Tag: retail

Facebook Updates Atlas Ad Network To Help Brands Track Offline Sales

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook has added point-of-sale insights and other updates to its Atlas ad network to improve its ad measurement and help brands track if their digital ads are driving offline sales. One new feature called “Offline Actions” allows marketers to upload their own point-of-sale data and view it alongside their Atlas ad campaigns, while “Path to Conversion” aims to determine whether ads on desktop or mobile devices drove a digital sale. Atlas, the social network’s ad network that extends beyond Facebook’s own site and apps, will also begin offering video ads by the end of this month.

What Brands Need To Do
Similar to the offline attribution tracking tool that Foursquare introduced last month, the updated Atlas should give brand advertisers a better understanding of how their digital ads are doing, allowing them to adjust their campaigns according to how each channel is performing in terms of driving store visits and conversion rates.  

For more information on how retailers can better utilize customer data to connect with shoppers throughout every step of the purchase journey, check out the Boundless Retail section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: AdWeek

 

Amazon Debuts First Live Show With Shoppable Content

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Amazon is set to launch its first live programming today as the ecommerce giant pushes deeper into original content development. The show, titled Style Code Live, features a trio of YouTube stars and reality TV personalities on a QVC-like set where they talk about fashion trends, give make-up advice, and, of course, plug select products. Viewers will be able to buy the corresponding products from a carousel under the video player. The half-hour show airs live every weekday at 9PM ET, which puts it in direct competition with primetime TV programs. All previous episodes will also be available for streaming for free on Amazon’s site, no Prime membership required.

What Fashion And Beauty Brands Need To Do
Amazon has yet to reveal which brands will be featured on the show, but it seems safe to assume that the company will feature items from its own private fashion labels like Scout + Ro and Franklin Tailored. Amazon reportedly stands to make as high as a 40% profit margin on apparel, but only 15% of Amazon’s customers ever buy clothing and accessories on the site. So it makes perfect sense for Amazon to launch this live show to give its apparel products a strong push. For fashion and beauty brands, this live show presents a great new opportunity to get their products in front of online viewers with a better discovery mechanism and encourage purchases right on Amazon’s site.

With viewers moving away from linear TV to OTT viewing, the proliferation of streaming content is giving brands more opportunities than ever to be discovered by new audiences. To learn more about how brands can reach viewers on OTT platforms with branded or sponsored content, check out the Appified TV section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: Variety

Brita and Visa Tap Into Auto-Refill Services

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Following the likes of Whirlpool and Samsung, two more brands are tapping into the power of auto-refill services to facilitate repeat purchases and remove friction in reordering. Taking a cue from Samsung’s new printers, Brita introduced a WiFi-connected smart pitcher that is integrated with Amazon’s Dash Replenishment service and can automatically reorder replacement filters when 40 gallons of water have passed through the one currently in use. Similarly, credit card company Visa is looking into integrating its payment app into the dashboard of connected cars so that it can alert consumers when their gas tank is low, while allowing them to pay for gas right from the dashboard.

What Brands Need To Do
Automatic replenishment is a great tool for brands to develop and maintain consumer loyalty. With the popularization of connected devices and vehicles, we expect to see more integrations like these two examples pop up in the near future. For brands looking to cultivate a long-term relationship with consumers, this is definitely something worth a shot.

For more on how retailers and CPG brands can better build relationships with consumers through multiple touchpoints and channels, check out the Boundless Retail section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Sources: The Verge & AdWeek

Retailers Look To Data-Driven Personalization And New Digital Tools To Entice Shoppers

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
After reporting fourth-quarter sales declines, a number of brick-and-mortar retailers including Sears, Kohl’s, and Macy’s revealed their plan for trying new digital tools, especially those that focus on personalization, to entice customers and lure them back into stores. Macy’s, for example, is working on making its mobile app easier to use by adding natural language search and building a more optimized experience that better syncs up the in-store experience to its digital assets.

Westfield Mall provides another good example in this regard as it tested a cognitive retail app at its San Francisco flagship store last December. The app, created by software company Gigster and IBM and powered by IBM’s Watson, can make personalized gift recommendations after analyzing several data inputs about the recipients, such as their gender, age, personality traits, or even their Twitter page. According to Gigster, the app was very well-received, racking up nearly 8,000 users and an impressive 11% click-to-buy rate for its gift suggestions during its 20-day run.

What Retailers Need To Do
With more and more consumers choosing the convenience of online shopping over visiting physical stores, brick-and-mortar retailers need to take the initiative in modernizing the in-store shopping experience with new digital tools as well as on-demand delivery services. Those aforementioned examples are illustrative of an emerging trend that sees retailers taking a more data-driven, personalized approach in their customer communications management, an approach that can greatly benefit all retailers.

For more information on how retailers can better utilize customer data to connect with shoppers throughout every step of the purchase journey, check out the Boundless Retail section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Sources: AdAge & IBM

Staples, Whole Foods, And Samsung Tap Into On-Demand Fulfillment

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
With the advance in connected devices and local delivery economy, more and more brands are trying out new ways to help customers order and reorder without stepping into stores. This week alone, three major brands have come out with on-demand fulfillment services to better serve their customers:

• Stationery and office supply retailer Staples is tinkering with its iconic Easy Button to make it a connected device that can take orders via speech commands. Sources says the feature will focus on reordering, tapping into purchase data to discern the product preferences of each customer.
• Upscale grocery retailer Whole Foods has invested in delivery service Instacart and made Instacart the exclusive delivery partner for Whole Foods’ perishables with a five-year delivery partnership.
• New Samsung printers are hooked up with Amazon’s Dash Replenishment service so they can automatically reorder ink refills when the supply is running low.

