eCommerce Tips -- Part 2

Part 2 of eCommerce tips...  look for Part 3 coming out shortly.

Scott

1. Executive Management — typically you’ll find Executive Management has the misconception that once the site goes live the dollars will start rolling in immediately.  As we know this is absolutely ludicrous — the site needs to mature, have campaign dollars spent on it, let alone ensuring the search engines start indexing the site.  Make sure you are DAMN clear by always saying the site won’t generate a single sale for 6 months.  Start your conversations and end your conversations with this important point continuously.
2. Timelines — first, you won’t hit your original timeline.  Live with it.  And if you do, you’ve probably left something off which is critical.  Second, timelines should be built on quarters not months.. it will give you some leeway and is actually more accurate in the end.
3. Privacy and Security — you must make your site bullet proof… your customers data and personal information is critical.  If you’re not going to take the time and money to make your site safe against malicious or accidental incidents then you shouldn’t get into eCommerce.  Hire an eCommerce security and privacy consultant to put the processes and security protocols in place.  This is the most important development and process area when you develop your eCommerce site.
4. Currency — get a currency converter on the site so your customers can understand the true cost in their preferred currency.  Get the data from a company which updates currency rates during the day.  I like to bill in US dollars and collect the money in US dollars vs. the hassle of taking conversions later.  It doesn’t impact the customer as they pay the same on their credit card.  
5. Embargo countries — remember, the US and EU prohibit companies to do business with certain countries e.g. Iran.  So ensure your system is setup to reject these sales.  I’ve always kept the order data in the eCommerce system so I had a record of the failed transaction.  That data could come in handy one day.
6. Trigger on multiple purchases — got caught on this one once.  Someone pinged the site and made multiple independent purchases, paid for them with the same card and they all went through.  Of course the card was stolen and they got some free content.  Put a limit on multiple orders from the same card, address, etc. which can be done during a certain time period.  It will help eliminate another area of fraud.
7. Cross sell across the entire site.  “People also looked at these products”, “People purchased these products as well”, “Consider these companion products”…. are key on the site.  Merchandise the site aggressively.  Tip… if you’re using one of the big platforms, you’ll probably use an algorithm which will personalize these recommendations.  But it will take time for the algorithm to learn…so hard code some cross sell products on the site until it gets enough data.
8. Search engines — once you’re open for business, Google, Yahoo!, Bing, etc. will start sending down search bots to begin indexing the site.  Note… keep the content up to date, fresh and at the top of the site.  It will make it easier for indexing and will keep the bots happy.  Also, everyone focuses on Google but don’t forget to keep things simple for the other engines as well.
9. Shipping costs — free shipping is all the rage during the holiday buying season.  And certain free shipping promotions can help drive purchases as well.  When you’re building the system check that the rates for each shipper you use are accurate.  
10. Handling costs — wonder why you can “get 2 ShamWows for the price of 1”… just pay shipping and handling?  Because handling is another way to get profit.  Yea, you might need to have someone pack the stuff up and that costs you…but using handling costs for profit enhancement is a good idea.  I’m 50/50 on this practice.  It’s nice to have the extra profit, but I question whether it’s worth the possibility of pissing off a customer.   
11. Shippers — I like to use multiple shippers.  UPS, USPS and FEDX.  If overseas, DHL is a good choice.  As delivery methods, costs, time etc. are different, the variety provides your customers with choices.  But, that choice means your systems and logistics need to be setup to accommodate the different shippers.  Making labels, putting in a tracking number etc. should be integrated into your eCommerce logistics.  Speak to a logistics specialist.  And when looking at 3rd party software, see if this is an Out of the Box feature or if you have to buy additional software.
12. Distribution of product — when you start out your site, it might be easy to just have the mail kid pack up the stuff and send it out.  However, be ready to quickly put more resources into product distribution at any time if/when product sales increase.  By the way, make sure you look professional when you distribute your products.  Don’t throw them in a box without proper protection material (styrofoam peanuts, bubble wrap).  Show you’re environmentally responsible by using recycled eco-friendly materials  And don’t hand write the mailing label… print it out professionally.  Tips… include your latest catalog in the box, a thank you note, a coupon for future purchases, etc.  
13. Right products — its key to get the right ones on the site…that’s easier said then done.  It’s a test and learn process… so switch it around.  
14. Right price points — with anything else, getting the price at a point which maximizes profit while maintaining competitiveness will be key.  Set up a site scrap of competitors sites for pricing.  It can help you keep your prices competitive.
15. Consider credit card limits — if a customer can’t pay for it, they can’t buy it.  Credit card limits vary, but it’s easy to determine that the more expensive the item you’ll probably not have as many buyers.  And business credit cards usually have a limit of $5,000 for travel and expenses… Purchase Order Cards can be higher, but I’ve always relied on the $2,500 top end for business card purchases.  Anything above that on the site, will probably require an employee to get a purchase order.
16. Credit Cards — my view… accept as many types as possible.  MasterCard, Visa, Discover, American Express… if people have them, they use them.  The discount rate is always a big concern as its an expense… some sites don’t accept AMX for the high discount cost they charge.  Yes, it can be 100 basis points or more in cost, but I’ll take a bit less in profit to get a new customer any day.
17. Purchase orders — if you’re focused on businesses you should have the ability to purchase using a PO number.  This is going to require integration with your back end finance systems and isn’t a trivial development task.  
18. Tax consequences — for the love of God, charge tax.  It sounds like a no brainer, but I’ve seen sites which don’t do it.  For most products you must charge tax.  If you don’t charge YOU will pay the tax for your customers.  That usually means you’ll lose 5-8% profit.  Hook up the eCommerce tables to accurate tax tables.
19. Backup servers/systems — it sounds like a no brainer as well.  Keep it in mind when you setup your site on a 3rd party server provider.  Find out how the procedure works, what defines “an outage”, timing until the site comes back up, etc.
20. Get em in, get em out… I’m probably in the minority on this, but I like to get people on the site, have them find stuff quick, pay for it and then decide to leave or hang around after that.   If your on site metric is increasing and sales are decreasing it’s more than likely that your customers can’t find the product. Look to lower your on site time while increasing your sales at the same time.

