The Twelve Days of e-Christmas: Day 6 Promote Your Video

Day six of the “Twelve Days of e-Christmas” focuses on Promoted Videos. This YouTube ad format is a highly cost effective way of engaging with your customers and surfacing your content at the top of the UKs second largest search engine.



Posted by Brendan Patterson, UK Retail Team

The Twelve Days of e-Christmas: Day 5 YouTube Homepage

Day five of the “Twelve Days of e-Christmas” looks at the YouTube homepage. Use YouTube homepage advertising to create powerful brand awareness or as part of your remarketing strategy this Christmas.



Posted by Brendan Patterson, UK retail Team

The Twelve Days of e-Christmas: Day 4 Contextual Targeting by Keyword

The fourth part of our “Twelve Days of e-Christmas” series looks at the benefits of Contextual Targeting on the Google Display Network. With 140% more reach than retargeting or audience campaigns, contextual targeting should be an essential part of any marketer’s strategy when looking to fully realise the potential of Christmas this year.



Posted by Brendan Patterson, UK Retail Team

The Twelve Days of e-Christmas: Day 2 Remarketing

The second instalment of our “Twelve Days of e-Christmas” is out now. This time we’re focusing on Remarketing and how you can capitalise on its benefits as part of your seasonal marketing strategy.



Posted by Brendan Patterson, UK Retail Team

The Twelve Days of e-Christmas: Day 1 Brand Bidding

With Christmas just around the corner, the Google UK Retail Team has started its “Twelve Days of e-Christmas” activity. These daily industry insights and best practice suggestions are designed to help marketers get the most out of their advertising campaigns as we head into the holiday season.

Day 1 covers brand bidding and how to best ensure that you are found at the right moment with the right message when customers are searching online.

Each daily update will be posted here so remember to check in regularly for new installments. Please email us or leave a comment if you have any questions.



Posted by Brendan Patterson, UK Retail Team

Act Early For Christmas Traffic

The days are becoming progressively shorter and it’s time to vacuum pack your summer clothing to make way for the warm winter woolies. Consumers are beginning their Christmas shopping earlier than ever before. 48% of shoppers buy gifts in September to spread the cost of Christmas shopping.The interest in searches for ‘christmas gifts’ has risen in the UK within the last 90 days. The Christmas shop has opened at Selfridges, putting consumers in the Christmas spirit. Taking all of this into consideration, it is time to start planning your Christmas AdWords Campaigns.

With some great help from our Christmas Site, you will be ready to target your Christmas market effectively and make the most out of this wonderful season.

There are 4 simple steps to guide you through building a successful Christmas Campaign strategy:

1. What is happening in your market?
2. Why this is a huge opportunity for you.
3. How to create Christmas focused Campaigns.
4. When do you need to do it?

Don’t get caught up in the December rush to reach traffic. Act early to ensure the money is jingling and not just the bells this Christmas!

Posted by Trish McGinty, Dublin Retail Team

Online Grocery Shopping: A Recipe for Success

While online grocery retailing may still be in its relative infancy, the rapid growth of this sales channel in the UK is undeniable. Improved broadband internet penetration, new, easier to use online platforms and better awareness among time pressured consumers of its convenience, seems certain to make the internet an important outlet for grocery retail.

Amazon.co.uk recently announced the launch of an online grocery store in a bid to appeal to all palates through its offer of 22,000 products, which will include ready meals and popular household brands as well as ethnic, kosher and international goods. Customers will also have the option of bulk-buying items such as diapers, pasta, rice and cooking oils [1].

Marks and Spencer is also expected to indicate as early as this autumn whether it is going to start selling food online [2], while Ocado, another pureplay grocery retailer, has also attracted interest during the past few weeks as it floated with an IPO price of 180 pence [3]. Although this fell below initial targets, it showed that selling food from the web is a lucrative market to be a part of.

Verdict estimates that that the UK online food and grocery market experienced growth of 409% between 2003 and 2009, with total spend reaching £5.3bn [4].

Evidence of this can be seen in recent grocer results - Sainsbury’s online food and grocery sales reportedly increased by over 20% during the 28 weeks to October 3 2009, with a more than 15% increase in sales during the 13 weeks to January 2 2010. Ocado’s sales have increased by 21% a year since 2007.

