It seems that digital is high on the agenda for many with a number of big retailers bolstering up their investment in the online space. This will now become a pivotal time for the industry in Australia as digital will now need to live up to its expectations.
However for organisations embarking on digital a build it and they will come mentality will probably lead to less than effective outcomes. So what is a marketer to do? Start by understanding some of the critical success factors for online retailing – that’s what. Of course whilst critical success factors will differ greatly amongst industries, this article attempts to get you thinking about some of the big issues.

Online Value Proposition
As the online space becomes more saturated, consumers will have a plethora of choice. So what is going to set your online store and experience apart? Many organisations simply decide to replicate their offsite experience without adding value to consumers. Defining an online value proposition/s enables your organisation to determine how you will differentiate your online offering to deliver something of value to your audience/s that they cannot get elsewhere. This is what is going to drive users back again and again to your site. Refer to Dave Chaffey’s article which covers 6 C’s and 7 Ps to help define your online value proposition

Tackle the barriers head on
What are the key factors that will stop consumers from purchasing from you online? That’s the question you need to be asking yourself. For traditional bricks and mortar stores in an industry like clothing or footwear, consumers have the ability to view, touch and try the potential product but online this is simply not possible. So how are you going to reassure consumers that the decision they are making is the right one? Detailed product descriptions and interactive imagery displaying the product from various angles are key as is a strong return policy or product guarantee. All of these elements will help to minimise the obstacles to purchase.

Trust
Building consumer trust online is important even if you are a large brand. How many times have you as a consumer been ready to confirm your order only to find that there are added booking fees, delivery costs or some other surcharge? Hiding details such as these are perceived as deceptive and can devalue any positive experience the consumer has had until that point thus it is better to be un-front with your customers from the outset.
If you are a new brand in the market, trust is even more important to position your organisation as a reputable online brand. Consumers are still wary of online scam sites and they want assurance that they will not be deceived, and get what they paid for. As a result your site needs to demonstrate it is the real deal – make contact numbers, address and email details prominent, clearly display your privacy policy, ensure your booking process is contained within a secure site, and highlight any accreditation or certification needed to operate in the industry – all of these help to build confidence that your site is credible.

Defining Moments
Users will come to your site for a variety of reasons but regardless of their purpose, there are some core site functions they will interact with. Search is one of those functions which I would class as a defining moment because if I can’t find what I am looking for, I am out of here, with little chance of return. Defining moments however go beyond search, thus it is important for online retailers to ask – what are our sites defining moments and then invest in them. Invest in research prior to build, test the results and test some more – user behaviour can change overtime as can expectations thus continual optimisation is key. If your site can’t perform it’s basic core functions, consumers will doubt it’s ability to live up to its promises.

Fulfilment
A great online experience can quickly be undone with poor fulfilment, much of which stems from ineffective management of consumer expectations. Amazon.com is an example of a brand who manages its consumer’s expectations, enabling them to choose their delivery timeframes and also to track deliveries. A users experience goes beyond a site and strong fulfilment is what will keep consumers coming back to your site. Therefore organisations must ensure robust processes for product or service delivery have been put in place to deliver on the expectations set within the purchase process.

Online & Offline Integration
Some brands have made the mistake of running their online and offline strategies in complete silo, making it difficult for consumers to switch between channels during the purchase process. If a consumer wishes to reserve the item online to pick it up in store, then consider how you can make this process as seamless as possible. If the consumer purchases an item online and returns it instore allow them to do so. Regardless of your online strategy consumers will see your organisation as 1 brand – not different channels thus integrating the 2 into 1 seamless experience should be the ultimate goal.

© Digital Marketing Lab Blog

The travel industry is often said to be ahead of the digital curve, and is one of the most lucrative online categories in Australia. So it is somewhat surprising to see that the travel industry is yet to truly innovate in the consumer engagement arena – particularly when it comes to site functionality.

Whilst I have held this belief for a while, it was interesting to see this validated in a recent article on eyefortravel.com which stated that the travel industry has some way to go in order to compete with ‘best in breed’ companies in the website engagement category. Whilst this was a European study I definitely believe this rings true for the Australian market.

The top tier players WebJet and Wotif and other market leaders such as Expedia have to date partly relied on an unsaturated landscape, strong acquisition strategies and consumer appetite to purchase travel online to drive online revenues. So whilst this approach is proving very successful in the current environment, increased competition could turn the industry in Australia on its head. Thus in a sector where the customer base is particularly promiscuous – switching brands for a better deal, a lack of innovation to engage consumers could be commercial suicide.

So where is the industry lacking?

Whilst the travel industry was quick to embrace collaboration tools such as UGC, many of the large players both locally and globally have failed to push the boundaries and differentiate in its use of this content.

Further to this, most sites are not providing the content and tools to support travellers beyond the booking process. Many sites do provide a lot of solid product content, however when it comes to content that supports preliminary decision making for travel – it never goes beyond basic destination information – thus where is the differentiation?

Web 2.0 has enabled key industries to innovate in very engaging ways. Mydeco.com is just one example of how one player in the home renovations / furnishings industry has bought together a large range of products and combined it with inspiring ideas, 3D design tools and a plethora of community functionality. This provides DIY lovers with complete support throughout the renovation process and several reasons to revisit the mydeco site on an ongoing basis. Whilst the fashion industry has seen the rise of many social fashion sharing sites and community based applications. One such example is Kaboodle.com which enables shoppers to share and discuss the latest fashion along with finding the best prices online.

So what has this got to do with the travel industry right? Travel has one important ingredient that both the home renovations and fashion industry has – consumer passion. Consumers are passionate about discussing their travel experiences and planning their next getaway – but to date I am yet to see leading travel retailers and aggregators in Australia really tap into this and use it to improve brand engagement.

Thus I ultimately believe the travel industry must now push beyond reviews and ratings and differentiate their site through innovative content and tools to provide a truly engaging experience and develop deeper relationships with their consumers.

Those that do could prosper the most in the Australian market in the coming years.

© Digital Marketing Lab Blog