On Tuesday people discovered whether or not they had been successful in purchasing tickets in what seems to be more of a lottery than a sales process. This did not happen in the traditional manner of the lucky hopefuls receiving their tickets or even anything as simple as a confirmation letter or email. Oh no those lucky few have had funds withdrawn from their bank accounts with no indication of how many tickets they have secured, or which event they were for.

Despite this scenario being one of the worst examples of online customer service probably in the history of e-commerce, you probably won’t be too surprised to discover that the IMRG-Hitwise Hot 100 Shops List, May 2011 showed that LOCOG’s London 2012 ticket site was the most popular new e-commerce site so far this year. It is perhaps fortunate for LOCOG that this really is a once in a lifetime opportunity for us Brits and we didn’t have a lot of choice. It just goes to show that if you have the right product people will put up with an awful lot to get it.

However, defying every rule in the ‘Ladybird book of E-Commerce’ the tickets site rocketed into 35^th position on the Hot 100 – not bad for a newcomer. The Olympics is still over a year away, but sports fans were seemingly desperate to get their hands on these tickets with an eight fold increase in traffic to the website in the last week of April as the registration deadline approached.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the IMRG-Experian Hitwise Hot Shops List of the top 100 UK e-retailers, it is the key indicator of online merchant performance in the UK. Published annually the Hot 100 List tracks popularity of websites according to the number of visits sites within the  IMRG Capgemini Index receive. This List below is based on April 2011 data and shows the top 50 listings.

On the Winner’s Podium…

Although the Olympics took the newcomers Gold there were some other significant winners. The quickest off the blocks year-on-year were National Express (up 23 places), Republic (+22), Bhs (+22), House of Fraser (+20), Boots (+18) and Sainsbury’s (+17). These retailers are the new champions of department stores, fashion, food and health and beauty and these sectors are representative of the last 12 months fastest growing online industries.

There were however, 3 clear top performers.

In first place, Department stores are this year’s true online retail race leaders. These multi-channel retailers now account for 18% of all UK Internet visits. That’s pretty impressive! This has largely been attributed to the growth of House of Fraser, but steady bets John Lewis and Debenhams are up there in the top 20. The triumph of the department store also indicates that a multi-channel approach is really punching its weight in the online arena – converting customers in store to online and vice versa.

In second place are those retailers of Olympic proportions – the good old supermarkets – who had an excellent year. The popularity of online grocery shopping pushed the industry up to amongst the best performing sectors overall, with three of the Big Four in the top 25 and Morrisons looking set to join them if they enter the transactional online market. Tesco secured third place overall, overtaking Play.com and Sainsbury’s moved up 17 places to number 22.

Taking the bronze are DIY stores. B&Q and Homebase saw strong season gains this quarter thanks to the fantastic weather we had in April. The sun had people getting out in their gardens and prompted a rise in sales of BBQs, lawnmowers and garden furniture as they took advantage of the fabulous and unexpected conditions.

Training for 2012

All in all its been a pretty amazing year and looking at the variety of websites in the HOT 100 list you can see how competitive online retail has become. There has been some significant movement within the Top 10 itself – Tesco shooting up to third place and B&Q breaking into the top 10 for the first time ever.  Getting yourself up there in the Top 100 is no mean feat. Robin Goad, Director of Research at Experian summarised it concisely: ‘Some companies are choosing to increase their online presence in order to increase the reach of their brand, whilst others are using online as a customer service tool, but ultimately more visits to a website means more sales and it is this reason that is driving the thriving competition between our HOT 100 retailers.’

Whatever, your approach to online one thing’s for sure you need to be ready on the line for when the gun goes off to get Gold in the online race. The competition is only going to get tougher and it will take an Olympian performance to get onto the podium.

Sources:

www.imrg.org

www.hitwise.com/uk

Olympians of Online Retail Announced is a post from WMpS, your one stop digital agency.

Are retailers missing a trick with M-Commerce? is a post from WMpS, your one stop digital agency.

Well that’s what John Gillen, Retail Industry Head from Google said last week at the BRC’s Multi-Channel Retailing Conference. Fear not, Gillen didn’t really mean that multi-channel was dead. He was actually referring to the fact that the way in which people shop is changing and very soon multi-channel will no longer be a buzz term but the norm.

It became evident from the speakers last week that any large-scale retailer worth his salt has to embrace multi-channel. Shoppers are no longer sticking to one particular channel in which to engage with a retailer. What seems to be happening is that customers are combining shopping channels in order to make an informed decision: get the right price, an item out of stock instore or the correct size. Shoppers want to be able to access products whenever and wherever they are. In fact according to Google 43% of people are using mobile in stores to do just that.

