Findologic joins forces with Nosto

Findologic joins forces with Nosto

It’s finally official! We’ve joined forces with Nosto, the world’s leading Commerce Experience Platform (CXP).

When we first started talking about the idea of uniting with Nosto, I was surprised to discover how closely our visions for the future aligned. In fact, our internal strategy slides were almost identical, while the features were complimentary.

This presented a once in a lifetime opportunity for us because the unique strengths of each company complement each other extremely well. 

Findologic always pioneered when it came to onsite search, recently shown with our achievements around our AI Linguistic Shopping Assistant, not just focusing on the most relevant results, but also understanding the user’s intent and providing new ways of interaction with webshops.

Our product discovery story continues

This merger is the perfect fit. Why? Because we share the same mission as Nosto and want to ensure every online shopping experience is relevant, personalized, and dynamic. I’m thrilled we’re joining forces with Nosto and, together, shaping the future of online commerce experiences.  

What does this mean for you, our customers?

Firstly, nothing will change in the immediate. It’s business as usual.

You can continue to use the Findologic platform as you have done so and will continue to have a relationship with your current contact at Findologic. Your agreement will remain as is and you’ll continue to get the same commitment and value from Findologic post-acquisition. Over time, we will offer you the capability of using Nosto’s full CXP and its comprehensive personalization capabilities.

We are excited about the new opportunities this deal brings for Findologic customers. Being offered access to Nosto’s CXP will open up exciting avenues for you to benefit from a wide range of solutions that can help you achieve full-funnel personalization and deliver 1:1 commerce experiences for every shopper across every device. 

What does this mean for us, Findologic?

It means our entire staff is now part of the Nosto family and can even develop more and better solutions for you. Our HQ in Salzburg, Austria, will remain and serve as an R&D hub with product engineers and commercial teams, together serving the DACH market moving forward. Nosto supports its global customers from New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Sydney, Kaunas, and Helsinki. We’re thrilled to be adding Salzburg and Munich to that list. 

Thank you!

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for trusting Findologic over the last 14 years. The entire team–from customer service managers, engineers, marketing, sales, product owners, and leadership–are all committed to making online commerce experiences ever more intuitive for the individual shopper. This commitment is only strengthened as we continue our journey with Nosto.

Marcel Krabath

Matthias Heimbeck has been developing modern software solutions for online shops since 2008 and is Founder and CEO of Findologic, one of the world’s leading providers today. Just as a helpful sales assistant completes the shopping experience for the in-store customer – so the digital shopping assistant supports and serves the online shopper. This is exactly where our unique approach helps ecommerce businesses. We keep our finger on the pulse with our technology partners, agencies, shop systems and customers - with unparalleled results. 

On site checklist for holiday season 2022

On site checklist for holiday season 2022

Marcel Krabath

On site checklist for holiday season 2022

On-site Checklist for Peak Season 2022: Everything you need to know

If you’re in ecommerce, you know that the holiday season is the biggest time of year for most retailers. But, don’t take it for granted. This year will not be like others.

Peak is a time of year where consumers are looking to buy, ready to be guided by brands that are vying for their attention and their wallets. Last year’s challenges were driven by supply chains. But 2022 is bringing a hodgepodge of complexities that brands must carefully navigate.

In 2022, there will be uncertainties caused by inflation, fuel costs, and average selling prices of goods and services, as well as supply chains challenges, that will all impact consumer buying. Online retailers are evolving to answer these challenges and are already working towards optimising their technology stacks, curating their offers, and planning their marketing strategies.

Ultimately, the shopper lies at the core of their focus, and the on site experience is critical to delivering an excellent customer journey that turns browsers into buyers. With that said, here is my 10-step checklist to help you assess your preparedness for the holiday madness.

 

1 – Prepare early

In our last guide, our friends at Blend Commerce and I wrote all about how Christmas is coming earlier than ever before for online retailers, with some preparing as early as late August! No, it’s not just that customers want presents wrapped earlier. There are a range of reasons a little too complex for the scope of this checklist, but to give a quick rundown:

  • Inflation has caused a panic and consumers want to get ahead of expected price hikes – deal or no deal.

