How 3 Top Brands are Using Personalization

These days, customers want to feel that they’re being heard and understood by their favorite brands. In fact, 73% of consumers want a more personalized shopping experience. Personalization allows brands to create a unique experience for their customers — in turn, demonstrating that they are being heard, and hopefully contribute to increased sales volume.

And, it is working. According to a study done by Infosys, 86% of consumers are influenced by personalization when making shopping decisions. Consumers are motivated to purchase more when they are made to feel relevant.

Thus, personalization has become increasingly important for brands and their success. Let’s take a look at three brands that are succeeding by bringing personalization into the consumer journey.

Burberry

This 156-year-old brand has pioneered a different kind of personalization for customers. Partnering up with Pinterest, Burberry has given customers a way to build personalized boards with product content provided by Burberry.

The “Cat Lashes” promo initiative offers a personalized experience for customers based on their makeup preferences. Users take a quick questionnaire and get personalized makeup looks and tips through a personalized Pinterest board. Burberry promotes their Cat Lashes Mascara through the Pinterest boards. The personalized boards also offer tips on how to create relevant looks for each customer while also using the Cat Lashes Mascara.

According to an internal study, 42% of consumers have bought products based on promoted pins they saw on Pinterest. Burberry’s “Cat Lashes” initiative is, therefore, capitalizing on Pinterest’s broad consumer base. The personalized boards serve as a promotional hub for the Cat Lashes Mascara, as well as related and relevant Burberry products.

GILT

Gilt.com was listed in Fast Company’s Top 25 Innovative Companies in 2010and ranked first in fashion that year. How did a company, which launched in 2007, garner so much success in just five years? The reason is that the online retailer personalizes sales and promotions for each customer and app user.

The luxury flash sales site has installed a personalized user page online and on the mobile app. This personalization feature is called “Your Personal Sale,” and goes beyond the daily e-mails a shopper receives. The personalized sales, generated by an algorithm, takes into consideration a customer’s entire shopping experience. Based on factors such as purchase history, geographic location, browsing behavior, and personal preferences, “Your Personal Sale” finds fresh items and deals daily. Personalization goes one step further, with Gilt.com also considering size, categories, and brands that customers frequently engage with. Each personalized sale lasts 24 hours, after which a new set of deals and sales are presented. According to CIO Steve Jacobs, personalized sales are “the next phase of the flash sale model.” The company leverages the sense of discovery the app provides, “tailoring [the] shopping experience just for them.”

Gilt.com brings personalization to the online fashion and retail platform and makes a conscious effort to tailor products to its customers. According to  Jacobs, “people are coming back more frequently, and they’re excited to see what’s in their sale tomorrow.” Personalized sales pushed the online retailer to be valued at roughly $1 billion just after five years of launching. Gilt’s personalization strategy has propelled the e-commerce company to enormous success.

Spotify

The online music platform Spotify is the leading music streaming host, despite competitors like iTunes and Google Play.

The introduction of personalized playlists has distinguished Spotify from other streaming sources.

One of these personalized playlist functions is “Discover Weekly.” Discover Weekly is a service which personalizes to each listener’s taste across a variety of genres. A personal playlist of 30 songs is curated and released each Monday based on listening habits. The music streaming service has also launched the “Release Radar” feature. Every Friday, the two-hour playlist is updated with newly released music from artists and bands a listener frequents. In addition, listeners who curate their playlists receive personalized suggestions on their playlists as well. The streaming service learns from personal preferences, songs skipped and replayed, and even looks at micro-genre music preferences to curate the best suggestions for each listener.

Spotify’s lead engineer and algorithm creator Edward Newett says, “we’re trying to show that Spotify understands users better than anyone else.” Within the first 10 months of launching, Discover Weekly saw 5 billion song plays. Senior product owner Matt Ogle says Discover Weekly’s success has “completely changed” the way Spotify interacts with consumers. The great success with user personalization has also increased consumer loyalty. Spotify boasts 40 million paid subscribers, compared to Apple Music’s 20 million paid subscribers.

Personalization is key to a brand’s success and transforms the customer experience. The focus on personalization allows many of these companies to grow as customers engage with brands more and more. With personalization on the rise, it will be interesting to see how industries implement various personalization tactics into their customers’ experiences.

Kohl’s is Winning With Omnichannel Strategies  

combining digital and in-store

As the retail industry is changing, many brick-and-mortar retailers are employing omnichannel marketing strategies to fend off digital giants like Amazon. When it comes to successful omnichannel, a complementary relationship between brick-and-mortar and digital assures companies greater success.