Click and Collect

The excellent speakers at the conference had some compelling evidence to back this up. Simon Russell , the Head of Multi-Channel at John Lewis Partnership  showed that 89% of JohnLewis.com customers also buy in the shops, 51% research online and then buy in shop and 24% of shoppers buy online and the collect in store. Overall John Lewis customers shopping via multi channels spend more on average than single channel customers and were the fastest growing group of consumers for the retailer during 2010.

Russell believes that ‘Click and Collect’ will be the big win of the future driving people from behind their computers and back into shops. Of course the advent of m-commerce will help the development of this concept tremendously as shoppers on the move can check something out online and then pop into the shop to purchase instantly and Gillen stated that he believed  mobile was at the centre of both on and offline commerce. Click and collect was John Lewis’s fastest growing fulfilment method during 2010 showing growth of +120%, representing 16% incremental sales.

Tony Stockil of ecommerce consultants Javelin Group agreed with Russell believing there is huge hidden value in the web to store process, as a great online presence can influence not only ecommerce sales but also in store revenues.  He predicts that more and more retailers will take the same road as Argos with their click and collect approach, as the concept allows retailers to have less floor space.

So what does this mean for Ecommerce?

Well in a nutshell it means that more than ever an effective and engaging online presence is essential as ecommerce has a huge part to play in multi-channel success, driving sales both online and offline. Last week Drapers published their Etail report which highlighted this issue even more.   Over 60% of the people who responded to the 2011 survey agreed that they were more likely to make a purchase online and offline when a website was brought to life with engaging content and stylish visual imagery; and over 70% also agreed that they preferred sites with interactive browsing and engaging content. Another research study by ecommerce solution supplier GSI Commerce has also found that 40% of customers would avoid purchasing if they saw no lifestyle images of products on a website and 48% would not purchase if there was only a single product image available to view.

Back to the Drapers Report 34.85% of online visitors used a brands website to see what products would be in store and 31.95% said they would get to the point of checkout and then decide to buy in shop. The Drapers report presents compelling evidence to suggest that ecommerce is having a much wider impact than merely driving online sales. However, from a different perspective, Tim Curtis, Chief Executive of catalogue retailer Lands’ End who spoke at the conference last week also pointed out that 58% of Lands’ End’s online sales were driven by their catalogues and that they could use the catalogue to predict their AOV. Their catalogue and website working hand in hand to convert sales.

This then suggests that online content is not only crucial to drive sales across all channels but it also needs be an effective mechanism to convert customers who are directed there via another channel.

Curtis believes that the e-catalogue will come into its own with the iPad as the functionality is ideally suited to turning pages and browsing. Increasingly websites are looking to magazine style content and in my last post I discussed an increasing use of editorial to engage online customers. However, good quality lifestyle imagery can be incredibly powerful and if used effectively supersede the necessity for additional content.

Retailers are quickly recognising that imagery is becoming increasingly important to communicate their brand values and sell the ‘lifestyle’ to customers and if Curtis is correct this will only increase as more and more consumers start to shop on mobiles and tablets.

In last week’s Drapers Danielle Pinnington Managing Director of shopper behaviour research agency Shoppercentric said “The trick of web merchandising is to ensure the products look fantastic online – good enough and easy to buy immediately, or at least eye-catching enough to inspire a store visit. Merchandisers will know which items are the best-sellers. So how can the limitations of a PC, tablet or mobile screen be overcome to present hot items, suggest outfits, and give enough visibility to engage customers? This is the challenge to retailers.”

So how can websites do this?

Online Merchandising

The evidence for rich and engaging content suggests that online merchandising will play a crucial part in a retailer’s multi-channel success. As Drapers pointed out last week retailers are beginning to understand that ecommerce sites are a powerful mechanism to drive traffic in stores and many are tackling this challenge through the presentation of their merchandise. Retailers are making concerted efforts to speed up the process of browsing looks to making a purchase through ‘Get the Look’ functionality and TV.

Pinnington told Drapers that retailers offering ‘flat’, thumbnail style product presentation, without rich media content, total outfit ideas, or new and ‘just in’ features were missing sales opportunities. “Thanks to sites like Asos and My-Wardrobe, shoppers have experienced the kind of content and functionality that is possible online, so expectations are high, some retailers don’t have the physical coverage of stores – John Lewis for example – so it’s even more important for these sites to seize the merchandising opportunities.”