  • There is incentive for advertisers to start their campaigns earlier: it allows them to bid at a lower cost-per-click due to less competition.

  • Retailers can begin to populate their email lists so that come November, they’ll have nurtured a two month long relationship with their prospective customers.

  • Supply chain: Consumers want to get their products while stocks last, whereas brands want to avoid stockouts and overages.

With many online retailers already launching their ecommerce strategies in full force, don’t give your competitors a two-month head start.

You are likely to lose your prospective customers for the remainder of the holiday season if you let them slip. Make sure that you’re capitalising on this early activity and that your site is optimised. If you haven’t get on it right away.

If you want to understand more about why the holiday season is starting early and what to do about it, be sure to check out the guide here!

 

2 – Make sure your tech stack is up to date and fit for purpose

For peak season, retailers often rely on the fact that their current on-site setup will allow them to achieve a significant uplift in KPIs compared to quieter seasons.

Reliance on peak season to generate sales without having a sound on-site experience diminishes the potential to meet and exceed organisational goals.

Non-existent, outdated or underperforming tech stacks or solutions directly affect sales and loyalty throughout the year, but this is only exacerbated in periods where demand spikes and the relative abandonment or conversion rates represent a huge chunk of your revenue.

To caveat this, while we frequently reference investment in your tech stack as a requisite for uplift, some third-party providers may pose a threat to operations if they are not resilient to increased requests, so consider this before peak season mania to avoid any downfalls.

 

3 – Make sure your site runs smoothly and quickly

32% of customers leave their favourite brands after a single bad customer experience.

Never take your customers’ loyalty for granted. Shoppers are only loyal to brands that make shopping an easy and seamless experience. All it takes is for one misstep to lose a customer.

If new customers face issues when on your online store, if it’s slow, if it’s hard to navigate, if there’s downtime – they will bounce and try their luck elsewhere.

A smooth website is critical for any shopping experience. But, during the peak season, your site needs to be able to handle surges in traffic, and a spike in end to end activity, from the first click to the payment process.

To borrow from Eric Peterson, Always Be Testing your site’s response to spikes in visits and traffic patterns, as well as page loading times and site speed (If it’s longer than 3 seconds, you’re looking at high bounce rates.) To improve and optimise your site speed quickly, revise image sizes and reduce redirects.

It’s also important to look at your third-party integrations. Be sure to test and make sure they can handle the load.

 

4 – Enhance your payments process

74% of customers would change brands if they find the purchasing process too challenging or confusing.

Don’t trip on the last hurdle! Cart abandonment is far more likely to occur if your checkout system is not simple or streamlined. Optimise your end to end shopping experience by ensuring your checkout page and payment processes load quickly and are efficient. Also be sure to include a range of payment options and a guest checkout option to drive customer satisfaction.

 

5 – Support your seasonal marketing campaigns with onsite optimisation

As touched upon, there’s a lot of competition this year and perhaps a more reclusive consumer thanks to the current economic climate.

This is why it’s so important to plan down to the finest details and to be strategic about what your customers see on your site, well ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Week. It’d be beyond the scope of this checklist to talk in depth about all the ways the onsite experience can support your marketing, so here are some important points.

Advanced merchandising lets you optimise product hierarchy or create campaigns lets you increase the visibility of a product or deal throughout the customer journey and control sales on a more granular level.

For example if you want to push a particular item with high profit margins, or surplus inventory, to an audience you know will be more likely to convert, you can do that through display adverts at multiple touchpoints and moving up the product listings.

If you took part in Black Friday and Cyber Monday last year, analyse your sales data to see what went well. Use the information to make alterations to existing product layouts and product descriptions.

Plan ahead by creating a product schedule that allows you to plan when a product goes on sale and for what price. Doing so early gets you ahead of the game and lets you make slight tweaks rather than making it up off the cuff.  Be sure to instil urgency and seasonal relevance to your ad copy.

Also be sure to leverage the strength of the on site experience to populate your mailing lists and drive your email campaigns. It will allow you to engage with their audience with exclusive promotions in the weeks leading to black friday and cyber week.