In this third and final retail installment, let’s take a look at how Kohl’s is using omnichannel strategies to create a customer-centric approach.

MOBILE APP

According to STORES Media Editor Susan Reda, “retail’s balance of power resides firmly in the hands of the consumer.” With e-commerce gaining more momentum, many consumers have shifted toward online shopping. The Kohl’s Mobile app is playing a key role in helping the retailer keep up with tech-savvy consumers. Kohl’s effectively leverages the mobile app as an in-store partner and offers a customized shopping experience.

App users who walk into a Kohl’s store have the option of using a feature of the app that tailors to that specific store. The ‘Store Mode’ function personalizes to each customer’s store location and allows shoppers to search for store inventory and see in-store promotions while shopping. Customers can also check the price of store items and see other related goods. The Store Mode function gives Kohl’s a synthesized digital and in-store landscape.

Kohl’s also offers enhanced payment capabilities through the mobile app. Customers can pay with Apple Pay, a one-tap checkout option, in the brick-and-mortar stores and mobile app. Shoppers also have the choice of adding a Kohl’s credit card as a form of payment within Apple Pay. Consumers further have the option of scanning and saving gift cards to the Kohl’s mobile wallet.

Thus, paying for items in the brick-and-mortar stores blends seamlessly with mobile payment features, and customers are provided with a convenient shopping experience. Kohl’s gives shoppers more online and offline purchasing choices, thereby increasing the traffic to stores. The Kohl’s mobile app is a powerful tool which encourages online browsing and in-store sales. The app infuses digital into the in-store experience, creating a smooth customer experience.

STORES AS WAREHOUSES

Kohl’s continues to leverage its physical stores with the implementation of click-and-collect. Shoppers can make purchases online or through the mobile app, and pick them up at a convenient Kohl’s location. The company utilizes the brick-and-click concept, to make the brick-and-mortar stores act like warehouses for online orders. In turn, Click and Collect makes customer shopping more convenient. Click and Collect provides flexibility and ‘real time’ fulfillment for consumers. With consumers coming in store to pick up items, foot traffic to brick-and-mortar facilities is increasing.

The retailer is also using inventory at its brick-and-mortar stores to fulfill online shopping demands. Using local inventory, Kohl’s moves goods that are not selling in stores. Consequently, this speeds up fulfillment since the stores are closer to customers’ homes.
Kohl’s is creatively using its brick-and-mortar stores to make online and offline more connected. As consumers shop online, the retailer uses brick-and-mortar stores as makeshift warehouses, and in turn, makes the shopper’s experience easier and more convenient.

Kohl’s adapted the mobile and brick-and-mortar stores to become highly leveraged and synchronized units. The retailer has used the mobile app and brick-and-mortar adaptations to boost sales and create an inclusive customer experience. Previously, we looked at the successful omnichannel strategies implemented by Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus. We have finally rounded off our omnichannel trilogy by taking a look at Kohl’s and how this retailer has implemented omnichannel successfully. While these three retailers are ahead of the curve with omnichannel marketing, it will be exciting to see where other retailers take omnichannel.

 

Combining the Art and Science of Retail: JC Penney’s Digital Evolution

Omnichannel Evolution: From Magazine Catalog to Online Catalog

JCPenney was once one of the most influential catalog retailers and an original omnichannel retailer. JCPenney’s efforts to evolve the brick and mortar business has the company advancing omnichannel execution.The introduction of the digital age has provided JCPenney an incentive to create a more sophisticated and modern view of this catalog.  The evolution of the catalog is connecting with customers on how, when, and where they prefer to shop.  

According to JCPenney CEO Marvin Ellison, the company has “developed true omnichannel capabilities” by advancing the brick and mortar store. JCPenney’s omnichannel strategy focuses around the creation of a successful mobile app and the implementation of a buy-online-pick-up-in-store method. Let’s look at each part of JCPenney’s strategy and how these elements are helping JCPenney’s digital expansion.

Mobile App

As part of JCPenney’s evolution, the company has focused largely on created a user-friendly mobile application, taking advantage of the massive growth of mobile channels. The JCPenney app features a sleek design and easy to navigate interface which connects to each shopper’s personal account. The JCPenney app is designed to connect the digital and in-store experience, as seen in the image above. Consequently, the user base rates the app at 4.5 stars, with over one million users. 