H and M and River Island both have similar ‘shop the look’ features with great imagery that will take you directly to the styles shown. Net-a Porter has just launched a digital TV station on its site, which has taken a magazine format to a whole new level. Visitors can shop their favourite designers as they browse glam and informative video content and cleverly as you are viewing, a selection of relevant products pops up handily at the side for you to make purchases in only a few clicks. French Connection’s Youtique which Tony Stockil discussed at the conference uses elements of Net-a-Porter’s fashion TV and uses the social media channel YouTube to give fashion advice and styling tips alongside convenient links to purchase. Drapers predicts, that web-enabled TV is the future and retailers such as Marks and Spencer, Net-a-Porter and ASOS are already nudging in that direction.

Digital merchandising has a way to go but it is certainly taking strides forward. Next in particular have really got it sussed. The site has fantastic use of lifestyle imagery which is easily navigated and allows you to purchase the entire look in one click as opposed to jumping backwards and forwards from item to item. The dynamic and visually inspiring ‘catalogue’ style spreads make browsing the store incredibly easy.

So is Multi-Channel is dead?

Well given the evidence I would say definitely not and I think multi-channel will only continue to develop as shoppers expectations continue to rise and as devices that facilitate shopping on the move increase in popularity. I think Gillen could be right in one respect as I believe there could certainly come a time (and probably in the very near future) when the way in which people shop through a variety of channels will be the norm and it will be taken for granted that they could access products via so many methods. After all, the evidence suggests we’re already out there shopping in that way already.

Multi-Channel is dead…. is a post from WMpS, your one stop digital agency.

Men are increasingly becoming more sophisticated shoppers and my post today illustrates how one e-tailer is embracing this developing market.

New Man about Town

In response to or pre-empting this potential growth market, ladies premium e-tailer Net-a Porter has launched a new menswear site. Billed as the first luxury menswear online retailer with a global reach, the site had a two phase launch at the end of February, encouraging customers to register as founding members to get an exclusive preview before the site went live.

Julie and I, here in the WMpS Sales Team spent some not inconsiderable time on this site last week – even as two ladies we were extremely impressed with  www.mrporter.com – as it’s called in a nod to its sister site. Net-a Porter have developed a site totally independent of the incredibly successful existing ladies wear presence.  According to the Financial Times back in July, Natalie Massenet Net-a-Porter’s founder expects Mr Porter’s largest customer base to be here in the UK and the Kantar Worldwide figures quoted above suggest there will be huge market potential.

But Mr Porter is not the online premium menswear e-tailer on the block. It will face competition from www.oki-ni.com which stocks premium labels such as Alexander McQueen, Marc Jacobs and Jil Sander and the Paris based www.studiohomme.com which stocks Christopher Kane, Alexis Mbille and Pringle of Scotland.  Both these websites have easy to use navigation and are clean, fresh and contemporary in their visual approach. Ben Banks Chief Executive of Oki-Ni said to the Financial Times ‘Men shop much more rationally, and online shopping really works for this. It allows for products to be assessed in a very unfiltered, clean and logical way.’

Other luxury brands have also taken this on board. Angela Ahrendts, Burberry’s Chief Executive Officer was quoted in the same Financial Times article saying ‘Guys have very different buying habits depending on where they are from and in some countries they actually prefer to shop online. Last month (June 2010) the menswear show in Milan was live streamed  to hundreds of thousands of people. Once the show was over they would click and buy the styles straight off the runway, getting them delivered in just over a month.’

So it would seem that Massenet has her finger on a very strong pulse. But how will Mr Porter distinguish itself from the rafts of luxury online brands in cyberspace and Oki-Ni and Studio Homme?

Gentleman’s Outfitters

Mr Porter has also taken the clean, slick and contemporary visual feel we see at Oki-ni and Studio Homme but given it a twist utilising the incredibly successful format of its sister site – combining editorial and collections from designers such as Ralph Lauren Burberry, Lanvin and Paul Smith. But it is not merely a male version of the Net-a-Porter site. Massenet has described it as homage to men’s gentlemanly roots. This is achieved through the focused nature of its products and references and associations to the traditional gentleman’s outfitters.

‘Net-a-Porter offers catwalk fashion and trend-driven shopping, but for Mr Porter, while fashion is still important, style is key,” Massenet said to the Financial Times. “We are never going to run out of blue or white shirts, but we will have them from seven or eight of the best shirt brands in the world, rather than from 100 different places.”

The editorial-driven site includes an online magazine, The Journal, and home page features such as ‘The 32 Essential Items Every Man Should Own’ and a video interview which so far has included designer Paul Smith. The opening issue also featured interviews with eight ‘real men of the moment’ a la LK Bennett including a musician, a poet and a motorcycle designer about their wardrobe choices.

