able to get competitive pricing via your mobile device at retail is not only the new reality of the new consumer, but it's a fact of life. retail. Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see? "I'm at O'Reilly's Strata conference this week, which looks at the advent of Big Data , new interfaces, and ubiquitous computing. Plenty of speakers talk about the utopian possibilities of data transparency. " (Alistair for Hugh). " (Alistair for Mitch).

Retailers: watch those iOS owners! Retailers need to pay close attention to analytics and monitor the activity from iOS platforms across their mobile properties.  No matter the size of the business, retailers can’t ignore people’s growing comfort with the idea of purchasing products, services and other stuff directly from their mobile device. Because they are the people most likely to purchase something on their device, more so than Android, Blackberry or Windows owners.  This insight comes courtesy of Forrester Research and a study it did with 50,000 mobile owners. 

For retailers, each new fan acquired on Facebook should be worth 20 additional visits to your website over a year. They took the top 100 retailers ranked in the Hitwise Shopping and Classifieds category and benchmarked visits to those websites against the number of fans those brands had on their Facebook page. Tweet At the moment, there is much discussion going on about the actual ROI of a social media presence. Many businesses going social are not sure how to measure their social media efforts and this makes them question how much to invest online. The monetary value of $3.60.

Upcoming retailers include Sony, Barnes. I am very excited to share the brand new promotional video for my latest release, The Little Big eBook on Blogging: 40 Traffic Generation Tips. You can also watch this video on the official page of the eBook. The Little Big eBook on Blogging is now also available from Smashwords and Lulu. News blogging tips cendrine marrouat promotional video The Little Big eBook on Blogging traffic generation tips YouTube

If this is indeed a momentous year for mobile retail and transactions of all kinds, then what will happen to the mix of payment options and players currently jockeying for position? rant about the disconnect between the mobile and retail readiness of luxury brands (lacking to say the least!) and its announcement that it has helped drive more than $110 million in-store revenue for partner retailers and brands in 2011, and is poised to do even more in 2012. So are luxury brands falling down when it comes to mobile and retail readiness? Who, what, where, when & how?

Jennifer Lee, senior manager of the retailer and distribution practice, Deloitte & Touche , placed her bets on mobile’s “multiplier effect.” ” This entails having a “full view of a customer’s path to purchase for all channels and to have an integrated view on how mobile drives online and retail store purchases.” Some of the smartest minds in mobile marketing and advertising recently gave their 2012 predictions for mobile during a webinar conducted by Mobile Marketer and sponsored by Hipcricket. HOW I SEE IT: The webinar was full of insights.

She defended herself by saying that she had taken the content from Vintages , the retail magazine of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) and that this publication had been adequately credited. The issue of blogging ethics came to the fore recently when prominent Canadian wine blogger, Natalie MacLean was accused of copyright infringement by the US wine magazine, Palate Press. Natalie is a much respected blogger and her reviews have been features in wine books and several top-tier mainstream media outlets; the Ottawa Citizen and The Guardian are among these.

Heightened activity and interest in mobile retail (spurred on by holiday shopping and the rapid uptake of price comparison services and apps), has paved the way for a variety of new and immersive mobile experiences that insert marketing messages and campaigns into our daily shopping routines. However, only a handful of companies are prepared to compete where it really counts : at the point of inspiration, otherwise known as the retail shelf. Joe pointed out that vast majority ( 75 percent ) of purchase decisions are made in front of the retail shelf. What does Aisle 411 do?

Tweet Guest post written by Emma Tomlinson , who is the Head of Retail at Smart Traffic, a SEO consulting company based in Bristol delivering successful campaigns to both SMEs and major brands. Most of us know that social media has been playing a big role in several businesses’ Internet marketing campaign. And, right now, Google+ is one of the dominating social networking sites. Since mid-2011, plenty of entrepreneurs have been creating their own network of contacts and promoting their firm. With that said, take the following aspects into mind while creating your Google+ page.

