ecommerce Archives - Page 5 of 17

Domino’s And Burberry Launch Facebook Chatbots To Sell Directly To Customers

Posted on September 19, 2016 by Lab Team

What Happened
Domino’s Pizza and Burberry both launched ecommerce-focused chatbots to sell directly to online customers via Facebook’s messaging app. Domino’s chatbot for Facebook Messenger, which was first launched a month ago in the U.K. and Ireland and officially rolled out to U.S. customers last Thursday, allows customers to chat with a bot to quickly repurchase their most recent order or the “Easy Order” saved in their Pizza Profile.

Burberry’s Messenger bot, on the other hand, engages users with design sketches and a mini maze game. Users who finish the maze will unlock access to a “Burberry show space,” where they will be able to order items that they fancy directly from the new line as they become available after Burberry’s London Fashion Week show on Monday, September 19.

What Brands Need To Do
Both examples are illustrative of the ecommerce potential that chatbots have in converting interested consumers. As consumers increasingly turn to messaging apps as their primary channels of communication, it is important that brands follow the customers to reach them. To learn more about what chatbots can do for brands, check out our Medium post on chatbots.

The Lab has extensive knowledge about building chatbots. If you’re interested in reaching your audience on messaging apps and better serving them with a chatbot, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) for more information or to schedule a visit to the Lab.

Source: PRNewswire & Glossy
Header image courtesy of Domino’s press release

Facebook Adds An Offers Tab For Digital Coupons

Posted on August 31, 2016 by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook continues to dive deeper into ecommerce as the social network updates its existing Offers product for saving digital coupons. Now Facebook users can save digital coupons they collect from Facebook Pages and ads to an Offers tab. Facebook will remind users via push notifications when an offer is nearing its expiration date. The update also grants brands more control over who can see an offer ad by using Facebook’s ad-targeting options.

What Brands Need To Do
As more and more consumers now shopping online and with their smartphones in store, leveraging smartphone-enabled technologies such as mobile payment and digital coupons will make for a crucial part of the consumer experience. The new Offers features give users more incentives to shop with Facebook in stores and online. For brands looking to experiment with social commerce, Facebook Offer and its affiliate ad products should be a good place to start.

For more information on why brands should adopt an omnichannel approach, check out the Boundless Retail section of our Outlook 2016.

Source: AdWeek

Facebook Rolls Out Shop Section For Brand Pages In Select Markets

Posted on August 8, 2016 by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook first started testing the addition of a Shop section to its Pages last September, and now the social network has started the official roll-out in select “high-growth and emerging” markets, including Mexico, India, Brazil, and Taiwan. Page-owners can now display their products and services in the Shop section for customers to browse and search. The Shop section will redirect interested shoppers to Facebook Messenger to complete their orders. Facebook says the section will roll out to all global markets in the coming weeks.

What Brands Need To Do
Adding a Shop section to Pages provides brands a great tool to showcase their offerings and help with customer conversion. More importantly, however, it also serves as a portal for Facebook to push for the ecommerce capabilities of its messaging app. As Messenger recently hit 1 billion active users worldwide, there is no denying that it is important for brands to be present on Facebook’s messaging platform to connect with its massive users and adapt to the rise of conversational commerce.

To learn more about how brands can effectively reach consumers on messaging apps and other conversational platforms, please check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

Source: VentureBeat

Why Warby Parker Is Selling Exclusive Sunglasses On Snapchat

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Lab Team

What Happened
Online eyewear retailer Warby Parker is launching a pair of sunglasses exclusively on Snapchat as it aims to grow its Snapchat audience. Followers of the company’s Snapchat account will see a URL in its Story to purchase a pair of limited-edition sunglasses embellished with Snapchat’s ghost logo. In tandem with this Snapchat-exclusive launch, Warby Parker will be rolling out branded Geofilters in L.A. and New York this weekend to drum up interest.