The site offers a whole host of lifestyle features in the Style Directory which includes examples of stylish men – ‘Icons’ such as Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Mick Jagger and Johnny Depp; and the ‘Style Council’ which provides recommendations on everything from restaurants to music from a selection of 49 modern stylish men. These include media mogul Jefferson Hack (ex Mr Kate Moss) and actor Hugh Jackman of X-Men fame.

There is a team of personal shoppers that can put together an outfit, build an entire wardrobe or suggest ideas on key pieces to shoppers. The site’s YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/MRPORTER features exclusive video manuals, style stories and interviews.

The Style Directory has a Style Advice section which covers key ‘mens’ dressing issues such as how to fasten a real bowtie! With slick little illustrations it has the feel of a 1950s ‘How to be a Gentleman’ or the ‘Bumper Book for Boys’.  There are little visual and editorial references throughout the site to gentlemen’s outfitters particularly in the Wardrobe Manager which has a male wardrobe essentials list including the Tux, grey suits, knitted ties and deck shoes!

Lifestyle Editorial

This site like its sister site is selling not just clothes, shoes, bags and accessories – its selling a lifestyle. We know that men are becoming much more sophisticated shoppers – they no longer rely upon their mothers, wives or girlfriends to clothe them. Mr Porter have recognised that their customers don’t just want to be sold to; they also want to be informed.

Sarah Curran, founder of My-Wardrobe.com on www.retailweek.com, only yesterday discussed how there has been a shift in the ecommerce world with journalists being hired to innovate and evolve online content improving the customer experience. Curran suggests that the editorial/ecommerce hybrid helps My-Wardrobe stay ahead of the ecommerce game in order to ensure customers keep retuning to the site. She also states that a strong editorial voice is vital to successfully translate a brand online. A theory Natalie Massenet obviously also believes in as she appointed ex Esquire editor Jeremy Langmead as Mr Porter’s Editor in Chief. Other Journalists to have joined e-tailers in the last six months include former Elle UK editor Melissa Dick to ASOS and Grazia founder Fiona McIntosh to My-Wardrobe.

This week has also seen the launch of another new male web presence www.shortlist.com and bi-annual publication which will be distributed free to commuters in London, Leeds, Birmingham and Glasgow. The website uses the approach advocated by Curran – editorial content, style advice, the latest gadgets and a whole host of blokey information. Whilst not quite as sophisticated as Mr Porter it fulfils a similar role. Although not technically an ecommerce site it just goes to show that the industry as a whole is responding to men’s increased interest in fashion.

I think Mr Porter is a great site with strong editorial content that appeals to both men and women and I’m sure that Massenet’s online gentleman will be successful. She has a formula that’s worked extremely well with women and has tweaked it to suit her new market. I will certainly be steering my husband in its direction – I’d love to see him morph into Hugh Jackman!

Mr Porter – menswear’s new online gentleman is a post from WMpS, your one stop digital agency.

The campaign’s theme is simple yet effective – four ‘real’ women at the top of their professions look the part by wearing LK Bennett. A master class for all ladies out there who aspire to look professional, chic and fashion focused.

The four women have their own profiles on the LK Bennett website and we can watch an interview with them as they discuss their personal style, what they do and how perfectly LK Bennett is suited to supply their working wardrobe. They range from mid twenties to early fifties illustrating the broad appeal of the range and have varied professions from textile designer to obstetrician – showing how versatile the brand is for the working woman!

Reality Bites

There seems to be a growing move towards ‘reality advertising’.  It probably was only a matter of time as we are already living other people’s lives through reality TV. In fact footballers wife Colleen Rooney has already advocated this very point on TV with her ITV2 show Colleen’s Real Women. The trend in advertising terms was pioneered by Dove with their highly successful Campaign for Real Beauty and Nike, Ultimo and Pretty Polly have since followed suit. The truth of the matter is that we all like validation and if we can see people like ourselves, wearing a particular brand we can visual ourselves also wearing it.  A little bit of empathy goes a long way.

As LK Bennett’s creative director Annick Gorman put it ‘These days, people want something closer to the real world. We chose four professional women of different ages and backgrounds, who were inspirational in their fields. When the woman in the photograph is not a supermodel or a celebrity, people think, “That could be me”,’

Which one are you?

