• 11
    th
    March, 2010

    The e-Retail opportunity in Europe

    A new report just out from Forrester Research highlights the opportunity for growth for online retail in Europe over the next 5 years. They predict that sales will increase by 11% per annum in the largest EU Nations.

    Prediction - Sales Increase in Largest EU Nations

    Forrester Research - Sales Increase in Largest EU Nations

    There is however a strong divide between countries in Northern and Southern Europe. The latter (eg. Spain and Italy) are expected to experience higher growth rates because adoption is much lower than the  50% or so of UK residents who purchase regularly online.

    Forrester predicts that multichannel, mobile and social media will all play key roles in future development of online retail so all ecommerce websites should have a strategy to exploit these areas.

    On a more local level, there was positive data this week from the British Retail Consortium that reported that internet and mail order sales were up by 15% in February in contrast to the weaker growth reported for January by the IMRG (just 5% for online sales). It seems that the cold weather persuaded many people to shop at home/work rather than brave the Hight Street.

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    5
    th
    March, 2010

    Unexpected Online User Behaviour

    A really interesting read is the Webcredible ‘10 Unexpected Onlne User Behaviours to Look out for’. Well worth taking a look at.

    Some highlights of this report are…..

    - Core messaging shouldn’t be wrapped up in complex graphics as people automatically see this as an advertising banner which they may ignore.

    - User testing is vital because Calls To Action/Links may not be as easily accessible on the page as we think they are.

    - People don’t actually mind scrolling down pages  (even though they say they don’t like doing this, in practice they’re not actually aware that they do it instinctively anyway).

    - As people read web pages differently to books or magazines - they scan rather than read content until they find what they need - so you should  reduce word count, highlight key words, use bullet points etc

    -  Webcredible’s research also reveals that people are actually prepared to click through more than 3 levels (contrary to what we’ve long been told) as long as they feel that they are making progress to their goal. It’s all about site flow…..

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    5
    th
    March, 2010

    Good & Bad News for Early eCommerce Sales

    Let’s get the bad news out of the way…… According to IMRG, online shopping growth hit a low of just 5% in January compared to January 2009. That must be put in the context of a very strong December and Xmas online shopping period and one reason given for lower growth was that Jan 2009 evidenced heavy discounting following a weak Xmas trading season when the recession started to take hold.

    Now for the good news…..Coremetrics has estimated that the average online spend in the first half of February (the run up to Valentine’s Day) was 65% higher than in the same period in 2010. That’s an impressive leap - from £90 to £150. Coremetrics say this is evidence that consumers are willing to spend once again with ecommerce websites.

    Average Online Spend Higher

    Average Online Spend Higher

    Given the above, who knows how this year will turn out? Having said that, we remain convinced that online is the best space to be in for retail growth and most experts continue to predict a healthy year overall for ecommerce.  So take heart and stay positive.

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    12
    th
    February, 2010

    To tweet or not to tweet?

    For online retailers thinking about whether to use Twitter or not, you will be interested to read an item on eConsultancy’s blog. It looks at a recent report by dotCommerce into Twitter and how it’s used by retailers and ecommerce websites.

    To tweet or not to tweet?

    To tweet or not to tweet?

    Apparently, just 26% of UK retailers use Twitter. Some of the best examples are ASOS, eSpares, Asda and Debenhams - so maybe these are Twitter accounts to follow if you’re thinking about leaping in yourselves.

    As we’ve said before, make sure you’re signed up for eConsultancy’s newsletters (free) in order to keep abreast on all things to do with ecommerce and digital marketing. Our other top recommendation is Internet Retailing who also have a free e-newsletter that tracks the ecommerce sector with specific comment on the leading ecommerce websites.

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    15
    th
    January, 2010

    eCommerce still has great growth potential

    We’re into the Christmas ecommerce statistics/reporting season. And the news is good in spite of the ongoing difficulties in the broader economy. Furthermore, if Xmas sales are a growth indicator, then ecommerce looks set to continue to break new records in 2010.

    According to IMRG, Xmas day online sales rose by 29% to £132 million and Boxing Day (when many sales kick in) delivered  £281 million in online orders.

    M&S and Ocado reported strong Xmas trading and John Lewis’ ecommerce website had an order every 10 seconds on Christmas Day. House of Fraser’s ecommerce site recorded sales up 91% in the run up to Xmas and Tesco Direct +50%. So it’s quite clear from these massive growth rates that ecommerce is still nowhere near maturity.

    It’s interesting to reflect that almost 50% of books are now sold online and that is a factor of the longevity in the market of online book retailers led by  Amazon. Most other retail sectors still have massive opportunity for growth.

    If you’re thinking of taking your business online or setting up a new ecommerce website then now may be the time to take that plunge. And you need look no further than Tiger for the feature rich, easy to set up and cost effective solution to getting online. We now have an annual discounted package (£180 per annum) as well as our basic £17.99 deal. Don’t delay…go to www.tigercommerce.co.uk to access your 7 Day Free Trial.

    Annual Discounted Package

    Annual Discounted Package

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    7
    th
    December, 2009

    Christmas insights for ecommerce websites

    In the final run up to Christmas, we thought it was worth rounding up some relevant insights for ecommerce website owners:

    - According to GSI Commerce a quarter of people are now willing to spend more than £1000 on a product online this year compared with just 12% in 2008. This underlines the rise in consumer confidence in online shopping.

