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Into the Crystal Ball: Bold Ecommerce Predictions for 2014

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Into the Crystal BallBold Ecommerce Predictions for 2014

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Your Host and Predictions GuruMatt Winn, Marketing Communications Manager

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Topics We’ll Cover Today

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Countdown: Top Ecommerce Headlines of 2013

2014 Predictions and How to Get Ahead of the Game

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Countdown: Top Ecommerce Headlines of 2013

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Top Stories of 2013

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#5: Amazon has…drones?

• In early December, Jeff Bezos announces Amazon Prime Air

• Program uses drones for rapid order delivery

• Awaiting new FAA rules for commercial drones in 2015

• Caps off year of “shipping rush” among major retailers

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Top Stories of 2013

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#4: Internet sales tax bill stuck in Congress

• Marketplace Fairness Act passes Senate, now stuck in House

• Supreme Court declined to take up recent challenge to state laws

• $1M “small seller exception” serves as sticking point

• Don’t expect to see much in 2014 due to mid-term elections

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Top Stories of 2013

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#3: Social commerce more fizzle than sizzle

• Social media sites only generated 1% of purchases and traffic on Black Friday (IBM)

• Majority of social commerce sales come from Pinterest

• Group buying loses its luster; Groupon beginning to see flattened/declined revenues from daily deals

• Real power lies in word-of-mouth: 74% of consumers rely on social networks to guide their purchases (Gartner)

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Top Stories of 2013

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#2: Tablet Commerce: Rise of the Machines

• Tablet traffic officially surpasses smartphone traffic in February (Adobe)

• Shoppers more likely to purchase from tablets, driving 11.5% of Q4 sales, compared to 5% from smartphones (IBM)

• Tablets drive more traffic because internet users prefer them for more in-depth visits (70% more pages viewed)

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Top Stories of 2013

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#1: Google lays the SEO smackdown• Google reported to have released 15 new

updates in 2013 alone (Moz)

• Most signfiicant was “Hummingbird,” which impcated 90% of all search queries

• Updates include encryption of search activity, increasing “not provided” keyword data

• Move is meant to penalize sites with low quality content and better understand search intent

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2014 Predictions (and how to get ahead)

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2014 Ecommerce Predictions

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Multi-channel selling continues to rise

• Having an ecommerce site is no longer enough to remain competitive

• Shopping now transcends channels and devices, leading to blurred lines between traditional sales outlets

• Shoppers continue to look for convenience, personalization and discounts

• Brand consistency and integration become more important than ever before

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2014 Ecommerce Predictions

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Multi-channel selling: What to do?

• Figure out what channels make the most sense to you. • Marketplaces? Shopping engines?

eBay?• Look at the competition• Delegate time accordingly

• Ensure brand consistency across all points• Tone, design, word choice• Try to establish brand loyalty, gather

contact information

• Work toward personalization

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2014 Ecommerce Predictions

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Increased dependence on data

• Due to channel proliferation, data and segmentation become critical to increasing conversions and reducing costs

• Data will be leveraged to better create more relevant, personalized and real-time customer experiences

• Amount of available data can and will overwhelm several retailers

• Data becomes key for small retailers to be nimble and competitive

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2014 Ecommerce Predictions

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Lots-o’ data: What to do?

• Become familiar with data, learn to gather it, filter it and analyze it

• Look at two types of data sets: traffic metrics and customer metrics

• Branch out to find new types of data, including surveys, abandoned cart reports and seasonality trends

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2014 Ecommerce Predictions

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Mobile commerce dominates the conversation

• Mobile has earned its seat at the table, now hogging the gravy

• Consumers have increased comfort in making purchases directly from smartphones and tablet devices

• Rising concerns in mobile security

• Mobile payments start to grow in options

• New device to impact the market?

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2014 Ecommerce Predictions

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Need some mobile gravy? What to do:

• Get the basics down first – enable mobile commerce, add custom design, etc.

• Monitor trends in mobile and tablet traffic to your site

• Look at solutions for mobile-optimized email campaigns

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2014 Ecommerce Predictions

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Say goodbye to traditional SEO

• Google continues push for speed, accuracy and high-quality content

• Search engines turn up pressure against sites with spammy, low-quality links

• Dependence on keywords for basis of SEO strategy begins to wane

• Depth/usefulness of content, social signals emerge as top ranking factors

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2014 Ecommerce Predictions

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Say goodbye to traditional SEO

• Shift your mindset from “SEO” to creating a powerful user experience – create content that matters

• Integrate SEO with all facets of marketing, including PR, content and email

• Create an “information audit” to see what type of content your users really want

• Stop using old-school SEO techniques like keyword stuffing and cheap link building

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2014 Ecommerce Predictions

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Large retailers squeeze smaller competitors

• Mega-retailers like Amazon continue push to steal market share from brick and mortars

• Aggressive competition arises regarding pricing, shipping times

• Brand loyalty in online shopping becomes less significant, comparison shopping increases

• Smaller retailers forced to become more nimble, marketing-savvy

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2014 Ecommerce Predictions

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Large retailers squeeze smaller competitors

• Identify your key points of difference as it relates to your product and your brand

• Show off your smallness – embrace being a small business

• Don’t get yourself into a price war (but do what you can)

• Work to establish unwavering brand loyalty

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Q&AThank you