Beyond email marketing, be sure to make use of SMS, and other channels while showcasing the holiday deals and bundles you know your audience will want to get their hands on. Give your audience a sneak peak to your customers and followers about what is coming in order to keep them excited and make them shop as soon as your offer is live.

On social media, be sure to jump on the hype train by piggybacking on Black Friday and Cyber Monday hashtags. On an omnichannel level, integrate your store with the social media platforms if you haven’t, and follow best practices when it comes to your ads, while circulating them in advance to collect subscribers, and to build excitement for your brand.

For a deep dive into on-site merchandising and marketing strategies, be sure to check out our guide here.

 

6 – Keep UX at the top of your mind, and don’t forget about search

Brick-and-mortar businesses might have more opportunities to be more human, or set ambience, but that doesn’t mean retailers can’t deliver a memorable experience online. It just takes some work. But if you can exceed customer expectations, and deliver a personalised journey, you will succeed.

Above all, make sure your shoppers are able to find the products they’re looking for. Remember that it all begins with search. If your search UX is unable to support their requirements, then you’ve failed at the first hurdle. We talk a lot about this in our latest guide to holiday season marketing, so be sure to check it out!

Based on the fact that so many users can’t even find their desired products, it is a retailer’s responsibility to make their journey fail-proof. Search is at the epicentre of a shopper’s path to purchase, so it is essential that it is made as seamless as possible. There is a plethora of features and predefined logic that you can implement that optimise search and navigation, but some callouts include:

  • Comprehensive Assisted Suggest: as soon as a user interacts with your search bar, you should begin to guide shoppers. Recommendations, previewed products and query suggestions all contribute towards a streamlined path to purchase.
  • Synonyms: synonyms allow for wider search coverage. For example, if a user searches for ‘blow dryer’ rather than ‘hair dryer’, they will always be presented with the full range of results. The same goes for typos – you should automatically handle typos and show relevant results and eliminate dead ends.
  • Filter Navigation: Universal, one-size-fits-all filters are frustrating, for example, if you sell trousers you can’t just apply the same filters as you would for a pair of earrings. Configure relevant filters for products so that shoppers can refine their search more intentionally.

This list is by no means exhaustive, and it is important to analyse your pain points to determine where your resource will be best spent.

Investing in your site’s design and user experience brings your brand to life, and engages your customer at each stage in the buyer journey, and improves their likelihood of being returning customers.

Picture this: you’ve launched a holiday sale on a variety of products; be sure to cross and up sell other items that your shoppers might like in addition to the product they are looking for. Product recommendations that align with your customer tastes and preferences provide powerful boosts to conversion rates and sales.

 

7 – Run unmissable promotions

Running holiday sales are a great way to generate buzz around your brand. You know it, and everybody else knows it. That’s why it can be hard to compete and attract new customers.

You need to run holiday-specific promotions that are creative and attractive to browsers. Be sure to leverage the right discounts for the right products.

Plenty of retailers will be offering 20% off, but how many will be offering ‘50% off for first-time buyers’, or ‘30% off if you buy more than 5 dresses?’ Use doorbuster discounts (up to 80%) to get your foot in the door with customers and use it as an opportunity to cross sell. Get creative with your offerings. But don’t forget to keep your bottom line at the top of your mind and don’t just go wild on discounts without a strategy.

Do also make sure your strategies include upsells and additional perks which could include:

  • Free holiday gift with purchase
  • Free gift wrapping with $50 order
  • Free shipping on Cyber Monday
  • Subscriber or insider-only items
  • Limited-time offerings
  • Buy two products, get one free

To take your community engagement to the next level, why not explore giveaways or contests? These could be run through social media, email, or on your site, and are a great way to amplify your brand.

Ultimately, black friday and cyber week are renowned for promotions, and customers know they’re going to get a discount. Just be sure that your offer is worth their time and money.

 

8 – Celebrate your customers to boost retention and loyalty

Customer loyalty is something that all brands should strive for. Black Friday and Cyber week provide a good opportunity for you to nurture your relationship with your existing customers and entice them to return.

Consider personalised incentives and exclusive offers such as early access to sales or deals for mailing list subscribers.

