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Showing posts from April, 2017

Is free shipping a big lie?

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One of the first lessons learned about e-commerce is that consumers are not willing at all to pay for receiving the products they buy. Free shipments are one of the reasons why consumers decide to stay with one e-commerce firm and not another one of the causes that explain the success of one company over another. Consumers have begun to demand that the things they receive are received for free and have made shipments one of the key pieces of the e-commerce puzzle. In part, it has been the fault of the e-commerce companies themselves that, from the beginning, have used the resource of receiving product at the door of the house at no cost as one of the great marketing elements. Although consumers have taken for granted that shipments should always be free of charge and that brands should not charge them for any reason, the truth is that (and it is actually logical) shipments are never free. Making things come from the company that is selling them to the door of our house has

What is the profile of the users who return their purchases?

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Any user who makes an online purchase is assisted by the right of desist. This right covers, in principle, all consumers of eCommerce and gives them the option to return the purchased product and obtain a refund of the money within 14 days after receiving the product. This deadline can be extended, and in most cases, suppliers give up to 30 days of margin for this. Others even reach 100. The merchant is not only obligated to offer the money back, but to ensure this right is a very favored point facing the customers. The vast majority of users make good use of this option, but what about those who discard by default and take advantage of this possibility? So, we have three stereotypes of buyers who "give back too much" and from whom all eCommerce tries to flee: The wardrobe buyer. Why buy clothes if you can borrow? Clothing or any other object. Let's take the example of an appliance. A major sporting event is coming up as the World Cup and television is t

Corporate communication: letting the consumer take control

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Technological democratization has changed the order of factors and, now, that brand that does not attend in a personalized way to its client, is condemned to ostracism. If you want to have a powerful brand, what you need to do is to tell stories and let the consumer take control. A new dictatorship rules in corporate communication, whose messages has the virtue (or defect) of being preached in 140 characters. Not one more. This is an effect of the great revolution that has taken place in recent years, from broadcasters or traditional media (TV, radio, press) to the broadband empire or the digital environment. Yes, the world has changed and companies must adapt to a reality where the consumer, today, is the absolute protagonist; which means that if a company wants good numbers, it requires incorporating communication strategies 3.0 (Social Video, E-Commerce, Augmented Reality?), that goes beyond social networks and that revolve around the existence of content as an element

Ecommerce is completely changing our consumption schedules

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Internet does not have a schedule: everything is open 24 hours a day during all days of the week, whether it is a holiday, or at night or an hour too early in the morning. There is not a moment of rest and there are no moments when you can close for vacations. The Internet is an environment that is always open, always available and where things are done when you feel like it or when you feel you need it. And this has changed the dynamics of access to information, relationships and, of course, consumption. The network has eliminated the opening hours and has made the stores have become an always active and always open element. Ecommerce does not have schedules and consumers can buy their products at any time. And this has already had an impact on what is done on a recurring basis and the customs of consumers. Consumers no longer buy with store hours. Shopping has spread throughout the day and, especially, at night. The most salient finding of the study on buying habits and th

Capital sins in the information of the online stores and how to solve them

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The lack of information or provide contradictory documentation on shipping costs or exceptions that are not admissible to the right of withdrawal are just some of the most common faults that can be found when buying online.  Information not available or contradictory about the shipping costs. Often online retailers are missing information on shipping options. In many cases users find that the expenses indicated previously do not match the calculated actual expenses of the final shipment. It should be added to this situation that information on shipping costs is often incomplete: not all countries to which the products are supplied are listed, missing details and weights of the product groups and have not been registered possible reimbursement expenses that may arise. How to solve it? Before the customer places a product in the shopping list, he must be able to calculate the shipping costs, including additional costs, such as a shipment per carrier. If the shipping c

Essential keys to creating an online store where consumers want to buy (part 2)

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Make buying online a differential experience to buy in store A few years ago, all that mattered when buying online was that the price offered by the products was lower than that of the physical stores. Consumers based their interest in the online market in the fact that what they were going to find would be cheaper than what they found in stores as always. The price continues to be a differential element to buy on the internet, but it is not the only one that matters and is not the only one that pushes the consumer to the arms of the network. Online stores have to create a unique, quality experience that sets them apart from physical stores to attract consumers' attention. Let's follow the example of online furniture stores. How can you create a completely differentiating experience that makes consumers come to the network to get the products? Brands can draw on many elements that can create a potential for purchases that is even superior to that of physical stores.