The app is a single mobile hub, facilitating online shopping at the customers’ fingertips. As a result, JCPenney creation of a mobile app has allowed them to connect with digitally savvy customers. JCPenney’s app helps shoppers locate items in stores, apply coupons, and also access their JCPenney Rewards. The app customizes to each shopper’s account, personalizing the app based on browsing history, purchase history, and even location. Customers can also make purchases based on what is available in nearby store locations and can even check available inventory.   Consequently, the user base rates the app at 4.5 stars, with over one million users. The evolution of the brick and mortar store to include a mobile platform maintains a personalized omnichannel experience. 

Buy Online pick up in store

JCPenney is also powering their omnichannel experience with the introduction of buy-online-pick-up-in-store option, also known as BOPUS. BOPUS allows shoppers to complete online and mobile purchases with a variety of pick-up options. BOPUS is available in all 1,000 physical locations and synchronizes with the location capability on the mobile app and online platform. Shoppers can make purchases based on the online catalog or available inventory in select locations. The shoppers can even choose which kind of pick up option they would like.

The shipping options include shipping to any location, same day pickup, and fast home delivery. JCPenney has a history of operating through catalog service desks. The direction towards digital catalog enhancement makes JCPenney is one of the biggest retailers to offer online orders to be shipped to any of its 1,000 locations. JCPenney’s successful blend of online retail and in-store pick up has evolved the purpose and functionality of the brick and mortar store.

The BOPUS option that JCPenney provides has also expanded the consumer market. Shoppers who come in to pick up orders have a higher attachment rate. A high attachment rate means shoppers are more likely to buy an additional item in-store when picking up an online order. Because of the integration of the digital and physical market through omnichannel, JCPenney is seeing greater returns .

JCPenney has implemented new omnichannel tactics to bring their catalog into the digital age. By marrying the physical and online experience, they have successfully rejuvenated their customer journey. JCPenney plans to continue their evolution through next year with the replacement of point-of-sale units with mobile devices. It will be exciting to see how JCPenney further develops through 2017.

 

Outsmart the Smartphone: Expert Insights into Mobile Marketing

Marketers know mobile marketing is a critical component of any marketing strategy. Consumers cannot live without their smartphone and mobile device’s have become an integral part of consumer’s daily life.

 

Despite knowing the inherent impact of mobile, many brands are struggling to create and implement an effective mobile strategy. Yesterday’s American Marketing Association (AMA) meeting helped marketers better understand how to outsmart the smartphone and optimize their mobile marketing strategy.

 

Experts Scott Talbott from Verve Mobile, John Nosal from Advice Local, Abhi Vyas from Dex Media, and Bryon Morrison from NectarOM, sat down and shared how your brand can outsmart the smartphone.

 

Dallas AMA Mobile Marketing Panel

 

Here are a few highlights from the panel discussion.

 

Consider the Omni Channel Experience  

In addition to the 40 or so apps on your phone you also have the option to do email, send SMS, browse the web, post on social media, and receive push notifications. Smartphones have put 6 channels into one device along with more than 100 sensors, making it more important for marketers to think about the omni channel experience the device creates. Traditionally brands have siloed channels, creating a disconnected experience for the customer. Mobile is forcing marketers to break down silos and unify their efforts. Bryon Morrison suggested the consumer needs to be the center of the customer journey, not the channels. He continued, “If you understand the individual and their motivations then the mobile device is the most important marketing tool, because it packages all the channels in one device along with movement.

 

Target the Right Person at the Right Place and at the Right Time with the Right Message

From a location perspective mobile unlocks an interesting opportunity for marketers: location based marketing.  Customers are starting to expect brands to tailor content to their location, and are more likely to convert when content is customized to their location. Brands leading with location by utilizing location based advertising or managing their local presence will be more likely to convert mobile customers.  John Nosal believed that brands who focus on the mobile experience will win more customers.

 

“61% of smartphone users are more likely to buy from mobile sites and apps that customize information to their location.”

 

Get in the Game

When asked who is doing a great job in mobile, Morrison replied, “The ones in the game that are testing and failing fast.” He cited specific examples of early innovators that are now experiencing great success with mobile – eBay and their multi-app strategy were the first to post a billion in mobile sales; Walgreens gets 6x more revenue from customers that download their app; Walmart attained a 2% increase in conversions by shaving 4.3 seconds off their page download time.

Nosal responded that Starbucks was a leader in the mobile experience citing the ability to order and pay for coffee through their app.  He also mentioned grocery stores like Tom Thumb (parent company, Albertsons) are leading the way, mentioning ability to build grocery lists through scanning barcodes with the app and use of push notifications to notify consumers of deals.

