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2

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Table Content

4 Editorial

5 Tip 1 - Greacutegory Beyrouti (WiziShop)

7 Tip 2 - Aria Ardalan (BuyBox)

8 Tip 3 - Naveen Aricatt (Trusted Shops)

9 Tip 4 - Aseem Badshah (Socedo)

11 Tip 5 - Pierre-Yves Banaszak (My Pop Corner)

12 Tip 6 - Abhiroop Basu (Zendesk)

14 Tip 7 - Maxime Baumard (iAdvize)

15 Tip 8 - Cyril Bouskila (LeGuidecom)

16 Tip 9 - Anthony Brebion (AB Tasty)

17 Tip 10 - Nicolas Chevalier (SupplyWeb)

18 Tip 11 - Michyl Culos (Mailjet)

19 Tip 12 - Laure de Baudreuil (Boxtale)

20 Tip 13 - Marie Dufresne (Watcheezy)

21 Tip 14 - Bryan Eisenberg (Bryan Eisenberg)

22 Tip 15 - Sabrina Fenster (The Shelf)

23 Tip 16 - Fabien Ghiglione (PayZen)

24 Tip 17 - Anand Kansal (Pushcrew)

25 Tip 18 - Rianne Klein Geltink (B2C Europe)

3

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

27 Tip 19 - Herbert Knibiehly (Twenga Solutions)

29 Tip 20 - Florian Laudillay (ShopRunBack)

30 Tip 21 - Barbaba Libdri (WiziShop)

32 Tip 22 - Mireya Masclans (ToysrsquoRrsquoUs)

34 Tip 23 - Michele Mossali (WiziShop)

36 Tip 24 - Nabil Naimy (HiPay)

37 Tip 25 - Katy Phillips (Idealo)

38 Tip 26 - Melanie Pin (MPLV)

39 Tip 27 - Ceacutedric Prosper (Easyparapharmacie)

40 Tip 28 - Seacutebastien Ramel (Fitizzy)

41 Tip 29 - Samuel Roy (mQment)

42 Tip 30 - Sami Rusani (6ft9)

43 Tip 31 - Trenton Scott (Mouseflow)

44 Tip 32 - Kit Smith (Brandwatch)

45 Tip 33 - Elena Terenteva (SEMrush)

46 Tip 34 - Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel (Packshot Creator)

47 Tip 35 - Sam Van Leer (Lucky Cycle)

48 Tip 36 - Tiphaine Vey (Guides Shopping)

50 Tip 37 - Alexandre Viale (WiziShop)

52 About WiziShop

4

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In 2016 online retailers will have to face many changes and take advantage of several opportunities if they want to have a head start on their competitors Indeed last year was a turbulent time for the eCommerce sector The market maintained its impressive growth and has been forecasted to reach $35 trillion within the next 5 years

In 2015 Customer experience fast delivery mCommerce and secure payments were major challenges online retailers had to overcome in order to offer the best service possible for their patrons More than ever consumers expected efficiency and integrity from eCommerce websites In addition consumers were even more critical and cautious about making online purchases decisions which online retailers responded to by improving the purchasing process This in turn improved the overall shopping experience and increased customer buy-in and participation massively

New concepts and tools also put a lot of pressure on online retailers as reactivity is the keyword in such a competitive environment So what can we expect in 2016

The answer is search marketing the rise of social media and the ldquoBuyrdquo button Faster and more efficient customer service portals mobile payment apps and click-and-collect features will all be developments to keep an eye on in 2016 Online retailers will have to continue to differentiate themselves from their competitors This will be further achieved through the personalization of their offers and or enhancing their brandrsquos image

In 2016 your main objective as an online retailer should be to increase your profits as well as your conversion rates while managing your costs at the same time In order to help you achieve this we asked 37 experts to be part of the new edition of the WiziShop white

Lucie MerieuxInternational development manager

Editorial

I N 2 0 1 6 P R O S P E R I T Y A N D C R E A T I V I T Y

paper so they could provide you with useful information you can count on to help your business grow Our experts tips range from press relations to checkout abandonment rates Moreover significant thought has been given to the rise of mobile commerce and the importance of keeping your customers engaged All these key topics will help you drive your eCommerce business to a new level of success this year

at WiziShop

5

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Today again the majority of online retailers mainly count on SEO to increase traffic to their website Indeed itrsquos still a strategic acquisition lever Being ranked around the first positions on Google is more than compulsory to assure the durability of your online business However you are taking a big risk if you only focus on this lever The search engine giant regularly updates its algorythm making things difficult for you as it can completely disrupt your activity They are called Panda Penguin and they are terrifying entrepreneurs Some Web businesses were even obliged to shut down their activity due to a penalty of their ranking during an update

The idea is to limit your dependence to Google by diversifying your acquisition channels How What kind of solutions do you have In 2016 yoursquoll be able to count on traditional levers which have already proved their worth but also on new trends

Capitalize on your brand imageWether you sell products from your own

brand or products from multiple brands you really have to work on the notoriety and develop the brand image of your shop Therefore yoursquoll be

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 M O R E T H A N E V E R D I V E R S I F Y Y O U R A C Q U I S I T I O N C H A N N E L S ldquo01

Greacutegory Beyrouti

Founder amp CEO of WiziShop a performance-based eCommerce solution wwwwizishopio

in the consumerrsquos mind whorsquoll directly come to your website by typing your name or URL

Take advantage of the boom of marketplacesAmazon and Google Shopping are the two

marketplaces that get themselves talked about in 2015 due to their important traffic performances and innovations Test your presence on the most relevant marketplaces according to your activity to see if they can represent new sources of profit Be careful even the big marketplaces can suffer from a Google update such as eBay which suffered from it in 2015 It would be interesting in that case to test specialized marketplaces

Take advantage of specialized shopping guides

Specialized shopping guides benefit from a great referencing on a precise sector of activity They allow you to benefit from a great visibility especially as dedicated teams work daily to empahsize your products on their different channels (website social media newsletters) Who can top that

6

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Test the mutualized cross-sellingThe concept is new and comes from the

startup Yuzu The idea is to benefit from the traffic of other online retailers of the network in order to create traffic for your own website During the purchasing process on a website promotions linked to your eCommerce are pushed to your customers Thanks to different rules allowing to assure the pertinence of the offers personalized promotions are offered to internet users that have all the chances to interest them

Be careful the dependance to one and unique source of traffic doesnrsquot concern only the referencing The levers cited above as well as Adwords emailing price comparison websites affiliation retargeting social media are aslo traffic sources that you have to limit your dependence from Be sure that your main source of traffic doesnrsquot represent more than 20 of the visits generated to your website in order to limit your vulnerability in case of problem I invite you to check on your Google Analytics and verify that you are not too dependent to only one source of traffic

7

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

ldquo 2 0 1 6 I S C E R T A I N L Y T H E Y E A R T O L A U N C H Y O U R O W N G I F T C A R D 02

Aria Ardalan

Marketing Director of BuyBox a private payment solution dedicated to online retailers wwwbuyboxneten

S E R V I C E rdquo

The fabulous potential of gift cards

The gift card is the consumersrsquo favored gift According to a study from Trifecta Research Group the gift card offers some great advantages for stores 28 of people having a gift card went to a store they knew before but without buying there And even better 10 are becoming regular customers

At the time where customer acquisition costs are booming (ranking affiliation ) the gift card is becoming a real strategic line to develop your business in a durable way Amazon or lrsquoOccitane Group clearly understood it and offer the possibility to buy gift cards through their eCommerce website

The electronic format as a key success factor

88 of consumers prefer the electronic format (e-gift cards) over the plastic format Why Just because of the immediacy An electronic gift card is immediately available once the order is finalized

Consummers confess to do their gifts at the last moment without having real ideas The electronic gift card is becoming in this case the best gift to offer

A real marketing lever which has become essential

Lots of different stores built their loyalty strategy around the e-gift card One of the most well-known example consists of rewarding your customers with e-gift cards depending on the previous ordersrsquo amount This strategy has not only as immediate effect to satisfy the customer but also the increase of the purchasing frequency and average shopping cart

8

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Legal Expert UK at TrustedShops wwwtrustedshopscouk

In 2015 the UK Competition amp Markets Authority reported that pound23 billion of UK consumer spending per year is being influenced by online reviews At the same time we have seen a series of issues concerning the posting of fake reviews and the manipulation of negative reviews As a result in 2016 tackling social proof will be one of the key tasks for retailers Those who want to combat fraudsters will need to work with trusted third parties so that they can manage the review and feedback process Especially with regards to the CMA prioritising the review sector in its investigations retailers will need to carefully select their trust partners

Cross-border is also set to take off in 2016 There has been a range of harmonisation steps on an EU level which have reduced the legal risk associated with coordinating rules for multiple jurisdictions This is good time for retailers to capitalise on the opportunities presented in other geographies Understanding the new market is the beginning Retailers need to pay attention to the pricing model ensuring that they remain but are not seen as cheap that they cause suspicion Logistics will be the most difficult area that needs to be addressed When entering new markets

using trust building measures such as a well-recognised trustmark is important as company heritage wonrsquot be carried across borders and these elements reassure new customers

We see a growing trend of merging the online and offline world Understanding what a successful omnichannel strategy looks like is key to success Retailers need to enhance their customer experience managing online and offline business as one entity In addition to sales retailers also need to invest time in retaining existing customers and encouraging them to buy more often and in higher order volumes A seamless experience across brick and clicks will be the deciding factor for success in 2016

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T A C K L I N G S O C I A L P R O O F W I L L B E O N E O F T H E K E Y T A S K S F O R R E T A I L E R S rdquo03

Naveen Aricatt

9

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

The world of eCommerce is ruthless You only get one shot to convert your leads on your websitemdashthey either purchase or they may be gone forever As a result many eCommerce marketers spend the majority of their time improving their websites and landing pages AB testing the call-to-action merchandising with rich personalized content and posting reviews and social proof can all increase the conversion rate However we often forget that the way we drive customers to our site can make as much of a difference as their experience once they arrive

If 2015 was all about personalized marketing then 2016 is the year of targeted eCommerce traffic A great demand generation strategy keeps our marketing time and money focused on helping our most valuable prospective customers Not all customers are ready to buy but donrsquot miss out on the ones who are Donrsquot let leads escape your funnel

One channel where marketers can drive highly targeted traffic is social media We can use social media to figure out when to bring customers to our website based on their specific interests which usually comes in the form of keywords

At Socedo we harness the power of keywords to identify qualified leads based on their buyer personas and behavior Conversational keywords tell us what customers are Tweeting in real-time expressing their current state of mind and bio keywords can help us target based on location job title or interests

All of this datamdashand moremdashcan be used to create unique lead segments so you can send the right message to the right audience at the right time Socedorsquos platform runs analytics on keywords automatically and self-optimizes for the best results but there are also a few simple steps you can take as an eCommerce business owner or marketer

- Do a keyword mapping exercise to see which terms your customers are talking about the most in relation to your brand as well as which topics lead to the highest conversion rate

- Search for customers Tweeting or posting these keywords and engage with them in real time on social media while theyrsquore hot

- Incorporate relevant terms into your social media calendar when you have special offers

ldquo 2 0 1 6 I S T H E Y E A R O F T A R G E T E D E C O M M E R C E T R A F F I C rdquo

04

Aseem Badshah

Founder and CEO of Socedo a web platform that helps businesses discover and monitor their customers using social data wwwsocedocom

10

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

- Use social media data to build segments for other marketing channels such as email pay--per-click ads and website personalization

Learn how to use keywords in your marketing efforts to drive targeted traffic to your site and yoursquoll be miles ahead of the competition

11

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of My Pop Corner an ephemeral commercial spaces rental platform and My Box Corner a turnkey concept-store solution wwwmypopcornercom

The number of online stores has been in a constant increase since the advent of the web For instance we count more than 164 000 online stores in France in the first trimester of 2015 Therefore itrsquos fundamental for an online retailer to differentiate himself if he wants to stand out from the competition

Online the purchasing process is mainly triggered by the price proposed and the delivery times If your competitors excel in this domain itrsquos difficult to compete without reducing your margin and so put in danger your business model But how to stand out and gain notoriety

BACK TO BASICS

Today more than 90 of sales are still done in brick-and-mortars Amazon Groupon Zalando all these pure-players perfectly understood it and they recently took the plunge of the physical store by opening a pop-up store

Thus during the few weeks or months of the operation these brands face their customers listen to them and exchange Bref they come back to the commerce bases

AT THE RIGHT LOCATION AT THE RIGHT TIME

Wether it be for the release of a new collection a special event such as a birthday to offer to the public the possibility to touch or try on your last flagship product every year thousands of brands open a pop-up store in order to be at the right location and at the right time

Yoursquove understood no need to open a store during the entire year if you sell swimming trunks you just need to open a temporary shop or a corner from May to end of August in a beach resort

In 2016 I invite you to follow this trend and to develop your physical presence With some imagination your activity and your products can transform the purchasing process of your customers into a unique purchasing experience Tell them a story your story theyrsquoll love it

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 M E E T Y O U R C U S T O M E R S A N D B E D I F F E R E N T rdquo05

Pierre-Yves Banaszak

12

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content and Product Marketing Manager for Zopim wwwzopimcom and Zendesk wwwzendeskcom

During Thanksgiving 71 of all eCommerce traffic came directly from mobile devices The growth in mobile commerce has become unstoppable with consumers spending more time than ever shopping from their mobile devices

What do people expect

Customers are no longer content with retailers simply offering their products and services online They now expect a seamless shopping experience right from the convenience of their mobile phones This means being able to complete the entire purchase without having to switch devices in order to make payment or ask a question

As a business owner what should you do

The growth in mobile commerce has created greater opportunities for businesses Consumers can now make purchases from wherever they are and you can reach out to them using new technologies To take advantage of the new platforms here are some things to keep in mind

Invest in technologies and tools

42 of mobile shoppers buy on impulse compared to 25 of all other shoppers Customers behave differently on mobile and to understand their behaviour yoursquoll need to invest in analytical tools (such as Google Analytics) Information like purchasing amount time and frequency of mobile shoppers can help you develop strategies to increase sales If your metrics show that mobile customers are most active between 7-9pm consider launching special deals during then to increase sales

Having a mobile responsive website or a native mobile app (ie for Android and iOS) should also be your top priority Both a website and an app can be designed to provide the best experience on mobile If your mobile site is clumsy or slow 29 of smartphone users will immediately switch to another site (usually a competitor) to find what theyrsquore looking for

Always be there to help

Customers donrsquot like having to jump through hoops in order to receive support When they

ldquo 5 7 O F C U S T O M E R S W I L L A B A N D O N T H E I R C A R T I F T H E Y F I N D I T D I F F I C U L T T O S O L V E T H E I R P R O B L E M W H I L E S H O P P I N G O N L I N E rdquo06

Abhiroop Basu

13

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

encounter a problem while shopping on mobile they want to have their questions answered immediately Live chat is one way to provide prompt support on mobile Instead of forcing customers onto another platform with Zopim you can seamlessly offer chat support in your native mobile app

Also by proactively offering help when you notice customers struggling yoursquoll be able to smooth out the kinks in their shopping experience 57 of customers will abandon their cart if they find it difficult to solve their problem while shopping online Thatrsquos why it is important to ensure that obtaining support is simple and fuss-free for consumers even while on mobile

14

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager at iAdvize real time customer engagement platform wwwiadvizecom

In 2016 companies will have to adapt themselves to the necessity to assure a ubiquitous customer experience Being everywhere all the time instantly and assuring a perfect coherence in the speech whatever the interaction point with the brand is website social media community mobile The customer experience has to be global the internet user doesnrsquot have to come to the brand anymore it is for brands to engage the customer in real time at the right moment and where he is

Not only the customer experience has to be global but also conversational Social networks will slowly give way to personalized conversations (one-to-one) The messaging applications have their share in this transformation They have experienced a strong growth during the last five years In 2015 700 million of people used Facebook

each month 900 million used Whatsapp In 2016 the challenge for companies will be to integrate these tools to their multi-channel strategy

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S W I L L H A V E T O A D A P T T H E M S E L V E S T O T H E N E C E S S I T Y T O A S S U R E A U B I Q U I T O U S C U S T O M E R E X P E R I E N C E rdquo

07

Maxime Baumard

15

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales Vice President LeGuide Group a network of comparison sites and shopping guides for online product listings solutions wwwpricesavvycouk wwwchoozencouk

The e-business environment in 2016 is again set to be full of innovations and surprises The focus would be on the ever-changing e-buyersrsquo behaviours The growth of Mobile Shopping will undoubtedly keep on accelerating accompanied by the rise of two shopping behaviours in particular the Showrooming and the Webrooming These practices address two of the main current consumersrsquo needs researching the best prices and checking products before purchasing

Therefore an effective price positioning strategy is more important than ever The relevance of price in the consumer decision making process will continue to rise and it will be the most important factor to acquire new customers As a result being able to quickly track and react to competitorsrsquo price changes will prove to be the biggest challenge for online retailers