Growing interest in online food shopping is also evident in the number of people searching for Food and Drink online. Searches through Google.co.uk are up 122% so far this year when compared to the same time period in 2008, with the most popular category being Cooking and Recipes, up 158%. This growth outperforms other key sectors, such as Apparel, Home & Garden and Consumer Electricals.



An increasing number of people have also been searching for Food and Drink through their mobile devices – these searches were up a massive 274% in June when compared to the same time last year.



So what’s next?

Verdict forecasts that the UK online food and grocery market is set to grow by a further 24.9% to £6.7bn between 2009 and 2013 [4] .

Although the year-on-year growth % will slow, this reflects the consolidation of the market as competition intensifies and more subdued food inflation over the next few years. Full coverage of the UK is also now offered by the leading players, so geographic expansion will no longer generate significant growth.

Despite this, grocery has still been predicted to be the next category benefiting from today’s booming online environment, and the UK is the most developed online grocery market globally - when comparing overall market value and per capita spending, consumers in the UK were the biggest online spenders in 2009 [4].

Due to the fierce competition between grocers, which looks set to continue, the market has recently been boosted by heavy investment, which has made significant enhancements to the usability and functionality of websites and raised the bar in terms of the value and service propositions that retailers are now offering.

The price of getting groceries delivered has dropped notably, as major online players continue to compete fiercely on price and value. This makes the service a more cost-effective option to a wider customer base and with independent sites such as mysupermarket.com comparing prices, online grocery shopping is also becoming an increasingly attractive channel for cash-strapped customers [4].

Key focus for the future ...

Barriers to purchase
A key concern that remains is around tactility, so the customer’s inability to see/touch items before purchase, particularly with perishables and fresh foods. There is also the issue of trust in others picking items on a customer’s behalf and selecting product substitutes (though this has become less of a concern over time) [4]. Freshness and long sell by dates – the same as are available in-store – will remain a major concern for many and, until resolved, is likely to impede the pace of expansion of online grocery shopping.

However, positive strides are being made in this area: some retailers now provide use by dates and guarantee delivery freshness. Ocado has introduced a fresh meat and fish counter – exactly like delis in supermarkets – to 80% of its customer base, allowing the purchase of fresh meat and fish to a customer’s specification [6].

Ocado’s unique and efficient order picking operation is also something other retailers are looking to learn from [5]; this will allow for speedier and ‘fresher’ deliveries, bringing saving benefits to retailers and providing a much improved service to shoppers.


Mobile and Multichannel
As more people use their mobile devices to search and shop, there is the potential for supermarkets to enhance the functionality, usability and convenience of buying groceries online by providing consumers with the facility to do so anytime, anywhere.

The ‘Ocado on the Go’ iPhone app launched in July 2009 and it now contributes almost 3.0% of the retailer’s sales – approximately £12m – with 5% of Ocado customers using it at some point during the order process [6]. It provides a seamless service by letting customers organise their shopping and fill their basket offline, with the order processed automatically the next time an internet connection is made, thus making it accessible at any point in time. Ocado was also the first grocery retailer to have a mobile-optimised website.

Recently, Sainsbury’s also launched a new app for the iPad and iPhone, which gives customers access to exclusive and personalised offers, whilst also allowing them to collect Nectar points. Waitrose also now has a free iPhone app, which provides users with recipes and lets them search the store for the required ingredients.

More retailers will no doubt be focusing on their own m-commerce sites in the near future and ensuring they are all transactional. As more shoppers use multiple channels to buy their groceries, with many opting to buy larger, infrequently purchased core essentials online and fresh produce from their local convenience store, these demands will need to be catered for appropriately and seamlessly by removing the barriers between order channels.

Recent examples of this can be seen through the drive concepts recently developed by grocery retailers in France [7]. These provide additional convenience to shoppers visiting their larger stores, with shoppers able place their order online and pick it up at the back of the store at a specified time. For now the focus of this initiative is on heavy item categories for easy and fast shopping, but this could be extended to entire product ranges.

Tesco announced earlier yesterday their own similar initiative in the UK, trialing the first ‘drive-through supermarket’ [8]. This will allow time poor online customers to "click and collect" by choosing their groceries online and booking a two-hour collection slot for collection.

In the US, Target has launched its first scannable mobile coupon programme as of March. This opt-in programme provides Target shoppers with a customised webpage on their mobile phones, with all offers scannable at checkout using a single barcode.