 

Know the Metrics that Matter

Don’t get caught up in the funnel metrics.  Keep it simple and make sure that your KPIs link to mobile moments that matter like conversions and sales. Scott Talbott gave an example of automobile marketers getting too caught up in desktop web funnel metrics while missing out on the opportunity to reach prospects while they are physically standing on a dealership lot. Morrison also shared an example of a client that spent an immense amount of energy on app optimization, as opposed to growing their SMS channel which was delivering in-store mobile coupon conversions between 25%-45%.

 

Get to Know Your Customers   

Brands know it is important for them to understand their customer and Abhi Vyas mentioned 81% of them think they are doing a good job. However, only 37% of customers think their favorite retailer understands them. The panel agreed this was a function of marketing departments, as opposed to mobile marketing. As an example, Morrison mentioned that marketing departments are often set up to launch and manage channels which is time consuming and laborious. That creates silos and makes cross channel marketing a challenge.  If organizations focused on profiles and used a personalization platform then their ability to integrate a new channel would be much faster, easier and cost effective. That approach would also allow a brand to innovate faster which is currently being outpaced by consumer sophistication levels and expectations.

Talbott proposed one way companies could better market is by focusing on context, stating that “content is now secondary to context.” He also mentioned that mobile location matched against 1-to-1 knowledge of a customer is the best way a marketer can get to an understanding of intent.

 

If you are interested in learning how you can better deliver the right message, at the right time, to the right person let us know and schedule a demo to see the NectarSuite in action.

Flappy Bird: The Truth Behind Addicting Games and Ad Spending

Mobile Personalization

Let’s face it: the majority of us have played Flappy Bird at least once.

It was such a simple yet so frustratingly difficult that it became extremely addicting. In fact, it was so addictive that creator Dong Nguyen yanked the game out of the app store for good, according to a Forbes Interview. Nguyen has also stated the game has caused him undue stress, which we can attribute to the numerous death threats and personal attacks. Nguyen tweeted in response to the game “I can call ‘Flappy Bird’ a success of mine.  But it also ruined my simple life.  So now I hate it”
The truly spectacular part of this whole ordeal is that even though the app was said to have been generating $50,000 in revenue a day from mobile ads alone, Nguyen decided to take if off the market anyway.
We have learned 3 things from the yanking of the game:

(1) Creating an immensely popular game app can have adverse reactions on the developer’s sanity

(2) Some game developers do have souls and aren’t just in this for the money.

(3) Mobile ad spending was outrageously high on this game.

Flappy Bird has been available in the App Store since May of 2013. It was not overly popular until January of this year when it became the most downloaded app in the store for that month with over 50 million downloads. Advertisers saw the potential in the amount of “eyeballs” in this free app and coordinated with Nguyen to insert and sponsor ads into the game for millions to see. Nguyen admitted that he was making around $50,000 per day in ad revenue alone.

 

There are two key insights marketers can glean from looking at an ultra-successful game like Flappy Birds:

Mobile Personalization

(1) Mobile ad spending is increasing and should be an area marketers should invest in. In fact, Gartner estimates that mobile ad spending will reach $18 billion in 2014, a 37% increase from 2013’s $13.1 billion mobile ad spend.
 
(2) Free games are one of the best platforms for mobile ads because they gain users rapidly due to the lack of barriers in downloading the game and the repetitive nature of playing the game. Advertising spend on mobile games will increase to $894 million in 2015, up from $87 in 2010. That’s ten times the amount spent in 2010.
 
With the death of Flappy Bird, it has become apparent that a popular game such as Flappy Bird can play a strategic role in a marketing plan. Marketers should be aware of the trends in ad spending and recognize that mobile ad spending can no longer be ignored.

 

 

3 Ways to Improve Mobile Personalization

Mobile Personalization

Mobile Personalization is one of the hottest new trends in marketing in 2014.  Mobile purchases make up about 20% of all eCommerce transactions and mobile sales are projected to increase from $139 Billion to $400 Billion in the next couple years alone.  It is apparent that mobile presence is growing rapidly, but the real question is “What is the best way to improve mobile presence and interaction?”

1. Push for increase in opt-ins: The first way to improve mobile presence is to push for an increase in opt-ins.  Opt-ins range from customers signing up via mobile devices with their personal information, allowing push notifications to their phone, and cross-promoting mobile offers through their desktop site.  By offering these opt-ins a company is able to gain more personal insight into customers that agree to this and personalize their mobile experience by including their name, deals and offers based on their geographic location, and more relevant product selection based on their previous transaction history.  In short, having these opted-in customers allows a company to associate more personally with the customer and create an opportunity for them to evolve from being a simple customer to an evangelist for your brand.