Loyalty programs tailored to your offerings can create a significant boost in sales. They’re easy to build, have member only perks, and increase engagement and interaction. It’s a great way to turn one-time shoppers into longhaul customers that are invested in your brand.

Earlier, I stressed the importance of engaging with your community. Make them feel valued and elevate their voice: highlight their glittering reviews in your newsletter, turn their posts into an Instagram story, share videos of them using your products. Call attention to their real stories and be approachable, showing you truly care about your customers.

 

9 – Unforgettable customer service

Great value lies not only in your products, but also in your customer service which your on site experience needs to reflect.. You need to be transparent, and ensure your contact information is easily accessible, and if possible, provide 24/7 support so your shoppers aren’t waiting hours to have their queries resolved.

This holiday season, you’re going to get more returns than the rest of the year, on average. So, it’s important to have a returns policy in place for what to do should an order become lost, stolen, or damaged. Importantly, make it hassle free. A negative returns experience can be the difference between a customer simply returning a product, and one simply deciding never to buy from you again.

 

10 – Optimise for mobile!

M-commerce doesn’t always feature high on the retailer’s corporate agenda despite the fact Google favours mobile-friendly websites and mobile shoppers are spending 20 times more than website shoppers.

Replicating the desktop experience on mobile is bad practice, yet again and again, retailers cram all of the same elements into a screen that is a fraction of the size. The result? A cumbersome, difficult to navigate shopping experience. By deploying mobile-specific features, retailers are able to dramatically increase mobile sales – with UK mobile sales expected to generate £79.81B in 2022, it’s all to fight for. Recommended mobile features include:

  • Everpresent filters, that are conveniently accessible as the user scrolls
  • Collapsible overlays, which maximise the screen space and remain hidden when not in use
  • Simplified assisted suggests, reducing the tension between elements such as images and text and background layers
  • Voice search for intuitive, easy use

Another mobile strategy well worth consideration is replicating the familiar interface used by Google, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to create a more subconscious experience. By deploying this, retailers are able to:

Minimise discrepancies between the channels users interact with every day

  • Provide a more instinctive and unconscious path to purchase
  • Deploy instant touchpoints
  • Engage dynamic and conversational navigation based on unique user requirements

 

Final thoughts 

In 2022, the holiday season will be different: It will begin earlier than ever before; it will end later than ever before, and this period of activity is going to be very competitive.

This presents a problem, because the consumer is going to be squeezed by inflation, fuel prices, and more, which means persuading them to become a customer is going to be a lot harder.

On top of that, you, yourself also have to deal with the impact of fuel and energy on fulfilment, inflation on average selling prices, as well as the supply chain on inventory. There could be a lot of headaches. However, take this checklist, post it somewhere, and remind yourself of the essentials for this coming holiday. If there are five key lessons, remember them well:

  • Prepare early. Now is better.
  • Optimise your tech stack.
  • Prioritise customer experience – especially search and merchandising.
  • Prepare and schedule your promotions and campaigns.
  • Make use of automation

To learn more about the issues highlighted in this checklist, check out our full length guide on the subject here, or contact us now!

 

 

 

Die Zukunft von Voice-Commerce

Die Zukunft von Voice-Commerce

Marcel Krabath

Die Zukunft von Voice-Commerce

Die Zukunft von Voice-Commerce

Auch wenn das Thema Voice-Commerce bereits seit Jahren zu den Trends im E-Commerce zählt, gibt es momentan am Markt noch wenige Angebote, welche das Thema sinnvoll unterstützen. Matthias Heimbeck, Founder und CEO bei Findologic verfügt über langjährige Erfahrung im Bereich E-Commerce und neuen Technologien. Im folgenden Blogbeitrag stand er für ein kurzes Interview zur Verfügung, in welchem er das Thema Voice-Commerce genauer unter die Lupe nimmt und die Probleme und Lösungen dazu aufzeigt. 

Voice-Commerce ist ein Thema das den E-Commerce schon seit langer Zeit begleitet. Wann kommt der Durchbruch und warum ist es noch nicht perfekt umgesetzt worden?