Website usability
Further improving usability and functionality of websites will continue to enhance customer service credentials and the end to end online shopping experience of the future.

Developments such as the addition of virtual assistants on groceries websites, who can understand typed queries and help customers find their way around grocery sites are already being used by retailers such as Asda, who also allow online shoppers to create a shopping list simply by typing in key details from a previous store visit receipt (such as store or transaction number). The items can then be added to an online favourites list ready to be added easily to an online shopping basket in the future.

Personalising the customer experience is also a prevalent trend, where retailers will use previous purchase history to create a basket of similar goods for customers and make suggestions on products they might like to try. Initiatives such as this have to potential to add substantial value and cater for time poor shoppers, as well as instill loyalty in what has is set to become an even fiercer competitive market.

[1] Amazon: biting off more than it can chew? Verdict Research, Ovum Knowledge Centre
[2] Ocado: should I buy the shares?
[3] Ocado shares trade 10 percent below IPO price
[4] How Britain Shops 2010, Food & Grocery, Verdict Research
[5] Keep on trucking Economist
[6] Verdict e-Retail 2010: Retailers need to think more strategically to ensure long term growth
[7] IGD RetailAnalysis, Store Visit Reports
[8] Tesco trials UK's first drive-through supermarket


Posted by Lili Papadimitriou, UK Retail Team

Talking Retail: Views of Online Shopping in 2010

Our Google on the Street Team have been out and about again...This time, they have been talking to consumers about online shopping.

The team have tried to gain some insights into how consumers are using online as part of their research and purchase process.

Now that one in four UK mobile users owns a smartphone[1], we were also interested in looking into how consumers are using their mobiles to make purchases, if at all.

Watch our short video to find out the responses to questions around the following topics:

• How do consumers research products that they are interested in buying?
• What are the most important factors when shopping online?
• Are they using their mobile phones to make online purchases?
• What types of products are they purchasing online?
• What are the main frustrations that they encounter when trying to complete an online purchase?

[1]ComScore MobiLens, March 2010


Posted by Selina Rennie, Agency Team

think with Google: Inspiring Talks by Remarkable People

YouTube has long been a place to come to look for information and to connect with other people with similar interests. In the spirit of this, think with Google has been launched - Google UKs new platform for sharing business insights and viewpoints delivered in bite-sized, inspiring and actionable videos.

The channel has some of UKs leading retailers offering their insights on creativity, strategy, trends, consumer insights and more. Contributors already include Amazon’s Marketing Director Brian McBride, Confused.com’s CEO Carlton Hood, Zappos’ CEO Tony Hsieh and highlights from the think eCommerce events.



As always, viewers will be able to rate videos, leave comments, subscribe and offer up video responses. The hope is that this will become a thriving business community in the spirit of YouTube – so head to the channel, listen to the thinkers and feel free to make your voice heard.

Posted by Christoffer Klemming, UK Marketing Team

Retail: Weathering the Storm

“The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco" ~Mark Twain

Although the nuances of the British weather system have the ability to befuddle even the smartest meteorologist, one can usually expect a colder climate from October to March and hotter weather from May to September.

In the same way, as a retailer, it’s pretty safe to assume that during the winter months more heaters, raincoats and winter boots will be bought, whilst in summer it would be sensible to stock up on air coolers, barbecues and beachwear. In the past month alone, as the mercury rises, Waitrose has reported a 6.1% rise in sales with traditional picnic fare like salads up nearly 30%: great results, but hardly unprecedented. These assumptions are part of staple planning for all retailers, and shape the buying patterns for such seasonal products.

However, as the weather seems to be becoming increasingly unreliable, retailers often have to act fast to climate changes. For example, in 2007 freak stormy weather in June – usually a quiet month for online retailers - saw shoppers buy from the comfort of their homes, rather than brave the appalling weather. Play saw a 33% increase in sales compared the the year before. Stuart Rowe, spokesperson for Play.com said "every year we see a decrease in sales during the summer months as consumers spend their time in their garden, the parks or high street but this year has been a monumental exception"[1].