In order to help them LeGuide Group has launched a new price intelligence service which offers an efficient competitor analysis tool affordable to e-retailers of all sizes

ldquo T H E F O C U S W O U L D B E O N T H E E V E R - C H A N G I N G E - B U Y E R S rsquo B E H A V I O U R S rdquo

08

Cyril Bouskila

16

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Anthony Brebion

Mobile platforms now form an integral part of the customer experience According to McKinsey 50 of interactions between a brand and its customers now occur as part of a multi-channel path It is therefore essential to be present on mobile devices But this presence which is concerned as much with content as with form (online store consisting just of a product catalogue versus eCommerce website responsive website versus native application etc) must be adapted to the consumerrsquos needs because mobile devices have radically changed our expectations of brands We expect to obtain relevant information whenever we require it and to have a customised online experience that is both context sensitive and updated in real-time

In this respect and to an even greater extent than with desktop technology it is more relevant to track the engagement metric rather than that of customer acquisition cost The big advertisers have already realised this and shifted the focus of their mobile platform expenditure accordingly With the 2010-2012 period having been marked by a phase of investment in IT in 2013-2014 the focus was mainly on traffic acquisition Then in 2015 we began to see a shift towards improving

conversion rates and retention a trend that is set to continue in 2016

Improving the customer experience on mobile sites responsive sites and with native applications will therefore be the order of the day for the incoming year and this will involve challenges that need to be overcome not only device-inherent ones (display area size network speed etc) but also challenges of an organisational technical and financial nature With conversion rates on mobile platforms continuing to be inferior to those achieved through desktop technology and with the ROI on mobile platforms not yet clearly proven how can one justify making the new investments required to bring services up to speed Fortunately there are simple solutions in existence that allow you to modify your mobile sites or native applications and implement the kind of customised experience likely to engage your users no matter what the device The most advanced of these solutions also integrates the cross-device aspect by ensuring the coherence of the personalised customer experience across the web mobile platforms and the application

ldquo P E R S O N A L I S E T H E O M N I - C H A N N E L E X P E R I E N C E T O I N C R E A S E E N G A G E M E N T rdquo 09

Marketing Manager at AB Tasty wwwabtastycom

17

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Nicolas Chevalier

More and more online logistics platforms are created proportionnaly to the development of the eCommerce giving e-retailers a large choice in terms of service providers If some of them prefer focusing on their core activity thanks to the outsourcing other chose to manage the logistics internally But as an oline retailer why would you externalize your logistics

The logistics is at the heart itself of the eCommerce if your deliveries donrsquot respect the delivery times and if the management of your stocks is not transparent you are more likely to tread water with your business or even suffer from your customersrsquo complaints By outsourcing the first major asset is the economical aspect There is no need to pay order pickers or premises to stock your items You can therefore focus on your activity and its development

Thus the externalization of your logistics allows you to save time (order preparation administrative management returns management) as well as money (employees preferential tariff no rent for the stock)

More than just an economical criteria quality service is essential in order to satisfy your customer The job of e-logisticians with the expertise and experience is the decisive argument Thanks to the setting up of an optimized process logistics platforms are more efficient than internal teams Thus going through a qualified service provider will make you save money However donrsquot forget that logistics providers have their own characteristics With a transversal vision on the eCommerce world your logistician can appear to be a real partner to inform you about the market trends

Logistics and the management of the last mile will be key areas to succeed in eCommerce in 2016 so take time to choose the service provider who best fits your needs and donrsquot hesitate to ask additional information about the process of the platform and the services offered by the logistician

ldquo W H Y S H O U L D Y O U O U T S O U R C E Y O U R E C O M M E R C E L O G I S T I C S rdquo10

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for SupplyWeb and Co-founder of eCommerce Nation wwwsupplywebfr

18

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Michyl Culos

Even if yoursquore not a Spammer you may actually look like one to our friends the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) think Gmail Hotmail Yahoo Orange

For ISPs there are A LOT of factors that set off their SPAM alerts but in 2016 engagement-based filtering will continue to be a method of choice when detecting SPAM They are monitoring how readers interact with senderrsquos emails (opens clicks new sign-ups unsubscribes SPAM reports etc) to assess how desirable these emails actually are

ISPs are doing this for their end users They want to ensure that they are always having a better experience with their service and part of a better experience is having only the emails they actually want land in their inboxes

So what can you do about it There are many factors to take into consideration but herersquos a few tips to start with to keep up a healthy email engagement rate

- DONrsquoT email your contacts about things they didnrsquot sign-up for For example you invited

them to receive your e-book but then added them to your regular newsletter list

- DONrsquoT continue to send regular emails to inactive contacts 6 months of non-engagement with your emails tends to be the common length of time for a subscriber to be considered inactive Filter these contacts into a separate email list and either refrain from emailing them or create a campaign dedicated to re-engaging them

- DONrsquoT buy an email list Duh These people have not signed up to receive your emails and when they do receive them wonrsquot hesitate to hit unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

- DONrsquoT use spammy keywords in your emails Spammy words are still red-flags for ISPs but more than that they usually lead to deception If you put the word ldquoFreerdquo in your email subject then you better be offering something thatrsquos really for free or your subscribers wonrsquot hesitate to unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

Head over here for a full report on email deliverability by the experts at Mailjet

ldquo O U T O F T H E S P A M B O X E N G A G E M E N T I S A L L T H E R A G E rdquo11

Channel Marketing at Mailjet wwwmailjetcom

19

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Business Development Director at Boxtale the leading online shipping provider wwwboxtalecom

With the growth of eCommerce the shipping market is heating up Online retailers have to adapt themselves to consumersrsquo ever-more demanding expectations Next-day and same-day delivery or even delivery within the hour

New innovative solutions are appearing couriers drone deliveries urban delivery men deliveries in train stations in cars boots by private individuals In 2016 the war to the last kilometer will rage

Keep yourself up to date with new initiatives on the delivery market but donrsquot forget the fundamentals of a successful customer experience

In 2016 internet users are taking power

Make it possible for them to choose the type of delivery they want Diversify your modes of delivery to satisfy your future customers home delivery or in a pick-up station express delivery same-day delivery etc

Donrsquot underestimate the impact of your shipping policy to build your customer loyalty

Favour quality carriers communicate precise information concerning the tracking of your orders and be able to provide visibility to your recipient regarding the different steps of the delivery process

Finally continue to communicate as much as possible about your shipping policy before during and after the purchase by choosing transparency you reassure your customers and maximize your sales

At the time where marketplaces are becoming unmissable growth accelerators for small and medium online retailers itrsquos essential to answer to their delivery needs by shipping within the announced delivery times respecting the mode of delivery chosen by the customer supplying a tracking link as well as managing returns

ldquo A D A P T Y O U R S H I P P I N G P O L I C Y T O Y O U R C U S T O M E R S rsquo E X P E C T A T I O N S T O B U I L D L O Y A L T Y rdquo

12

Laure de Baudreuil

20

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for Watcheezywwwwatcheezycom

2015 put the customer relation at the heart of the companyrsquos strategy and confirmed the importance to homogenize the customer experience 2016 will be marked by the investment in a quality customer relation with 3 main elements the humanization personalization and omni-presence on every channels

First of all 2016 will be the year of the customer relation humanization thanks to the democratization of the customer relation tools (click-to-chat click-to-call) Chat is becoming a real live time conversion tool only offered to internet users who need help from an agent to finalize their purchase

2016 will also be the year of personalization thanks to the exploitation of customers data It is about for online retailers predicting customersrsquo intentions by targeting and personalizing the offers made to consumers The personalization of the customer follow-up will be a development opportunity as consumers buy more on a website that personalizes the customer experience

2016 will also be placed under the sign of the omni-presence and coherence of the customer journey on all the contact points Consumers have to feel this personalization and this attention from the brand each time they are in contact with it 2016 reserves some good surprises and promising evolutions in terms of customer relation Letrsquos progress towards the customer relation new generation

ldquo 2 0 1 6 T R E N D S I N T E R M S O F C U S T O M E R R E L A T I O N rdquo13

Marie Dufresne

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

3

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

27 Tip 19 - Herbert Knibiehly (Twenga Solutions)

29 Tip 20 - Florian Laudillay (ShopRunBack)

30 Tip 21 - Barbaba Libdri (WiziShop)

32 Tip 22 - Mireya Masclans (ToysrsquoRrsquoUs)

34 Tip 23 - Michele Mossali (WiziShop)

36 Tip 24 - Nabil Naimy (HiPay)

37 Tip 25 - Katy Phillips (Idealo)

38 Tip 26 - Melanie Pin (MPLV)

39 Tip 27 - Ceacutedric Prosper (Easyparapharmacie)

40 Tip 28 - Seacutebastien Ramel (Fitizzy)

41 Tip 29 - Samuel Roy (mQment)

42 Tip 30 - Sami Rusani (6ft9)

43 Tip 31 - Trenton Scott (Mouseflow)

44 Tip 32 - Kit Smith (Brandwatch)

45 Tip 33 - Elena Terenteva (SEMrush)

46 Tip 34 - Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel (Packshot Creator)

47 Tip 35 - Sam Van Leer (Lucky Cycle)

48 Tip 36 - Tiphaine Vey (Guides Shopping)

50 Tip 37 - Alexandre Viale (WiziShop)

52 About WiziShop

4

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In 2016 online retailers will have to face many changes and take advantage of several opportunities if they want to have a head start on their competitors Indeed last year was a turbulent time for the eCommerce sector The market maintained its impressive growth and has been forecasted to reach $35 trillion within the next 5 years

In 2015 Customer experience fast delivery mCommerce and secure payments were major challenges online retailers had to overcome in order to offer the best service possible for their patrons More than ever consumers expected efficiency and integrity from eCommerce websites In addition consumers were even more critical and cautious about making online purchases decisions which online retailers responded to by improving the purchasing process This in turn improved the overall shopping experience and increased customer buy-in and participation massively

New concepts and tools also put a lot of pressure on online retailers as reactivity is the keyword in such a competitive environment So what can we expect in 2016

The answer is search marketing the rise of social media and the ldquoBuyrdquo button Faster and more efficient customer service portals mobile payment apps and click-and-collect features will all be developments to keep an eye on in 2016 Online retailers will have to continue to differentiate themselves from their competitors This will be further achieved through the personalization of their offers and or enhancing their brandrsquos image

In 2016 your main objective as an online retailer should be to increase your profits as well as your conversion rates while managing your costs at the same time In order to help you achieve this we asked 37 experts to be part of the new edition of the WiziShop white

Lucie MerieuxInternational development manager

Editorial

I N 2 0 1 6 P R O S P E R I T Y A N D C R E A T I V I T Y

paper so they could provide you with useful information you can count on to help your business grow Our experts tips range from press relations to checkout abandonment rates Moreover significant thought has been given to the rise of mobile commerce and the importance of keeping your customers engaged All these key topics will help you drive your eCommerce business to a new level of success this year

at WiziShop

5

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Today again the majority of online retailers mainly count on SEO to increase traffic to their website Indeed itrsquos still a strategic acquisition lever Being ranked around the first positions on Google is more than compulsory to assure the durability of your online business However you are taking a big risk if you only focus on this lever The search engine giant regularly updates its algorythm making things difficult for you as it can completely disrupt your activity They are called Panda Penguin and they are terrifying entrepreneurs Some Web businesses were even obliged to shut down their activity due to a penalty of their ranking during an update

The idea is to limit your dependence to Google by diversifying your acquisition channels How What kind of solutions do you have In 2016 yoursquoll be able to count on traditional levers which have already proved their worth but also on new trends

Capitalize on your brand imageWether you sell products from your own

brand or products from multiple brands you really have to work on the notoriety and develop the brand image of your shop Therefore yoursquoll be

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 M O R E T H A N E V E R D I V E R S I F Y Y O U R A C Q U I S I T I O N C H A N N E L S ldquo01

Greacutegory Beyrouti

Founder amp CEO of WiziShop a performance-based eCommerce solution wwwwizishopio

in the consumerrsquos mind whorsquoll directly come to your website by typing your name or URL

Take advantage of the boom of marketplacesAmazon and Google Shopping are the two

marketplaces that get themselves talked about in 2015 due to their important traffic performances and innovations Test your presence on the most relevant marketplaces according to your activity to see if they can represent new sources of profit Be careful even the big marketplaces can suffer from a Google update such as eBay which suffered from it in 2015 It would be interesting in that case to test specialized marketplaces

Take advantage of specialized shopping guides

Specialized shopping guides benefit from a great referencing on a precise sector of activity They allow you to benefit from a great visibility especially as dedicated teams work daily to empahsize your products on their different channels (website social media newsletters) Who can top that

6

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Test the mutualized cross-sellingThe concept is new and comes from the

startup Yuzu The idea is to benefit from the traffic of other online retailers of the network in order to create traffic for your own website During the purchasing process on a website promotions linked to your eCommerce are pushed to your customers Thanks to different rules allowing to assure the pertinence of the offers personalized promotions are offered to internet users that have all the chances to interest them

Be careful the dependance to one and unique source of traffic doesnrsquot concern only the referencing The levers cited above as well as Adwords emailing price comparison websites affiliation retargeting social media are aslo traffic sources that you have to limit your dependence from Be sure that your main source of traffic doesnrsquot represent more than 20 of the visits generated to your website in order to limit your vulnerability in case of problem I invite you to check on your Google Analytics and verify that you are not too dependent to only one source of traffic

7

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

ldquo 2 0 1 6 I S C E R T A I N L Y T H E Y E A R T O L A U N C H Y O U R O W N G I F T C A R D 02

Aria Ardalan

Marketing Director of BuyBox a private payment solution dedicated to online retailers wwwbuyboxneten

S E R V I C E rdquo

The fabulous potential of gift cards

The gift card is the consumersrsquo favored gift According to a study from Trifecta Research Group the gift card offers some great advantages for stores 28 of people having a gift card went to a store they knew before but without buying there And even better 10 are becoming regular customers

At the time where customer acquisition costs are booming (ranking affiliation ) the gift card is becoming a real strategic line to develop your business in a durable way Amazon or lrsquoOccitane Group clearly understood it and offer the possibility to buy gift cards through their eCommerce website

The electronic format as a key success factor

88 of consumers prefer the electronic format (e-gift cards) over the plastic format Why Just because of the immediacy An electronic gift card is immediately available once the order is finalized

Consummers confess to do their gifts at the last moment without having real ideas The electronic gift card is becoming in this case the best gift to offer

A real marketing lever which has become essential

Lots of different stores built their loyalty strategy around the e-gift card One of the most well-known example consists of rewarding your customers with e-gift cards depending on the previous ordersrsquo amount This strategy has not only as immediate effect to satisfy the customer but also the increase of the purchasing frequency and average shopping cart

8

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Legal Expert UK at TrustedShops wwwtrustedshopscouk

In 2015 the UK Competition amp Markets Authority reported that pound23 billion of UK consumer spending per year is being influenced by online reviews At the same time we have seen a series of issues concerning the posting of fake reviews and the manipulation of negative reviews As a result in 2016 tackling social proof will be one of the key tasks for retailers Those who want to combat fraudsters will need to work with trusted third parties so that they can manage the review and feedback process Especially with regards to the CMA prioritising the review sector in its investigations retailers will need to carefully select their trust partners

Cross-border is also set to take off in 2016 There has been a range of harmonisation steps on an EU level which have reduced the legal risk associated with coordinating rules for multiple jurisdictions This is good time for retailers to capitalise on the opportunities presented in other geographies Understanding the new market is the beginning Retailers need to pay attention to the pricing model ensuring that they remain but are not seen as cheap that they cause suspicion Logistics will be the most difficult area that needs to be addressed When entering new markets

using trust building measures such as a well-recognised trustmark is important as company heritage wonrsquot be carried across borders and these elements reassure new customers

We see a growing trend of merging the online and offline world Understanding what a successful omnichannel strategy looks like is key to success Retailers need to enhance their customer experience managing online and offline business as one entity In addition to sales retailers also need to invest time in retaining existing customers and encouraging them to buy more often and in higher order volumes A seamless experience across brick and clicks will be the deciding factor for success in 2016

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T A C K L I N G S O C I A L P R O O F W I L L B E O N E O F T H E K E Y T A S K S F O R R E T A I L E R S rdquo03

Naveen Aricatt

9

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

The world of eCommerce is ruthless You only get one shot to convert your leads on your websitemdashthey either purchase or they may be gone forever As a result many eCommerce marketers spend the majority of their time improving their websites and landing pages AB testing the call-to-action merchandising with rich personalized content and posting reviews and social proof can all increase the conversion rate However we often forget that the way we drive customers to our site can make as much of a difference as their experience once they arrive

If 2015 was all about personalized marketing then 2016 is the year of targeted eCommerce traffic A great demand generation strategy keeps our marketing time and money focused on helping our most valuable prospective customers Not all customers are ready to buy but donrsquot miss out on the ones who are Donrsquot let leads escape your funnel

One channel where marketers can drive highly targeted traffic is social media We can use social media to figure out when to bring customers to our website based on their specific interests which usually comes in the form of keywords

