This weekend I had planned to awaken at 3 am, rush off to my local Best Buy, and obtain one of the amazing deals being offered. In the process, I fully expected to pick up one or two other things, if the pricing seemed enticing. Unfortunately, the entire Black Friday phenomenon came to a crashing halt when I drove by Best Buy on Thanksgiving evening, around 8 pm, and found literally over a hundred people already in line. Already.
Being a well informed shopper, I'm aware that limited supplies exist of the amazing deals. Doing a quick calculus, I decided that by the time I was willing to arrive, say around 3:15 am, that line would be at least twice it's current length......lending me to believe my probability of scoring that deal was remote in the extreme. I did not make the attempt.
While anecdotal, the story bears paying attention to in retail marketing sessions. Who, exactly is it that camps out for these stellar savings? Is this customer valuable? Do they buy other, less deeply discounted items? I am beginning to believe that the answer is becoming "NO". I think, instead, that many of the line-campers are simply deal shoppers, there for a specific item. Not for their holiday lists.
I had no sense, in Best Buy, that the entire store was on sale, or that excitement existed for the store.....only for the limited quantity treasures everyone was hunting. By 8 am on Friday, the store was virtually empty. I asked some associates if it had been madness, and aside from the initial crush, the answer was no.
Is this the recession, or an inevitable life cycle on what truly is a promotional gimmick? The later, I think. Who is being served by limited quantities of outrageously low priced merchandise? Is brand loyalty being built, enhanced or developed? Lacking the research, I cannot say. However, I will argue that the time is NOW to actually do some research and find out if this tactic has run it's course.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Is technology limiting retail adoption of video?
Beyond the limitations imposed by an unfamiliarity with the medium, are there technology constraints keeping retailers from embracing video programming as a selling tool online? I use the phrase "video programming" rather than "video" because retailers have no trouble embracing "video". It's the programming part that seems to be a struggle! I digress......my apologies.
Technologically, what would a perfect integration of video programming into an ecommerce site look like? Let's start from what it should and should not do. Here are few observations from my research into the subject.
First, it should not take the consumer outside a normal shopping pattern or behavior. Any deviation from an expected and comfortable path will have an impact on site abandonment. Period. Second, it should be easily accessed without making the consumer an expert on site search options. Third, it should be linked to the ability to buy, easily and seamlessly. If the intent of the programming is to establish an emotional connection designed to sell merchandise, it makes sense to streamline the ability to act on that connection (not impulse, but connection). Fourth, it must be browser agnostic, avoid pop-up blockers and be functionally displayed without regard to the consumer's screen size or resolution.
Here are some things on what it should NOT do. First, it should not open a new browser window or separate and distinct window of any kind. Site abandonment rises immediately with new windows and off-page pop-ups. New windows of any kind do not keep the consumer within the existing experience....which is and should be the shopping page. Second, it should not take the viewer away from the video programming in order to shop. Current research categorically indicates that multi-product videos have a much higher trust and acceptance rate than single product videos. More on this another time. Suffice it to say that if you are going to create a video with multiple opportunities to purchase in it, it's just not smart to use technology that knocks the consumer out of that video experience when they try to shop the items shown. Third, it should not present a materially different shopping experience than the one the consumer could have had at the item level.
Imagine: a technology which integrates seamlessly into existing nav patterns, doesn't open new windows, provides item-level comparable conversion support and is completely shoppable from within the video program experience. Clearly there are a number of other best practices in UI to review, but this would be a good start, wouldn't it?
Technologically, what would a perfect integration of video programming into an ecommerce site look like? Let's start from what it should and should not do. Here are few observations from my research into the subject.
First, it should not take the consumer outside a normal shopping pattern or behavior. Any deviation from an expected and comfortable path will have an impact on site abandonment. Period. Second, it should be easily accessed without making the consumer an expert on site search options. Third, it should be linked to the ability to buy, easily and seamlessly. If the intent of the programming is to establish an emotional connection designed to sell merchandise, it makes sense to streamline the ability to act on that connection (not impulse, but connection). Fourth, it must be browser agnostic, avoid pop-up blockers and be functionally displayed without regard to the consumer's screen size or resolution.
Here are some things on what it should NOT do. First, it should not open a new browser window or separate and distinct window of any kind. Site abandonment rises immediately with new windows and off-page pop-ups. New windows of any kind do not keep the consumer within the existing experience....which is and should be the shopping page. Second, it should not take the viewer away from the video programming in order to shop. Current research categorically indicates that multi-product videos have a much higher trust and acceptance rate than single product videos. More on this another time. Suffice it to say that if you are going to create a video with multiple opportunities to purchase in it, it's just not smart to use technology that knocks the consumer out of that video experience when they try to shop the items shown. Third, it should not present a materially different shopping experience than the one the consumer could have had at the item level.