Educate your staff : If you are a retail chain running a foursquare special, it is best to let your staff know about it, because all the hard work goes in vain if your staff turns away a special winner! Tweet More and more people are using Foursquare to check in and share their location. Whether checking out a new restaurant, meeting up with friends, or visiting a favourite boutique, they love to share their adventures. This of course also means that the potential for brands are growing. Claim you place on foursquare. You log on to foursquare.com and go the page of your listed venue.

My coworkers Cristina and Karen were discussing that a large retailer asked them if they wanted to be green and have their store receipt emailed over to them. You see, many of these retailers add your email to their database which also means that you are now getting email campaigns from them which to me is just spam. Unfortunately email is not the only place that retailers are using to expand their marking reach on the sly. Sure you can call this a special circumstance, but if you look at the root of it, any retailer can do it. Image -  Skokie Public Library.

Let’s say your goal is to drive more retail sales. If your goal is to drive more retail sales, use tools that drive people into your store and create loyalty, such as Foursquare or Belly. The Spin Sucks community is an interesting one. While the vision of the blog is to change the perception of the PR industry, we also talk a lot about marketing, advertising, search engine optimization, social media, and entrepreneurship. Because of that mixed bag of goodies, the readers come from all walks of life and are not all communications professionals. love that. Starting a Business.

Online fashion retailer ASOS recently announced that it would be opening a Facebook store at the end of January, allowing users to buy items directly from within the social network rather than having to click through to the ASOS homepage. This is becoming a trend for major retailers and we will see more of it in 2011, but is it a fad or is there real reason to take this form of social commerce seriously? In December their Social Networks and Forums category was the third biggest source of traffic to the retailer’s website, accounting for 14.62% of all traffic to ASOS.com.

It's funny. I've been on Twitter for almost exactly three years to the day. During that time, my Twitter bio has evolved ever so slightly. I've always included my title and company name. In addition, I've made it clear that I'm married (happily) and have three beautiful children. Recently, I included the fact that I am the co-host of the Quick'n'Dirty podcast show. That's it. think at certain points in time I included the fact that I'm a huge Redsox and Patriots fan. But while I waiver on whether or not to add that back, I like my bio clean and simple. Why do I do this? For a few reasons.

“The percentage of retailers that have invested in mobile is very low, it’s around 8 percent, ” he says. retailers. Many mobile suppliers are so far failing to take advantage this, forcing their retailer customers to miss out on a massive opportunity.” Mobile is huge. And so is the value marketers and companies can wring out of a comprehensive mobile strategy that starts with a mobile-optimized website. Still, there is a disturbing disconnect between the number of consumers that research (and buy!) What’s the hold up? Are businesses mobile ready?

If you run an off line retail shop and you’re wondering how you can compete with your online counterparts, well, don’t think you can’t. The brick and mortar retailer, however, can market themselves online and take payments off line – even in cash – which gives you a stealthy advantage over your online counterparts. This advantage doesn’t just extend to large retailers. You might actually have an advantage. Online-only stores have no way to take cash payments. If a customer prefers to pay cash, that’s too bad. Don’t believe me?

If you’re a retailer, and they check into multiple locations in multiple cities, give them 10 percent off their purchases for an entire month. Alan Danzis is a Senior Social Media Specialist at Ketchum PR. For almost a year now, I’ve done all I can to extoll the virtues of  Foursquare to friends and colleagues in the PR world. I even  blogged for a friend once about how I use it to help in my exercise-routine and my desire to become more healthy. While the user base is still somewhat small ( around six million ), members are passionate and the media still care what they’re doing.

retailer Marks & Spencer’s (M&S) earlier this year. Indeed, a rafts of recent reports (and reporting via the team at Mobile Marketer ) show that mobile devices (and the apps we download to find stores and compare prices) have irreversibly transformed retail. organizations — the Association of Interactive Media and Entertainment (AIME), The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) have collaborated ona survey of 140+ marketing professionals. retailer Marks & Spencer’s (M&S). MMA consumer research.