Likewise, severe snow in January 2010 resulted in pubs and restaurants reporting a like-for-like sales drop of 5% as people stayed at home rather than braving the snow[2]. "With so many city centres feeling more like ghost towns it is perhaps surprising that the figures weren't worse,” said Peter Martin of Peach Factory, which produced the research[3]. At the same time, Pets at Home reported a 70% rise in dog coats, at a time when the product would usually have been on its way out until next Winter. In the same period, John Lewis saw a 1.4% sales drop as snow kept shoppers off the high street. Importantly, online sales rocketed by 56% with comfort food such as frozen chops and tinned beans performing well[4].

Optimisation & SEO Ideas:

• Change your ad text. Signal your customers to the urgency of buying at this time of increased demand with messages like, “While Stocks Last” or “Stock Just in” if you have a plentiful supply.

• Make sure you can fill any holes in your offline product offering online. If you can’t get paddling pools in your store in time, but think you could ship online orders to coincide with a bout of hot weather, make sure you have ads showing. Give realistic delivery times too, or you could be facing returns.

• Prepare your paid search campaigns far in advance wherever possible, to make sure you have established some history and a good quality score on your seasonal product keywords by the time they come into fashion.

• Your ability to restock according to freak weather conditions is crucial, and depends a lot on the quality of your supply chain. Either way, prepare your online campaigns to reflect the situation: if you have something or can get something in stock, prepare the necessary ad text and keywords. In the same way, make sure you’re keeping an eye on products that may have gone out of stock. For example, you don’t want to be paying for clicks on “desk fan” during a heat wave if you have none in stock!

• It sounds ridiculous, but watch the weather forecast! A 10-day one if you can. If sun is predicted, make sure your bbqs, garden furniture and toys, summer apparel is all in stock and well presented on your site and in your advertising campaigns. If it’s set to rain or be very cold (which, let’s face it, is much more common in the UK!), remember that people will be less likely to leave the house, so products like DVDs, Books, CDs and Homeware may be more in demand, especially if long periods of bad weather are predicted.

• Remember, freak weather conditions trigger unusual buying patterns, which may skew your ordinary sales figures. People buying paddling pools in a sudden April heat wave, for example, are simply moving their usual “June purchase” a few months forward. Don’t be alarmed then, if your usual peak seasons for particular products are not as great. As the Greenlight white paper on weather and retail says, “All these purchases would have still been made, but were brought forward or postponed due to weather abnormalities”[5].

[1]Fashion United, 4th July 2007
[2]“Like-for-like sales sink 5% under January snow”, Peach Report, 14 Feb 2010
[3]“Coffer Peach Business Tracker January 2010 figures - Pub and restaurant groups count cost of January blizzards”, KPMG, Jan 2010
[4]“Pets at Home enjoys winter sales boost with dog coats”, Guardian 15th January 2010
[5]Greenlight White Paper:”The effects of weather on Internet retail sales”

Posted by Emily Whitchurch, UK Retail Team

The World Cup: Latest Retail Match Report ...

Images courtesy of PhotoXpress.com

As the Group stages of the World Cup prove to be nothing if not unpredictable, with many of Europe’s most highly acclaimed national teams suffering underwhelming results against previously underestimated opposition, the tournament’s impact on retailers has also delivered its fair share of surprises.

The expectancy for surging pre-tournament search interest in electricals and LCD TVs to turn into strong sales was largely realised by retailers DSGi, Comet and John Lewis; reporting increases of 140%, 73% [1] and 42% [2] respectively. For the Home Retail Group, however, Britain’s biggest retailer of TVs by volume, sales were down 10% YoY with Terry Duddy CEO of HRG lamenting the lack of the same “perfect storm” they had witnessed in sales of televisions and barbecues during the 2006 competition [3].

Industry analysts have posited that Argos may have suffered from reduced demand for entry-level priced models in favour of higher price and larger screen size variants. Certainly Insights for Search would give some credence to the idea, with breakout rising searches for “50 inch TVs”, “Sony Bravia40” and “3D tvs”

As the tournament enters the knock-out stages, the categories anticipated to experience the highest continued growth in search interest include sportswear and groceries. Certainly supermarket retailers have already acted fast to capitalise on these developing trends. ASDA undercut traditional sports retailers with their heavily discounted, “grey market” sourced England Shirts [4], currently the breakout rising search for the category in Insights for Search.

World cup beer promotions within the grocery sector also remain extremely popular. Hitwise recently reported that four out of five of their top performing brands in the Experian Hitwise World Cup Brands Index for w/e June 12th were beers [5] (and World Cup sponsors no less).

