The Weekly Shop (19th – 23rd Jan)

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Weekly Shop. This week we have an article from our commercial director, Ben, on how 2015 should be the year of the customer, six questions you should be asking your customers and why constantly discounting might hurt your brand.

Make 2015 the year of the customer

To kick things off this week, we have an article from our commercial director on how 2015 should be the year of the customer. Head over to Econsultancy to find out why Ben believes 2015 should be the year where every decision is made on the basis of what customers actually want rather than what the retailer thinks they want.

Why sales & discounts hurt your ecommerce brand

Our next article explores how constantly discounting your products can actually hurt your ecommerce brand. This is because lower prices rarely lead to brand loyalty, and instead they attract smart shoppers who jump at the opportunity. Obviously sales and discounts still have their place in any pricing strategy, but retailers should focus efforts on sales that complement long-term strategies.

Six questions to get actionable feedback from customers

This next article provides six questions you can easily ask your customers to get the most actionable and useful feedback.

4 ways SEO and UX experts can work together to improve web development

In this article, Search Engine Land explore how improved collaboration between your SEO and UX teams can result in positive impact on the outcomes of the Web projects.

Sustainable SEO Strategies for 2015

To finish off an article from Clickz which explores how your SEO strategy in 2015 should rely more on boosting the customer experience instead of focusing on search engine algorithms.

Thanks for reading!

The Weekly Shop (8th – 12th Dec)

Welcome to one of the last Weekly Shop’s of the year – where has the year gone! This week we have featured some stories you may have missed around ecommerce returns, the importance of mobile-friendly websites in 2015 and the future of Google’s search algorithm.

Social engagement within the premium furniture sector

During the latter part of this year, we have been investigating how premium retailers are delivering relevant content and engaging socially with their customers. In the first report of the series, we have looked at 20 leading retailers in the premium furniture sector and assessed how well they are engaging their audiences which produced some interesting insights. You can download the full report here.

Men shop very differently from women online and require a completely new approach

Moving onto some retail news, this article from Internet Retailing looks at how men and women shop for clothes in a very different way online and looks at how websites can cater to the male market.

15 tips for improving ecommerce returns policies

With Christmas being the busiest time of year for returns volumes, how should retailers handle returns? In this next article, Econsultancy have rounded up 15 best practice tips from various retailers.

Why a mobile-friendly website is essential to a successful SEO strategy in 2015

Moving onto search news, this article from Search Engine Watch looks at the importance of having a mobile-friendly website in order to have a successful SEO strategy in 2015 .

Press releases are not an SEO strategy

This next article from Clickz explores how press releases and press release websites are not an SEO strategy and explores how you can get much better results contacting journalists directly.

Why SEOs Need To Care About User Experience

Next up, URL profiler looks at how Google doesn’t really care about SEOs and that they only really care about user experience and optimising the experience of Google for their users.

The Future of Google’s Search Algorithm: Refinement Vs. Overhaul

To finish of this week, some interesting reading from Search Engine Land on Google’s search algorithm and specifically where Google search is headed and the signals it relies on.

That’s it for this week!

The Weekly Shop (10th – 14th Nov)

In our Weekly Shop this week, we look at Christmas planning, retail tech trends, how Google judges quality content and two case studies from Selfridges and Liberty.

Small and medium-sized retailers to start Christmas promotions earlier this year

A study by Royal Mail has found that the UK’s small and medium sized online retailers are planning to start Christmas promotions this week – which is one week later than last year. The study also found that price promotion was the most common tactic set to be deployed in the battle to win sales this Christmas followed by free delivery and returns.

Retail tech trends for the 2014 holiday season

While on the topic of Christmas,  Econsultancy have rounded up a selection of retail tech trends for the 2014 holiday season to help you end 2014 strong.

New study: this year’s Black Friday set to be the busiest yet

Another new study this week has suggested that this year’s Black Friday on 28 November could be the busiest and most successful yet. The study found that more retailers are looking to invest in the discount day than last year and shoppers are actively anticipating the day to start their Christmas shopping.