eCommerce Tips - Part 1

eCommerce Tips… 

1. Check with and get educated on credit card and purchase order processing early in the game.  Depending upon the size of your commerce business, past security issues, technology, etc. will determine how complicated your approval process will be.
2. Get a complete and full list of requirements prior to ever talking to a vendor.  
3. Run pro-forma financials on the eCommemrce business… determine the revenue/cost expectations and where that break even point will be.
4. Have a “mini” commerce system built by the software vendors to really understand how everything works.
5. Go to AND sit down with a current company using the software to actually see how it works… it will help you determine the complexity of the software.
6. Build your product catalog early!  And I’d recommend you put NUMEROUS catalog managers on the task… better yet, farm the work out to a low cost center where you can get a ton of people working on it at a lower cost.  Trust me on this one… it will take a hell of lot longer than you think.
7. Simplicity is always better.  You can add and potentially make the store more complex later, but come out with a simple “buy and sell store.”
8. Go out of the box — everyone says their business is “different.” But I’ve seen that not to be the case.  Remember, the more tweaks you add to the system the more risk you have of a break, higher costs, etc.
9. Don’t overbuy — buy with the opportunity to grow.  You probably don’t need the tricked out CMS, tons of licenses, etc.  Buy small with the opportunity to grow big.
10. And for God’s sake don’t get caught up in the whole “package” sort of deals.  Understand exactly what you need and buy that.
11. Under promise the system functionality and sales - no matter what!
12. It will take 18 months to start to really see sales take off.  This isn’t a “turn on the facet” type of sales.  Many will expect the sales to role in on day 1.  Be sure to communicate and set expectations.
13. Outsource web services — I like Amazon Web Services (AWS)… they’ll keep your servers and the security aligned.
14. Put together the first 2 quarters eCommerce marketing plans… products, pricing, copy, promotions, etc.  Execute them closely, track the results and make changes quickly to improve results.
15. Have a professional writer manage the copy… and get someone experienced in direct response copywriting.  Keep them on a long term contract to ensure the text is consistent across the site.
16. Negotiate the software contract aggressively.  The margins on software are huge, so step up your game.  Get procurement involved to handle the situation.
17. Develop the store outside your IT department.  Nothing against internal IT departments, but they probably don’t have the experience in developing the software and we all know priorities change like the wind.
18. Ensure  IT has full time support resources post initial development to manage the platform.
19. People are the most important part of the eCommerce environment.  You MUST get people who are experienced in eCommerce or .com management.  They need to have program management skills, financial knowledge, IT focus, business management, and marketing skills.  Yes, you’ll pay for the best… but it’s worth it.  You’ll also need lower skilled workers, but ensure they have the experience you require.
20. Resources — someone for search.catalog, management, marketing, IT, dev. security, processes, etc.

Stay tuned for more tips...

Scott

International Advertising Festival Cannes Lions - Entry Tips

As we turn into Winter the CannesLions entries will be due shortly. Here’s a few tips from my judging experience.