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the tournament period to date, and not an item that readily fits into any of the categories mentioned above, has been the unprecedented demand for vuvuzela horns. In their coverage of Sainsbury’s first quarter trading statement - which saw a staggering rise in online sales just shy of 20% - Internet Retailing cited some of their drivers for growth including clothing, dvds and the ubiquitous vuvuzela horns [6]. The Daily Mail also reported that in the 12 hours prior to the first England match 22,000 red vuvuzelas were sold by Sainsbury's - one every two seconds [7].

Insights for Search would seemingly confirm that the vuvuzela is not just an instrument of aural punishment. Interest is higher than other perennial World Cup stalwarts “England Shirts” and “Beer”. With related top searches and rising searches like “buy vuvuzela” and “buy vuvuzela uk” it would seem that search interest continues to be driven mainly by consumer demand, rather than those desperately looking for respite in their TV coverage.





Overall it’s been a positive story so far for online retail during the 2010 World Cup. If further confirmation were needed IMRG Capgemini figures reveal that total online sales were up 22 per cent in May compared to the same time last year – the highest growth since June 2008 [8]. Now all that remains to be seen is what happens when England inevitably crash out on penalties ... again ... or loose to Slovenia later today. Come on England!

[1] "Home Retail fails to Score TV sales growth from World Cup", Retail Week, June 18 2010
[2] John Lewis Partnership 18 June 2010
[3] "Argos falls flat as World Cup fever fails to lift TV sales", The Guardian, 10 June 2010
[4] "ASDA offers half-price England Shirts", This is Money, 20 May 2010
[5] "South African Airways and beer companies biggest beneficiaries of World Cup sponsorship so far" , Hitwise, June 15 2010
[6] "Sainsbury's hits record online orders" , Internet retailing, 18 June 2010
[7] "Peace at last? Quite possibly on the BBC, but not on your iPhone (thanks to the vuvuzela apps)", Daily Mail, 15 June 2010
[8] "World Cup provides boost to growth in online shopping", The Independent, 21 June 2010

Posted by Brendan Patterson, UK Retail Team

How Does Luxury Translate Online?

Photo courtesy of PhotoXpress.com

If every woman could buy a Chanel dress online in a few simple clicks, would that Chanel dress still be as desirable? Some might say that the limited number of women able to afford the dress secures its exclusivity; others that the sudden ease of access to the product negates its uniqueness. If you can walk into Burberry on New Bond Street and purchase a bag, is barring that same action online a necessary protective measure against the dilution of that brand’s exclusivity, or just plain inconvenient for the regular Burberry shopper who would like to be able to purchase through any and all available channels?

Luxury retailers remain undecided. At one end of the scale, Burberry now sells a wide range of its products directly online throughout Europe and the US.

More cautiously, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Christian Dior have opened limited online boutiques in France and Germany, and brands like D&G, Calvin Klein and Donna Karan sell a variety of goods - mainly accessories and nightwear - through catalogue and high street retailers like John Lewis, Littlewoods Shop Direct Group and ASOS.com.

In contrast, Chanel sells nothing at all on its site and is one of a cartel of luxury retailers who argue that customer service online cannot compare to that found in a boutique, and shopping over the Web negatively affects brand perception.

What is clear to see is a growing market for luxury apparel online. A 2008 report from Google and US research firm Unity Marketing which surveyed 1,000 people with a net worth of $1 million or more-and a yearly income of $175,000 or more- noted that designer clothing was respondents' favorite online purchase, followed by jewelry and accessories. In terms of their total expenditure on luxury, the Internet ultra-affluents spend three times more overall on luxury goods than the retail shopping ultra-affluents ($61,325 as compared with $20,411)[1].

The US leads the field in this respect and has done so for the last two or three years. However, in the UK too, shoppers seem to be happy spending more. The current online luxury market is estimated to be worth at 3.6 billion-euro ($4.9 billion), which Bain & Co. estimates grew by 20 percent in 2009 [2].A recent Online Trends 2010 Research Report sponsored by Kelkoo, found that the average price per item was also growing, with the proportion of shoppers prepared to spend £1,000 or more for a single product online increased in the UK from 12% in 2008 to 25% in 2009 [3]. One theory is that the very wealthy, who were not hugely affected by the recession were cautious all the same from 2008-09 in line with market fears, are now starting to spend again with more confidence.