What Brands Need To Do
As Snapchat continues to grow its user base and build out its ad products, more and more brands are trying their hands at adopting the hot messaging app as a social marketing channel. This Warby Parker campaign is noteworthy because it leverages Snapchat’s popularity to organically grow Warby Parker’s fan base, which many brands have found difficult to do on Snapchat, while also using customized Geofilters to reach a wider but geographically-targeted audience. This sets an interesting example for brands to follow as they try to incorporate more ecommerce elements into Snapchat.

Source: TechCrunch

Amazon Had A Great Prime Day With Voice-Ordering Via Alexa Popular Among Shoppers

Posted on July 14, 2016 by Lab Team

What Happened
Amazon reported record sales for its second annual Prime Day event it held on Tuesday. The Seattle-based ecommerce leader enjoyed an increase of over 60% in global sales volume and more than 50% in the U.S. compared to last year’s Prime Day. Compared to the mixed reaction Amazon received last year, the consumer feedbacks regarding Prime Day improved significantly this year, according to two social analytics services.

An important tidbit emerged from Amazon’s press release on Prime Day was how much the sales event pushed sales for Amazon’s Echo smart speaker. Tuesday counted as the largest sales day for Amazon Echo devices, with sales up over 2.5 times compared to the previous daily sales record. Interestingly, many Echo users also tried out the Alexa-enabled voice ordering, purchasing one Alexa-exclusive deal per second on average during Prime Day using their voice.

What Retailers Need To Do
Given the positive results, it seems very likely that Amazon will bring back Prime Day next year. The success of Alexa-enabled voice ordering shows the potential for integrating ecommerce capabilities into voice-based conversational interfaces. As more and more Amazon shoppers get Alexa-enabled devices, voice ordering is something that retail and CPG brands need to look out for.

The Lab has extensive experience with building Alexa skills and helping brands navigate the new realities that conversational interfaces are set to bring. If you’re interested in learning more about our take on this topic, please reach out and schedule a visit to the Lab.

Source: Amazon’s Press Release

Google Launches “Shopping Showcase” Ads & Hotel Smart Filters

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Lab Team

What Happened
Google unveiled some updates to its search ad products on Tuesday as it aims to court more ad dollars from retailers and travel brands. For retailers, the new “Showcase Shopping” ads allow retailers to showcase a series of product images in mobile search results. The unique feature that separates this from regular carousel ads is that it is designed to respond to vague search inquiries such as “summer dress” or “living room furniture,” and allow retailers to display a variety of options. According to Google, this kind of vaguely-worded search makes up for over 40% of shopping-related queries.

For travel and hospitality brands, Google is adding Hotel Smart Filters to search results. Now when users search for hotels, they will have the option to filter the results based on price, rating, and preferences like whether a hotel is “pet-friendly.” Hotels with prices lower than normal or running a discount will also be marked with a “Deal” label in search results.

What Brands Need To Do
The Showcase Shopping ads offer retailers a valuable tool to lure online shoppers with only broad purchase ideas in mind using a variety of relevant items from their inventory. The image-heavy nature should give retailers a better chance to pique shopper interest. As for travel brands, the updated hotel search tool means there is a better chance of standing out among competitors with a discount deal. The added filters also include preferences for hotel features, which hotels will have to make sure reflect reality.

Sources: AdWeek

Header image courtesy of Google’s AdWords Blog

News Roundup: Amazon Prime Day Is Here Again

Posted on July 12, 2016 by Lab Team

What Happened
Today marks Amazon’s second Prime Day sales event, the ecommerce giant’s answer to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Before you run to Amazon.com and try to get yourself some heavily discounted goods, check out all the related news about the second Prime Day:

• Amazon says this year it is increasing the number of items on sale to 100,000 across all departments and product categories, as well as upping the frequency of flash sales from every ten minutes last year to every five minutes.