Imagine: a technology which integrates seamlessly into existing nav patterns, doesn't open new windows, provides item-level comparable conversion support and is completely shoppable from within the video program experience. Clearly there are a number of other best practices in UI to review, but this would be a good start, wouldn't it?
Monday, November 9, 2009
Video Commerce
Have retailers really embraced the concept of video commerce? What is video commerce anyway!
Video commerce: enabling commerce through video. The key being "commerce". Commerce is the transaction of business. Retail commerce is the transaction of business by providing goods and services to consumers. So Video commerce, in the retail world, would be enabling consumers to purchase goods and services through the medium of video.
Is this happening today? No. It is not. Retailers have begun to embrace the medium, yet have struggled with effective ways to link video content to commerce....making a sale. Why? Two key elements conspire to limit the impact of video in driving sales. Let's take a step back though. Why is this a big deal? Again, simply, in the advertising world, television commercials have proven to be the most powerful and effective mechanism for creating emotional connections and enabling branding. Period. Taking this one step forward, retail, at it's core, outside of commodities, is all about making emotional connections. And it better be about branding too....or it's all about price. Price retail is a bad business to be in unless you have the scale...of say Walmart.
So: waht are the two elements holding back retailers from using the full power of video programming? First it is a lack of familiarity with what the medium is actually best at doing. CPG firms and ad agencies know this because they deal with it all the time. Most retailers do not. TV has not been the easiest vehicle for any retailer to use, and even when used, tends to be solely a seasonal or brand related proposition. Very seldom has TV been used effectively to drive volume behind specific products. Makes sense: 30 seconds is not enough time to communicate much in the way of product benefits. Let alone consumer needs. So it makes sense that retailer marketers don't have the understanding of the power of video that other types of marketers with more familiarity do.
CPG and branding types know all about telling a story: it's what creates that emotional connection. And emotional connections are the holy grail of storytelling. Retailers know about pictures of products and descriptions of products ...... and do those very, very well. They do not know about storytelling. It's not their forte. However, without an appreciation for what storytelling does for SALES, video programming at the retail level will remain essentially animated still photographs, enhanced with music (maybe).
I'll post later about the second problem: technology. Before we get into that, it's important to take in the limitations imposed on anyone in business by what you know and what you don't know. If you don't know how powerful a tool, strategy, tactic or process can be.....and you don't know you don't know.....there's nothing you can do about it. Such is the case for video programming. Retail marketers, with some exceptions, simply do not know what they are missing.
Video commerce: enabling commerce through video. The key being "commerce". Commerce is the transaction of business. Retail commerce is the transaction of business by providing goods and services to consumers. So Video commerce, in the retail world, would be enabling consumers to purchase goods and services through the medium of video.
Is this happening today? No. It is not. Retailers have begun to embrace the medium, yet have struggled with effective ways to link video content to commerce....making a sale. Why? Two key elements conspire to limit the impact of video in driving sales. Let's take a step back though. Why is this a big deal? Again, simply, in the advertising world, television commercials have proven to be the most powerful and effective mechanism for creating emotional connections and enabling branding. Period. Taking this one step forward, retail, at it's core, outside of commodities, is all about making emotional connections. And it better be about branding too....or it's all about price. Price retail is a bad business to be in unless you have the scale...of say Walmart.
So: waht are the two elements holding back retailers from using the full power of video programming? First it is a lack of familiarity with what the medium is actually best at doing. CPG firms and ad agencies know this because they deal with it all the time. Most retailers do not. TV has not been the easiest vehicle for any retailer to use, and even when used, tends to be solely a seasonal or brand related proposition. Very seldom has TV been used effectively to drive volume behind specific products. Makes sense: 30 seconds is not enough time to communicate much in the way of product benefits. Let alone consumer needs. So it makes sense that retailer marketers don't have the understanding of the power of video that other types of marketers with more familiarity do.
CPG and branding types know all about telling a story: it's what creates that emotional connection. And emotional connections are the holy grail of storytelling. Retailers know about pictures of products and descriptions of products ...... and do those very, very well. They do not know about storytelling. It's not their forte. However, without an appreciation for what storytelling does for SALES, video programming at the retail level will remain essentially animated still photographs, enhanced with music (maybe).
I'll post later about the second problem: technology. Before we get into that, it's important to take in the limitations imposed on anyone in business by what you know and what you don't know. If you don't know how powerful a tool, strategy, tactic or process can be.....and you don't know you don't know.....there's nothing you can do about it. Such is the case for video programming. Retail marketers, with some exceptions, simply do not know what they are missing.
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