Global online population reaches 3bn: report

This may come as a surprise, but apparently the internet is proving to be remarkably popular.

According to the most recent calculations more than 3bn people now have access to the internet, which equates to around 42% of the global population.

If you compare the online population in 2014 to that in 2000 then you see that developing regions have seen the sharpest growth, which obviously stands to reason.

For example, Africa’s growth rate is a whopping 6,498% compared to 3,303% in the Middle East and 1,672 in Latin America.

But Asia is way ahead in terms of total numbers with 1.38bn internet users compared to 582m in Europe.

So it’s easy to see why APAC, and China in particular, is an attractive target for ecommerce brands.

Thankfully Econsultancy is on-hand to help any businesses that are planning to embark on a global expansion plan, with guides that shed light on the digital landscape in major nations.

Our most recent publication is the State of Ecommerce in China Guide, produced in partnership with Hybris.

It includes insights from key ecommerce executives, as well as daily practitioners, to see where the Chinese online retail ecosystem stands today and where it is going.

The report explores the following key questions:

• What is the current state of ecommerce in China?
• How are domestic and international players approaching ecommerce and how successful are they?
• What is the impact of mobile and social?
• What are the barriers to a successful ecommerce strategy?

You can also find useful information on the Chinese market in our posts on the lure of Alibaba’s Tmall and a guide to Chinese search engines.

South-East Asia

For those interested in APAC nations other than China we also have a State of Ecommerce in South-East Asia Report.

The 60-page publication contains everything you need to know about the ecommerce market in South-East Asia, including sections on consumer behaviour and mobile commerce, as well as challenges, opportunities and B2C/B2B comparisons.

Australia and New Zealand

Hoping to expand Down Under? Our State of Ecommerce in Australia and New Zealand Report can help.

The 46-page report is based on a survey of marketers and interviews with senior executives across a range of business sectors.

Russia

It’s perhaps not the best time to think about tackling the Russian market, but if you are then we have a report that will come in useful.

The Digital Landscape in Russia Report includes sections on:

• Market trends and developments.
• Third-party statistics.
• Opportunities and considerations for marketers and businesses keen to invest in the Russian market.
• An overview of the key internet players in Russia.
• Useful resources.

Marketing in the 'stream'

Earlier this year Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snapchat, gave a keynote address where he talked about three characteristics of the era we’re living in: internet everywhere, fast and easy media creation and ephemerality.

Snapchat is particularly known for the third of those, of course; the evaporating selfie, capturing a ‘moment of me, now’ has become an incredibly popular form of self-expression.

But this seems to be part of a broader shift, particularly in the young, to a world of socially-curated, or auto-discovered, feeds and streams which exist across fragmented devices and media.

So whilst ‘broadcast media’ remains robust, as marketers we will increasingly need to learn how to become part of these feeds, and how to fit into, rather than disrupt, the stream.

On the consumer side, recent research shows high levels of parallel media consumption, 'meerkat-ing', where we flick attention between screens.

Ofcom data shows that UK adults squeeze over eleven hours’ worth of communications and media activity into less than nine hours.

Almost every adult (99%) recorded conducting two or more media activities at the same time at some point during the week with 16-24yr olds spending as much time on text communications as watching TV or films on a TV set.

Nielsen data shows that social media is becoming more significant in driving which TV programs we watch. Likewise, data from Carat shows that 20% of people say that their friends and family have had a big influence on their TV viewing compared to only 5% in 2010.

57% of people are second screening in some way while watching linear TV, and 33% are commenting on Facebook or Twitter about what they are watching during the show.

Media owners are evolving to provide content and experiences to fuel the consumers’ feeds. It is now quite commonplace for news providers to give live coverage of significant events as they unfold:

The Telegraph’s Oscar Pistorius coverage, updated every 90 seconds, a recent example. The Guardian’s Politics Live blog, or the FT’s ‘Fast’ service, are almost content-as-a-stream.