At Socedo we harness the power of keywords to identify qualified leads based on their buyer personas and behavior Conversational keywords tell us what customers are Tweeting in real-time expressing their current state of mind and bio keywords can help us target based on location job title or interests

All of this datamdashand moremdashcan be used to create unique lead segments so you can send the right message to the right audience at the right time Socedorsquos platform runs analytics on keywords automatically and self-optimizes for the best results but there are also a few simple steps you can take as an eCommerce business owner or marketer

- Do a keyword mapping exercise to see which terms your customers are talking about the most in relation to your brand as well as which topics lead to the highest conversion rate

- Search for customers Tweeting or posting these keywords and engage with them in real time on social media while theyrsquore hot

- Incorporate relevant terms into your social media calendar when you have special offers

ldquo 2 0 1 6 I S T H E Y E A R O F T A R G E T E D E C O M M E R C E T R A F F I C rdquo

04

Aseem Badshah

Founder and CEO of Socedo a web platform that helps businesses discover and monitor their customers using social data wwwsocedocom

10

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

- Use social media data to build segments for other marketing channels such as email pay--per-click ads and website personalization

Learn how to use keywords in your marketing efforts to drive targeted traffic to your site and yoursquoll be miles ahead of the competition

11

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of My Pop Corner an ephemeral commercial spaces rental platform and My Box Corner a turnkey concept-store solution wwwmypopcornercom

The number of online stores has been in a constant increase since the advent of the web For instance we count more than 164 000 online stores in France in the first trimester of 2015 Therefore itrsquos fundamental for an online retailer to differentiate himself if he wants to stand out from the competition

Online the purchasing process is mainly triggered by the price proposed and the delivery times If your competitors excel in this domain itrsquos difficult to compete without reducing your margin and so put in danger your business model But how to stand out and gain notoriety

BACK TO BASICS

Today more than 90 of sales are still done in brick-and-mortars Amazon Groupon Zalando all these pure-players perfectly understood it and they recently took the plunge of the physical store by opening a pop-up store

Thus during the few weeks or months of the operation these brands face their customers listen to them and exchange Bref they come back to the commerce bases

AT THE RIGHT LOCATION AT THE RIGHT TIME

Wether it be for the release of a new collection a special event such as a birthday to offer to the public the possibility to touch or try on your last flagship product every year thousands of brands open a pop-up store in order to be at the right location and at the right time

Yoursquove understood no need to open a store during the entire year if you sell swimming trunks you just need to open a temporary shop or a corner from May to end of August in a beach resort

In 2016 I invite you to follow this trend and to develop your physical presence With some imagination your activity and your products can transform the purchasing process of your customers into a unique purchasing experience Tell them a story your story theyrsquoll love it

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 M E E T Y O U R C U S T O M E R S A N D B E D I F F E R E N T rdquo05

Pierre-Yves Banaszak

12

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content and Product Marketing Manager for Zopim wwwzopimcom and Zendesk wwwzendeskcom

During Thanksgiving 71 of all eCommerce traffic came directly from mobile devices The growth in mobile commerce has become unstoppable with consumers spending more time than ever shopping from their mobile devices

What do people expect

Customers are no longer content with retailers simply offering their products and services online They now expect a seamless shopping experience right from the convenience of their mobile phones This means being able to complete the entire purchase without having to switch devices in order to make payment or ask a question

As a business owner what should you do

The growth in mobile commerce has created greater opportunities for businesses Consumers can now make purchases from wherever they are and you can reach out to them using new technologies To take advantage of the new platforms here are some things to keep in mind

Invest in technologies and tools

42 of mobile shoppers buy on impulse compared to 25 of all other shoppers Customers behave differently on mobile and to understand their behaviour yoursquoll need to invest in analytical tools (such as Google Analytics) Information like purchasing amount time and frequency of mobile shoppers can help you develop strategies to increase sales If your metrics show that mobile customers are most active between 7-9pm consider launching special deals during then to increase sales

Having a mobile responsive website or a native mobile app (ie for Android and iOS) should also be your top priority Both a website and an app can be designed to provide the best experience on mobile If your mobile site is clumsy or slow 29 of smartphone users will immediately switch to another site (usually a competitor) to find what theyrsquore looking for

Always be there to help

Customers donrsquot like having to jump through hoops in order to receive support When they

ldquo 5 7 O F C U S T O M E R S W I L L A B A N D O N T H E I R C A R T I F T H E Y F I N D I T D I F F I C U L T T O S O L V E T H E I R P R O B L E M W H I L E S H O P P I N G O N L I N E rdquo06

Abhiroop Basu

13

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

encounter a problem while shopping on mobile they want to have their questions answered immediately Live chat is one way to provide prompt support on mobile Instead of forcing customers onto another platform with Zopim you can seamlessly offer chat support in your native mobile app

Also by proactively offering help when you notice customers struggling yoursquoll be able to smooth out the kinks in their shopping experience 57 of customers will abandon their cart if they find it difficult to solve their problem while shopping online Thatrsquos why it is important to ensure that obtaining support is simple and fuss-free for consumers even while on mobile

14

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager at iAdvize real time customer engagement platform wwwiadvizecom

In 2016 companies will have to adapt themselves to the necessity to assure a ubiquitous customer experience Being everywhere all the time instantly and assuring a perfect coherence in the speech whatever the interaction point with the brand is website social media community mobile The customer experience has to be global the internet user doesnrsquot have to come to the brand anymore it is for brands to engage the customer in real time at the right moment and where he is

Not only the customer experience has to be global but also conversational Social networks will slowly give way to personalized conversations (one-to-one) The messaging applications have their share in this transformation They have experienced a strong growth during the last five years In 2015 700 million of people used Facebook

each month 900 million used Whatsapp In 2016 the challenge for companies will be to integrate these tools to their multi-channel strategy

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S W I L L H A V E T O A D A P T T H E M S E L V E S T O T H E N E C E S S I T Y T O A S S U R E A U B I Q U I T O U S C U S T O M E R E X P E R I E N C E rdquo

07

Maxime Baumard

15

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales Vice President LeGuide Group a network of comparison sites and shopping guides for online product listings solutions wwwpricesavvycouk wwwchoozencouk

The e-business environment in 2016 is again set to be full of innovations and surprises The focus would be on the ever-changing e-buyersrsquo behaviours The growth of Mobile Shopping will undoubtedly keep on accelerating accompanied by the rise of two shopping behaviours in particular the Showrooming and the Webrooming These practices address two of the main current consumersrsquo needs researching the best prices and checking products before purchasing

Therefore an effective price positioning strategy is more important than ever The relevance of price in the consumer decision making process will continue to rise and it will be the most important factor to acquire new customers As a result being able to quickly track and react to competitorsrsquo price changes will prove to be the biggest challenge for online retailers

In order to help them LeGuide Group has launched a new price intelligence service which offers an efficient competitor analysis tool affordable to e-retailers of all sizes

ldquo T H E F O C U S W O U L D B E O N T H E E V E R - C H A N G I N G E - B U Y E R S rsquo B E H A V I O U R S rdquo

08

Cyril Bouskila

16

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Anthony Brebion

Mobile platforms now form an integral part of the customer experience According to McKinsey 50 of interactions between a brand and its customers now occur as part of a multi-channel path It is therefore essential to be present on mobile devices But this presence which is concerned as much with content as with form (online store consisting just of a product catalogue versus eCommerce website responsive website versus native application etc) must be adapted to the consumerrsquos needs because mobile devices have radically changed our expectations of brands We expect to obtain relevant information whenever we require it and to have a customised online experience that is both context sensitive and updated in real-time

In this respect and to an even greater extent than with desktop technology it is more relevant to track the engagement metric rather than that of customer acquisition cost The big advertisers have already realised this and shifted the focus of their mobile platform expenditure accordingly With the 2010-2012 period having been marked by a phase of investment in IT in 2013-2014 the focus was mainly on traffic acquisition Then in 2015 we began to see a shift towards improving

conversion rates and retention a trend that is set to continue in 2016

Improving the customer experience on mobile sites responsive sites and with native applications will therefore be the order of the day for the incoming year and this will involve challenges that need to be overcome not only device-inherent ones (display area size network speed etc) but also challenges of an organisational technical and financial nature With conversion rates on mobile platforms continuing to be inferior to those achieved through desktop technology and with the ROI on mobile platforms not yet clearly proven how can one justify making the new investments required to bring services up to speed Fortunately there are simple solutions in existence that allow you to modify your mobile sites or native applications and implement the kind of customised experience likely to engage your users no matter what the device The most advanced of these solutions also integrates the cross-device aspect by ensuring the coherence of the personalised customer experience across the web mobile platforms and the application

ldquo P E R S O N A L I S E T H E O M N I - C H A N N E L E X P E R I E N C E T O I N C R E A S E E N G A G E M E N T rdquo 09

Marketing Manager at AB Tasty wwwabtastycom

17

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Nicolas Chevalier

More and more online logistics platforms are created proportionnaly to the development of the eCommerce giving e-retailers a large choice in terms of service providers If some of them prefer focusing on their core activity thanks to the outsourcing other chose to manage the logistics internally But as an oline retailer why would you externalize your logistics

The logistics is at the heart itself of the eCommerce if your deliveries donrsquot respect the delivery times and if the management of your stocks is not transparent you are more likely to tread water with your business or even suffer from your customersrsquo complaints By outsourcing the first major asset is the economical aspect There is no need to pay order pickers or premises to stock your items You can therefore focus on your activity and its development

Thus the externalization of your logistics allows you to save time (order preparation administrative management returns management) as well as money (employees preferential tariff no rent for the stock)

More than just an economical criteria quality service is essential in order to satisfy your customer The job of e-logisticians with the expertise and experience is the decisive argument Thanks to the setting up of an optimized process logistics platforms are more efficient than internal teams Thus going through a qualified service provider will make you save money However donrsquot forget that logistics providers have their own characteristics With a transversal vision on the eCommerce world your logistician can appear to be a real partner to inform you about the market trends

Logistics and the management of the last mile will be key areas to succeed in eCommerce in 2016 so take time to choose the service provider who best fits your needs and donrsquot hesitate to ask additional information about the process of the platform and the services offered by the logistician

ldquo W H Y S H O U L D Y O U O U T S O U R C E Y O U R E C O M M E R C E L O G I S T I C S rdquo10

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for SupplyWeb and Co-founder of eCommerce Nation wwwsupplywebfr

18

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Michyl Culos

Even if yoursquore not a Spammer you may actually look like one to our friends the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) think Gmail Hotmail Yahoo Orange

For ISPs there are A LOT of factors that set off their SPAM alerts but in 2016 engagement-based filtering will continue to be a method of choice when detecting SPAM They are monitoring how readers interact with senderrsquos emails (opens clicks new sign-ups unsubscribes SPAM reports etc) to assess how desirable these emails actually are

ISPs are doing this for their end users They want to ensure that they are always having a better experience with their service and part of a better experience is having only the emails they actually want land in their inboxes

So what can you do about it There are many factors to take into consideration but herersquos a few tips to start with to keep up a healthy email engagement rate

- DONrsquoT email your contacts about things they didnrsquot sign-up for For example you invited

them to receive your e-book but then added them to your regular newsletter list

- DONrsquoT continue to send regular emails to inactive contacts 6 months of non-engagement with your emails tends to be the common length of time for a subscriber to be considered inactive Filter these contacts into a separate email list and either refrain from emailing them or create a campaign dedicated to re-engaging them

- DONrsquoT buy an email list Duh These people have not signed up to receive your emails and when they do receive them wonrsquot hesitate to hit unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

- DONrsquoT use spammy keywords in your emails Spammy words are still red-flags for ISPs but more than that they usually lead to deception If you put the word ldquoFreerdquo in your email subject then you better be offering something thatrsquos really for free or your subscribers wonrsquot hesitate to unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

Head over here for a full report on email deliverability by the experts at Mailjet

ldquo O U T O F T H E S P A M B O X E N G A G E M E N T I S A L L T H E R A G E rdquo11

Channel Marketing at Mailjet wwwmailjetcom

19

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Business Development Director at Boxtale the leading online shipping provider wwwboxtalecom

With the growth of eCommerce the shipping market is heating up Online retailers have to adapt themselves to consumersrsquo ever-more demanding expectations Next-day and same-day delivery or even delivery within the hour

New innovative solutions are appearing couriers drone deliveries urban delivery men deliveries in train stations in cars boots by private individuals In 2016 the war to the last kilometer will rage

Keep yourself up to date with new initiatives on the delivery market but donrsquot forget the fundamentals of a successful customer experience

In 2016 internet users are taking power

Make it possible for them to choose the type of delivery they want Diversify your modes of delivery to satisfy your future customers home delivery or in a pick-up station express delivery same-day delivery etc

Donrsquot underestimate the impact of your shipping policy to build your customer loyalty

Favour quality carriers communicate precise information concerning the tracking of your orders and be able to provide visibility to your recipient regarding the different steps of the delivery process

Finally continue to communicate as much as possible about your shipping policy before during and after the purchase by choosing transparency you reassure your customers and maximize your sales

At the time where marketplaces are becoming unmissable growth accelerators for small and medium online retailers itrsquos essential to answer to their delivery needs by shipping within the announced delivery times respecting the mode of delivery chosen by the customer supplying a tracking link as well as managing returns

ldquo A D A P T Y O U R S H I P P I N G P O L I C Y T O Y O U R C U S T O M E R S rsquo E X P E C T A T I O N S T O B U I L D L O Y A L T Y rdquo

12

Laure de Baudreuil

20

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for Watcheezywwwwatcheezycom

2015 put the customer relation at the heart of the companyrsquos strategy and confirmed the importance to homogenize the customer experience 2016 will be marked by the investment in a quality customer relation with 3 main elements the humanization personalization and omni-presence on every channels

First of all 2016 will be the year of the customer relation humanization thanks to the democratization of the customer relation tools (click-to-chat click-to-call) Chat is becoming a real live time conversion tool only offered to internet users who need help from an agent to finalize their purchase

2016 will also be the year of personalization thanks to the exploitation of customers data It is about for online retailers predicting customersrsquo intentions by targeting and personalizing the offers made to consumers The personalization of the customer follow-up will be a development opportunity as consumers buy more on a website that personalizes the customer experience

2016 will also be placed under the sign of the omni-presence and coherence of the customer journey on all the contact points Consumers have to feel this personalization and this attention from the brand each time they are in contact with it 2016 reserves some good surprises and promising evolutions in terms of customer relation Letrsquos progress towards the customer relation new generation

ldquo 2 0 1 6 T R E N D S I N T E R M S O F C U S T O M E R R E L A T I O N rdquo13

Marie Dufresne

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

4

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In 2016 online retailers will have to face many changes and take advantage of several opportunities if they want to have a head start on their competitors Indeed last year was a turbulent time for the eCommerce sector The market maintained its impressive growth and has been forecasted to reach $35 trillion within the next 5 years

In 2015 Customer experience fast delivery mCommerce and secure payments were major challenges online retailers had to overcome in order to offer the best service possible for their patrons More than ever consumers expected efficiency and integrity from eCommerce websites In addition consumers were even more critical and cautious about making online purchases decisions which online retailers responded to by improving the purchasing process This in turn improved the overall shopping experience and increased customer buy-in and participation massively

New concepts and tools also put a lot of pressure on online retailers as reactivity is the keyword in such a competitive environment So what can we expect in 2016

The answer is search marketing the rise of social media and the ldquoBuyrdquo button Faster and more efficient customer service portals mobile payment apps and click-and-collect features will all be developments to keep an eye on in 2016 Online retailers will have to continue to differentiate themselves from their competitors This will be further achieved through the personalization of their offers and or enhancing their brandrsquos image

In 2016 your main objective as an online retailer should be to increase your profits as well as your conversion rates while managing your costs at the same time In order to help you achieve this we asked 37 experts to be part of the new edition of the WiziShop white

Lucie MerieuxInternational development manager

Editorial

I N 2 0 1 6 P R O S P E R I T Y A N D C R E A T I V I T Y

paper so they could provide you with useful information you can count on to help your business grow Our experts tips range from press relations to checkout abandonment rates Moreover significant thought has been given to the rise of mobile commerce and the importance of keeping your customers engaged All these key topics will help you drive your eCommerce business to a new level of success this year

at WiziShop

5

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Today again the majority of online retailers mainly count on SEO to increase traffic to their website Indeed itrsquos still a strategic acquisition lever Being ranked around the first positions on Google is more than compulsory to assure the durability of your online business However you are taking a big risk if you only focus on this lever The search engine giant regularly updates its algorythm making things difficult for you as it can completely disrupt your activity They are called Panda Penguin and they are terrifying entrepreneurs Some Web businesses were even obliged to shut down their activity due to a penalty of their ranking during an update

The idea is to limit your dependence to Google by diversifying your acquisition channels How What kind of solutions do you have In 2016 yoursquoll be able to count on traditional levers which have already proved their worth but also on new trends

Capitalize on your brand imageWether you sell products from your own

brand or products from multiple brands you really have to work on the notoriety and develop the brand image of your shop Therefore yoursquoll be