• Leading up to Prime Day, Amazon started offering exclusive deals via Echo, prompting users to try voice ordering via Alexa.

• Walmart is taking on Amazon Prime Day with a week-long free shipping deal for all shoppers who order on Walmart’s website, with no minimum purchase required.

• Some major retailers such as Target, Sears, and Banana Republic are offering one-day-only deals today in response to Prime Day.

• Menswear e-retailer Mack Weldon is opting to sit out on Prime Day for it wants to ensure “ full control over customer experience.”

• According to a new CIRP report, Amazon Prime now has 63 million members in the U.S., who are estimated to spend $75 billion on Amazon this year.

Why Brands Should Care
The first Amazon Prime Day sales event last year was met with tepid response, with many customers voicing their dissatisfaction with the sale selections and comparing it to a “garage sale.” Nevertheless, it significantly boosted the sales volume on Amazon, with U.S. sales almost doubling itself year over year according to online retail tracker ChannelAdvisor, and attracted “hundreds of thousands” of new members to sign up for Amazon Prime. By all measures, it was a solid start for Amazon to develop an online shopping holiday a la China’s Singles’ Day sales event spearheaded by Alibaba. For participating brands, Prime Day provides a good opportunity to increase brand exposure and stay relevant in the ecommerce space. The ones that choose to opt out of Prime Day can still ride its coattails and capture interested online shoppers with their own sales.

Sources: various publishers as linked in article.

Header image courtesy of Amazon.com

Amazon Expands Alexa’s Shopping Capability

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Lab Team

What Happened
Alexa lovers rejoice! Amazon has expanded the shopping capability of its digital voice assistant service. Previously, Amazon Echo users could ask Alexa to make basic purchases such as reorders of existing products as well as order a handful of select items from Amazon. On Friday, Amazon announced that Alexa can now search and purchase millions of products that are eligible for Prime shipping. Now when users ask Alexa to buy a product, Alexa will suggest a Prime eligible product and tell the cost, and users can simply place the order by responding “yes.” Certain product categories, including apparel, shoes, jewelry, and watches, are currently not eligible for purchase through Alexa, but Amazon says it is adding new items to Alexa’s shopping list daily.

What Brands Need To Do
This expansion marks an important step in Amazon’s integration of its industry-leading ecommerce business with its growing line of Alexa-enabled products. As we explained in our Outlook 2016, conversational interfaces will drastically change the rules of search discovery for brands and this serves as a good example to that point. When shoppers search for items via Alexa, they won’t see a list of options as they would on Amazon.com, but are instead served with a few top choices determined by Amazon. As Alexa-enabled devices continue to proliferate, especially among Prime members, it can significantly alter how shoppers discover and order products, and brands relying on Amazon as a sales channel will need to take proactive measures to respond.

Source: CNET

Walmart To Challenge Amazon With Nationwide 2-Day Shipping

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Lab Team

What Happened
Walmart has officially started rolling out its 2-day shipping service to all U.S. shoppers as the brick-and-mortar retail giant steps up its ecommerce game to compete with Amazon. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company has been testing 2-day shipping in select markets since last summer, and now it is making its ShippingPass membership, which offers free two-day shipping and costs $49 per year, available for all domestic customers. Walmart is also offering a 30-day free trial to entice signups.

What Retailers Need To Do
This move is illustrative of Walmart’s plan of building out its ecommerce services and locking in customers with an Amazon Prime-like membership. This is not the first time Walmart has ventured into quick delivery service – it started a partnership with Uber and Lyft to enable on-demand grocery delivery for customers in June. As more and more consumers turn to online shopping for the convenience and flexibility, physical retailers need to learn from their online competitors and start branching out into the ecommerce space and exploring new ways to modernize their shopping experience.

To learn more on what retailers can do to reach today’s connected shoppers across sales channels, please check out the Boundless Retail section in our Outlook 2016.

Source: AdWeek

Privacy Overview

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Analytics and Customization