Clear and detailed product information, crucial for consumers when it comes to buying online

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When a consumer is looking for a particular product over the Internet, what is it that takes you to click on the "buy" button? Is it a low price? Very positive ratings? Product images and videos? Detailed information about it? In a context in which the buyer is increasingly demanding, and actively seeks to compare different items to find the one that offers the best value for money, all these factors are decisive. But according to a new Salsify report, detailed and correct information outweighs all others. It is specified that 90% of consumers already buy online and that almost all (88%) expect the information they find about the product to be rigorous, complete and varied before making a decision about the purchase. Specifically, and as we said before, a good description is the most important when deciding whether to buy or not, over other issues - also key - as the reviews or the price that are second and third place. As Salsify explains, "Consumers are

Keys To A Successful Digital Marketing Strategy (part 3)

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Final part of this series! Hope you aren't missing anything!  - Gamification: Create web applications that massify your message with "entertaining games or apps" that will give your customers a long stay, offer them "prizes" and virtual credits that motivate them to stay in your site longer and recommend your product. - SEO: (Search Engine Optimization):  It is a process that seeks to position your websites in certain phrases or search criteria in engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. Investigate new phrases or words that make a trend with Keyword research with Google Keywords Tools and optimize all your landing pages with keywords that describe 100% your product and offers direct contact forms (it will streamline the sales process -conversion and will serve as a meeting point for new visitors). - Alternative channels: Guidance in web directories or specialized groups. It also uses extra strategies such as: Purchase Coupons, exchange purchase bon

What to take into account to win over mobile consumers

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The boom of mobile devices has made the Internet users stop using their computers - and therefore the desktop - as the only entry point to information and consumption. Their smartphones and tablets have been erected as the space they get when they want to see a movie, to read those news that interests them in a media, publish a status update on their social network and, of course, search the product they want to buy or about which they are looking for data. M-commerce has become an increasingly common reality and consumers are more comfortable. Do not ignore the power of an app When thinking about m-commerce, many are the elements that are open to debate and of which brands have to make decisions. One of them is to establish if the brand stays only with the mobile version of its e-commerce website or if it also creates a mobile application that offers direct access to products and services without going through the web. It may seem that once you have a mobile access, t

Dealing with Negative Reviews on Amazon

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Bad product reviews are the bane of any seller. You probably worked hard to get your order out, and yet you received a negative review, which talks unfavourably about your product. This will enrage any seller out there. Ratings that are 1-star can drag down your product’s average rating unless it already has a solid base of reviews. But even if there are already a lot of good ratings for your product, 88 percent of buyers specifically check the negative reviews to get an idea what issues could potentially arise with the product. This way, bad reviews can directly lead to a drop in sales. As a seller, you naturally want to avoid this and wonder: What should I do about unfavourable reviews? What can I do anyway? nobody likes these The first thing that you should do is to not panic, on seeing that you have received a negative review. You must realise that if you are in this game for the long haul you will have to deal with this on a nearly regular basis. So, buckle up and ta

What leads consumers to decide whether to buy online or offline?

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The reasons are very similar in both cases: savings, variety, comfort and experience The current consumer is multichannel, and is willing to buy through all kinds of ways: from the traditional store to the computer, from the mobile app to social networks. What he wants, however, is to be able to decide at any time and place what channel he wants to use on that occasion to get the desired product. But what leads you to opt for ecommerce or, conversely, to go to the store? A new GfK survey of more than 23,000 buyers from all five continents reveals that the motivations for choosing one option or another are actually very similar. One of the main reasons that consumers are betting on online shopping is the possibility of saving money, since through the Internet it is possible to compare and access a large number of retailers, and also to those who propose real bargains. In fact, the economic saving is one of the main factors that pushes to buy online, and that was considere