LK Bennett have cleverly used parallels to Sex and the City as the means to communicate their message. It’s four successful yet stylish women – not Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte but Ade, Chandrima, Helen and Victoria.  Sex and the City was so popular because it combined fabulous clothes with issues that women could relate to – recognising that women are full of insecurities and like to see that others feel the same.

But the campaign is more sophisticated than simply creating four character stereotypes like the TV show. Instead LK Bennett has used women who have been chosen after a nationwide search. Women are generally unconfident about their appearance, constantly comparing themselves to others. Using a ‘real’ woman as a brand ambassadors helps to play down the customer’s insecurities as they see a woman that could be them. The search element of the campaign is also very important as it implies that anyone could be the face of LK Bennett. Everyone has the opportunity. On their Facebook site we can see the evidence – examples of other women posing for casting shots in the retailer’s stores. It’s transparent and honest which helps to develop trust in the brand.

Cleverly LK Bennett didn’t finish the campaign with the appointment of their four ambassadors. There is an invitation for all of us ‘real’ women to join in the celebration by posting pictures of ourselves in our favourite LK Bennett ensembles on their Facebook page. Even better the look of the week wins a fabulous clutch bag! Unsurprisingly there are lots of posts from other real ladies looking great in their LK Bennett outfits. A shrewd way of extending the impact of the campaign – as it makes it inclusive.

Aspirational

But what does real in this context actually mean? None of the brand ambassadors are what I’d call larger ladies. There are no ladies who work on the checkouts at their local supermarket or are on the dole. Ade, Chandrima, Helen and Victoria are all attractive, slim, successful business women – this is the LK Bennett version of what the modern woman should aspire to. Independent, attractive and with figures to die for – how real is real? They might be ‘real’ in the sense that they are not professional models but do they typify the average woman on the street? Probably not and there is a reason for that.

LK Bennett is a luxury brand – the clothes are not cheap, so their customer has a certain financial status that is probably determined by their career. For many other women a purchase from the retailer would be for a special event – an investment buy. Hence the strapline Life is the Occasion.

Even though LK Bennett has developed a campaign that seeks to reassure, they still recognise that the concept of wanting to be someone else, someone more glamorous, more attractive and more successful is incredibly powerful. This makes the campaign not just pertinent to their target customer and therefore relatable but crucially it also makes it aspirational.  According to the retailer the women were all selected because they all have a demanding lifestyle ‘yet want to look and feel the very best that they can everyday’. The implied message thus becomes more compelling – if you dress in LK Bennett you too can be a successful superwoman – see these real ladies have done it!

The Future?

So is LK Bennett the thin end of the wedge? Will we see other high street brands following suit during 2011? I doubt it as this campaign works because of the nature of the retailer. LK Bennett has created a campaign that understands their customer striking a balance between aspirational and relatable. If it was done with a discount retailer such as Primark would it have the same impact? I certainly think there are differences between real and ‘real’ and that we have a long way to go before we see the end of the professional model.

LK Bennett’s Real Women is a post from WMpS, your one stop digital agency.

Results at Christmas were highlighted by the majority of High Street retailers as being either down on the year, or hit by the harsh weather affecting the opportunity to deliver sales.

Customers were hampered by staying indoors and not venturing out to obtain the obligatory party outfit, or online present ordering for the festive season blighted by most courier companies not being geared up for the snow.

In amongst this, one clothing company maintains its ability to shed a constant ray of light hearted fun through its marketing strategy, and continues to increase sales and create a customer allegiance second to none.

White Stuff – clever marketing campaign ideas in a distressed purchasing world.

Established in the 1980’s by two ski buddies George Treves and Sean Thomas, they initially printed T-shirts to fund their winter sports lifestyle. The brand went from strength to strength and in 2005 ex Brand Director of Miss Selfridge Sally Bailey took on the role of Chief Executive and decided that their basic T-shirts and fleece products were on the decline, and a whole range of clothing and accessories for men and women with a fun twist could work.

There are plenty of similar products out there, and as the industry’s very own retail guru Mary Portas recently commented in the Telegraph after a visit to one of their stores ‘the overwhelming impression of the product was an uninspiring range of predictable prints’. They may not be Boden spectacular in the bright visual garment category, or sophisticated and co-ordinated in the Hobbs way, but boy do they know how to market at White Stuff!

In the same Telegraph article, Portas even nods her immaculate bob at their marketing campaign stating that ‘the marketing people at White Stuff are very keen to show us that they are far from boring and its window displays are consistently cheeky and friendly’.

‘Lovely Clothes for Lovely People’ is the strapline they have used as a backbone to the wonderfully eccentric marketing schemes that the clever Head Office team come up with each season.