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 M O R E T H A N E V E R D I V E R S I F Y Y O U R A C Q U I S I T I O N C H A N N E L S ldquo01

Greacutegory Beyrouti

Founder amp CEO of WiziShop a performance-based eCommerce solution wwwwizishopio

in the consumerrsquos mind whorsquoll directly come to your website by typing your name or URL

Take advantage of the boom of marketplacesAmazon and Google Shopping are the two

marketplaces that get themselves talked about in 2015 due to their important traffic performances and innovations Test your presence on the most relevant marketplaces according to your activity to see if they can represent new sources of profit Be careful even the big marketplaces can suffer from a Google update such as eBay which suffered from it in 2015 It would be interesting in that case to test specialized marketplaces

Take advantage of specialized shopping guides

Specialized shopping guides benefit from a great referencing on a precise sector of activity They allow you to benefit from a great visibility especially as dedicated teams work daily to empahsize your products on their different channels (website social media newsletters) Who can top that

6

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Test the mutualized cross-sellingThe concept is new and comes from the

startup Yuzu The idea is to benefit from the traffic of other online retailers of the network in order to create traffic for your own website During the purchasing process on a website promotions linked to your eCommerce are pushed to your customers Thanks to different rules allowing to assure the pertinence of the offers personalized promotions are offered to internet users that have all the chances to interest them

Be careful the dependance to one and unique source of traffic doesnrsquot concern only the referencing The levers cited above as well as Adwords emailing price comparison websites affiliation retargeting social media are aslo traffic sources that you have to limit your dependence from Be sure that your main source of traffic doesnrsquot represent more than 20 of the visits generated to your website in order to limit your vulnerability in case of problem I invite you to check on your Google Analytics and verify that you are not too dependent to only one source of traffic

7

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

ldquo 2 0 1 6 I S C E R T A I N L Y T H E Y E A R T O L A U N C H Y O U R O W N G I F T C A R D 02

Aria Ardalan

Marketing Director of BuyBox a private payment solution dedicated to online retailers wwwbuyboxneten

S E R V I C E rdquo

The fabulous potential of gift cards

The gift card is the consumersrsquo favored gift According to a study from Trifecta Research Group the gift card offers some great advantages for stores 28 of people having a gift card went to a store they knew before but without buying there And even better 10 are becoming regular customers

At the time where customer acquisition costs are booming (ranking affiliation ) the gift card is becoming a real strategic line to develop your business in a durable way Amazon or lrsquoOccitane Group clearly understood it and offer the possibility to buy gift cards through their eCommerce website

The electronic format as a key success factor

88 of consumers prefer the electronic format (e-gift cards) over the plastic format Why Just because of the immediacy An electronic gift card is immediately available once the order is finalized

Consummers confess to do their gifts at the last moment without having real ideas The electronic gift card is becoming in this case the best gift to offer

A real marketing lever which has become essential

Lots of different stores built their loyalty strategy around the e-gift card One of the most well-known example consists of rewarding your customers with e-gift cards depending on the previous ordersrsquo amount This strategy has not only as immediate effect to satisfy the customer but also the increase of the purchasing frequency and average shopping cart

8

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Legal Expert UK at TrustedShops wwwtrustedshopscouk

In 2015 the UK Competition amp Markets Authority reported that pound23 billion of UK consumer spending per year is being influenced by online reviews At the same time we have seen a series of issues concerning the posting of fake reviews and the manipulation of negative reviews As a result in 2016 tackling social proof will be one of the key tasks for retailers Those who want to combat fraudsters will need to work with trusted third parties so that they can manage the review and feedback process Especially with regards to the CMA prioritising the review sector in its investigations retailers will need to carefully select their trust partners

Cross-border is also set to take off in 2016 There has been a range of harmonisation steps on an EU level which have reduced the legal risk associated with coordinating rules for multiple jurisdictions This is good time for retailers to capitalise on the opportunities presented in other geographies Understanding the new market is the beginning Retailers need to pay attention to the pricing model ensuring that they remain but are not seen as cheap that they cause suspicion Logistics will be the most difficult area that needs to be addressed When entering new markets

using trust building measures such as a well-recognised trustmark is important as company heritage wonrsquot be carried across borders and these elements reassure new customers

We see a growing trend of merging the online and offline world Understanding what a successful omnichannel strategy looks like is key to success Retailers need to enhance their customer experience managing online and offline business as one entity In addition to sales retailers also need to invest time in retaining existing customers and encouraging them to buy more often and in higher order volumes A seamless experience across brick and clicks will be the deciding factor for success in 2016

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T A C K L I N G S O C I A L P R O O F W I L L B E O N E O F T H E K E Y T A S K S F O R R E T A I L E R S rdquo03

Naveen Aricatt

9

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

The world of eCommerce is ruthless You only get one shot to convert your leads on your websitemdashthey either purchase or they may be gone forever As a result many eCommerce marketers spend the majority of their time improving their websites and landing pages AB testing the call-to-action merchandising with rich personalized content and posting reviews and social proof can all increase the conversion rate However we often forget that the way we drive customers to our site can make as much of a difference as their experience once they arrive

If 2015 was all about personalized marketing then 2016 is the year of targeted eCommerce traffic A great demand generation strategy keeps our marketing time and money focused on helping our most valuable prospective customers Not all customers are ready to buy but donrsquot miss out on the ones who are Donrsquot let leads escape your funnel

One channel where marketers can drive highly targeted traffic is social media We can use social media to figure out when to bring customers to our website based on their specific interests which usually comes in the form of keywords

At Socedo we harness the power of keywords to identify qualified leads based on their buyer personas and behavior Conversational keywords tell us what customers are Tweeting in real-time expressing their current state of mind and bio keywords can help us target based on location job title or interests

All of this datamdashand moremdashcan be used to create unique lead segments so you can send the right message to the right audience at the right time Socedorsquos platform runs analytics on keywords automatically and self-optimizes for the best results but there are also a few simple steps you can take as an eCommerce business owner or marketer

- Do a keyword mapping exercise to see which terms your customers are talking about the most in relation to your brand as well as which topics lead to the highest conversion rate

- Search for customers Tweeting or posting these keywords and engage with them in real time on social media while theyrsquore hot

- Incorporate relevant terms into your social media calendar when you have special offers

ldquo 2 0 1 6 I S T H E Y E A R O F T A R G E T E D E C O M M E R C E T R A F F I C rdquo

04

Aseem Badshah

Founder and CEO of Socedo a web platform that helps businesses discover and monitor their customers using social data wwwsocedocom

10

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

- Use social media data to build segments for other marketing channels such as email pay--per-click ads and website personalization

Learn how to use keywords in your marketing efforts to drive targeted traffic to your site and yoursquoll be miles ahead of the competition

11

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of My Pop Corner an ephemeral commercial spaces rental platform and My Box Corner a turnkey concept-store solution wwwmypopcornercom

The number of online stores has been in a constant increase since the advent of the web For instance we count more than 164 000 online stores in France in the first trimester of 2015 Therefore itrsquos fundamental for an online retailer to differentiate himself if he wants to stand out from the competition

Online the purchasing process is mainly triggered by the price proposed and the delivery times If your competitors excel in this domain itrsquos difficult to compete without reducing your margin and so put in danger your business model But how to stand out and gain notoriety

BACK TO BASICS

Today more than 90 of sales are still done in brick-and-mortars Amazon Groupon Zalando all these pure-players perfectly understood it and they recently took the plunge of the physical store by opening a pop-up store

Thus during the few weeks or months of the operation these brands face their customers listen to them and exchange Bref they come back to the commerce bases

AT THE RIGHT LOCATION AT THE RIGHT TIME

Wether it be for the release of a new collection a special event such as a birthday to offer to the public the possibility to touch or try on your last flagship product every year thousands of brands open a pop-up store in order to be at the right location and at the right time

Yoursquove understood no need to open a store during the entire year if you sell swimming trunks you just need to open a temporary shop or a corner from May to end of August in a beach resort

In 2016 I invite you to follow this trend and to develop your physical presence With some imagination your activity and your products can transform the purchasing process of your customers into a unique purchasing experience Tell them a story your story theyrsquoll love it

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 M E E T Y O U R C U S T O M E R S A N D B E D I F F E R E N T rdquo05

Pierre-Yves Banaszak

12

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content and Product Marketing Manager for Zopim wwwzopimcom and Zendesk wwwzendeskcom

During Thanksgiving 71 of all eCommerce traffic came directly from mobile devices The growth in mobile commerce has become unstoppable with consumers spending more time than ever shopping from their mobile devices

What do people expect

Customers are no longer content with retailers simply offering their products and services online They now expect a seamless shopping experience right from the convenience of their mobile phones This means being able to complete the entire purchase without having to switch devices in order to make payment or ask a question

As a business owner what should you do

The growth in mobile commerce has created greater opportunities for businesses Consumers can now make purchases from wherever they are and you can reach out to them using new technologies To take advantage of the new platforms here are some things to keep in mind

Invest in technologies and tools

42 of mobile shoppers buy on impulse compared to 25 of all other shoppers Customers behave differently on mobile and to understand their behaviour yoursquoll need to invest in analytical tools (such as Google Analytics) Information like purchasing amount time and frequency of mobile shoppers can help you develop strategies to increase sales If your metrics show that mobile customers are most active between 7-9pm consider launching special deals during then to increase sales

Having a mobile responsive website or a native mobile app (ie for Android and iOS) should also be your top priority Both a website and an app can be designed to provide the best experience on mobile If your mobile site is clumsy or slow 29 of smartphone users will immediately switch to another site (usually a competitor) to find what theyrsquore looking for

Always be there to help

Customers donrsquot like having to jump through hoops in order to receive support When they

ldquo 5 7 O F C U S T O M E R S W I L L A B A N D O N T H E I R C A R T I F T H E Y F I N D I T D I F F I C U L T T O S O L V E T H E I R P R O B L E M W H I L E S H O P P I N G O N L I N E rdquo06

Abhiroop Basu

13

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

encounter a problem while shopping on mobile they want to have their questions answered immediately Live chat is one way to provide prompt support on mobile Instead of forcing customers onto another platform with Zopim you can seamlessly offer chat support in your native mobile app

Also by proactively offering help when you notice customers struggling yoursquoll be able to smooth out the kinks in their shopping experience 57 of customers will abandon their cart if they find it difficult to solve their problem while shopping online Thatrsquos why it is important to ensure that obtaining support is simple and fuss-free for consumers even while on mobile

14

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager at iAdvize real time customer engagement platform wwwiadvizecom

In 2016 companies will have to adapt themselves to the necessity to assure a ubiquitous customer experience Being everywhere all the time instantly and assuring a perfect coherence in the speech whatever the interaction point with the brand is website social media community mobile The customer experience has to be global the internet user doesnrsquot have to come to the brand anymore it is for brands to engage the customer in real time at the right moment and where he is

Not only the customer experience has to be global but also conversational Social networks will slowly give way to personalized conversations (one-to-one) The messaging applications have their share in this transformation They have experienced a strong growth during the last five years In 2015 700 million of people used Facebook

each month 900 million used Whatsapp In 2016 the challenge for companies will be to integrate these tools to their multi-channel strategy

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S W I L L H A V E T O A D A P T T H E M S E L V E S T O T H E N E C E S S I T Y T O A S S U R E A U B I Q U I T O U S C U S T O M E R E X P E R I E N C E rdquo

07

Maxime Baumard

15

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales Vice President LeGuide Group a network of comparison sites and shopping guides for online product listings solutions wwwpricesavvycouk wwwchoozencouk

The e-business environment in 2016 is again set to be full of innovations and surprises The focus would be on the ever-changing e-buyersrsquo behaviours The growth of Mobile Shopping will undoubtedly keep on accelerating accompanied by the rise of two shopping behaviours in particular the Showrooming and the Webrooming These practices address two of the main current consumersrsquo needs researching the best prices and checking products before purchasing

Therefore an effective price positioning strategy is more important than ever The relevance of price in the consumer decision making process will continue to rise and it will be the most important factor to acquire new customers As a result being able to quickly track and react to competitorsrsquo price changes will prove to be the biggest challenge for online retailers

In order to help them LeGuide Group has launched a new price intelligence service which offers an efficient competitor analysis tool affordable to e-retailers of all sizes

ldquo T H E F O C U S W O U L D B E O N T H E E V E R - C H A N G I N G E - B U Y E R S rsquo B E H A V I O U R S rdquo

08

Cyril Bouskila

16

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Anthony Brebion

Mobile platforms now form an integral part of the customer experience According to McKinsey 50 of interactions between a brand and its customers now occur as part of a multi-channel path It is therefore essential to be present on mobile devices But this presence which is concerned as much with content as with form (online store consisting just of a product catalogue versus eCommerce website responsive website versus native application etc) must be adapted to the consumerrsquos needs because mobile devices have radically changed our expectations of brands We expect to obtain relevant information whenever we require it and to have a customised online experience that is both context sensitive and updated in real-time

In this respect and to an even greater extent than with desktop technology it is more relevant to track the engagement metric rather than that of customer acquisition cost The big advertisers have already realised this and shifted the focus of their mobile platform expenditure accordingly With the 2010-2012 period having been marked by a phase of investment in IT in 2013-2014 the focus was mainly on traffic acquisition Then in 2015 we began to see a shift towards improving

conversion rates and retention a trend that is set to continue in 2016

Improving the customer experience on mobile sites responsive sites and with native applications will therefore be the order of the day for the incoming year and this will involve challenges that need to be overcome not only device-inherent ones (display area size network speed etc) but also challenges of an organisational technical and financial nature With conversion rates on mobile platforms continuing to be inferior to those achieved through desktop technology and with the ROI on mobile platforms not yet clearly proven how can one justify making the new investments required to bring services up to speed Fortunately there are simple solutions in existence that allow you to modify your mobile sites or native applications and implement the kind of customised experience likely to engage your users no matter what the device The most advanced of these solutions also integrates the cross-device aspect by ensuring the coherence of the personalised customer experience across the web mobile platforms and the application

ldquo P E R S O N A L I S E T H E O M N I - C H A N N E L E X P E R I E N C E T O I N C R E A S E E N G A G E M E N T rdquo 09

Marketing Manager at AB Tasty wwwabtastycom

17

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Nicolas Chevalier

More and more online logistics platforms are created proportionnaly to the development of the eCommerce giving e-retailers a large choice in terms of service providers If some of them prefer focusing on their core activity thanks to the outsourcing other chose to manage the logistics internally But as an oline retailer why would you externalize your logistics

The logistics is at the heart itself of the eCommerce if your deliveries donrsquot respect the delivery times and if the management of your stocks is not transparent you are more likely to tread water with your business or even suffer from your customersrsquo complaints By outsourcing the first major asset is the economical aspect There is no need to pay order pickers or premises to stock your items You can therefore focus on your activity and its development

Thus the externalization of your logistics allows you to save time (order preparation administrative management returns management) as well as money (employees preferential tariff no rent for the stock)

More than just an economical criteria quality service is essential in order to satisfy your customer The job of e-logisticians with the expertise and experience is the decisive argument Thanks to the setting up of an optimized process logistics platforms are more efficient than internal teams Thus going through a qualified service provider will make you save money However donrsquot forget that logistics providers have their own characteristics With a transversal vision on the eCommerce world your logistician can appear to be a real partner to inform you about the market trends

Logistics and the management of the last mile will be key areas to succeed in eCommerce in 2016 so take time to choose the service provider who best fits your needs and donrsquot hesitate to ask additional information about the process of the platform and the services offered by the logistician

ldquo W H Y S H O U L D Y O U O U T S O U R C E Y O U R E C O M M E R C E L O G I S T I C S rdquo10

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for SupplyWeb and Co-founder of eCommerce Nation wwwsupplywebfr

18

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Michyl Culos

Even if yoursquore not a Spammer you may actually look like one to our friends the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) think Gmail Hotmail Yahoo Orange

For ISPs there are A LOT of factors that set off their SPAM alerts but in 2016 engagement-based filtering will continue to be a method of choice when detecting SPAM They are monitoring how readers interact with senderrsquos emails (opens clicks new sign-ups unsubscribes SPAM reports etc) to assess how desirable these emails actually are

ISPs are doing this for their end users They want to ensure that they are always having a better experience with their service and part of a better experience is having only the emails they actually want land in their inboxes

So what can you do about it There are many factors to take into consideration but herersquos a few tips to start with to keep up a healthy email engagement rate

- DONrsquoT email your contacts about things they didnrsquot sign-up for For example you invited

them to receive your e-book but then added them to your regular newsletter list

- DONrsquoT continue to send regular emails to inactive contacts 6 months of non-engagement with your emails tends to be the common length of time for a subscriber to be considered inactive Filter these contacts into a separate email list and either refrain from emailing them or create a campaign dedicated to re-engaging them

- DONrsquoT buy an email list Duh These people have not signed up to receive your emails and when they do receive them wonrsquot hesitate to hit unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

- DONrsquoT use spammy keywords in your emails Spammy words are still red-flags for ISPs but more than that they usually lead to deception If you put the word ldquoFreerdquo in your email subject then you better be offering something thatrsquos really for free or your subscribers wonrsquot hesitate to unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