How Selfridges uses digital to create extraordinary multichannel experiences

According to Selfridges, a multichannel retailer dealing in the luxury end of the market, they have to offer customers’ connected and extraordinary experiences’ across its digital and physical properties. In light of this, our next article this week summarises some of the tactics Selfridges uses as part of its multichannel strategy.

Liberty launches Instagram-based loyalty app

Luxury London department store, Liberty, is the first retailer to trial an iPhone app that will reward customers in the store with the use of iBeacons. As customers enter Liberty, iBeacons will trigger the app – named Tapestry – to unlock vouchers to be used in store. The app will use the users Instagram data to curate the vouchers available to the a customer and create a bespoke reward system.

How does Google judge quality content?

In our last article this week, Econsultancy identify five key factors that you should focus on if you want to produce content that search engines will recognise as high quality.

Thanks for reading!

The Weekly Shop (27th – 30th Oct)

In this week’s Weekly Shop, we feature a report on the importance of integrating branded content  into the customer journey, how fashion and luxury brands can gain insight into what their customers care about and what’s hot and happening in premium retail this month.

Content + commerce = retail winner: study

A new report this week has shown how the ability to bring content and commerce together “may be what separates retail winners from losers.” The report found that more than three quarters (78%) of consumers now browse online before buying in-store highlighting an opportunity for brands to win the sale before shoppers go instore through branded content. The study points to tactics used by successful brands, which include integrating blogs onto the main site experience, putting links to product pages into article, and promoting blog content on the homepage.

How can fashion and luxury brands develop an understanding of what their customers truly care about and reflect this in their digital strategy?

Head over to the new ‘Ask the Experts’ section of the Masterclassing website to read our commercial director, thoughts on the question above.

The Hype: what’s hot and happening in premium retail this month?

Alexander Wang x H&M, Selfridges new £40m website, Jimmy Choo’s online personalisation service and accessible luxury are just some of the developments in premium retail that have got our Premium Panel excited this month. Head over to ‘The Hype’ on our blog to find out what other products, trends and innovations have been catching their eye in October.

Seven customer experience case studies that generated loyalty and ROI

This article from Econsultancy looks at seven customer experience case studies from the likes of Triumph, Cadbury and Homebase which have optimised experiences to increase satisfaction and loyalty.

5 Ways behaviour has changed in the last 10 years

This last article this week takes a look at five ways in which search behaviour has changed in the last 10 years following Mediative’s excellent eye-tracking study of Google search results.

That’s it for this week. Happy Halloween!

 

The Weekly Shop (20th – 24th October)

In The Weekly Shop this week – three keys to omni-channel success, the launch of a new biometric contactless payment card and our Premium Panelists tell on how delivery contributes to a good customer experience.

Content, convenience and customer service: three keys to omni-channel success

According to Drazena Ivicic from Intershop there are three areas that are key to omni-channel success: convenience, content, and customer service. In her opinion, getting these three Cs right is key to successfully engaging with the customer and driving sales.

Amazon launches same day collection service

Following the news last week that Amazon were opening their first physical store – the etailer has just announced they are launching a same day collection service in the UK. Customers can order up until 11.45am to collect from 4pm until the closing time of their chosen pick-up point which include newsagents and convenience stores. Definitely set to be a game changer this Christmas.

Delivering Customer Happiness

When asked about what makes a good retail experience, in many cases your customers will mention delivery as a key factor. In light of this, we asked we asked our Premium Panel their thoughts on how delivery contributes to a good customer experience which you can read over on our blog. If you want to join the Premium Panel, you can do so here, you might even win a £50 Selfridges voucher if you join before the 30th October.

MasterCard and Zwipe unveil biometric contactless payment card

This week, MasterCard and Zwipe announced the launch of a biometric contactless payment card with integrated fingerprint sensor, which they say will improve security and consumer convenience.

Heresy: Google and SEO Don’t Actually Change that Much

In this next article, Rand Fishkin, CEO of Moz shares his views on how Google and SEO Don’t Actually Change that Much. Brilliantly put and worth a read.