Grundlegend zähle ich 3 Themen, welche zuallererst verbessert werden müssen, bevor das Thema “Voice-Commerce” den großen Durchbruch erlebt. 

Der richtige Lösungsansatz

Das Thema “Voice” wird immer noch mit eingetippter Sprache verglichen und die Lösungsansätze hierzu gehen auch meist in diese Richtung. Das ist jedoch ein großer Fehler, denn Voice-Commerce hat viel mehr Potenzial. Nehmen wir ein Beispiel: Bisher können im Online-Shop nur Dinge gemessen werden, mit welchen der Kunde interagiert und der Online-Shop auch anbietet, bei “Voice” ist das jedoch gänzlich anders. Es kann auch zu Anfragen kommen, welche noch nicht angeboten werden. Hierauf gilt es gänzlich anders zu reagieren. Zusätzlich warten wir noch auf den Durchbruch, weil diese Lösungen für User-freundlichen Umgang in der Menge noch nicht vorhanden sind. Es gibt zwar bereits einzelne erfolgreiche Projekte, welche praktikable Lösungen anbieten, aber vor allem in großen Online-Shops und Marktplätzen bekommt man hier wenig Weiterentwicklung zu Gesicht bzw. zu Gehör. 

Verbesserung der Usability 

Besteht für User keine Möglichkeit mit einem Tool zu interagieren, werden sie es auch nicht verwenden. Die offerierte Lösung muss so gut sein, dass User nicht mit einer Maschine reden, sondern eine sinnvolle Kommunikation wie mit einem Menschen führen können. Vor 10 Jahren stand Mobile-Commerce genau in der momentanen Situation von “Voice”. Nur ein Bruchteil der User besuchte den Online-Shop über ein Smartphone. Grund hierfür waren die Interfaces, welche noch nicht auf die neue Marktsituation angepasst waren und somit die User Experience fehlte. Mit rasant wachsender Nachfrage der User wird heute wie damals das Thema jedes Quartal neu beurteilt und somit Entwicklungen auch neue Prioritäten zugeschrieben.

Starte jetzt mit kleinen Schritten

Besonders im E-Commerce gilt es zu analysieren was Kunden haben wollen und wie man durch “Voice” einen Mehrwert bereitstellen kann. Wenn man das schafft, dann besteht die Chance einen Vorteil anbieten zu können, welcher auch genutzt wird. Die Möglichkeiten der Zukunft sind unbegrenzt. Die Kunst ist es damit anzufangen und Stellschrauben zu finden, welche man heute schon optimieren kann. Als ersten Schritte für Online-Shops empfehle ich zu analysieren, zu welchem Zeitpunkt potentielle Kunden abspringen, oder wann sie eine erneute Suchanfrage stellen. Diese Punkte iterativ zu untersuchen und zu optimieren ist wegweisend.

Sollte man diese 3 Themen verbessern bzw. lösen, steht dem Erfolgsweg von Voice-Commerce nur wenig im Weg und es wird in einigen Jahren, wie das Thema Mobile bereits heute, zum Standard eines jeden Online-Shops zählen.

Ich denke, dass Voice-Commerce in gewissen Bereichen den jetzigen Standard übernimmt. Besonders kleine Dinge, welche das tägliche Leben betreffen, werden in Zukunft durch solche Tools ersetzt.

Marcel Krabath

Marcel Krabath

As Operations Manager at FINDOLOGIC, Marcel ensures that processes run smoothly and are continuously developed. Sitting at the centre of the company, he coordinates daily processes between the Marketing, Sales & Office Management and guarantees the success of partnerships with technology partners and ecommerce agencies. Woking towards the continuous improvement of business operations, Marcel ensures the efficient and smooth running of the business in line with business goals.