Apps like Buzzfeed, Vine, Instagram, Foursquare are all becoming increasingly stream-like with constant updates and notifications. User interfaces are evolving to fit the stream: Twitter, for example, has added images, video, web cards (site previews), cards (for data capture), and soon commerce, as ‘tappable’ extensions to the stream experience.

Snapchat’s Story proposition “doesn’t just cover a live event; it throws a viewer into the experience itself.”

Google’s AdWords adverts based on search queries have, arguably, been so successful because they fit into the stream; they slip easily and usefully into the flow of the task the user is performing.

Google’s newly announced Physical Web project has the tagline ‘walk up and use anything’ where “everything should be just a tap away.” The whole excitement around native advertising could also be seen as an attempt to find advertising formats and experiences that go with the flow of the user experience rather than interrupt it.

And on the brand side of the equation we are seeing the rise of agile marketing. This is a topic I have written about before and there are many examples of brands and their agencies reconfiguring their processes, team structures and operating methods to be more reactive to marketing and advertising opportunities as they arise.

There has been increased investment in content marketing and owned media recently. But the real skill will be how effectively marketing teams can use the assets they have to tap into the relevant streams in an appropriate and relevant way.

Currently this is particularly true for reaching younger consumers but looks likely to become increasingly main…stream.

7 Best-In-Class Content Marketing Characteristics To Succeed

Want to improve your content marketing? Here are 7 best-in-class content marketing tactics based on research to help you.

The post 7 Best-In-Class Content Marketing Characteristics To Succeed appeared first on Heidi Cohen.

There’s no such thing as one right price in retail

We live in a constantly changing market, why should your prices be static?

That title’s kind of a big statement, but it’s true. Customers face an array of prices for identical items from store to store. But why?

Well, some stores are trying to beat competitors’ prices, and others are raising prices based on an increase in demand.

Not only that, but no two retailers offer the same value through shipping, customer experience, and other services.

By beefing up their prices to match demand, retailers are maximizing their profit and fueling competition in the market.

Online retailers can raise and lower their prices strategically through a pricing strategy known as dynamic pricing. 

 

A smooth pricing pattern

Dynamic pricing allows retailers to set flexible prices based on current market demand. It gives retailers the power to change their prices as a response to external market factors, such as seasonality or competitors’ prices. 

Take ugly Christmas sweaters, for example. This time of year is prime time for them, and you know retailers like Urban Outfitters are going to be advertising the ugliest sweaters you can ironically wear at your next party. 

Here’s the downside, though. You’re not the only person who has ugly Christmas sweaters on their mind this holiday season.

Competitors are going to jack the price up as more and more people begin viewing their sweater collection on their website, and they know they’re going to make a killing off of the revenue. 

Now, this is merely a hypothetical example, but it holds a good point about dynamic pricing. If you know a product is getting a high volume of impressions, you can use dynamic pricing to increase the price!

If you were to visit a Wal-Mart, on the other hand, you would see plenty of sweaters like Urban Outfitters’, but probably at different price points.

But why? Well, Walmart’s lower prices are a tactic in their loss leader strategy -- one that Urban Outfitters does not engage in. This difference in pricing strategies between retailers can result in different prices across the market.

While they can both be successful in their own right, the right price for one retailer at any given time is not the same for another.

The variety in prices

Why do retailers carry nearly identical products at different prices? Well, they can differentiate their businesses through services that justify a premium, like fast shipping.

Not all retailers do this, though. Many take a low-price approach (like Walmart). But how does Walmart make sure it has the lowest prices? The answer comes from dynamic pricing once again. 

Retailers as large as Wal-Mart scan the competitive landscape numerous times a day to measure their competitors’ prices. Take Amazon, for example. Amazon has become a poster child for dynamic pricing, changing its products’ prices as often as every 10-15 minutes. 

Amazon’s constant reduction in prices kill its profits, but makes it very popular amongst showroomers (shoppers who visit a store to see a product, but ultimately purchase it online at a less expensive price).

Approximately 57% of consumers use Amazon as their showrooming benchmark of choice.