Going back just over 18 months, there was the 70’s ‘Carafan Club’ era of Summer ’09, complete with catalogue personas Gwen and Ben extolling the virtues of this simple British holiday, and the chance to win a pimped garishly wallpapered caravan in return for a themed limerick sent into White Stuff. Prior to the departure of the caravan the White Stuff team toured several summer music festivals in it and handed out thousands of branded individual tea bags, beach balls, bottled water, torches, badges, and playing cards.

This was followed by a salute to the British Garden Gnome with the catalogue title ‘Gnomebody does it better’, and the ability for customers to adopt one of hundreds of the little men stood in the windows of White Stuff stores up and down the country and claim when the campaign was over. Clever.

Winter ’09 turned to that old fashioned game Cluedo, with the catalogue featuring models such as Duchess Dita von Blanc (a modern Mrs White), Lord Billy Blueblood and Doctor Brown all aiding the customer reader with clues to search through the brochure for the missing turkey and win both a cash prize and the chance of ownership of an entire country house hotel for a weekend.

In the last year we have had from the marketing team:  a Pet Lover’s bible with Bobbie the Budgie, Professor Doug Kennel and ‘One Man and his Hog’ (Spring ’10); White Stuff’s 25 years in business ‘Luvilee Jubilee’ with painted silver double decker bus as the loaned prize for any customer event (Summer ’10); the British love affair with the Afternoon Tea ritual and a competition holiday prize to the source of the brown nectar Sri Lanka (Autumn ’10); and children’s traditional storybook fashion themes such as the Women’s ‘Princess and the Sprout’ and the Men’s ‘Red Riding Hood and man in wolf’s clothing’ (Winter ’10).

They have started 2011 with an American Pop Art Lichtenstein ‘Superheroes’ theme, and customers are invited to dress up their ‘Superpets’ wearing various disguises to photograph and send in, or write in about their own ‘Supercommunity’ to claim a cash prize for their area.

All this, alongside window displays and a visual merchandising team who somehow cleverly create stores that have the ability to stand out from the crowd on the High Street; an increasingly known brand of high quality, detailed and mid priced ranged goods; sales turnover and profits that has soared in a year; and a White Stuff Foundation trust set up in 2010 which gives regular grants out regionally through the support of each of its stores to many charities in the UK – 67 at the last count.

The product may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but Sally Bailey has stated that she understands that some people just do not ‘get them’ and their slightly off the wall campaigns. Others do, and flock in their droves obviously.

Well done White Stuff – I look forward immensely to perhaps a Royal Wedding theme this Summer!

White Stuff Marketing – A Little Ray of Sunshine in a Glum Climate is a post from WMpS, your one stop digital agency.

Basically you sign up to the programme and register the city where you live, or the closest if you live outside. You are then given a deal each day that may or may not be of much interest to you and if it is and you sign up, you are then encouraged to promote the deal to your friends and peers. The reason you are given to promote to other users is that if enough people do not sign up, no one gets the deal and it is cancelled, so they put the power back in your hands as such.

Does it work?

Sounds great! Well there are some minor drawbacks, mainly that Livingsocial currently only supports the larger cities in the UK (my home city of York is sadly missing from the list). The main problem however is the websites show you offers that 9 times out of 10 are not even remotely relevant to you personally. Whilst this might be expected due to lack of segmentation data when you sign up, it is baffling why this is not requested. For example in the recently I have seen offers for liposuction, tony and guy hair dressing, reduced dresses and spa days none of which interest me in the slightest.

What is clearly missing from the offerings then is some targeted offers to both where you live and your interests.

The online marketing strategy has been given some serious backing though it has to be said. We have noticed within a number of clients advertising space that groupon have started to invade the paid search landscape and often sitting in top positions. Given the fact that the website signup page will return a very low quality score and therefore expensive cost per click on each visitor, the budget is not small.

The social media programme has also been given some good support and the incentive system to recommend the deal to a friend when it is something you really want is a powerful message. I know how I often rally round my mates when I see a good deal and that is without any rewards put in front of me. The only marketing that even comes close to this that is going on currently is the delightful graze snack box company who tempt you in with free boxes of treats then offer you future discounts for each promotion code you hand over to a mate, meaning within a matter of days you have set up your own offline affiliate network in an effort to feed your friends and make yourself a saving in the process.

The drawback of the Groupon marketing is the email campaigns which is echoed by the limited product offering. Not only is it depressing when you go on the site to see the limited range of irrelevant deals on offer, but when this is then communicated to you on daily basis by email you soon get fed up. What should concern Groupon is that losing people at this stage means they are unlikely to be still hanging around in the future when the segmentation issue is resolved.