Findologic Expert Minutes – Econda über die Trends im E-Commerce

Findologic Expert Minutes – Econda über die Trends im E-Commerce

Findologic Expert Minutes – Econda über die Trends im E-Commerce

Findologic Expert Minutes – Econda über die Trends im E-Commerce

Markus Bückle, Director Customer Success bei der econda GmbH, verfügt über 10 jährige Berufserfahrung im E-Commerce. Sowohl auf Händler- als auch auf Dienstleisterseite konnte er bereits reichlich Erfahrung sammeln. Aktuell berät er bei econda namhafte Kunden zum Thema E-Commerce-Optimierung. Darüber hinaus ist er Speaker auf diversen Messen und Kongressen. Durch seine diversen Abschlüsse und als Co-Autor des Buches “Handbuch Online-Shop” verbindet er das Beste aus mehreren Welten und nimmt bei Findologic Stellung zur aktuellen Situation im E-Commerce.

Mit dem Start eines neuen Jahrzehnts – Welche Trends & Technologien werden den E-Commerce in den nächsten Jahren maßgeblich beeinflussen und prägen?

Trends verändern sich ständig und ich finde auch, dass man sich auf keinen Fall auf jeden Trend stürzen sollte. Es geht eher darum in der Basis einen guten Job zu machen. Wer jedem Trend hinterher hechtet, vergisst oftmals um was es im E-Commerce eigentlich geht. E-Commerce ist Handel und da geht es darum, Waren oder Dienstleistungen zu verkaufen. Das ist die Basis und hierauf sollte der Shopbetreiber den Fokus legen. Er muss es seinen Kunden möglichst einfach machen an die Waren zu kommen. Dazu gehört zum einen, dass er das was er sucht findet, zum anderen aber auch, dass der Kunde mit Empfehlungen aktiv durch den Shop geführt wird und am Ende die Ware möglichst bequem bezahlen kann.

Wodurch zeichnet sich Ihr Unternehmen aus und welche Schritte setzen Sie um in dieser schnelllebigen Branche zu bestehen?

Econda beschäftigt sich seit mittlerweile 15 Jahren mit dem Sammeln von Daten. Angefangen haben wir mit einer Webanalyse-Lösung, speziell für den E-Commerce. Bei der Webanalyse geht es darum aus Daten einen Mehrwert zu gewinnen und je mehr Daten man hat, desto bessere Ergebnisse kann man damit erzielen. Diese Daten können unsere Kunden nicht nur für Auswertungen nutzen, sondern können diese Daten auch automatisiert für Produktempfehlungen nutzen. Durch den Einsatz von künstlicher Intelligenz werden aus Daten relevante Produktvorschläge und aus Projektvorschläge wird Umsatz. Das sollte jeder Shopbetreiber nutzen um die Conversion und den Warenkorbwert zu erhöhen.

Online-Shops vs. Marktplätze – Haben Unternehmen wie Amazon, Alibaba und Co. ihren Peak erreicht und sollten Unternehmer wieder verstärkt auf ihren eigenen Online-Shop setzen?

Sicher ist, dass die Konkurrenz auf Marktplätzen rasant wächst. Immer mehr chinesische Händler und Hersteller bieten Ihre Produkte direkt auf den Marktplätzen an und sorgen damit für einen enormen Preisdruck. Es spricht nichts dagegen trotzdem auf Marktplätzen zu verkaufen. Der Händler sollte aber eine Abhängigkeit vom Marktplatz reduzieren und zusätzlich auch auf den eigenen Shop setzen. Das hat neben der Reduzierung der Abhängigkeit auch noch weitere Vorteile. Der Händler kann im eigenen Shop deutlich freier agieren, steht nicht so sehr in der Preistransparenz und kann durch zusätzliche Funktionen im Shop für Mehrwerte sorgen.

Aufgrund der momentanen Situation stehen dem E-Commerce unsichere Zeiten bevor. Wie reagieren Ihre Kunden auf diese Herausforderungen und welche Implikationen hat die COVID-19 Krise auf Econda?

Ich glaube, dass der E-Commerce insgesamt mittelfristig in den meisten Bereichen von der Krise profitieren wird. Man kann jetzt schon erkennen, dass der Umsatz in manchen Bereichen geradezu explodiert. Stationäre Geschäfte sind bis auf wenige Ausnahmen geschlossen und fast der komplette Bedarf wird nun online bestellt. Dadurch gewinnt der E-Commerce auch Kunden, die ihren Bedarf normalerweise in stationären Geschäften decken. Wir unterstützen unserer Kunden mit unseren Lösungen dabei möglichst gut durch die Krise zu kommen. Natürlich haben auch wir bei econda auf Home Office umgestellt, können aber den Betrieb von dort aus ohne Schwierigkeiten aufrechterhalten.