Data from the infographic was found on Fanpagelist.com, in the June 2010 Morpace Ominbus Report on Frequent consumer usage of Facebook provides a marketing opportunities for retailers, Click Z Marketing News & Expert Advice’s “Report: Starbucks’ Facebook Audience Equals $1.8 Top Brands on Facebook . by Lauren Pelkey. It appears Facebookers love their sweets and caffeinated beverages. Five of the top ten brands on Facebook are Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Oreo, Skittles and Red Bull. That means 50% of the top ten brands on Facebook are food and beverage. Do you agree?

Based on AdAge’s calculations, that equals over $600,000 worth of condoms at retail prices, or $0.24 In support of World AIDS Day, Durex created the #1Share1Condom Twitter hashtag campaign to help fight the spread of HIV. From November 26 through December 1st, Durex offered to donate one unused condom for every tweet with #1Share1Condom and for every share of the World AIDS Day image or video on Durex USA’s Facebook page. Stop the misunderstanding – RT to spread the word about HIV & AIDS and we’ll donate a Durex condom. The effort is capped at 2.5 The 2.5

I’m already getting some ideas for local retailers , floral and landscape professionals, and so many other mainstream businesses that need to make their art and expertise come alive to differentiate their business from so many others. There is a big difference between television and live television. Live television comes alive because there is anticipation and excitement about what is going to happen next. Photographer John Butterill a pplied this principle to Google+ Hangouts by taking it mobile , and indeed there is an equally significant, if not remarkable difference.

Costa is a major high street coffee retailer (and I should add that I love their coffee). What, no Twitter? few months ago, I read a great blog post by Ray Grieselhuber on the Ginzametrics blog about Trader Joe’s, and the fact that they, a major grocery chain, didn’t have an official presence on Twitter. It seemed baffling, and Ray did an excellent job of identifying the benefits of having an official Twitter presence. It made me think about the largest company in the UK without a Twitter account. So I did the natural thing; I emailed the company. And that’s it.

It doesn’t cost you anything, you download the browser plugin and it then notifies you when you’re shopping with an online retailer that will give a % of the sale to your chosen charity. The vast majority of online retailers do contribute to charity through the app, however they all give varying percentages, for example see this search for “photobooks” on Google: Kinda helps you decide who to shop with if they are all offering a similar product! I’ve been using Give As You Live since just before Christmas and think it’s a really great idea. It www.giveasyoulive.com.

The Acquity Group studied the behavior of Interbrand’s 2012 Best Retail Brands and found them lacking on Twitter. We’ve heard it time and time again: Twitter is a great community-building tool. And I agree, in part – there is the potential for Twitter to be a fantastic place for deep, meaningful connections and powerful communities. But it’s not quite there yet. The reality is, the majority of tweets go unanswered. full 73 percent of customer tweets were ignored. Creating Community With Nestivity. Enter Nestivity. How Does Nestivity Work?

few key statics from the online reputation by the numbers infographic is that 76% of US retailers said user-generated content will have greater impact on their marketing goals in the future. No matter if you’re a large brand or a small business I believe everyone should manage and monitor their online reputation. The team at Digimind created a statical infographic outlining online reputation by the numbers. Source: Digimind Another important static from the infographic is that more than 80% reputation damage risk comes from a mismatch between the buzz and reality.

When it comes to measuring social media efforts in terms of impact on sales, the Retail industry is most active, with 18 percent of respondents reporting sales as their key social marketing success measure.  With Social Commerce expected to grow  to $14 billion in 2015 , and an estimated  90%  of all purchases subject to social influence, retailers are pushing hard to make the connection between social marketing efforts and the cash register. Because there are many ways to quantify the value of social media, marketers continue to struggle with social measurement. Social Presence.

Unfortunately, retailers and manufactures have failed to develop the use of QR codes. By thinking about consumer needs, retailers and manufacturers can ensure brand loyalty and direct purchase using QR codes. Four years ago, excited by the potential of QR codes, we have reviewed the very early initiatives that were made with QR codes. They understood the potential of direct interaction with consumers, but have chosen to lead them to totally wrong directions. No wonder that only few consumers tried to engage with QR codes (5-6%). What a waste.