Net-a-Porter is a luxury apparel online success story. Unique in its class in the UK, it has gained the confidence of both its customers and the brands that feed into its ever growing range. More than 2.5 million women view its pages each month, and the company has taken more than 1 million orders with sales of 120 million pounds in the year ending January 31 [4]. The recent acquisition of a 67 percent stake in the company by Cie. Financier Richemant SA, the world’s largest jeweler, valued the 10-year-old company at £350 million ($533 million). Aside from its attractive business proposition (great range, easy site navigation, extensive shipping parameters and free returns), Net-a-Porter also nurtures its customer base through creative interactions via newsletters, Facebook, Twitter and You Tube.

Whether all the big fashion houses are ready to start selling all their products to an online market or not, there is a concerted move towards interacting with online customers. With more and more shoppers subscribing to the ROPO (Research Online Purchase Offline) phenomenon, no retailer can afford to ignore the opportunity to engage with their customers on the Web. Key results from a recent study with Auchan in France showed that ROPO is responsible for 13% of offline sales and each euro invested in paid search delivers more than €20 offline in-store [5].

The 2008 Google and Unity Marketing webinar noted that nearly 80% of “affluent luxury consumers” belong to a social network [6] (a number that is likely to have risen by 2010), so it is no surprise that the likes of Burberry has its own Facebook page with over 900,000 followers and Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chloe and more have newsletter sign up pages to inform fans of the brand of their latest news and trends. Chanel even broadcasts a podcast and has a downloadable iPhone app, to keep in touch with its customers about breaking trends and direct them to store.

For those already serving their customers directly online, or considering doing so, various steps can be taken to ensure their advertising on Google targets the right users:

• Concentrate on your brand name and combine it with all the products you sell. Remember that some of your customers will be browsing while some will already have a good idea of what they are looking, so include keywords from the very vague (e.g. “Burberry mac”) to the highly specific (“Burberry raglan swing trench”).

• Experiment with generic terms: a bit of a hot potato, with some high-end retailers refusing to accept the value of mainstream traffic terms, and others insisting on their importance in a wider picture which sees them assisting sales. Test them for yourself.

• Include Designer Generic terms. If the value of straight generics (“dress shopping”, “leather handbag”, etc.) isn’t convincing, don’t forget to include the queries which are generic yet luxury-minded: “designer bag”, “designer brand dresses”, “shop designer clothes”, etc.

• Consider targeting catwalk, fashion week or ad commercial searches with text or display ads or both. Keywords like “London fashion week”, “new Gucci tv ad”, “Chanel runway”, “Gucci s/s show 2010” are rising searches on both the Search Network and on You Tube.

• Include negatives to prevent your ad showing when people search for your brand in a less desirable way (e.g. “wholesale”, “free”, “second hand”, “used”, “eBay”, etc.

• Don’t forget, you can also drive traffic to your site by including campaigns for non-brand searches that still relate to your brand, e.g. “Rolex downloads”, “Chloe news”, “Louboutin email sign up”. Direct these users to the correct part of the website with your landing page.

• Be clear in your ads that you are the official site and/or include the ™ sign by your brand name, to let your customers know they are visiting the authentic site. Although others may bid on your brand, only you may use this symbol.

• Use the Google Keyword Tool to identify additional or new ideas for keywords based upon internal Google data. The tool indicates how competitive terms are as well as search volumes for those keywords, giving a good idea of the likely keyword opportunities and costs involved. It can also identify new ways to target your customers. For example, if there are increasing searches for “Valentino a/w 09 catwalk” maybe you should think about uploading videos of this show onto YouTube, your website or both and using Google’s search and content networks to direct your customers to them.

• Combine your search campaign with GCN and YouTube targeting. Compelling banners and videos are a great way to engage with your luxury audience and can be used to reinforce core brand values. Upload catwalk shows complete with soundtracks, and use Google’s Promoted Video ads to direct your customers to these.