Head over here for a full report on email deliverability by the experts at Mailjet

ldquo O U T O F T H E S P A M B O X E N G A G E M E N T I S A L L T H E R A G E rdquo11

Channel Marketing at Mailjet wwwmailjetcom

19

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Business Development Director at Boxtale the leading online shipping provider wwwboxtalecom

With the growth of eCommerce the shipping market is heating up Online retailers have to adapt themselves to consumersrsquo ever-more demanding expectations Next-day and same-day delivery or even delivery within the hour

New innovative solutions are appearing couriers drone deliveries urban delivery men deliveries in train stations in cars boots by private individuals In 2016 the war to the last kilometer will rage

Keep yourself up to date with new initiatives on the delivery market but donrsquot forget the fundamentals of a successful customer experience

In 2016 internet users are taking power

Make it possible for them to choose the type of delivery they want Diversify your modes of delivery to satisfy your future customers home delivery or in a pick-up station express delivery same-day delivery etc

Donrsquot underestimate the impact of your shipping policy to build your customer loyalty

Favour quality carriers communicate precise information concerning the tracking of your orders and be able to provide visibility to your recipient regarding the different steps of the delivery process

Finally continue to communicate as much as possible about your shipping policy before during and after the purchase by choosing transparency you reassure your customers and maximize your sales

At the time where marketplaces are becoming unmissable growth accelerators for small and medium online retailers itrsquos essential to answer to their delivery needs by shipping within the announced delivery times respecting the mode of delivery chosen by the customer supplying a tracking link as well as managing returns

ldquo A D A P T Y O U R S H I P P I N G P O L I C Y T O Y O U R C U S T O M E R S rsquo E X P E C T A T I O N S T O B U I L D L O Y A L T Y rdquo

12

Laure de Baudreuil

20

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for Watcheezywwwwatcheezycom

2015 put the customer relation at the heart of the companyrsquos strategy and confirmed the importance to homogenize the customer experience 2016 will be marked by the investment in a quality customer relation with 3 main elements the humanization personalization and omni-presence on every channels

First of all 2016 will be the year of the customer relation humanization thanks to the democratization of the customer relation tools (click-to-chat click-to-call) Chat is becoming a real live time conversion tool only offered to internet users who need help from an agent to finalize their purchase

2016 will also be the year of personalization thanks to the exploitation of customers data It is about for online retailers predicting customersrsquo intentions by targeting and personalizing the offers made to consumers The personalization of the customer follow-up will be a development opportunity as consumers buy more on a website that personalizes the customer experience

2016 will also be placed under the sign of the omni-presence and coherence of the customer journey on all the contact points Consumers have to feel this personalization and this attention from the brand each time they are in contact with it 2016 reserves some good surprises and promising evolutions in terms of customer relation Letrsquos progress towards the customer relation new generation

ldquo 2 0 1 6 T R E N D S I N T E R M S O F C U S T O M E R R E L A T I O N rdquo13

Marie Dufresne

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

5

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Today again the majority of online retailers mainly count on SEO to increase traffic to their website Indeed itrsquos still a strategic acquisition lever Being ranked around the first positions on Google is more than compulsory to assure the durability of your online business However you are taking a big risk if you only focus on this lever The search engine giant regularly updates its algorythm making things difficult for you as it can completely disrupt your activity They are called Panda Penguin and they are terrifying entrepreneurs Some Web businesses were even obliged to shut down their activity due to a penalty of their ranking during an update

The idea is to limit your dependence to Google by diversifying your acquisition channels How What kind of solutions do you have In 2016 yoursquoll be able to count on traditional levers which have already proved their worth but also on new trends

Capitalize on your brand imageWether you sell products from your own

brand or products from multiple brands you really have to work on the notoriety and develop the brand image of your shop Therefore yoursquoll be

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 M O R E T H A N E V E R D I V E R S I F Y Y O U R A C Q U I S I T I O N C H A N N E L S ldquo01

Greacutegory Beyrouti

Founder amp CEO of WiziShop a performance-based eCommerce solution wwwwizishopio

in the consumerrsquos mind whorsquoll directly come to your website by typing your name or URL

Take advantage of the boom of marketplacesAmazon and Google Shopping are the two

marketplaces that get themselves talked about in 2015 due to their important traffic performances and innovations Test your presence on the most relevant marketplaces according to your activity to see if they can represent new sources of profit Be careful even the big marketplaces can suffer from a Google update such as eBay which suffered from it in 2015 It would be interesting in that case to test specialized marketplaces

Take advantage of specialized shopping guides

Specialized shopping guides benefit from a great referencing on a precise sector of activity They allow you to benefit from a great visibility especially as dedicated teams work daily to empahsize your products on their different channels (website social media newsletters) Who can top that

6

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Test the mutualized cross-sellingThe concept is new and comes from the

startup Yuzu The idea is to benefit from the traffic of other online retailers of the network in order to create traffic for your own website During the purchasing process on a website promotions linked to your eCommerce are pushed to your customers Thanks to different rules allowing to assure the pertinence of the offers personalized promotions are offered to internet users that have all the chances to interest them

Be careful the dependance to one and unique source of traffic doesnrsquot concern only the referencing The levers cited above as well as Adwords emailing price comparison websites affiliation retargeting social media are aslo traffic sources that you have to limit your dependence from Be sure that your main source of traffic doesnrsquot represent more than 20 of the visits generated to your website in order to limit your vulnerability in case of problem I invite you to check on your Google Analytics and verify that you are not too dependent to only one source of traffic

7

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

ldquo 2 0 1 6 I S C E R T A I N L Y T H E Y E A R T O L A U N C H Y O U R O W N G I F T C A R D 02

Aria Ardalan

Marketing Director of BuyBox a private payment solution dedicated to online retailers wwwbuyboxneten

S E R V I C E rdquo

The fabulous potential of gift cards

The gift card is the consumersrsquo favored gift According to a study from Trifecta Research Group the gift card offers some great advantages for stores 28 of people having a gift card went to a store they knew before but without buying there And even better 10 are becoming regular customers

At the time where customer acquisition costs are booming (ranking affiliation ) the gift card is becoming a real strategic line to develop your business in a durable way Amazon or lrsquoOccitane Group clearly understood it and offer the possibility to buy gift cards through their eCommerce website

The electronic format as a key success factor

88 of consumers prefer the electronic format (e-gift cards) over the plastic format Why Just because of the immediacy An electronic gift card is immediately available once the order is finalized

Consummers confess to do their gifts at the last moment without having real ideas The electronic gift card is becoming in this case the best gift to offer

A real marketing lever which has become essential

Lots of different stores built their loyalty strategy around the e-gift card One of the most well-known example consists of rewarding your customers with e-gift cards depending on the previous ordersrsquo amount This strategy has not only as immediate effect to satisfy the customer but also the increase of the purchasing frequency and average shopping cart

8

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Legal Expert UK at TrustedShops wwwtrustedshopscouk

In 2015 the UK Competition amp Markets Authority reported that pound23 billion of UK consumer spending per year is being influenced by online reviews At the same time we have seen a series of issues concerning the posting of fake reviews and the manipulation of negative reviews As a result in 2016 tackling social proof will be one of the key tasks for retailers Those who want to combat fraudsters will need to work with trusted third parties so that they can manage the review and feedback process Especially with regards to the CMA prioritising the review sector in its investigations retailers will need to carefully select their trust partners

Cross-border is also set to take off in 2016 There has been a range of harmonisation steps on an EU level which have reduced the legal risk associated with coordinating rules for multiple jurisdictions This is good time for retailers to capitalise on the opportunities presented in other geographies Understanding the new market is the beginning Retailers need to pay attention to the pricing model ensuring that they remain but are not seen as cheap that they cause suspicion Logistics will be the most difficult area that needs to be addressed When entering new markets

using trust building measures such as a well-recognised trustmark is important as company heritage wonrsquot be carried across borders and these elements reassure new customers

We see a growing trend of merging the online and offline world Understanding what a successful omnichannel strategy looks like is key to success Retailers need to enhance their customer experience managing online and offline business as one entity In addition to sales retailers also need to invest time in retaining existing customers and encouraging them to buy more often and in higher order volumes A seamless experience across brick and clicks will be the deciding factor for success in 2016

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T A C K L I N G S O C I A L P R O O F W I L L B E O N E O F T H E K E Y T A S K S F O R R E T A I L E R S rdquo03

Naveen Aricatt

9

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

The world of eCommerce is ruthless You only get one shot to convert your leads on your websitemdashthey either purchase or they may be gone forever As a result many eCommerce marketers spend the majority of their time improving their websites and landing pages AB testing the call-to-action merchandising with rich personalized content and posting reviews and social proof can all increase the conversion rate However we often forget that the way we drive customers to our site can make as much of a difference as their experience once they arrive

If 2015 was all about personalized marketing then 2016 is the year of targeted eCommerce traffic A great demand generation strategy keeps our marketing time and money focused on helping our most valuable prospective customers Not all customers are ready to buy but donrsquot miss out on the ones who are Donrsquot let leads escape your funnel

One channel where marketers can drive highly targeted traffic is social media We can use social media to figure out when to bring customers to our website based on their specific interests which usually comes in the form of keywords

At Socedo we harness the power of keywords to identify qualified leads based on their buyer personas and behavior Conversational keywords tell us what customers are Tweeting in real-time expressing their current state of mind and bio keywords can help us target based on location job title or interests

All of this datamdashand moremdashcan be used to create unique lead segments so you can send the right message to the right audience at the right time Socedorsquos platform runs analytics on keywords automatically and self-optimizes for the best results but there are also a few simple steps you can take as an eCommerce business owner or marketer

- Do a keyword mapping exercise to see which terms your customers are talking about the most in relation to your brand as well as which topics lead to the highest conversion rate

- Search for customers Tweeting or posting these keywords and engage with them in real time on social media while theyrsquore hot

- Incorporate relevant terms into your social media calendar when you have special offers

ldquo 2 0 1 6 I S T H E Y E A R O F T A R G E T E D E C O M M E R C E T R A F F I C rdquo

04

Aseem Badshah

Founder and CEO of Socedo a web platform that helps businesses discover and monitor their customers using social data wwwsocedocom

10

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

- Use social media data to build segments for other marketing channels such as email pay--per-click ads and website personalization

Learn how to use keywords in your marketing efforts to drive targeted traffic to your site and yoursquoll be miles ahead of the competition

11

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of My Pop Corner an ephemeral commercial spaces rental platform and My Box Corner a turnkey concept-store solution wwwmypopcornercom

The number of online stores has been in a constant increase since the advent of the web For instance we count more than 164 000 online stores in France in the first trimester of 2015 Therefore itrsquos fundamental for an online retailer to differentiate himself if he wants to stand out from the competition

Online the purchasing process is mainly triggered by the price proposed and the delivery times If your competitors excel in this domain itrsquos difficult to compete without reducing your margin and so put in danger your business model But how to stand out and gain notoriety

BACK TO BASICS

Today more than 90 of sales are still done in brick-and-mortars Amazon Groupon Zalando all these pure-players perfectly understood it and they recently took the plunge of the physical store by opening a pop-up store

Thus during the few weeks or months of the operation these brands face their customers listen to them and exchange Bref they come back to the commerce bases

AT THE RIGHT LOCATION AT THE RIGHT TIME

Wether it be for the release of a new collection a special event such as a birthday to offer to the public the possibility to touch or try on your last flagship product every year thousands of brands open a pop-up store in order to be at the right location and at the right time

Yoursquove understood no need to open a store during the entire year if you sell swimming trunks you just need to open a temporary shop or a corner from May to end of August in a beach resort

In 2016 I invite you to follow this trend and to develop your physical presence With some imagination your activity and your products can transform the purchasing process of your customers into a unique purchasing experience Tell them a story your story theyrsquoll love it

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 M E E T Y O U R C U S T O M E R S A N D B E D I F F E R E N T rdquo05

Pierre-Yves Banaszak

12

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content and Product Marketing Manager for Zopim wwwzopimcom and Zendesk wwwzendeskcom

During Thanksgiving 71 of all eCommerce traffic came directly from mobile devices The growth in mobile commerce has become unstoppable with consumers spending more time than ever shopping from their mobile devices

What do people expect

Customers are no longer content with retailers simply offering their products and services online They now expect a seamless shopping experience right from the convenience of their mobile phones This means being able to complete the entire purchase without having to switch devices in order to make payment or ask a question

As a business owner what should you do

The growth in mobile commerce has created greater opportunities for businesses Consumers can now make purchases from wherever they are and you can reach out to them using new technologies To take advantage of the new platforms here are some things to keep in mind

Invest in technologies and tools

42 of mobile shoppers buy on impulse compared to 25 of all other shoppers Customers behave differently on mobile and to understand their behaviour yoursquoll need to invest in analytical tools (such as Google Analytics) Information like purchasing amount time and frequency of mobile shoppers can help you develop strategies to increase sales If your metrics show that mobile customers are most active between 7-9pm consider launching special deals during then to increase sales

Having a mobile responsive website or a native mobile app (ie for Android and iOS) should also be your top priority Both a website and an app can be designed to provide the best experience on mobile If your mobile site is clumsy or slow 29 of smartphone users will immediately switch to another site (usually a competitor) to find what theyrsquore looking for

Always be there to help

Customers donrsquot like having to jump through hoops in order to receive support When they

ldquo 5 7 O F C U S T O M E R S W I L L A B A N D O N T H E I R C A R T I F T H E Y F I N D I T D I F F I C U L T T O S O L V E T H E I R P R O B L E M W H I L E S H O P P I N G O N L I N E rdquo06

Abhiroop Basu

13

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

encounter a problem while shopping on mobile they want to have their questions answered immediately Live chat is one way to provide prompt support on mobile Instead of forcing customers onto another platform with Zopim you can seamlessly offer chat support in your native mobile app

Also by proactively offering help when you notice customers struggling yoursquoll be able to smooth out the kinks in their shopping experience 57 of customers will abandon their cart if they find it difficult to solve their problem while shopping online Thatrsquos why it is important to ensure that obtaining support is simple and fuss-free for consumers even while on mobile

14

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager at iAdvize real time customer engagement platform wwwiadvizecom

In 2016 companies will have to adapt themselves to the necessity to assure a ubiquitous customer experience Being everywhere all the time instantly and assuring a perfect coherence in the speech whatever the interaction point with the brand is website social media community mobile The customer experience has to be global the internet user doesnrsquot have to come to the brand anymore it is for brands to engage the customer in real time at the right moment and where he is

Not only the customer experience has to be global but also conversational Social networks will slowly give way to personalized conversations (one-to-one) The messaging applications have their share in this transformation They have experienced a strong growth during the last five years In 2015 700 million of people used Facebook

each month 900 million used Whatsapp In 2016 the challenge for companies will be to integrate these tools to their multi-channel strategy

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S W I L L H A V E T O A D A P T T H E M S E L V E S T O T H E N E C E S S I T Y T O A S S U R E A U B I Q U I T O U S C U S T O M E R E X P E R I E N C E rdquo

07

Maxime Baumard

15

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales Vice President LeGuide Group a network of comparison sites and shopping guides for online product listings solutions wwwpricesavvycouk wwwchoozencouk

The e-business environment in 2016 is again set to be full of innovations and surprises The focus would be on the ever-changing e-buyersrsquo behaviours The growth of Mobile Shopping will undoubtedly keep on accelerating accompanied by the rise of two shopping behaviours in particular the Showrooming and the Webrooming These practices address two of the main current consumersrsquo needs researching the best prices and checking products before purchasing

Therefore an effective price positioning strategy is more important than ever The relevance of price in the consumer decision making process will continue to rise and it will be the most important factor to acquire new customers As a result being able to quickly track and react to competitorsrsquo price changes will prove to be the biggest challenge for online retailers

In order to help them LeGuide Group has launched a new price intelligence service which offers an efficient competitor analysis tool affordable to e-retailers of all sizes

ldquo T H E F O C U S W O U L D B E O N T H E E V E R - C H A N G I N G E - B U Y E R S rsquo B E H A V I O U R S rdquo

08

Cyril Bouskila

16

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Anthony Brebion

Mobile platforms now form an integral part of the customer experience According to McKinsey 50 of interactions between a brand and its customers now occur as part of a multi-channel path It is therefore essential to be present on mobile devices But this presence which is concerned as much with content as with form (online store consisting just of a product catalogue versus eCommerce website responsive website versus native application etc) must be adapted to the consumerrsquos needs because mobile devices have radically changed our expectations of brands We expect to obtain relevant information whenever we require it and to have a customised online experience that is both context sensitive and updated in real-time