A thoroughly entertaining beginner’s guide to data and analytics

To finish this week, a useful glossary from Econsultancy around data and analytics which aims to simplify some of the complicated words, terms and phrases that you’re likely to come up against.

Thanks for reading!

The Weekly Shop (13th – 17th October)

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Weekly Shop. In this week’s news – Amazon open their first physical store, Econsultancy defines a great customer experience and Google tests ‘not mobile friendly’ icons. Plus, the chance to win a £50 Selfridges when you join our Premium Panel. Read on for more…

If Amazon feels the need to open shops, what does the future hold for pureplays?

It was reported this week that Amazon is set to open its first physical store in New York ahead of the Christmas shopping season. This move from Amazon confirms the suspicion that far from being over, the high street and bricks and mortar stores are a necessary part of the kind of customer service that customers now expect.

What do we mean by a ‘great customer experience’?

This next article from Econsultancy highlights some of Jay Bear’s thoughts on what makes a great customer experience following his recent report on the topic.

Google Testing “Not Mobile-Friendly” Icons

Here’s another reason to make your website mobile-friendly – Google is trying to improve its user experience by displaying “not mobile-friendly” icons in its mobile search results. These icons are designed to quickly tell users if a website is responsive to mobile devices.

Join the Leapfrogg Premium Panel and win £50 to spend at Selfridges

Last month, we launched our Premium Panel over on Facebook. Since then, we’ve been busy gathering opinions about our panelists favourite premium brands, sharing the latest hype from the retail world and asking what makes the perfect customer experience. Now we want to grow our community of shoppers even further, so as a way to welcome all of our new members – we’re giving away a £50 Selfridges voucher to one lucky member of the Premium Panel at the end of the month. All you need to do to enter is join our Premium Panel Facebook group to be in for a chance of winning. Good luck!

Thanks for reading!

The Weekly Shop (6th – 10th October)

Welcome to another edition of The Weekly Shop. This week we take a look at how you can build loyalty for customer retention, paid, owned and earned media, innovations that are set to change retail and how searchers user behaviours are evolving.

10 loyalty-building strategies for customer retention

Ongoing profit from a customer’s lifetime value is generally much higher than any one single transaction. However, in order to achieve higher customer lifetime values, you need to have some strong customer retention strategies in place which Econsultancy have round up in this article.

What’s the difference between paid, owned and earned media?

Next up, is a useful refresher on the difference between paid, owned and earned media and how SEO fits into the three categories.

The four disruptive innovations set to change retail

Our next article this week looks at four trends that are set to change retail, including payments, logistics, computing platforms and marketplaces.

New Google eye tracking study shows the downfall of the golden triangle

A new Google eye tracking study from Mediative has shown how the evolution of the Google search results from 2005 to today has resulted in searcher looking outside of the ‘golden triangle,’ which is the term used to describe how searchers looked at Google search page results in 2005.

The evolution of SERPs and user behaviors

Following on from the article above, this article from Clickz takes a more in-depth look into the study from Mediative and how SERPS and user behaviours are evolving.

7 obsolete SEO tactics you’re wasting your time on

And to finish off this week, a useful reminder on how SEO has changed over the years and how some of the old tactics will result in stagnant traffic and may actually cause your traffic to drop.

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The Weekly Shop (29th Sept – 2nd Oct)

Welcome to this week’s Weekly Shop. This week we feature our latest report around the hot topic of customer experience, seven disruptive retail trends and lessons for effective blogger outreach.

Report: An Introduction to Customer Experience

‪‪Retailers‬ face huge challenges in meeting the needs and expectations of their customers. In light of this, we’ve just published a new report called ‘An Introduction to Customer Experience’ which aims to highlight those challenges and the steps that we recommend retailers take in order to address them. If you’d like to learn more, you can download your free guide here.

The Customer Experience Is Key: In Every Channel And At Every Interaction

With consumers being overwhelmed with marketing messages across multiple channels and mediums, they are becoming less likely to trust branded content and more inclined to seek out recommendations, tips and insights that come from their own peers and networks. This next article explores the vast opportunity that this shift presents to marketers.