Mobile Personalization

2. Cross-channel Promotions: The second way to improve mobile presence is cross-channel promotions over mobile.  Within the mobile realm there are multiple ways to reach customers: SMS texts, Apps, social media, passbook, and mobile website.  There are various ways to get involved in this avenue of marketing and it can include text campaigns where potential customers can text a preset number for offers and rewards and thereby entering their phone numbers into a
database for a company.  Another method is to have an app developed for a brand.  This has the most flexibility as the app doesn’t have to serve any particular purpose other than collecting data.  It could be a game, a coupon generator, or any other form of entertainment.  As long as it gets downloaded then it is fulfilling its purpose and creating more personal contact with customers.

3. Geographic data: The final way to improve mobile presence is to tap into geographic data.  This can be done very simply just by having a feature in an app or website that utilizes the phone’s location services to determine
where a customer is and if there are any promotions that would benefit them at their current location.  One way to

Mobile Personalization

capitalize on location information is to send geographically defined text messages or emails to customers based on where they are.  If a customer in a shopping mall, for example, and then receive a text from a store offering a sale a clear call to action is created and it is more likely to be followed up with because of the proximity to the store.

As mobile presence increases and customers are more focused on their devices than ever before, marketers too must focus more on these devices.  The ability to capture customer data and create a more engaged experience for them is available but it’s a matter of acting on it and creating the avenues to acquire this data in the first place.  Once the mobile presence is improved, the results will be noticeable and by connecting with customers it can be expected that lifetime value and loyalty of those customers will be increased dramatically.

Mobile Personalization: Boost Mobile Revenues with Relevance

Mobile commerce is big. And getting bigger. It has only been six years since Apple introduced the iPhone, arguably the first shopping-friendly smartphone–though even that didn’t happen with the first generation.  And today we are spending billions of dollars shopping and buying on our phones.  Next up: Mobile Personalization!

“The runaway hit for retail this year will be mobile commerce. The best way to leave money on the table is not to have a commerce-enabled mobile site and application.”
-Mobile Commerce Outlook 2013

“Over the next five years, total mobile sales are expected to grow 33% annually to $31 billion [from $8 billion today], making up 9% of online sales in 2017.”
-Forrester Research

According to BI Intelligence, by January 2013, 29% of mobile users had made a purchase with their phones. According to Internet Retailer, Walmart estimated that 40% of all visits to their internet shopping site in December 2012 were from a mobile device.  And this is happening despite the small screens and the often difficult-to-navigate mobile sites that exist today.  Imagine what mobile personalization can do for this small screen.

There are a few retailers who are doing mobile commerce right.  Amazon leads in this area.  They not only save all your information and sync it across your digital devices, they also make checking out a breeze.  And on top of that, they offer mobile personalization for your shopping experience, which makes for a very easy and pleasant exchange; you almost WANT to give Amazon your money.

But how about retailers who don’t have the time (and money) already invested in building an e-commerce (and m-commerce) powerhouse?  How do these retailers take a bite of the growing mobile pie?

First and foremost, you have to optimize your website for mobile.  Without a mobile-optimized website, no one will shop on your site using their smartphone. Everything else is secondary.

But let’s say you have a mobile-optimized website. You even have an app for iOs and/or Android. How can you rise above all the noise of all the other retailers trying to get the consumer’s attention?  The most effective (and least disruptive) way to do this is mobile personalization:  making your customer’s mobile experience as relevant as possible for him or her.

Imagine shopping on that tiny screen and you are immediately shown products that are relevant for YOU.  You don’t have to try to fat-finger your way through several incorrect screens to get to the item you want.  I would certainly be less frustrated and more likely to purchase if I didn’t have to spend my valuable time repeating steps just to try to give a company my money.  This is what mobile personalization gives you.

Technology exists today to bring all the data you have together to paint a picture of each of your customers.  Powerful algorithms are applied to these customer pictures to determine the most relevant products, offers or messages for each of them.  Then if you have a mobile-optimized site, it’s just a matter of displaying the most relevant content in front of each customer.  And before you know it, mobile personalization has helped you take a bite out of that mobile pie.

Nectar Online Media

can help you integrate your data (and even gather some), personalize your content and deliver that content for display on your mobile site.  Find out more!

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