In this respect and to an even greater extent than with desktop technology it is more relevant to track the engagement metric rather than that of customer acquisition cost The big advertisers have already realised this and shifted the focus of their mobile platform expenditure accordingly With the 2010-2012 period having been marked by a phase of investment in IT in 2013-2014 the focus was mainly on traffic acquisition Then in 2015 we began to see a shift towards improving

conversion rates and retention a trend that is set to continue in 2016

Improving the customer experience on mobile sites responsive sites and with native applications will therefore be the order of the day for the incoming year and this will involve challenges that need to be overcome not only device-inherent ones (display area size network speed etc) but also challenges of an organisational technical and financial nature With conversion rates on mobile platforms continuing to be inferior to those achieved through desktop technology and with the ROI on mobile platforms not yet clearly proven how can one justify making the new investments required to bring services up to speed Fortunately there are simple solutions in existence that allow you to modify your mobile sites or native applications and implement the kind of customised experience likely to engage your users no matter what the device The most advanced of these solutions also integrates the cross-device aspect by ensuring the coherence of the personalised customer experience across the web mobile platforms and the application

ldquo P E R S O N A L I S E T H E O M N I - C H A N N E L E X P E R I E N C E T O I N C R E A S E E N G A G E M E N T rdquo 09

Marketing Manager at AB Tasty wwwabtastycom

17

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Nicolas Chevalier

More and more online logistics platforms are created proportionnaly to the development of the eCommerce giving e-retailers a large choice in terms of service providers If some of them prefer focusing on their core activity thanks to the outsourcing other chose to manage the logistics internally But as an oline retailer why would you externalize your logistics

The logistics is at the heart itself of the eCommerce if your deliveries donrsquot respect the delivery times and if the management of your stocks is not transparent you are more likely to tread water with your business or even suffer from your customersrsquo complaints By outsourcing the first major asset is the economical aspect There is no need to pay order pickers or premises to stock your items You can therefore focus on your activity and its development

Thus the externalization of your logistics allows you to save time (order preparation administrative management returns management) as well as money (employees preferential tariff no rent for the stock)

More than just an economical criteria quality service is essential in order to satisfy your customer The job of e-logisticians with the expertise and experience is the decisive argument Thanks to the setting up of an optimized process logistics platforms are more efficient than internal teams Thus going through a qualified service provider will make you save money However donrsquot forget that logistics providers have their own characteristics With a transversal vision on the eCommerce world your logistician can appear to be a real partner to inform you about the market trends

Logistics and the management of the last mile will be key areas to succeed in eCommerce in 2016 so take time to choose the service provider who best fits your needs and donrsquot hesitate to ask additional information about the process of the platform and the services offered by the logistician

ldquo W H Y S H O U L D Y O U O U T S O U R C E Y O U R E C O M M E R C E L O G I S T I C S rdquo10

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for SupplyWeb and Co-founder of eCommerce Nation wwwsupplywebfr

18

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Michyl Culos

Even if yoursquore not a Spammer you may actually look like one to our friends the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) think Gmail Hotmail Yahoo Orange

For ISPs there are A LOT of factors that set off their SPAM alerts but in 2016 engagement-based filtering will continue to be a method of choice when detecting SPAM They are monitoring how readers interact with senderrsquos emails (opens clicks new sign-ups unsubscribes SPAM reports etc) to assess how desirable these emails actually are

ISPs are doing this for their end users They want to ensure that they are always having a better experience with their service and part of a better experience is having only the emails they actually want land in their inboxes

So what can you do about it There are many factors to take into consideration but herersquos a few tips to start with to keep up a healthy email engagement rate

- DONrsquoT email your contacts about things they didnrsquot sign-up for For example you invited

them to receive your e-book but then added them to your regular newsletter list

- DONrsquoT continue to send regular emails to inactive contacts 6 months of non-engagement with your emails tends to be the common length of time for a subscriber to be considered inactive Filter these contacts into a separate email list and either refrain from emailing them or create a campaign dedicated to re-engaging them

- DONrsquoT buy an email list Duh These people have not signed up to receive your emails and when they do receive them wonrsquot hesitate to hit unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

- DONrsquoT use spammy keywords in your emails Spammy words are still red-flags for ISPs but more than that they usually lead to deception If you put the word ldquoFreerdquo in your email subject then you better be offering something thatrsquos really for free or your subscribers wonrsquot hesitate to unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

Head over here for a full report on email deliverability by the experts at Mailjet

ldquo O U T O F T H E S P A M B O X E N G A G E M E N T I S A L L T H E R A G E rdquo11

Channel Marketing at Mailjet wwwmailjetcom

19

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Business Development Director at Boxtale the leading online shipping provider wwwboxtalecom

With the growth of eCommerce the shipping market is heating up Online retailers have to adapt themselves to consumersrsquo ever-more demanding expectations Next-day and same-day delivery or even delivery within the hour

New innovative solutions are appearing couriers drone deliveries urban delivery men deliveries in train stations in cars boots by private individuals In 2016 the war to the last kilometer will rage

Keep yourself up to date with new initiatives on the delivery market but donrsquot forget the fundamentals of a successful customer experience

In 2016 internet users are taking power

Make it possible for them to choose the type of delivery they want Diversify your modes of delivery to satisfy your future customers home delivery or in a pick-up station express delivery same-day delivery etc

Donrsquot underestimate the impact of your shipping policy to build your customer loyalty

Favour quality carriers communicate precise information concerning the tracking of your orders and be able to provide visibility to your recipient regarding the different steps of the delivery process

Finally continue to communicate as much as possible about your shipping policy before during and after the purchase by choosing transparency you reassure your customers and maximize your sales

At the time where marketplaces are becoming unmissable growth accelerators for small and medium online retailers itrsquos essential to answer to their delivery needs by shipping within the announced delivery times respecting the mode of delivery chosen by the customer supplying a tracking link as well as managing returns

ldquo A D A P T Y O U R S H I P P I N G P O L I C Y T O Y O U R C U S T O M E R S rsquo E X P E C T A T I O N S T O B U I L D L O Y A L T Y rdquo

12

Laure de Baudreuil

20

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for Watcheezywwwwatcheezycom

2015 put the customer relation at the heart of the companyrsquos strategy and confirmed the importance to homogenize the customer experience 2016 will be marked by the investment in a quality customer relation with 3 main elements the humanization personalization and omni-presence on every channels

First of all 2016 will be the year of the customer relation humanization thanks to the democratization of the customer relation tools (click-to-chat click-to-call) Chat is becoming a real live time conversion tool only offered to internet users who need help from an agent to finalize their purchase

2016 will also be the year of personalization thanks to the exploitation of customers data It is about for online retailers predicting customersrsquo intentions by targeting and personalizing the offers made to consumers The personalization of the customer follow-up will be a development opportunity as consumers buy more on a website that personalizes the customer experience

2016 will also be placed under the sign of the omni-presence and coherence of the customer journey on all the contact points Consumers have to feel this personalization and this attention from the brand each time they are in contact with it 2016 reserves some good surprises and promising evolutions in terms of customer relation Letrsquos progress towards the customer relation new generation

ldquo 2 0 1 6 T R E N D S I N T E R M S O F C U S T O M E R R E L A T I O N rdquo13

Marie Dufresne

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

6

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Test the mutualized cross-sellingThe concept is new and comes from the

startup Yuzu The idea is to benefit from the traffic of other online retailers of the network in order to create traffic for your own website During the purchasing process on a website promotions linked to your eCommerce are pushed to your customers Thanks to different rules allowing to assure the pertinence of the offers personalized promotions are offered to internet users that have all the chances to interest them

Be careful the dependance to one and unique source of traffic doesnrsquot concern only the referencing The levers cited above as well as Adwords emailing price comparison websites affiliation retargeting social media are aslo traffic sources that you have to limit your dependence from Be sure that your main source of traffic doesnrsquot represent more than 20 of the visits generated to your website in order to limit your vulnerability in case of problem I invite you to check on your Google Analytics and verify that you are not too dependent to only one source of traffic

7

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

ldquo 2 0 1 6 I S C E R T A I N L Y T H E Y E A R T O L A U N C H Y O U R O W N G I F T C A R D 02

Aria Ardalan

Marketing Director of BuyBox a private payment solution dedicated to online retailers wwwbuyboxneten

S E R V I C E rdquo

The fabulous potential of gift cards

The gift card is the consumersrsquo favored gift According to a study from Trifecta Research Group the gift card offers some great advantages for stores 28 of people having a gift card went to a store they knew before but without buying there And even better 10 are becoming regular customers

At the time where customer acquisition costs are booming (ranking affiliation ) the gift card is becoming a real strategic line to develop your business in a durable way Amazon or lrsquoOccitane Group clearly understood it and offer the possibility to buy gift cards through their eCommerce website

The electronic format as a key success factor

88 of consumers prefer the electronic format (e-gift cards) over the plastic format Why Just because of the immediacy An electronic gift card is immediately available once the order is finalized

Consummers confess to do their gifts at the last moment without having real ideas The electronic gift card is becoming in this case the best gift to offer

A real marketing lever which has become essential

Lots of different stores built their loyalty strategy around the e-gift card One of the most well-known example consists of rewarding your customers with e-gift cards depending on the previous ordersrsquo amount This strategy has not only as immediate effect to satisfy the customer but also the increase of the purchasing frequency and average shopping cart

8

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Legal Expert UK at TrustedShops wwwtrustedshopscouk

In 2015 the UK Competition amp Markets Authority reported that pound23 billion of UK consumer spending per year is being influenced by online reviews At the same time we have seen a series of issues concerning the posting of fake reviews and the manipulation of negative reviews As a result in 2016 tackling social proof will be one of the key tasks for retailers Those who want to combat fraudsters will need to work with trusted third parties so that they can manage the review and feedback process Especially with regards to the CMA prioritising the review sector in its investigations retailers will need to carefully select their trust partners

Cross-border is also set to take off in 2016 There has been a range of harmonisation steps on an EU level which have reduced the legal risk associated with coordinating rules for multiple jurisdictions This is good time for retailers to capitalise on the opportunities presented in other geographies Understanding the new market is the beginning Retailers need to pay attention to the pricing model ensuring that they remain but are not seen as cheap that they cause suspicion Logistics will be the most difficult area that needs to be addressed When entering new markets

using trust building measures such as a well-recognised trustmark is important as company heritage wonrsquot be carried across borders and these elements reassure new customers

We see a growing trend of merging the online and offline world Understanding what a successful omnichannel strategy looks like is key to success Retailers need to enhance their customer experience managing online and offline business as one entity In addition to sales retailers also need to invest time in retaining existing customers and encouraging them to buy more often and in higher order volumes A seamless experience across brick and clicks will be the deciding factor for success in 2016

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T A C K L I N G S O C I A L P R O O F W I L L B E O N E O F T H E K E Y T A S K S F O R R E T A I L E R S rdquo03

Naveen Aricatt

9

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

The world of eCommerce is ruthless You only get one shot to convert your leads on your websitemdashthey either purchase or they may be gone forever As a result many eCommerce marketers spend the majority of their time improving their websites and landing pages AB testing the call-to-action merchandising with rich personalized content and posting reviews and social proof can all increase the conversion rate However we often forget that the way we drive customers to our site can make as much of a difference as their experience once they arrive

If 2015 was all about personalized marketing then 2016 is the year of targeted eCommerce traffic A great demand generation strategy keeps our marketing time and money focused on helping our most valuable prospective customers Not all customers are ready to buy but donrsquot miss out on the ones who are Donrsquot let leads escape your funnel

One channel where marketers can drive highly targeted traffic is social media We can use social media to figure out when to bring customers to our website based on their specific interests which usually comes in the form of keywords

At Socedo we harness the power of keywords to identify qualified leads based on their buyer personas and behavior Conversational keywords tell us what customers are Tweeting in real-time expressing their current state of mind and bio keywords can help us target based on location job title or interests

All of this datamdashand moremdashcan be used to create unique lead segments so you can send the right message to the right audience at the right time Socedorsquos platform runs analytics on keywords automatically and self-optimizes for the best results but there are also a few simple steps you can take as an eCommerce business owner or marketer

- Do a keyword mapping exercise to see which terms your customers are talking about the most in relation to your brand as well as which topics lead to the highest conversion rate

- Search for customers Tweeting or posting these keywords and engage with them in real time on social media while theyrsquore hot

- Incorporate relevant terms into your social media calendar when you have special offers

ldquo 2 0 1 6 I S T H E Y E A R O F T A R G E T E D E C O M M E R C E T R A F F I C rdquo

04

Aseem Badshah

Founder and CEO of Socedo a web platform that helps businesses discover and monitor their customers using social data wwwsocedocom

10

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

- Use social media data to build segments for other marketing channels such as email pay--per-click ads and website personalization

Learn how to use keywords in your marketing efforts to drive targeted traffic to your site and yoursquoll be miles ahead of the competition

11

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of My Pop Corner an ephemeral commercial spaces rental platform and My Box Corner a turnkey concept-store solution wwwmypopcornercom

The number of online stores has been in a constant increase since the advent of the web For instance we count more than 164 000 online stores in France in the first trimester of 2015 Therefore itrsquos fundamental for an online retailer to differentiate himself if he wants to stand out from the competition

Online the purchasing process is mainly triggered by the price proposed and the delivery times If your competitors excel in this domain itrsquos difficult to compete without reducing your margin and so put in danger your business model But how to stand out and gain notoriety

BACK TO BASICS

Today more than 90 of sales are still done in brick-and-mortars Amazon Groupon Zalando all these pure-players perfectly understood it and they recently took the plunge of the physical store by opening a pop-up store

Thus during the few weeks or months of the operation these brands face their customers listen to them and exchange Bref they come back to the commerce bases

AT THE RIGHT LOCATION AT THE RIGHT TIME

Wether it be for the release of a new collection a special event such as a birthday to offer to the public the possibility to touch or try on your last flagship product every year thousands of brands open a pop-up store in order to be at the right location and at the right time

Yoursquove understood no need to open a store during the entire year if you sell swimming trunks you just need to open a temporary shop or a corner from May to end of August in a beach resort

In 2016 I invite you to follow this trend and to develop your physical presence With some imagination your activity and your products can transform the purchasing process of your customers into a unique purchasing experience Tell them a story your story theyrsquoll love it

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 M E E T Y O U R C U S T O M E R S A N D B E D I F F E R E N T rdquo05

Pierre-Yves Banaszak

12

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content and Product Marketing Manager for Zopim wwwzopimcom and Zendesk wwwzendeskcom

During Thanksgiving 71 of all eCommerce traffic came directly from mobile devices The growth in mobile commerce has become unstoppable with consumers spending more time than ever shopping from their mobile devices

What do people expect

Customers are no longer content with retailers simply offering their products and services online They now expect a seamless shopping experience right from the convenience of their mobile phones This means being able to complete the entire purchase without having to switch devices in order to make payment or ask a question

As a business owner what should you do

The growth in mobile commerce has created greater opportunities for businesses Consumers can now make purchases from wherever they are and you can reach out to them using new technologies To take advantage of the new platforms here are some things to keep in mind

Invest in technologies and tools

42 of mobile shoppers buy on impulse compared to 25 of all other shoppers Customers behave differently on mobile and to understand their behaviour yoursquoll need to invest in analytical tools (such as Google Analytics) Information like purchasing amount time and frequency of mobile shoppers can help you develop strategies to increase sales If your metrics show that mobile customers are most active between 7-9pm consider launching special deals during then to increase sales

Having a mobile responsive website or a native mobile app (ie for Android and iOS) should also be your top priority Both a website and an app can be designed to provide the best experience on mobile If your mobile site is clumsy or slow 29 of smartphone users will immediately switch to another site (usually a competitor) to find what theyrsquore looking for

Always be there to help

Customers donrsquot like having to jump through hoops in order to receive support When they

ldquo 5 7 O F C U S T O M E R S W I L L A B A N D O N T H E I R C A R T I F T H E Y F I N D I T D I F F I C U L T T O S O L V E T H E I R P R O B L E M W H I L E S H O P P I N G O N L I N E rdquo06

Abhiroop Basu

13

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

encounter a problem while shopping on mobile they want to have their questions answered immediately Live chat is one way to provide prompt support on mobile Instead of forcing customers onto another platform with Zopim you can seamlessly offer chat support in your native mobile app

Also by proactively offering help when you notice customers struggling yoursquoll be able to smooth out the kinks in their shopping experience 57 of customers will abandon their cart if they find it difficult to solve their problem while shopping online Thatrsquos why it is important to ensure that obtaining support is simple and fuss-free for consumers even while on mobile

14

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager at iAdvize real time customer engagement platform wwwiadvizecom

In 2016 companies will have to adapt themselves to the necessity to assure a ubiquitous customer experience Being everywhere all the time instantly and assuring a perfect coherence in the speech whatever the interaction point with the brand is website social media community mobile The customer experience has to be global the internet user doesnrsquot have to come to the brand anymore it is for brands to engage the customer in real time at the right moment and where he is

Not only the customer experience has to be global but also conversational Social networks will slowly give way to personalized conversations (one-to-one) The messaging applications have their share in this transformation They have experienced a strong growth during the last five years In 2015 700 million of people used Facebook

each month 900 million used Whatsapp In 2016 the challenge for companies will be to integrate these tools to their multi-channel strategy

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S W I L L H A V E T O A D A P T T H E M S E L V E S T O T H E N E C E S S I T Y T O A S S U R E A U B I Q U I T O U S C U S T O M E R E X P E R I E N C E rdquo