Seven disruptive trends that will kill the ‘dinosaurs of retail’

Next an article from Retail Customer Experience which presents seven major disruptive trends that will cause the next wave of retailer casualties if retailers are unwilling or unable to adapt.

Five lessons for effective blogger outreach

The world of blogging has seen several changes recently which have come to interrupt and redefine the blogger-brand relationship. In our next article, Econsultancy conducted the UK’s largest ever blogger outreach study and rounded up the findings to provide their five tips for effective blogger outreach.

49% of U.K. Consumers Use Organic Search to Find Online Retailers [Study]

New research this week has highlighted how 49% of consumers in the U.K, leverage organic search as the main point of entry to e-commerce shopping sites, yet only 35 percent of online retailers in the U.K. believe consumers find their website through the organic channel.

SEO Is No One-Trick Pony

To finish this week, an article which aims to help to shape the discussion of “what SEO is,” and help others to understand that it’s not simply a ‘quick-fix’ solution.

Thanks for reading and see you next week.

The Weekly Shop (15th – 19th September)

Welcome to this Friday’s edition of the Weekly Shop. This week we feature lots of retail news and some updates from London Fashion Week which kicked off last Friday.

How Burberry and Topshop used social to rule at London Fashion Week

With London Fashion Week over for another year, this article from Econsultancy takes a look how both Burberry and Topshop showcased digital innovation at their shows this week using social media.

What is customer lifetime value (CLV) and why do you need to measure it?

Next an article which aims to make sense of the term ‘Customer Lifetime Value’ and explains why retailers need to measure it.

10 Online Shopping Personality Traits

This next article looks at how shopping behaviour data derived from a behavioural commerce analytic platform was analysed to determine the 10 most common shopping personality profiles. Which category do you fit into?

Site search: retailers still have a lot to learn

Here’s another article from Econsultancy which looks at how site search remains a problem for ecommerce sites, with lack of key functionality and flexibility proving to be a barrier to the user experience.

High street shoppers change the way they shop in the light of online: BRC

A recent study has shown that shoppers are changing their high street shopping behaviour in the light of ecommerce with shoppers now visiting shops less often but spending more when they do. It seems that customers are now hitting the high street with purpose, knowing what they want to buy ahead of time, supported by online research, and doing more shopping in a single trip.

 

The Weekly Shop (8th – 12th Sept)

It’s Friday, so that means there’s a new edition of The Weekly Shop! This week, we explore Twitter’s ‘Buy Now’ button, driving brand advocacy through sales teams and employees, Christmas spending and the single customer view.

Twitter tests ‘buy’ button to allow retailers to sell products direct from a tweet

The big news in digital marketing this week came from Twitter, who is officially testing a ‘buy now’ button to allow retailers to sell products directly from a tweet. Currently, the trial is being offered to a small percentage of retailers in the US including Burberry and The Home Depot.

Next Up For Twitter: Improved Search, Better Algorithm, Possible Group Chat

While we’re on the subject of Twitter, this article from Marketing Land looks at what could be next for the social network following insights from Twitter’s CFO Anthony Noto.

Incentivising your retailers to drive brand advocacy

This next article explores how a brands sales teams and employees are, more often than not, the greatest brand ambassadors for your company as they are closest to the products to share your brand message. Econsultancy have provided three approaches to encourage employees to advocate for your brand whether it’s via bricks-and-mortar store, online or through third parties.

UK online shoppers set to spend £13bn this Christmas: forecast

According to a new study this week by Sage Pay, online spending will top £13bn for the first time this Christmas. Sage Pay says the rise – equivalent to an 18% boost on last year’s spending of £11bn – will come as Britons already start to look online ahead of Christmas spending. If you’re looking to start planning for the festive season, then check out this blog post which features some tips and tactics from the Leapfrogg team.

What is the single customer view and why do you need it?

This last article from Econsultancy aims to simplify the term ‘single customer view’ and explain why retailers need it. It also provides some further reading on the subject.

Thank for reading!