Höchstleistungen im E-Commerce sind unser Tagesgeschäft – Deins auch? econda erfasst für über 1.000 Kunden tagtäglich Milliarden von E-Commerce Daten von tausenden Online Shops aus allen Ländern der Erde. Wir speichern diese Daten, reichern sie an und stellen rasend schnelle Reportings bereit – wir berechnen Nutzerprofile und Produktempfehlungen und geben diese in Echtzeit an die Kundenshops zurück.
– Mehr zu econda

Marcel Krabath ist Assistent des COO bei der Findologic GmbH. Er bildet die optimale Schnittstelle zwischen Marketing und Operativem Management. Zusätzlich recherchiert und gestaltet er Inhalte für Blog sowie Content und pflegt die firmeneigenen Social Media Kanäle um alle Kunden mit möglichst aktuellen Informationen zu versorgen. Sein Ziel ist es, dass die CI der Findologic GmbH gepflegt bleibt und der Inhalt aller Vertriebskanäle immer korrekt und aktuell ist.

6 tips to ensure your online store is ready for Christmas

6 tips to ensure your online store is ready for Christmas

6 tips to ensure your online store is ready for Christmas

Black Friday and Cyber Monday initiate the beginning of the busiest time of year for most retailers.  After all, many businesses generate up to 80% of their annual revenue during this period. Therefore, a well-planned and well-executed plan to enhance your customers’ Christmas shopping experience is key.

To maximise revenue from your online shop, we have shared six tips which we believe will boost your Christmas sales.

1.Think Mobile-first

The potential offered by mobile commerce is continuously on the rise. According to Mastercard’s European Mobile Commerce Study, in the fourth quarter of 2018, around 84% purchased from their mobile devices and 48% do so often or always. For a lot of e-commerce retailers, mobile is their biggest source of traffic by now.

This proves how vital it is that you have a website that is optimised for mobile as an e-commerce retailer. So, ask yourself if your site is optimised for mobile use? Be sure to list your most important pages first and consider search as part of your navigation. Make sure searching and browsing are as seamless on mobile as they are for desktop.

FINDOLOGIC offers a search template optimised for mobile devices enriched with the most prominent search queries, to help the user in his customer journey.

Make sure your holiday campaigns are optimised for mobile to take full advantage of this holiday season. Follow these few simple rules to optimise your mobile experience:

  •     Promotional banners are clear, concise and all text is readable
  •     Content is particularly friendly for consumption on mobile devices (100-150 words)
  •     Mobile banners get updated at the same time as the desktop banners
  •     The mobile menu is optimised with custom mobile menu links
  •     Customers can easily navigate to your top brands, categories and offers from the home page
  •     Custom content pages are mobile responsive and linked to the mobile version
  •     Create sub-categories for Christmas-themed items (decorations, gift-wrapping, etc.)
2 – Increase Sales through Social Media

Social media is one of the best means to create a buzz during the Christmas season. According to GlobalWebIndex, around one-third of all online shoppers use social media in their purchasing process. It not only gives you the chance to advertise your goods but also presents the opportunity to answer customer questions, receive feedback and tap into industry-relevant trends.

Segment your customers into target groups and focus on the ones with the highest customer retention. Let them know what’s available, but also promote things like delivery offerings or anything else to differentiate from your competition. Don’t just offer your products on every social media platform. Instead, try to create a shopping experience that is perfectly tailored to the corresponding platform.

Don’t underestimate the power of video. Studies have shown that video helps your customers make buying decisions. Having a video on landing pages can boost conversions by as much as 80%. That’s why well-executed video content presents a great way to enhance your sales in the run-up to Christmas. Therefore, Instagram is a good choice to acquire new customers if you have great photo or video content. Expand your organic reach by using hashtags, CTAs, Instagram stories, IGTV and by engaging with your audience.