Creative iPad Uses for Small Retailers. Now, let’s focus on retail businesses — shops, salons and restaurants that use iPads to better service customers. Below are 5 social media must-reads that we wouldn’t want you to miss. Annoying Blogging Personality Disorders. By Laura Click A few months ago, I told you about the annoying social media personality disorders that will kill your ability to be successful on the social web. But guess what? Bloggers are not immune from developing their own set of ugly personalities that will send readers packing.

The Retail got the most Click Through Rates (CTR) and grew to 36% of total impressions in Q2 2011. The growth of the retail sector was fuelled by positive feedback from consumers as expressedby the highest CTR among all sectors. Digital advertising agency TBG Digital examined 200 billion impressions across 167 clients advertising on Facebook in 21 countries to produce its Q2 2011 Global Facebook Advertising Report. Here are some of the key findings: Facebook brand campaign general statistics. Brand campaigns on Facebook grew by 104% between Q1 2011 and Q2 2011. Sector breakdown.

The most interesting part of the report for me referenced the positive mentions that people expressed post purchase; “Shoppers expressed positive consumer sentiment on promotions, shipping and convenience as well as the retailers themselves at a three to one ratio”. So how could retailers find the true value that social attributed towards Black Friday? Tweet A recent  IBM report on Black Friday sales figures stated that social media generated only 0.34% of online sales, with  Twitter generating an outright 0% of revenue. But this really doesn’t tell the full story. Tweet This!

ve then gone to other retailers that would make excellent poster boys for double servings of spaghetti – they’re just all over the place and falling out the bowl. BUT … I am a huge fan of the layouts in their retail stores. Their websites follow this simplicity, with each country following the same design, and this has turned the Swedish furniture giant into one of the most successful retailers around. It’s not just retail where IKEA’s mindset can be used. Consumers love simplicity. We don’t want to be confused with multiple messages and options. Simple works. Right?

Home Depot , the home improvement “big box” retailer, has been caught promoting what I call “questionable” link tactics and providing false information to their vendors. Several “big box” retailers have been outed recently, including JC Penney , as well as even Google , for using questionable linking tactics in an effort to increase their search engine rankings. The following is the email that I have obtained from one of Home Depot’s vendors. have only edited a few parts of it (specifically the email address of the user it was sent to).

lac retailers onboard. Over 90,000 retailers onboard. ebay is gradually but steadily& seriously working towards becoming the dominant ecommerce player if the world. After having been beaten by Taobao in China and observing the surge of Amazon as a cloud-marketplace, it’s not unnatural for ebay to initiate what it calls X.Commerce. tried creating an infographic to show the ebay strategy based on my understanding and you can understand how the recent buy-outs by ebay are starting to make sense. Let’s look at the buy outs first: 1. Where.com – Over 1.2 USD135M).

And the giant retailer will be left with a PR crisis that will hurt its reputation for years to come, not to mention the distraction the company is facing for most of the rest of this year. I would be remiss if I didn’t blog about the PR nightmare Walmart has caused itself by allegedly covering up the bribes they paid Mexican officials in exchange for getting building permits faster and other favors to help it aggressively expand in the region. The attorney dispatched a committee to Mexico City and found, yes indeed, there was suspicion both Mexican and U.S. laws had been broken.

These cards can be used at multiple retailers – Target, Jamba Juice, Olive Garden, or Sephora. few things need to happen for this neat innovation to take off: More retailers have to get on board. Facebook launches Facebook Card, a reusable gift card that works at multiple retailers. Facebook’s ventures into the real world continue. This time, it’s actually a pretty darn nifty idea. Users can order gift cards that are mailed to the recipient. They’ve offered gifts for a while, though I haven’t heard how effective they’ve been.

The first, a guest post on his company blog by Tina de Souza, connects the dots in the  Mary Portas review on retailing, a comprehensive report providing recommendations to companies on how to address the retail crisis hitting the U.K. But the most significant point of the report has to do with mobile and its influence on our buying behavior, thus transforming the entire retail landscape. Building on all this data the post presents us with 5  recommendations on how we can/should develop retailing through our mobile channel. Excellent line-up. How will it play out?