    - GSI also report that consumers are not yet ready to purchase products via social networks such as Facebook (only 9% said they would be likely to do so). But don’t give up on social networks…….if we go back to our first point above, who would have said 10 years ago that 25% of consumers would be willing to spend more than £1000 online on any one purchase?

    - GSI say that email promotions are most likely to provoke shoppers to make an impulse purchase and that Free Shipping (we’ve talked about this on this blog many times before) is the most important factor in their purchase decision.

    Free Shipping As A Promotional Tool

    Free Shipping As A Promotional Tool

    - In a separate survey from BDO Seidman in the US, 55% of ecommerce website owners said that email promotions would be at the top of their list for Xmas marketing and Free shipping was the second most important marketing activity (just above search engine optimisation).

    - McAfee, the web security specialists, in an analysis of shopping cart abandonment (100m ecommerce visits were analysed) have found that on average there is a delay of nearly 34 hours between a consumer’s first visit to an ecommerce website and the time that they actually make a purchase. So have faith…..all those abandoned shopping carts may just turn into sales!

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    7
    th
    December, 2009

    PayPoint & Tiger Commerce go live with unique ecommerce solution

    If you haven’t heard already, Tiger Commerce and PayPoint have gone live with a unique end to end ecommerce solution. This is a ’shop and pay’ ecommerce package from one provider, PayPoint.net.

    The ’shop’ element is Tiger Commerce’s ecommerce website software provided under PayPoint branding. And the ‘pay’ element is any one of PayPoint.net’s 3 internet payment solutions (FastTrack, Lite and Professional). PayPoint is the first internet payment solutions provider to offer both the shop platform and the payment solution in one package and at an excellent price point (currently from £25/month).

    Here at Tiger we are really excited about the opportunity and we believe that this will be a beneficial partnership for both ourselves and PayPoint. Go to Paypoint for full information of their new eCom solutions.

    New eCom Solutions

    New eCom Solutions

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    1
    st
    December, 2009

    Xmas outlook for online retailers still good in spite of postal strikes

    The latest data from IMRG (e-retail stats) shows that e-retail was affected by the Royal Mail strikes in October, but now that the threat of further strikes has subsided, the build up to Xmas is expected to be strong for ecommerce websites.

    Online sales were still up 12% in October compared with the same month last year, but a strong start to the month gave way to much weaker sales towards the end as the strikes had an impact.

    The one sector that didn’t seem to be affected was Gifts - up 40% in October versus 2008. The IMRG put that down to earlier gift buying this year as consumers try to avoid the later rush to fill xmas stockings. More and more consumers seem convinced of the benefits of shopping online for the festive season.

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    30
    th
    November, 2009

    How to manage deliveries effectively

    The one thing that is out of the control of many ecommerce businesses is delivery. You can manage website usability and customer service, but if you use Royal Mail and/or couriers to deliver your orders, then it’s very difficult to control quality of service once the parcels have left your business.

    A recent Which? survey highlighted the issues concerned and noted that 7% of customers are unhappy with deliveries. Sadly, poor delivery service will most likely reflect on the ecommerce website that supplied the goods rather than the courier itself.

    Here are some tips to help you manage the quality of your delivery service:

    - Choose your courier company carefully, there’s lots of them out there and quality is variable. Our experience with ecommerce website clients is that they typically go through several until they find a good one. To avoid this, do your research, ask lots of questions and ensure that your choice deals with similar goods. Don’t just choose the cheapest!

    - Consider using two companies; one local (which can offer a cost-effective option) and one non local operator for nationwide deliveries. If you deliver overseas, you may need a third carrier!

    - At your checkout give clients the option to complete special instructions that indicate where a parcel can be left if there is noone in, for eg.  ‘leave with neighbour at no 17′ or ‘place behind coal bunker’. This will reduce the number of failed deliveries.

    Special Instructions

    Special Instructions

    - Offer delivery to a work address where there is always someone to receive a parcel.

    - If you sell high value goods then use a proof of delivery service although this will be more expensive.

    - If you have a customer complaining about delivery and this is valid, deal with it by refunding the delivery charge or offering a discount. Addressing customer issues effectively may mean this customer comes back to you. Think long term customer value……

    - If you use Royal Mail and don’t already have a back-up delivery service, think seriously about this for 2010 as more strikes seem to be on the cards.

    - Consider using Collect Plus which is operated by Home Delivery Network. This allows goods to be delivered to a local newsagent/general store (returns can also be handled via this network).

    Collect Plus

    Collect Plus

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    16
    th
    November, 2009

    M&S 1p shipping promotion

    Regular readers of this blog will know that we often stress the point that free shipping is a key sales driver for ecommerce websites.

    We were interested to see that M&S launched a 4 day promotion in November where shipping cost just 1p. Why go for 1p rather than free? Well, we think that possibly the clever marketers at M&S think that 1p will catch more attention than ‘Free’ as more and more ecommerce websites jump on that bandwagon in the run-up to Xmas. Amazon’s announcement to drop all delivery charges in the run-up to Xmas was expected and therefore maybe had less impact.

    So, maybe the message here for online retailers is that you might create a bigger impact by choosing an innovative way to communicate your free or almost free shipping promotion.

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