If customer service is an important aspect of your business, Facebook is your go-to option. For example, you can use Messenger to deliver outstanding customer service. To get the best Facebook marketing results, start building a community around your business and make sure to engage with them, as you increase your follower base.

3. Provide Gift Guides and Product Bundles
An effective way of increasing sales is by simply combining several related items and branding them as a gift set or bundle. An example could be combining a camera with a tripod, additional battery, memory card and a case and sell it as “Influencer Starting Package”. Overall, product bundles give buyers the immediate impression that they are getting increased value, making them much more likely to purchase and will increase your average shopping basket size.

During the holiday season, your customers not only buy products for themselves but gifts for their loved ones. Gift guides allow customers, especially first-time customers, to find you. A gift guide not only highlights products and deals, but it can also give a sense of direction for unexperienced gift shoppers. Let them know why your product is the one they want to buy and outline details and discounts. Create different gift guides for your different product and customer segments.

FINDOLOGIC Merchandising empowers you to promote your Christmas gift ideas to users who are already looking for similar products. In this case, the shop promotes engraved Champagne bottles for customers searching for Champagne.

4. Prevent Shopping Cart Abandonment

There can be different reasons why potential buyers change their minds and abandon their shopping carts. The reasons can be both subjective and objective. The objective reasons are the ones you will need to deal with. Online shoppers quickly lose interest if there are too many payment and shipping information fields to fill on a checkout page. Now, while you can’t avoid it entirely, one way to reduce it is by testing the usability and overall checkout experience on your website. Ensure that it can handle more than enough transactions without becoming faulty or slow. Allow your customers to save their profile and shipping information to eliminate the need to fill out their contact information for future purchases. Offer a guest checkout option, as opposed to making it compulsory that a customer registers for an account. You can increase conversions by as much as 45%. ‘One-click’ buying enables customers to purchase items with a single click, with the customer’s payment information stored in a secure mobile wallet. Let your customers check out using Apple Pay, Android Pay, Google Wallet, MasterPass, Visa Checkout and/or PayPal. With all these options they are far less likely to abandon their cart. Another way to bring back your abandoning visitors is to leverage exit-intent technology. What is exit-intent technology? This is the window that appears at the moment a user is about to leave the website. The popup window comes up with another useful offer to prevent abandoning users.

5 – Plan your Marketing Activites for Christmas upfront

For online retailers, the time is now to get your plans together for the final few weeks in 2019. According to Google Trends, the search term ‘Christmas Gift Ideas’ sees a significant increase from September all the way through to 25 December.

A great first step is to create a calendar with what assets and content you want to share and when. Run the numbers to figure out how much of a discount you can offer your customers to ensure that you’re still making a profit. Create all your graphics for social media, email and your homepage so you can automate your marketing activities ahead of time to make your life easier and less stressful. Use tools like Hubspot, Buffer or Mailchimp for marketing automation. 

Content is an excellent way to enhance your site from an SEO perspective. Create blog posts aimed at targeting specific keywords. This will give your website a better chance of appearing higher in search results, while also providing shoppers with information that can shape their purchasing decisions. Have you considered what will shoppers be interested in reading about in the run-up to Christmas? Place yourself in the shoes of the shopper and deliver insightful content that is relevant to them.

 

6. Provide fast & free Shipping Service

Delivery options, particularly around the holiday period, can tip the scales when it comes to deciding whether to purchase or cancel an order. According to a study conducted by SAP in the Netherlands, 55% of the participants would abandon a purchase due to high delivery costs and 25% mentioned long delivery times as a reason for abandonment.

Therefore, you should be offering a range of competitive and flexible delivery options. Ensure you offer an Express Delivery Service for customers who want peace of mind knowing that their purchase will arrive in time. Also be clear about last-minute delivery dates, perhaps by including something on your site that tells the customer exactly how many days they have left for guaranteed Christmas delivery. Why not put a countdown timer on your site to increase the sense of urgency and encourage people to purchase?

 

Gregor ist der Digital Marketing Specialist bei Findologic. Er sorgt für die Inbound-Leadgenerierung im Marketing um das Wachstum eines einzigartigen Produktes rund um Such- und Navigationstechnologie voranzutreiben.

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