07

Maxime Baumard

15

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales Vice President LeGuide Group a network of comparison sites and shopping guides for online product listings solutions wwwpricesavvycouk wwwchoozencouk

The e-business environment in 2016 is again set to be full of innovations and surprises The focus would be on the ever-changing e-buyersrsquo behaviours The growth of Mobile Shopping will undoubtedly keep on accelerating accompanied by the rise of two shopping behaviours in particular the Showrooming and the Webrooming These practices address two of the main current consumersrsquo needs researching the best prices and checking products before purchasing

Therefore an effective price positioning strategy is more important than ever The relevance of price in the consumer decision making process will continue to rise and it will be the most important factor to acquire new customers As a result being able to quickly track and react to competitorsrsquo price changes will prove to be the biggest challenge for online retailers

In order to help them LeGuide Group has launched a new price intelligence service which offers an efficient competitor analysis tool affordable to e-retailers of all sizes

ldquo T H E F O C U S W O U L D B E O N T H E E V E R - C H A N G I N G E - B U Y E R S rsquo B E H A V I O U R S rdquo

08

Cyril Bouskila

16

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Anthony Brebion

Mobile platforms now form an integral part of the customer experience According to McKinsey 50 of interactions between a brand and its customers now occur as part of a multi-channel path It is therefore essential to be present on mobile devices But this presence which is concerned as much with content as with form (online store consisting just of a product catalogue versus eCommerce website responsive website versus native application etc) must be adapted to the consumerrsquos needs because mobile devices have radically changed our expectations of brands We expect to obtain relevant information whenever we require it and to have a customised online experience that is both context sensitive and updated in real-time

In this respect and to an even greater extent than with desktop technology it is more relevant to track the engagement metric rather than that of customer acquisition cost The big advertisers have already realised this and shifted the focus of their mobile platform expenditure accordingly With the 2010-2012 period having been marked by a phase of investment in IT in 2013-2014 the focus was mainly on traffic acquisition Then in 2015 we began to see a shift towards improving

conversion rates and retention a trend that is set to continue in 2016

Improving the customer experience on mobile sites responsive sites and with native applications will therefore be the order of the day for the incoming year and this will involve challenges that need to be overcome not only device-inherent ones (display area size network speed etc) but also challenges of an organisational technical and financial nature With conversion rates on mobile platforms continuing to be inferior to those achieved through desktop technology and with the ROI on mobile platforms not yet clearly proven how can one justify making the new investments required to bring services up to speed Fortunately there are simple solutions in existence that allow you to modify your mobile sites or native applications and implement the kind of customised experience likely to engage your users no matter what the device The most advanced of these solutions also integrates the cross-device aspect by ensuring the coherence of the personalised customer experience across the web mobile platforms and the application

ldquo P E R S O N A L I S E T H E O M N I - C H A N N E L E X P E R I E N C E T O I N C R E A S E E N G A G E M E N T rdquo 09

Marketing Manager at AB Tasty wwwabtastycom

17

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Nicolas Chevalier

More and more online logistics platforms are created proportionnaly to the development of the eCommerce giving e-retailers a large choice in terms of service providers If some of them prefer focusing on their core activity thanks to the outsourcing other chose to manage the logistics internally But as an oline retailer why would you externalize your logistics

The logistics is at the heart itself of the eCommerce if your deliveries donrsquot respect the delivery times and if the management of your stocks is not transparent you are more likely to tread water with your business or even suffer from your customersrsquo complaints By outsourcing the first major asset is the economical aspect There is no need to pay order pickers or premises to stock your items You can therefore focus on your activity and its development

Thus the externalization of your logistics allows you to save time (order preparation administrative management returns management) as well as money (employees preferential tariff no rent for the stock)

More than just an economical criteria quality service is essential in order to satisfy your customer The job of e-logisticians with the expertise and experience is the decisive argument Thanks to the setting up of an optimized process logistics platforms are more efficient than internal teams Thus going through a qualified service provider will make you save money However donrsquot forget that logistics providers have their own characteristics With a transversal vision on the eCommerce world your logistician can appear to be a real partner to inform you about the market trends

Logistics and the management of the last mile will be key areas to succeed in eCommerce in 2016 so take time to choose the service provider who best fits your needs and donrsquot hesitate to ask additional information about the process of the platform and the services offered by the logistician

ldquo W H Y S H O U L D Y O U O U T S O U R C E Y O U R E C O M M E R C E L O G I S T I C S rdquo10

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for SupplyWeb and Co-founder of eCommerce Nation wwwsupplywebfr

18

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Michyl Culos

Even if yoursquore not a Spammer you may actually look like one to our friends the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) think Gmail Hotmail Yahoo Orange

For ISPs there are A LOT of factors that set off their SPAM alerts but in 2016 engagement-based filtering will continue to be a method of choice when detecting SPAM They are monitoring how readers interact with senderrsquos emails (opens clicks new sign-ups unsubscribes SPAM reports etc) to assess how desirable these emails actually are

ISPs are doing this for their end users They want to ensure that they are always having a better experience with their service and part of a better experience is having only the emails they actually want land in their inboxes

So what can you do about it There are many factors to take into consideration but herersquos a few tips to start with to keep up a healthy email engagement rate

- DONrsquoT email your contacts about things they didnrsquot sign-up for For example you invited

them to receive your e-book but then added them to your regular newsletter list

- DONrsquoT continue to send regular emails to inactive contacts 6 months of non-engagement with your emails tends to be the common length of time for a subscriber to be considered inactive Filter these contacts into a separate email list and either refrain from emailing them or create a campaign dedicated to re-engaging them

- DONrsquoT buy an email list Duh These people have not signed up to receive your emails and when they do receive them wonrsquot hesitate to hit unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

- DONrsquoT use spammy keywords in your emails Spammy words are still red-flags for ISPs but more than that they usually lead to deception If you put the word ldquoFreerdquo in your email subject then you better be offering something thatrsquos really for free or your subscribers wonrsquot hesitate to unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

Head over here for a full report on email deliverability by the experts at Mailjet

ldquo O U T O F T H E S P A M B O X E N G A G E M E N T I S A L L T H E R A G E rdquo11

Channel Marketing at Mailjet wwwmailjetcom

19

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Business Development Director at Boxtale the leading online shipping provider wwwboxtalecom

With the growth of eCommerce the shipping market is heating up Online retailers have to adapt themselves to consumersrsquo ever-more demanding expectations Next-day and same-day delivery or even delivery within the hour

New innovative solutions are appearing couriers drone deliveries urban delivery men deliveries in train stations in cars boots by private individuals In 2016 the war to the last kilometer will rage

Keep yourself up to date with new initiatives on the delivery market but donrsquot forget the fundamentals of a successful customer experience

In 2016 internet users are taking power

Make it possible for them to choose the type of delivery they want Diversify your modes of delivery to satisfy your future customers home delivery or in a pick-up station express delivery same-day delivery etc

Donrsquot underestimate the impact of your shipping policy to build your customer loyalty

Favour quality carriers communicate precise information concerning the tracking of your orders and be able to provide visibility to your recipient regarding the different steps of the delivery process

Finally continue to communicate as much as possible about your shipping policy before during and after the purchase by choosing transparency you reassure your customers and maximize your sales

At the time where marketplaces are becoming unmissable growth accelerators for small and medium online retailers itrsquos essential to answer to their delivery needs by shipping within the announced delivery times respecting the mode of delivery chosen by the customer supplying a tracking link as well as managing returns

ldquo A D A P T Y O U R S H I P P I N G P O L I C Y T O Y O U R C U S T O M E R S rsquo E X P E C T A T I O N S T O B U I L D L O Y A L T Y rdquo

12

Laure de Baudreuil

20

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for Watcheezywwwwatcheezycom

2015 put the customer relation at the heart of the companyrsquos strategy and confirmed the importance to homogenize the customer experience 2016 will be marked by the investment in a quality customer relation with 3 main elements the humanization personalization and omni-presence on every channels

First of all 2016 will be the year of the customer relation humanization thanks to the democratization of the customer relation tools (click-to-chat click-to-call) Chat is becoming a real live time conversion tool only offered to internet users who need help from an agent to finalize their purchase

2016 will also be the year of personalization thanks to the exploitation of customers data It is about for online retailers predicting customersrsquo intentions by targeting and personalizing the offers made to consumers The personalization of the customer follow-up will be a development opportunity as consumers buy more on a website that personalizes the customer experience

2016 will also be placed under the sign of the omni-presence and coherence of the customer journey on all the contact points Consumers have to feel this personalization and this attention from the brand each time they are in contact with it 2016 reserves some good surprises and promising evolutions in terms of customer relation Letrsquos progress towards the customer relation new generation

ldquo 2 0 1 6 T R E N D S I N T E R M S O F C U S T O M E R R E L A T I O N rdquo13

Marie Dufresne

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

7

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

ldquo 2 0 1 6 I S C E R T A I N L Y T H E Y E A R T O L A U N C H Y O U R O W N G I F T C A R D 02

Aria Ardalan

Marketing Director of BuyBox a private payment solution dedicated to online retailers wwwbuyboxneten

S E R V I C E rdquo

The fabulous potential of gift cards

The gift card is the consumersrsquo favored gift According to a study from Trifecta Research Group the gift card offers some great advantages for stores 28 of people having a gift card went to a store they knew before but without buying there And even better 10 are becoming regular customers

At the time where customer acquisition costs are booming (ranking affiliation ) the gift card is becoming a real strategic line to develop your business in a durable way Amazon or lrsquoOccitane Group clearly understood it and offer the possibility to buy gift cards through their eCommerce website

The electronic format as a key success factor

88 of consumers prefer the electronic format (e-gift cards) over the plastic format Why Just because of the immediacy An electronic gift card is immediately available once the order is finalized

Consummers confess to do their gifts at the last moment without having real ideas The electronic gift card is becoming in this case the best gift to offer

A real marketing lever which has become essential

Lots of different stores built their loyalty strategy around the e-gift card One of the most well-known example consists of rewarding your customers with e-gift cards depending on the previous ordersrsquo amount This strategy has not only as immediate effect to satisfy the customer but also the increase of the purchasing frequency and average shopping cart

8

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Legal Expert UK at TrustedShops wwwtrustedshopscouk

In 2015 the UK Competition amp Markets Authority reported that pound23 billion of UK consumer spending per year is being influenced by online reviews At the same time we have seen a series of issues concerning the posting of fake reviews and the manipulation of negative reviews As a result in 2016 tackling social proof will be one of the key tasks for retailers Those who want to combat fraudsters will need to work with trusted third parties so that they can manage the review and feedback process Especially with regards to the CMA prioritising the review sector in its investigations retailers will need to carefully select their trust partners

Cross-border is also set to take off in 2016 There has been a range of harmonisation steps on an EU level which have reduced the legal risk associated with coordinating rules for multiple jurisdictions This is good time for retailers to capitalise on the opportunities presented in other geographies Understanding the new market is the beginning Retailers need to pay attention to the pricing model ensuring that they remain but are not seen as cheap that they cause suspicion Logistics will be the most difficult area that needs to be addressed When entering new markets

using trust building measures such as a well-recognised trustmark is important as company heritage wonrsquot be carried across borders and these elements reassure new customers

We see a growing trend of merging the online and offline world Understanding what a successful omnichannel strategy looks like is key to success Retailers need to enhance their customer experience managing online and offline business as one entity In addition to sales retailers also need to invest time in retaining existing customers and encouraging them to buy more often and in higher order volumes A seamless experience across brick and clicks will be the deciding factor for success in 2016

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T A C K L I N G S O C I A L P R O O F W I L L B E O N E O F T H E K E Y T A S K S F O R R E T A I L E R S rdquo03

Naveen Aricatt

9

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

The world of eCommerce is ruthless You only get one shot to convert your leads on your websitemdashthey either purchase or they may be gone forever As a result many eCommerce marketers spend the majority of their time improving their websites and landing pages AB testing the call-to-action merchandising with rich personalized content and posting reviews and social proof can all increase the conversion rate However we often forget that the way we drive customers to our site can make as much of a difference as their experience once they arrive

If 2015 was all about personalized marketing then 2016 is the year of targeted eCommerce traffic A great demand generation strategy keeps our marketing time and money focused on helping our most valuable prospective customers Not all customers are ready to buy but donrsquot miss out on the ones who are Donrsquot let leads escape your funnel

One channel where marketers can drive highly targeted traffic is social media We can use social media to figure out when to bring customers to our website based on their specific interests which usually comes in the form of keywords

At Socedo we harness the power of keywords to identify qualified leads based on their buyer personas and behavior Conversational keywords tell us what customers are Tweeting in real-time expressing their current state of mind and bio keywords can help us target based on location job title or interests

All of this datamdashand moremdashcan be used to create unique lead segments so you can send the right message to the right audience at the right time Socedorsquos platform runs analytics on keywords automatically and self-optimizes for the best results but there are also a few simple steps you can take as an eCommerce business owner or marketer

- Do a keyword mapping exercise to see which terms your customers are talking about the most in relation to your brand as well as which topics lead to the highest conversion rate

- Search for customers Tweeting or posting these keywords and engage with them in real time on social media while theyrsquore hot

- Incorporate relevant terms into your social media calendar when you have special offers

ldquo 2 0 1 6 I S T H E Y E A R O F T A R G E T E D E C O M M E R C E T R A F F I C rdquo

04

Aseem Badshah

Founder and CEO of Socedo a web platform that helps businesses discover and monitor their customers using social data wwwsocedocom

10

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

- Use social media data to build segments for other marketing channels such as email pay--per-click ads and website personalization

Learn how to use keywords in your marketing efforts to drive targeted traffic to your site and yoursquoll be miles ahead of the competition

11

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of My Pop Corner an ephemeral commercial spaces rental platform and My Box Corner a turnkey concept-store solution wwwmypopcornercom

The number of online stores has been in a constant increase since the advent of the web For instance we count more than 164 000 online stores in France in the first trimester of 2015 Therefore itrsquos fundamental for an online retailer to differentiate himself if he wants to stand out from the competition

Online the purchasing process is mainly triggered by the price proposed and the delivery times If your competitors excel in this domain itrsquos difficult to compete without reducing your margin and so put in danger your business model But how to stand out and gain notoriety

BACK TO BASICS

Today more than 90 of sales are still done in brick-and-mortars Amazon Groupon Zalando all these pure-players perfectly understood it and they recently took the plunge of the physical store by opening a pop-up store

Thus during the few weeks or months of the operation these brands face their customers listen to them and exchange Bref they come back to the commerce bases

AT THE RIGHT LOCATION AT THE RIGHT TIME

Wether it be for the release of a new collection a special event such as a birthday to offer to the public the possibility to touch or try on your last flagship product every year thousands of brands open a pop-up store in order to be at the right location and at the right time

Yoursquove understood no need to open a store during the entire year if you sell swimming trunks you just need to open a temporary shop or a corner from May to end of August in a beach resort

In 2016 I invite you to follow this trend and to develop your physical presence With some imagination your activity and your products can transform the purchasing process of your customers into a unique purchasing experience Tell them a story your story theyrsquoll love it

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 M E E T Y O U R C U S T O M E R S A N D B E D I F F E R E N T rdquo05

Pierre-Yves Banaszak

12

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content and Product Marketing Manager for Zopim wwwzopimcom and Zendesk wwwzendeskcom

During Thanksgiving 71 of all eCommerce traffic came directly from mobile devices The growth in mobile commerce has become unstoppable with consumers spending more time than ever shopping from their mobile devices

What do people expect

Customers are no longer content with retailers simply offering their products and services online They now expect a seamless shopping experience right from the convenience of their mobile phones This means being able to complete the entire purchase without having to switch devices in order to make payment or ask a question

As a business owner what should you do

The growth in mobile commerce has created greater opportunities for businesses Consumers can now make purchases from wherever they are and you can reach out to them using new technologies To take advantage of the new platforms here are some things to keep in mind

Invest in technologies and tools

42 of mobile shoppers buy on impulse compared to 25 of all other shoppers Customers behave differently on mobile and to understand their behaviour yoursquoll need to invest in analytical tools (such as Google Analytics) Information like purchasing amount time and frequency of mobile shoppers can help you develop strategies to increase sales If your metrics show that mobile customers are most active between 7-9pm consider launching special deals during then to increase sales

Having a mobile responsive website or a native mobile app (ie for Android and iOS) should also be your top priority Both a website and an app can be designed to provide the best experience on mobile If your mobile site is clumsy or slow 29 of smartphone users will immediately switch to another site (usually a competitor) to find what theyrsquore looking for

Always be there to help

Customers donrsquot like having to jump through hoops in order to receive support When they

ldquo 5 7 O F C U S T O M E R S W I L L A B A N D O N T H E I R C A R T I F T H E Y F I N D I T D I F F I C U L T T O S O L V E T H E I R P R O B L E M W H I L E S H O P P I N G O N L I N E rdquo06