More Group Schemes!

More recently I have seen something that has not only restored my faith in the group buying process but also has been a source of inspiration for some future social media work for some of our clients. The offer is something that was put in front of me on Xbox live on one of my favourite games, Battlefield Bad Company 2.

Without boring everyone to death with the details of the game, I can summarise that unlike many of the rival first person army based shooting games out there, the game system rewards teamwork and this is the basis for the campaign.

Xbox Live has been growing its online content and is set to be a major future advertising space with the potential to have highly targeted in game ads and up-sells whilst playing almost any game. The avatar system in particular has taken up many brands and now features clothing and accessories for your personalised avatar to wear. The in game promotions are also convincing and are often sold to you at the right times. This is the really great thing about the campaign; it basically rewards people talking about, playing and interacting with each other on the game by issuing a free map to the community once they complete 69 million in game team assists.

It is made clear that the map will not be made available if this does not happen, and without people even realising it, they have been shamelessly promoting the game, other paid accessories and maps in order to achieve this end goal of a free map. What this clever campaign is really doing is allowing social media and interactive channels to promote the game and get people excited about it. I am not almost expecting a follow up campaign that says you will receive an in game item free when you are your friends all buy a map or the latest game, but only if you convince all your friends they must also buy the game. It is no longer enough to want you to buy the game; they want you to become a salesman on their behalf as well.

There is Strength in Numbers! is a post from WMpS, your one stop digital agency.

What was Google’s motive for the launch of Boutiques.com?

According to the econsultancy although Google may be the most dominant search engine, as search continues to evolve  Google will have to do more to compete with other players for dominance in key vertical search markets. With this in mind Google have ventured into a new Fashion based vertical search effort with the launch of Boutiques.com.

Google’s justification for such a project originated from the observation that whereas online shopping has now become more standardised for products such as electronic gadgets,  shopping for fashion related items online hasn’t so far matched up to the visual offline experience.  Therefore Google’s intentions for Boutiques.com was to bring together elements of the offline experience to online shopping, while also helping to drive traffic to retailer’s websites and generally make the prospect  of online shopping for fashion products more exciting and interesting. Unsurprisingly given Google’s ownership of the site there is also an advertising based business model for Boutiques, where merchants are charged to include products on the website in most instances.

How does it Work?

Boutiques.com is a product developed from the original idea of Like.com, a visual search start-up which was acquired by Google earlier this year.   The influence of Like.com is clear as Boutiques doesn’t look like a typical Google product and has a more sophisticated rather than cutting edge design.  Search is not a prominent part of the site; it just looks like any other clothing retailer’s website with a few additional features.

Google put together a team of computer vision experts along with fashion designers and stylists and the end result was Boutiques.com. The site lets users create they own personalised online store by showcasing their style and brand preferences. Users can search for items with a mix and match attitude, based on their own likes and dislikes, rules of personal style provided on the site can also be applied.  Boutiques software then analyses tastes and recommends items the users would like or accessories that would go well with the item selected.  Users can also bookmark items of choice, share the information with friends or even tweet about an item with a link back to Boutiques.

Although visitors cannot make transactions on the online boutique itself, instead they can click through to a brand’s online store or a retailer who sells the product.  What the site gains in terms of algorithmic excellence and social interaction, it loses in terms of actual attractiveness, usability and effectiveness.  Although the site might help users to find new products and will also add more information to Google’s algorithm, it does not currently present an outstanding shopping experience.

How to get Started

To get started creating your own personal online store, first of all you need to create an account so that Boutiques can store your clothing preferences.  Then once you are signed up, you can start creating your own personal collection by either checking out different clothing items listed by type or alternatively rating the clothing presented in one of the celebrity boutiques.

Will it be a Success?

As Fashion is a hugely competitive industry, Google’s Boutiques is certainly one to watch and it will be interesting to whether it will be a hit with followers.  Encouragingly despite the competitive nature of other online platforms which also allow web users to create e-boutiques, several high profile celebrities, designers, retailers, fashion bloggers and everyday Web users have already set up their own e-boutiques.  So far Google has not attempted to integrate integrated Boutiques.com in any way with Google.com to boost its ranking position, so we will have to watch in anticipation as this may provide a clear indication in terms of how the site is performing.

It is questionable however regarding the proportion of people who will actually buy clothes from online retailers based on the recommendations from Boutiques. While the site may help you find an item you like, you can’t be too sure over what the items will look like without trying them on.  Boutiques marks Google’s move into the Fashion industry and at present it is available only in the U.S, although they have limited experience in dealing with Women’s clothes, they do hope to expand their services soon.