Consumer Services / Retail Customer Intelligence Marketing Strategy consumer engagement demographics Personalized Communication predictive analyticsHow do customers make decisions? This question has been at the core of marketing strategy for many years. As marketers manipulate the various principles of marketing, the consumers they seek to reach also change their decision-making criteria. So how does a professional marketer adapt to this evolving environment?  First, they need to understand the typical consumer decision-making process and tailor their marketing strategy accordingly. 

Report: How Social Marketing Works for Retail Brands [Report]. Last week Marlene wrote a blog post about ad opportunities on different social networks, where you can read more about Sponsored Stories and Promoted Posts on Facebook. Now the Facebook marketing team has published an interesting infographic about the power of advertising on the platform. It includes some new global stats revolving Facebook usage as well as advertising insights. Facebook ads statistics. The infographic explains the effectiveness of Facebook ads and how to go about targeting the right customers. More than 3.2

Leave it to a clothing retailer, Celeb Boutique, to take advantage of the trending topic, but for all the wrong reasons. It did however quickly inspire a major backlash against the clothing retailer. In the wake of the tragic and horrifying movie theatre shooting in Aurora, Colorado, Twitter is abuzz with mentions of support, bewilderment, grief, and shock. Naturally, the hashtag #Aurora has proven quite popular. Observe: Needless to say, this isn’t exactly the Tweet of the year. Check out some of the angry responses. When you tweet something, it’s out there forever.

Case Study Crunch: Retail Social Media Case Studies The social media strategy series: Identifying goals and objectives Case Study Crunch: FMCG Social Media Case Studies Contact us Which are the top tools and apps: The results Case Study Crunch: Social Media case studies in Entertainment (TV, Film, Music + More) The social media strategy series: Getting Buy In The social media strategy series: Is social media right for your business? Next up: Identifying Goals and Objectives. If you missed the first two head here. Identifying your objectives for social media is essential. what a year!

While the flat economy keeps consumer consumption weak, retailers are looking to pull levers other than just price to build brand loyalty. In a recent study by loyalty360 it was revealed that 84% of respondent retailers use some form of loyalty strategy, but surprisingly less than half (48.8%) believe their initiatives are working. How can it help make every moment memorable for the customer, while still affordable for the retailer? Tweet While a consumer drives down their road, what triggers their decision to go to Tesco as opposed to Sainsbury’s? Tweet This!

Adam has over 15 years of experience leveraging technology to drive and sustain business value for clients in the Consumer Product, Retail, High Tech, Healthcare and Financial Services industries. a thousand cuts :: adam cohen's blog About Blogroll Contact a thousand cuts conversations about social media and interactive marketing by adam cohen 16 JUL I Will Not Write About Old Spice Posted by: adam / Tags: Advertising , Isaiah Mustafa , Old Spice , Social Media , Television , YouTube / Comments: View Comments I will resist the urge.  Is anyone buying more?&# Who’s with me? 

But with the rising cost of detergent ingredients threatening retail prices (both coconut oil and palm kernel oil are up 130% on last years price) can household brands continue to spend big bucks on advertising or should they be looking at alternative means, perhaps through social media, of developing brand loyalty? Image courtesy of Adhistory. The Grocer recently published its Top 100 advertisers report and showed that Coca-Cola cut ad spend by 6.6% in 2010 and invested more in social media. This is something that other fmcg brands would do well to think about.

Case Study Crunch: Retail Social Media Case Studies The social media strategy series: Identifying goals and objectives Case Study Crunch: FMCG Social Media Case Studies Contact us Which are the top tools and apps: The results Case Study Crunch: Social Media case studies in Entertainment (TV, Film, Music + More) The social media strategy series: Getting Buy In The social media strategy series: Is social media right for your business? I’m delighted with the results. did offer a bribe, erm, incentive to encourage people to get involved: A £40 voucher for Amazon. clout. Great article!