Don’t disregard discounts

I’ll be the first to tell you, if you’re trying to keep up with Amazon using dynamic pricing, you’re not going to have a good time (or a sustainable margin).

Luckily, there are other ways you can stay competitive without engaging in price warfare. By supplementing a dynamic pricing strategy with discounts and promo codes, you can have yourself quite the dynamic duo. 

Promo codes and discounts are another reason why there is no right price in retail. Your price may appear the same as a competitor’s at face value, but adding discounts and promo codes will give you a competitive edge.

Offering discounts can also drive traffic to your website, where you can upsell customers to make up for any lost profit that may come from the discount.

Remember, never upsell an item worth more than 60% of the original product value.

How online retailers can keep up

Checking for price changes across the web can be tedious, and leaves an ample amount of room for error. Not everyone has the internal resources of Amazon or WalMart, but many do have access to repricing software.

Repricing tools can help retailers respond to price changes in real time. There are plenty of changes in the market, but they are easy to respond to when your shop is online. Retailers that use repricing software see a 22% increase in revenue on average.

The ability to reprice and effectively improve conversions is proof that there will never be a right price in the world of retail. The market is constantly changing, and one way to stay on top of these changes is adopting a dynamic pricing strategy.

The market can be unpredictable and overwhelming at times, so make sure your prices are prepared for anything. 

How else can retailers keep up with a constantly changing market?

Contributing Writer: Brian Smyth

Image credit: Flickr

Apple: the customer journey from search to checkout

In which we take a look at the experience of searching for a product, clicking-through to an ecommerce store and purchasing the item, all from a customer’s point of view.

Much like previous investigations on UK retailers John Lewis and Halfords this explores the customer journey in a nutshell, looking at visibility, relevancy, ease-of-use and speed of experience.

This time however we’ll be looking at a retailer through its US search results and ecommerce store. In this edition: Apple.

Search

Apple has absolutely no problem dominating organic listings in the SERP for its various products and to be absolutely 100% confident in its dominance, Apple is a constant presence in the paid-for listings.

Searching purely for the generic ‘iPhone’ term serves up the above ad from Apple, replete with subheadings that all lead to their relevant pages. ‘Buy Now’ indeed leads to a product landing page, and ‘Cameras’ leads to a page detailing the phone’s camera functionality.

When specifying a model, by searching for ‘iPhone 6’, the ad that appears is minimalist to say the least.

“Bigger than bigger”. It’s quite the assumption that this will be enough to encourage click-throughs. “Learn more” however clearly tells unsure searchers they will be able to find out more information on the phone via this link, and the retention of the ‘Buy Now’ link also clarifies that you can buy one here too.

Apple can also be confident in the strength of its own brand that searchers will naturally gravitate towards its own ad. Which means that other retailers bidding for the same term have to work a lot harder in their ad copy.

As you can see below, Best Buy has gone all out with day-specific Cyber Monday messaging, Free shipping information and the offer of store pickup.

When it comes to refining the search to ‘iPhone 6 Plus’, Apple doesn’t bother running a PPC ad at all.

If you do some keyword analysis in Google AdWords you’ll see the average monthly searches for ‘iPhone 6’ and ‘iPhone 6 Plus’…

With 5.8m searches a month less for ‘iPhone 6 Plus’, it’s clear why Apple doesn’t bother.

Landing page

For the search term ‘iPhone 6’ a searcher will click through to a relevant landing page, full of product information for the phone.

It’s a beautiful, responsive page, absolutely full of massive images and clearly presented technical information. The price of the phone and link to compare models appears at the bottom of the page, however a blue ‘buy now’ button remains at the top right of the screen as you scroll down.

It’s a very persuasive page that either takes a customer on a journey to learn more about the product without a hard sell, or for the already knowledgeable there is quick and easy access to buy it straight away.

For the search term ‘iPhone’ a searcher can click straight through to the product page from a ‘Buy Now’ link in the ad.

It’s a gorgeous product page that’s a pleasure to navigate. As you click your way through the numbered options in order, the image alters accordingly.