Google Launches Boutiques Fashion Venture is a post from WMpS, your one stop digital agency.

With the current low interest rate and retailers promoting their Christmas ranges earlier than ever, consumers are encouraged to spend their money rather than save it; ultimately injecting some life into the economy and contributing a value of £30.5bn into retail for September.

While non-food retail rose 4% by value and 3.8% by volume year-on-year, textile, clothes and footwear sales rose 6.1% by value and 4.8% by volume. This sector of the retail economy has been boosted by new product ranges and people rushing out to stock up their wardrobes before the VAT increase takes hold. Food sales were even up 1.7% by value while volume was down 2.3% on last year due to price inflation.

The low growth of overall retail is thanks to very weak consumer confidence; this is obviously worrying considering the importance of consumer spending to the economy.

Where do consumers stand with e-retail?

IMRG has revealed that for September, e-retail sales alone saw the highest year-on-year growth since June 2008 with an increase of 24% in September 2010 compared to the same month last year.

While consumers are encouraged to spend their money, they are becoming increasingly price savvy by searching the internet to secure the best deals and avoid the rush of the high street at this busy time of year. Job security linked with falling disposable incomes, the impending spending cuts and the VAT increase are all equally contributing to a boost in e-retail performance.

With the rise in online sales, it is vital that retailers continue to offer an exceptional level of service online as well as in-store to ensure that their overall sales don’t suffer. All of this is unfortunately at the expense of the high street.

With more and more retailers now selling online, this channel has become crowded yet all the more vital to a business strategy. It seems that offering a range of multichannel options for browsing, buying and delivery creates the best results as well as the best customer experience when it comes to Christmas shopping. Gone are the days where consumers were excited by late night shopping and the rush of festivity under the high street Christmas lights in the months leading up to Christmas.

High street retailers need to be following in the footsteps of the likes of Debenhams, Next and John Lewis by implementing a multi channel marketing strategy including applications and exclusive web offers to help enhance user experience and move customers further along the buying cycle.

September’s Retail Performance is a post from WMpS, your one stop digital agency.

Not to the producers, the artists, the writers, the musicians who put their heart and soul into their craft and then have the somehow shocking audacity to expect a living from it.  This is a problem for everyone who sells content online, because it’s unquestionable that someone, somewhere, is giving it away for free, and no matter how much you prosecute them, another person somewhere else will decide to pirate it next.

The Latest Plan

France has decided to combat piracy in its own way by subsidizing the downloads of 12 to 25 year olds.  Its new Carte Musique program offers youngsters the opportunity to purchase a gift card worth €50 for only €25.  The French government will pay the rest.  Their aim is to provide the music industry with the money they are owed while teaching kids that music is worth paying for.  Each person can purchase one card per year and the program is due to last two years.  The websites participating in the program have been asked to offer subscription services and lower prices to the people who use the cards in order to encourage them to keep purchasing and stop stealing.

To cap its losses, the French government has limited each site participating to a maximum €5 million profit.  This has led to concerns that the biggest music sellers such as iTunes and Amazon will not participate, as they would easily earn more than that without the cap.

Will It Work?

It seems to me that giving young people cheaper downloads will simply continue to devalue music further.  It’s true that getting them to pay for something is better than them getting it for free illegally, but encouraging a discount culture may not be the wisest idea while the music industry is struggling to earn revenue.  On the other hand, however, it’s difficult to imagine what will work to save the music industry when so many people are out to steal content.

The problem with stolen content online is that it’s too easily free and no one has managed to figure out how to stop the firehose of piracy.  There are several things that the music industry could do to help themselves – break down geographical barriers so that those who do buy can choose to do so, for one thing – but at present not much is changing.  As a result, how many teenagers will opt for the €25 card when they can have unlimited music for nothing?  Many teens are already used to free music, and just because they’re offered what is essentially a 50% discount doesn’t mean that they’re going to switch over to become paying customers.  Many teenagers don’t earn any money and since music can be had for free, it’s not what they’re going to purchase with the small amount of money they have.  We can hope that once those teenagers become wage-earning adults they’ll start to give back, but it’s a faint hope.

While France’s initiative is a step in the right direction, I personally doubt it will do much to combat piracy, particularly if the biggest sites don’t join in.  I will, however, be happy to be wrong in this instance, and would love to hear your arguments in the comments.

France’s Latest Efforts to Combat Internet Piracy is a post from WMpS, your one stop digital agency.