1.  Read — yep it sounds simple, but read the entry rules and what is required in the entry form. If you don’t provide the information required, more than likely the judges will immediately discount the application.
2.  Language — when I judged about 50% of the judges spoke fluent English. The rest knew English but at varying levels. So keep the messages, short, simple and easy to understand. No fancy/dancy words.
3.  Culture — given the International makeup of Cannes, don’t do anything to offend another culture. Also, pay particular attention to whether any comedy is culture specific. If so, it might be hard for judges to understand the intent.
4.  Teachers Pet — the number of pounds you application has no relevance as to whether it wins. So don’t throw a ton of crap in your entry. If anything it will make it harder for the judges to sort the real entry from the hype.
5.  Numbers — INCLUDE numbers! Results matter… especially if you can attribute sales to the initiative.
6.  Goal — tell the judges what the goal(s) were with the initiative. Keep it short, don’t put the kitchen sink in on the goals. Don’t use the old SNL Shimmer Skit language “it’s a floor wax and a dessert topping.”
7.  Bullet Points — don’t write a lot of paragraphs…. make it quick to get through the application.
8.  Creative — use color versions not black and white reproductions. Yep, saw a few of these.
9.  Video — make sure you have it in the proper format as asked for in the application.
10.  International Campaigns — if you have a campaign which has run across multiple countries make sure to show it off. And if you’re a global company, dig deep across your regions to find the best and the smartest entries. Frankly, many of the best entries I saw were from Asia.
11.  Backups — send a backup electronic copy of the presentation in the event one gets damaged.
12.  Check Off — I can’t stress it enough. You must have all the information or questions answered. Don’t try and put in fluff material which doesn’t answer the question.

Good luck!

Scott

College Football Championship Game -- What's Wrong?

I have to congratulate the Alabama Crimson Tide.  What a great College Football Championship game this past week.  

So I was shocked when the TV ratings started rolling in.

This years game ratings were down 23% to 25.7 million viewers. Compare that to the previous year at 33.4 million viewers.

If ESPN made rating guarantees with advertisers at 33 million viewers then…., well, let’s just say I wouldn’t want to be an ESPN traffic coordinator.  

Now some folks think it’s the teams which played this year… Alabama and Clemson vs. the previous year, Ohio State and Oregon.  That might have something to do with it.

I believe there’s more going on and opportunity to increase ratings.

1. Competition — the NFL playoffs are the same time… getting a great deal of clean pre-game promotion is tough.  Beef up the promotion and create stronger sponsor involvement.  It is going to be tough given Super Bowl competition, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.
2. When it airs — Perhaps it’s time to think about moving the game to a Saturday evening?  There’s issues with the NFL game schedule, but this might be worth a look.  a
3. Where it airs — the game ran on ESPN exclusive.  What about putting this on ABC? A solid prime time channel and time. 
4. How it airs — online viewership was up 38% this year.  I wouldn’t make any changes. 

The College Football Championship game should be drawing 32 million viewers… it’s a showcase of talent and passion.  ESPN has some work to do.

Scott

It’s Awards Time

The Golden Globes, Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild… you name it and it will be awarded in the coming months.  And Marketing is now different.

The one I like to key in on, is the Cannes Lions.  Held every summer its kind of the “Academy Awards” of Marketing.  It’s the big one.  If you’re lucky to win one, you’ve covet it forever.

So now is the time to start sifting through all of your marketing activities to find those gems in all the categories.  But remember folks, you’re competing against Marketers and Agencies from across the globe.  

Take a few moments to get educated on Cannes.  I’ll provide some tips on how to bolster your entry in the coming weeks.

Scott

"Say Hello To My Little Friend”

A few months back, I decided to purchase an Amazon Echo.  You’ve probably seen them on amazon.com , etc.  It was $179 so cheaper than a PC but more than an alarm clock.  After messing around with “Alexa” (which is the name it wakes up too) I found a few functions which I use frequently.

• Time
• Weather
• Play some music
• Sport scores
• Alarm
• Traffic
• Basic questions — little to no interpretation

It can answer more questions and do more than I listed, but again the above are the main things I use it for.  And Amazon continues to improve the software adding for more functionality, etc. It sounds like a novelty and to some it might be, but I believe this is an inflection point in the step towards more user friendly technology.  I ask for something and Alexa delivers an answer or request.  My voice vs. a key pad or stroke delivers the input and Alexa provides the answer in a friendly voice.

If you have some extra after Christmas cash, you might want to consider purchasing Alexa… then you can “Say Hello to My Little Friend."

Scott