What Brands Need To Do
On-demand fulfillment allows retail stores to double as digital distribution centers, lowering the barrier of entry for interactions with customers in the real world. These three brands offer some good examples for other retailers and CPG brands to follow in utilizing new technologies and services to meet the growing consumer demand for convenience and instant gratification.

For more information on how brands can modernize their retail experiences to better engage with customers, check out the Boundless Retail section in our Outlook 2016.

Sources: Fortune, Engadget, and Re/Code

Foursquare Launches Offline Attribution Tracking Tool

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Foursquare is launching a new tool named Attribution Powered by Foursquare to help brands connect digital ads to store visits. The tool is built on voluntary and non-incentivized participation by a panel of 1.3 million Foursquare users who leave location-sharing on at all times, allowing Foursquare to track their whereabouts even when the app isn’t active. When brands launch a mobile ad campaign on websites like Yahoo and AOL or various mobile app ad networks, Foursquare sets up a test group and a control group from the aforementioned panel to monitor the effectiveness of those mobile ads in driving consumers to stores.

What Brands Need To Do
Traditionally, brands have had to wait weeks to sync credit card data with campaign data in order to determine attribution. This new tool from Foursquare can help brands link mobile ads with offline behavior, offering a more dynamic look at attribution in real time so they can adjust their campaigns accordingly. If your brand is looking for a way to connect mobile ads to store visits, this new Foursquare product should be worth checking out.

For more information on how brands can better utilize customer data to better understand shopper behavior and reach shoppers across channels. check out the Boundless Retail section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: AdWeek

Net-a-Porter Puts Shoppable Content In Branded Print Magazine

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Net-a-Porter’s in-house print magazine, Porter, may has relatively small circulations, but it boasts purchases through the e-retailer’s website and its affiliate brands with buyable content. On average, an issue of Porter features 500 piece of buyable items, enabled by Net-a-Porter’s mobile app. When readers flip through Porter’s pages, they can scan each page to find more information on the items presented on the page, as well as tapping on the buy buttons to order the items within the app. The London-based fashion e-retailer first launched the magazine in February 2014, and, based on a survey it conducted last year, the buyable items had been scanned 85,000 times, an interaction rate of 78%.

What Brands Need To Do
This shoppable magazine from Net-a-Porter provides a great examples in how brands can leverage their branded content to reach customers and convert those eyeballs into sales. As consumers become more and more comfortable with shopping on smartphones, with mobile commerce now making up over 30% of all U.S. ecommerce sales, it is up to retail brands to figure out new way to use buyable content on mobile to move shoppers down the sales funnel.

For more details on how retailers can better utilize customer data to connect with shoppers across channels. check out the Boundless Retail section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: Digiday

Header image courtesy of Net-a-Porter.com

FameBit Partners With Shopify To Help Influencers Set Up Shop

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Social influencer marketplace FameBit has partnered up with ecommerce platform Shopify to make it easier for the 31,000 social media stars in Famebit’s network to set up their own digital storefronts. This will allow social influencers to sell their own merchandise directly to fans or form partnerships with existing brands to co-create branded products. Besides access to Shopify VIP, an exclusive service that provides infrastructure and customer management support for online stores, Shopify will also offer some ecommerce tools, such as embeddable buy buttons, to help them cross-promote their online stores across various digital channels.

What Brands Need To Do
This deal highlights the growing importance of influencer marketing in ecommerce as it turns more influencers into online retailers with a built-in audience. As more and more brands seek partnerships with social influencers in order to reach younger generations that are shunning traditional media channels, this FameBit-Shopify deal spells new opportunities for brands to collaborate with the next generation of celebrities.

For more information on why brands should leverage partnerships with social influencers and content creators to reach new audiences, check out the Ad Avoidance section of our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: Marketing Dive

How Barneys’ New Flagship Store Goes Beyond Physical Retail

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Upscale retailer Barneys New York is opening a new flagship store in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City, and it comes equipped with new retail technologies that aim to elevate the shopping experience. Barneys is launching a new beacon network in the store that can send location-based notifications to customers who have Barneys’ app installed on their phones. The sales staff will also be equipped with tablets so they can quickly pull up customer profiles and make personalized recommendations to shoppers based on their purchase history. Moreover, the retailer is also launching same-day delivery service for online shoppers in select areas of Manhattan and Brooklyn.

What Retailers Need To Do
With over two-thirds of Americans now owning a smartphone, mobile is becoming an increasingly important touchpoint for retailers. So it makes perfect sense that Barneys is using beacons, customer profiles, and an on-demand delivery service to bridge the online with the offline via shoppers’ smartphones. Barneys’ new flagship store provides a good example for retailers looking to modernize their stores and provide customers with a consistent retail experience across online and offline channels.

For more information on how retailers can better utilize customer data to connect with shoppers across channels. check out the Boundless Retail section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: Digiday

PayPal Launches New Platform To Proliferate Mobile Buy Buttons

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
PayPal is building a platform for small businesses to integrate buy buttons across platforms and sales channels. Named PayPal Commerce, the new service launches today in closed beta, setting the stage for how PayPal could potentially reboot its platform for mobile payment using technology from Modest, a company PayPal acquired shortly after splitting from eBay. Third-party services will be integrated in the back end to the Commerce platform via a set of APIs, which allows merchants to easily place customizable buy buttons across their mobile sales channels to process digital and mobile payments via PayPal.

What Brands Need To Do
The growing prevalence of buy buttons goes hand in hand with the development of social ecommerce and increasing adoption of mobile payments. Brands selling on digital and social channels need to consider using services like PayPal Commerce in order to translate the convenience of “buy buttons” and the network effect on social platforms into actual sales.

For more information on how brands can better utilize buy buttons to reach prospective customers with an omnichannel approach. check out the Boundless Retail section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: ZDNet