Looking at the results, it could be an opportunity to provide heaters in the first place (retailer), help manage finances better (financial advisor/bank), or fix the window (glazier). Social media listening. Social Social media monitoring. Social Social media tracking. Social Social media intelligence. There are many descriptions of how we can use social media as a listening tool, to complement (or replace) our more interactive approach where we converse too. the current tools don’t easily offer the kind of listening that would be really useful. Listening Data is Still Keyword Driven.

explained I had just given the opening keynote at the Retail Packaging Association  trade show on using the web for business growth. A couple of weeks ago, I was standing in line at security in the Ft. Lauderdale airport. was fascinated at the three and a half hour line (which I thankfully didn’t have to go through) and commented on it to the guy standing behind me. We started to talk and he asked me what I was doing in Florida. He asked if that included social media. said, “Yeah. Well, anyone with a Twitter account and a keyboard is a social media expert.” Leads.

There are specialty retailers that I frequent that are fairly “safe” where I would share detailed purchase information. But there are some retailers where it’s just doesn’t make sense, for example a drugstore or Victoria’s Secret. Leading up to Facebook’s f8 conference today, my biggest concern about the rumored new “Read. Watched. Listened” buttons was that Facebook was becoming more and more superficial in its interactions. But Timeline beautifully solves this problem in two ways. Over the past few years, each of these components have evolved. But how far will this go?

As a result, retailers put their newer, more exciting products in the front right of their stores. Retailers invest in extra advertising for the front of the store and consumers are more sensitive to external cues earlier in their shopping experience. Choice is an illusion. Or so it seems. In a mixture of psychology, neurology, and just plain observation, marketers understand the average shopper in ways that might surprise you and they make every effort to capitalize on that knowledge. For example, research has shown that the first turn shoppers make is a right one.

Her voice said, “Sure,” but then she proceeded to make me feel as uncomfortable as I’ve ever felt in a retail outlet. 'Last week I had to take my MacBook Pro in to the Apple store. The screen’s been going blank at random intervals, and since it’s still under the protection plan, I decided to listen to my friends and get the pros to look at it. And in doing so, I experienced two very different attitudes to customer service, and technology, all in the same day. Image by Emiichann (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Too cool for school. Square!

Two days of the year are traditionally the biggest shopping days for retailers, online and off line. It’s the day when retailers open their doors early to allow shoppers inside to do their Christmas shopping. It’s the biggest day for online retailers and every year it keeps getting bigger. Whether you are a brick-and-mortar retailer or an online e-tailer, online marketing is still a necessary endeavor in your overall marketing plan. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is the biggest day for brick-and-mortar stores. It always has been.

Case Study Crunch: Retail Social Media Case Studies The social media strategy series: Identifying goals and objectives Case Study Crunch: FMCG Social Media Case Studies Contact us Which are the top tools and apps: The results Case Study Crunch: Social Media case studies in Entertainment (TV, Film, Music + More) The social media strategy series: Getting Buy In The social media strategy series: Is social media right for your business? These will help you to understand if those objectives are being met. So, start by listing your objectives identified earlier on in the strategy. what a year!

In EMEA, for example, this translated into campaigns by retailers to target people nearby and drive in-store footfall. Other actions to note include: Watch video (24 percent), Store locator (23 percent) and Retail promotion (22 percent). Mobile is fast becoming the device we reach to for advice and assistance throughout our daily routine, so it’s little wonder that verticals such as Health & Fitness and Finance ­ are stepping up mobile advertising activities and spend. Significantly, nine verticals experienced triple-digit growth year-over-year. Something else?

Some 40 percent of respondents said they have used their mobile phone to communicate with family/friends/social networks about a negative retail experience. Additionally, almost half (48 percent) said they would be influenced by a post describing a retail experience. Our mobile megaphones allow us to instantly amplify our knee-jerk reaction to our retail experience. In fact, one-third (35 percent) of respondents said they would want to hear from a brand after a negative retail experience. This has dramatic impact on brands and retailers. Telling is like it is.

60% of people who use three or more digital means of research for product purchases learned about a specific brand or retailer from a social networking site. 48% of these consumers responded to a retailer’s offer posted on Facebook or Twitter. Though social media marketing is now used in about 90% of companies, techniques, platforms and best practices continue to evolve.  Should you include Pinterest in your mix? Increase use of video marketing? Is blogging coming back or trailing off? What will likely be the hot trends in social media over the next couple of years? MindJumpers ).