As this is a product with many variations as well as options for different carriers, I thought this would be an understandably detailed and possibly complicated page. It’s not. It flows really smoothly, in a logical and simple to understand way.

Once everything’s completed, a final total appears at the bottom along with a green ‘select’ button. You’ll notice the wording avoids the phrase ‘buy it now’, again Apple takes the soft, subtle approach.

This is also where Apple states its free shipping and pickup services. If there’s one criticism about the page, it’s the small text of the free shopping message at the top of the page. 

It’s on the next page, where you can add accessories to your phone where you can ‘add to cart.

All of the accessories and insurance plans are automatically checked ‘none’ so you don’t have to worry about any nasty surprises in the checkout. If you need assistance, there is also a live chat tool. 

Cart and checkout 

Cart is straightforward and distraction free, with clear buttons to ‘continue shopping’ and ‘check out’.

Next you’ll see that a guest checkout is in full effect. 

The page is very clear page with an option to sign-in if returning. There’s no forced registration, as creating an Apple ID is presented as an option.

Forcing users to register their details before they checkout is an unfortunate way to lower your conversion rate. Once a customer is ready to buy, they don’t want to have to fill out pages and pages of personal details and create an account before they can make a purchase.

Especially as I’m currently looking at this experience on Cyber Monday (a peak day of pre-Christmas online sales), a faster checkout is necessary for customer satisfaction.

The following personal details form has autofill turned off, which would have saved a little time, however the beauty of the final page in the checkout is that it’s all done on a single screen.

Single page checkouts not only provide an uplift conversion, but also improves the experience for mobile users.

In conclusion…

Apple’s paid search strategy is faultless, appearing exactly where it should be in the listings and providing relevant landing pages, optimised for the user depending on their search term. 

The ecommerce experience is a joy, with progression fluid, logical and best of all quick. It also works for multiple devices and screen sizes. Without sounding too gushing, this is a masterclass in providing a brilliant customer journey.

How AO.com owned Black Friday with agile marketing

We like agile marketing here at Econsultancy. It's a sign that an organisation has the right setup, as it can react quickly and take advantage of situations. 

It's also often very clever and / or amusing. 

Here's another example from Black Friday. Seeing that rivals' sites were suffering under unexpected levels of traffic, AO.com saw an opportunity. 

As these stats show, Argos, John Lewis and Curry's all experienced higher then expected traffic levels.  

Compared to Black Friday 2013, the three retailers experienced 100% more traffic than this time last year, 162% more for Currys. 

Still, this wasn't AO.com's problem and, since it sells many of the same electrical products as these retailers, it decided to take advantage with some PPC ads. 

So, while the Argos site looked like this...

AO.com put up this ad: 

When John Lewis couldn't hold up, AO.com did the same: 

The results? 

• A 43% increase in paid search CTR. 
• 136% increase in impressions. 
• A 250% increase in clicks on PPC ads. 

According to Kobi Thompson, Head of Acquisition at ao.com:

Black Friday is bigger than ever in the UK this year, and it seems like none of our competitors anticipated it like we did. We made sure that Black Friday on ao.com went down without a hitch and our hard work paid off.  

Thanks to the lightning quick reactions of our acquisition team we managed to take the traffic that our competitors were forced to turn away or put into queues and turn that traffic into sales. 

For more on PPC, see our comprehensive Paid Search Best Practice Guide. 

Content Marketing Is A Strategic Solution To A Strategic Problem

One of the biggest challenges I see today with content marketing is that it is largely a tactical solution to a tactical problem. Many so-called approaches to content marketing are merely just content. Or worse, they are campaigns. An e-book is not content marketing. A landing page with content on it is not content marketing. A YouTube video of your advertising campaign is not content marketing. Content marketing is not going away. But it needs to become institutionalized and understood as a strategic approach to marketing across the enterprise landscape. Consider the facts that content marketing is the top priority for many [...]

The post Content Marketing Is A Strategic Solution To A Strategic Problem appeared first on B2B Marketing Insider.