[1] "The Luxury Report 2008: Who Buys Luxury, What They Buy and Why They Buy", Unity Marketing
[2] http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-01/richemont-buys-net-a-porter-online-fashion-retailer-correct-.htm
[3] Kelkoo Press Release Center: http://www.kelkoo.co.uk/co_17268-kelkoo-press-release-european- eretail-to-buck-trend-in-2010.html
[4] “Net-a-Porter founder poised to bag £50m” by Elizabeth Riby and Hannah Kuchler, FT.com
[5] Google /Auchan Study 2009
[6] Google Ultra-Luxury Consumer Study 2008

Posted by Emily Whitchurch, UK Retail Team

Online Shoppers Can’t Get No Satisfaction

More consumers are turning to the web to shop for and purchase products. As we head into the festive season online retail is expected to account for 20% of all Christmas sales this year [1]. Unfortunately many retail websites haven’t matched the increase in traffic with better site usability and speed. Recent research conducted by Forrester Consulting in the US found that a mere two seconds is the new threshold of an average online shopper’s patience with website loading times. While 40% of shoppers will wait no longer than three seconds before abandoning a retail or travel site [2].

More surprising perhaps than just how elusive online customer engagement has become is the fact that many pure play retailers, those with their bedrock firmly entrenched in the world of eCommerce, are now seen as lagging behind their multichannel counterparts in delivering good online performance. The eRetail Benchmark study conducted by eDigital Research identified traditional retailers as “consistently outperforming their pure play and catalogue rivals online, using multichannel technology and customer service expertise to their advantage” [3].

As reported by Internet Retailing, traditionalist retailer John Lewis was the study's top performing website followed by Marks & Spencer and Next with New Look moving into the top ten sites on account of its “best in class” shopping basket function [3]. The Retail Bulletin and specialist website testing company Sitemorse study of October’s top 50 Retail websites also confirmed similar findings. They noted the lack of pure plays at the upper end of their rankings and gave special recognition to traditional retailer, HMV for their newly overhauled website [4].

The message to all online retailers must surely be that regularly changing, testing and evolving their site is imperative. However, the scale of these changes need not be too drastic, on paper at least. Econsultancy and Red Eye found that relatively straightforward practices such as aligning keywords, calls to action and landing pages plus using compelling and effective calls to action are associated with high levels of customer satisfaction and conversion [5]. Good web analytics can also play its part with segmenting customers, removing bottlenecks and blockages to conversion and identifying key performance indicators being other beneficial actions for online retailers to take [5].

With Christmas just round the corner and for some eCommerce marketers regarding their current online stores with some slight concern, only minor modifications would seem prudent or potentially necessary. Meanwhile those looking to address specific pain points such as the effects of a poor onsite search facility for example, might read about products such as the newly announced Google Commerce Search with some interest. More details were posted by our colleagues in the US here

[1] NMA November 13, 2009
[2] Internet Retailing September 22, 2009
[3] Internet Retailing November 06, 2009
[4] The Retail Bulletin November 02, 2009
[5] Internet Retailing October 09, 2009

Posted by Brendan Patterson, UK Retail Team

A trend that's set to stay in fashion...

While high street sales have borne the brunt of the economic downturn, fashion retailers have continued to see growth in their online web sales during 2008 and 2009.

Last year online fashion retailer ASOS reported a 104% increase in year on year sales. While during the intensely competitive Christmas trading period, Debenhams and M&S recorded 38% and 29% increases in online sales respectively.

In March this year the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index reported a stunning rise of 26% in sales of footwear, clothing and accessories. By May, however, sales growth had slowed to 8.2% regarded as a result of both recessionary effects and sunshine.

While online may not be completely impervious from the credit crunch the underlying trend in online fashion retail is still one of growth. The pressures on advertisers now are to ensure that their offerings remain competitive and their digital strategy is effective.

The combination of falling store sales, the Internet’s strength as a sales channel and the high level of research consumers conduct online means providing a compelling eCommerce presence is still very much a necessity.

Google Insights for Search shows strong year on year growth in search interest for leading fashion brands New Look, River Island, ASOS and Littlewoods. Meanwhile the popularity online of value retailers like Matalan, Primark and Peacocks is also shown to be on the up.

More growth online during 2009 still seems likely for fashion and apparel retailers despite the slowdown. With many high street fashion brands like Whistles, River Island and New Look recently having launched transactional websites plus Matalan and other value retailers - who previously shied away from the web - also getting to grips with the channel, the rise of online shopping appears to be a trend that is set to stay in fashion.

Posted by Brendan Patterson, UK Retail Team