Abhiroop Basu

13

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

encounter a problem while shopping on mobile they want to have their questions answered immediately Live chat is one way to provide prompt support on mobile Instead of forcing customers onto another platform with Zopim you can seamlessly offer chat support in your native mobile app

Also by proactively offering help when you notice customers struggling yoursquoll be able to smooth out the kinks in their shopping experience 57 of customers will abandon their cart if they find it difficult to solve their problem while shopping online Thatrsquos why it is important to ensure that obtaining support is simple and fuss-free for consumers even while on mobile

14

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager at iAdvize real time customer engagement platform wwwiadvizecom

In 2016 companies will have to adapt themselves to the necessity to assure a ubiquitous customer experience Being everywhere all the time instantly and assuring a perfect coherence in the speech whatever the interaction point with the brand is website social media community mobile The customer experience has to be global the internet user doesnrsquot have to come to the brand anymore it is for brands to engage the customer in real time at the right moment and where he is

Not only the customer experience has to be global but also conversational Social networks will slowly give way to personalized conversations (one-to-one) The messaging applications have their share in this transformation They have experienced a strong growth during the last five years In 2015 700 million of people used Facebook

each month 900 million used Whatsapp In 2016 the challenge for companies will be to integrate these tools to their multi-channel strategy

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S W I L L H A V E T O A D A P T T H E M S E L V E S T O T H E N E C E S S I T Y T O A S S U R E A U B I Q U I T O U S C U S T O M E R E X P E R I E N C E rdquo

07

Maxime Baumard

15

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales Vice President LeGuide Group a network of comparison sites and shopping guides for online product listings solutions wwwpricesavvycouk wwwchoozencouk

The e-business environment in 2016 is again set to be full of innovations and surprises The focus would be on the ever-changing e-buyersrsquo behaviours The growth of Mobile Shopping will undoubtedly keep on accelerating accompanied by the rise of two shopping behaviours in particular the Showrooming and the Webrooming These practices address two of the main current consumersrsquo needs researching the best prices and checking products before purchasing

Therefore an effective price positioning strategy is more important than ever The relevance of price in the consumer decision making process will continue to rise and it will be the most important factor to acquire new customers As a result being able to quickly track and react to competitorsrsquo price changes will prove to be the biggest challenge for online retailers

In order to help them LeGuide Group has launched a new price intelligence service which offers an efficient competitor analysis tool affordable to e-retailers of all sizes

ldquo T H E F O C U S W O U L D B E O N T H E E V E R - C H A N G I N G E - B U Y E R S rsquo B E H A V I O U R S rdquo

08

Cyril Bouskila

16

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Anthony Brebion

Mobile platforms now form an integral part of the customer experience According to McKinsey 50 of interactions between a brand and its customers now occur as part of a multi-channel path It is therefore essential to be present on mobile devices But this presence which is concerned as much with content as with form (online store consisting just of a product catalogue versus eCommerce website responsive website versus native application etc) must be adapted to the consumerrsquos needs because mobile devices have radically changed our expectations of brands We expect to obtain relevant information whenever we require it and to have a customised online experience that is both context sensitive and updated in real-time

In this respect and to an even greater extent than with desktop technology it is more relevant to track the engagement metric rather than that of customer acquisition cost The big advertisers have already realised this and shifted the focus of their mobile platform expenditure accordingly With the 2010-2012 period having been marked by a phase of investment in IT in 2013-2014 the focus was mainly on traffic acquisition Then in 2015 we began to see a shift towards improving

conversion rates and retention a trend that is set to continue in 2016

Improving the customer experience on mobile sites responsive sites and with native applications will therefore be the order of the day for the incoming year and this will involve challenges that need to be overcome not only device-inherent ones (display area size network speed etc) but also challenges of an organisational technical and financial nature With conversion rates on mobile platforms continuing to be inferior to those achieved through desktop technology and with the ROI on mobile platforms not yet clearly proven how can one justify making the new investments required to bring services up to speed Fortunately there are simple solutions in existence that allow you to modify your mobile sites or native applications and implement the kind of customised experience likely to engage your users no matter what the device The most advanced of these solutions also integrates the cross-device aspect by ensuring the coherence of the personalised customer experience across the web mobile platforms and the application

ldquo P E R S O N A L I S E T H E O M N I - C H A N N E L E X P E R I E N C E T O I N C R E A S E E N G A G E M E N T rdquo 09

Marketing Manager at AB Tasty wwwabtastycom

17

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Nicolas Chevalier

More and more online logistics platforms are created proportionnaly to the development of the eCommerce giving e-retailers a large choice in terms of service providers If some of them prefer focusing on their core activity thanks to the outsourcing other chose to manage the logistics internally But as an oline retailer why would you externalize your logistics

The logistics is at the heart itself of the eCommerce if your deliveries donrsquot respect the delivery times and if the management of your stocks is not transparent you are more likely to tread water with your business or even suffer from your customersrsquo complaints By outsourcing the first major asset is the economical aspect There is no need to pay order pickers or premises to stock your items You can therefore focus on your activity and its development

Thus the externalization of your logistics allows you to save time (order preparation administrative management returns management) as well as money (employees preferential tariff no rent for the stock)

More than just an economical criteria quality service is essential in order to satisfy your customer The job of e-logisticians with the expertise and experience is the decisive argument Thanks to the setting up of an optimized process logistics platforms are more efficient than internal teams Thus going through a qualified service provider will make you save money However donrsquot forget that logistics providers have their own characteristics With a transversal vision on the eCommerce world your logistician can appear to be a real partner to inform you about the market trends

Logistics and the management of the last mile will be key areas to succeed in eCommerce in 2016 so take time to choose the service provider who best fits your needs and donrsquot hesitate to ask additional information about the process of the platform and the services offered by the logistician

ldquo W H Y S H O U L D Y O U O U T S O U R C E Y O U R E C O M M E R C E L O G I S T I C S rdquo10

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for SupplyWeb and Co-founder of eCommerce Nation wwwsupplywebfr

18

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Michyl Culos

Even if yoursquore not a Spammer you may actually look like one to our friends the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) think Gmail Hotmail Yahoo Orange

For ISPs there are A LOT of factors that set off their SPAM alerts but in 2016 engagement-based filtering will continue to be a method of choice when detecting SPAM They are monitoring how readers interact with senderrsquos emails (opens clicks new sign-ups unsubscribes SPAM reports etc) to assess how desirable these emails actually are

ISPs are doing this for their end users They want to ensure that they are always having a better experience with their service and part of a better experience is having only the emails they actually want land in their inboxes

So what can you do about it There are many factors to take into consideration but herersquos a few tips to start with to keep up a healthy email engagement rate

- DONrsquoT email your contacts about things they didnrsquot sign-up for For example you invited

them to receive your e-book but then added them to your regular newsletter list

- DONrsquoT continue to send regular emails to inactive contacts 6 months of non-engagement with your emails tends to be the common length of time for a subscriber to be considered inactive Filter these contacts into a separate email list and either refrain from emailing them or create a campaign dedicated to re-engaging them

- DONrsquoT buy an email list Duh These people have not signed up to receive your emails and when they do receive them wonrsquot hesitate to hit unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

- DONrsquoT use spammy keywords in your emails Spammy words are still red-flags for ISPs but more than that they usually lead to deception If you put the word ldquoFreerdquo in your email subject then you better be offering something thatrsquos really for free or your subscribers wonrsquot hesitate to unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

Head over here for a full report on email deliverability by the experts at Mailjet

ldquo O U T O F T H E S P A M B O X E N G A G E M E N T I S A L L T H E R A G E rdquo11

Channel Marketing at Mailjet wwwmailjetcom

19

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Business Development Director at Boxtale the leading online shipping provider wwwboxtalecom

With the growth of eCommerce the shipping market is heating up Online retailers have to adapt themselves to consumersrsquo ever-more demanding expectations Next-day and same-day delivery or even delivery within the hour

New innovative solutions are appearing couriers drone deliveries urban delivery men deliveries in train stations in cars boots by private individuals In 2016 the war to the last kilometer will rage

Keep yourself up to date with new initiatives on the delivery market but donrsquot forget the fundamentals of a successful customer experience

In 2016 internet users are taking power

Make it possible for them to choose the type of delivery they want Diversify your modes of delivery to satisfy your future customers home delivery or in a pick-up station express delivery same-day delivery etc

Donrsquot underestimate the impact of your shipping policy to build your customer loyalty

Favour quality carriers communicate precise information concerning the tracking of your orders and be able to provide visibility to your recipient regarding the different steps of the delivery process

Finally continue to communicate as much as possible about your shipping policy before during and after the purchase by choosing transparency you reassure your customers and maximize your sales

At the time where marketplaces are becoming unmissable growth accelerators for small and medium online retailers itrsquos essential to answer to their delivery needs by shipping within the announced delivery times respecting the mode of delivery chosen by the customer supplying a tracking link as well as managing returns

ldquo A D A P T Y O U R S H I P P I N G P O L I C Y T O Y O U R C U S T O M E R S rsquo E X P E C T A T I O N S T O B U I L D L O Y A L T Y rdquo

12

Laure de Baudreuil

20

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for Watcheezywwwwatcheezycom

2015 put the customer relation at the heart of the companyrsquos strategy and confirmed the importance to homogenize the customer experience 2016 will be marked by the investment in a quality customer relation with 3 main elements the humanization personalization and omni-presence on every channels

First of all 2016 will be the year of the customer relation humanization thanks to the democratization of the customer relation tools (click-to-chat click-to-call) Chat is becoming a real live time conversion tool only offered to internet users who need help from an agent to finalize their purchase

2016 will also be the year of personalization thanks to the exploitation of customers data It is about for online retailers predicting customersrsquo intentions by targeting and personalizing the offers made to consumers The personalization of the customer follow-up will be a development opportunity as consumers buy more on a website that personalizes the customer experience

2016 will also be placed under the sign of the omni-presence and coherence of the customer journey on all the contact points Consumers have to feel this personalization and this attention from the brand each time they are in contact with it 2016 reserves some good surprises and promising evolutions in terms of customer relation Letrsquos progress towards the customer relation new generation

ldquo 2 0 1 6 T R E N D S I N T E R M S O F C U S T O M E R R E L A T I O N rdquo13

Marie Dufresne

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

8

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Legal Expert UK at TrustedShops wwwtrustedshopscouk

In 2015 the UK Competition amp Markets Authority reported that pound23 billion of UK consumer spending per year is being influenced by online reviews At the same time we have seen a series of issues concerning the posting of fake reviews and the manipulation of negative reviews As a result in 2016 tackling social proof will be one of the key tasks for retailers Those who want to combat fraudsters will need to work with trusted third parties so that they can manage the review and feedback process Especially with regards to the CMA prioritising the review sector in its investigations retailers will need to carefully select their trust partners

Cross-border is also set to take off in 2016 There has been a range of harmonisation steps on an EU level which have reduced the legal risk associated with coordinating rules for multiple jurisdictions This is good time for retailers to capitalise on the opportunities presented in other geographies Understanding the new market is the beginning Retailers need to pay attention to the pricing model ensuring that they remain but are not seen as cheap that they cause suspicion Logistics will be the most difficult area that needs to be addressed When entering new markets

using trust building measures such as a well-recognised trustmark is important as company heritage wonrsquot be carried across borders and these elements reassure new customers

We see a growing trend of merging the online and offline world Understanding what a successful omnichannel strategy looks like is key to success Retailers need to enhance their customer experience managing online and offline business as one entity In addition to sales retailers also need to invest time in retaining existing customers and encouraging them to buy more often and in higher order volumes A seamless experience across brick and clicks will be the deciding factor for success in 2016

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T A C K L I N G S O C I A L P R O O F W I L L B E O N E O F T H E K E Y T A S K S F O R R E T A I L E R S rdquo03

Naveen Aricatt

9

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

The world of eCommerce is ruthless You only get one shot to convert your leads on your websitemdashthey either purchase or they may be gone forever As a result many eCommerce marketers spend the majority of their time improving their websites and landing pages AB testing the call-to-action merchandising with rich personalized content and posting reviews and social proof can all increase the conversion rate However we often forget that the way we drive customers to our site can make as much of a difference as their experience once they arrive

If 2015 was all about personalized marketing then 2016 is the year of targeted eCommerce traffic A great demand generation strategy keeps our marketing time and money focused on helping our most valuable prospective customers Not all customers are ready to buy but donrsquot miss out on the ones who are Donrsquot let leads escape your funnel

One channel where marketers can drive highly targeted traffic is social media We can use social media to figure out when to bring customers to our website based on their specific interests which usually comes in the form of keywords

At Socedo we harness the power of keywords to identify qualified leads based on their buyer personas and behavior Conversational keywords tell us what customers are Tweeting in real-time expressing their current state of mind and bio keywords can help us target based on location job title or interests

All of this datamdashand moremdashcan be used to create unique lead segments so you can send the right message to the right audience at the right time Socedorsquos platform runs analytics on keywords automatically and self-optimizes for the best results but there are also a few simple steps you can take as an eCommerce business owner or marketer

- Do a keyword mapping exercise to see which terms your customers are talking about the most in relation to your brand as well as which topics lead to the highest conversion rate

- Search for customers Tweeting or posting these keywords and engage with them in real time on social media while theyrsquore hot

- Incorporate relevant terms into your social media calendar when you have special offers

ldquo 2 0 1 6 I S T H E Y E A R O F T A R G E T E D E C O M M E R C E T R A F F I C rdquo

04

Aseem Badshah

Founder and CEO of Socedo a web platform that helps businesses discover and monitor their customers using social data wwwsocedocom

10

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

- Use social media data to build segments for other marketing channels such as email pay--per-click ads and website personalization

Learn how to use keywords in your marketing efforts to drive targeted traffic to your site and yoursquoll be miles ahead of the competition

11

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of My Pop Corner an ephemeral commercial spaces rental platform and My Box Corner a turnkey concept-store solution wwwmypopcornercom

The number of online stores has been in a constant increase since the advent of the web For instance we count more than 164 000 online stores in France in the first trimester of 2015 Therefore itrsquos fundamental for an online retailer to differentiate himself if he wants to stand out from the competition

Online the purchasing process is mainly triggered by the price proposed and the delivery times If your competitors excel in this domain itrsquos difficult to compete without reducing your margin and so put in danger your business model But how to stand out and gain notoriety

BACK TO BASICS

Today more than 90 of sales are still done in brick-and-mortars Amazon Groupon Zalando all these pure-players perfectly understood it and they recently took the plunge of the physical store by opening a pop-up store

Thus during the few weeks or months of the operation these brands face their customers listen to them and exchange Bref they come back to the commerce bases

AT THE RIGHT LOCATION AT THE RIGHT TIME

Wether it be for the release of a new collection a special event such as a birthday to offer to the public the possibility to touch or try on your last flagship product every year thousands of brands open a pop-up store in order to be at the right location and at the right time

Yoursquove understood no need to open a store during the entire year if you sell swimming trunks you just need to open a temporary shop or a corner from May to end of August in a beach resort

In 2016 I invite you to follow this trend and to develop your physical presence With some imagination your activity and your products can transform the purchasing process of your customers into a unique purchasing experience Tell them a story your story theyrsquoll love it

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 M E E T Y O U R C U S T O M E R S A N D B E D I F F E R E N T rdquo05

Pierre-Yves Banaszak

12

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content and Product Marketing Manager for Zopim wwwzopimcom and Zendesk wwwzendeskcom

During Thanksgiving 71 of all eCommerce traffic came directly from mobile devices The growth in mobile commerce has become unstoppable with consumers spending more time than ever shopping from their mobile devices

What do people expect

Customers are no longer content with retailers simply offering their products and services online They now expect a seamless shopping experience right from the convenience of their mobile phones This means being able to complete the entire purchase without having to switch devices in order to make payment or ask a question

As a business owner what should you do

The growth in mobile commerce has created greater opportunities for businesses Consumers can now make purchases from wherever they are and you can reach out to them using new technologies To take advantage of the new platforms here are some things to keep in mind

Invest in technologies and tools

42 of mobile shoppers buy on impulse compared to 25 of all other shoppers Customers behave differently on mobile and to understand their behaviour yoursquoll need to invest in analytical tools (such as Google Analytics) Information like purchasing amount time and frequency of mobile shoppers can help you develop strategies to increase sales If your metrics show that mobile customers are most active between 7-9pm consider launching special deals during then to increase sales

Having a mobile responsive website or a native mobile app (ie for Android and iOS) should also be your top priority Both a website and an app can be designed to provide the best experience on mobile If your mobile site is clumsy or slow 29 of smartphone users will immediately switch to another site (usually a competitor) to find what theyrsquore looking for

Always be there to help

Customers donrsquot like having to jump through hoops in order to receive support When they

ldquo 5 7 O F C U S T O M E R S W I L L A B A N D O N T H E I R C A R T I F T H E Y F I N D I T D I F F I C U L T T O S O L V E T H E I R P R O B L E M W H I L E S H O P P I N G O N L I N E rdquo06

Abhiroop Basu

13

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

encounter a problem while shopping on mobile they want to have their questions answered immediately Live chat is one way to provide prompt support on mobile Instead of forcing customers onto another platform with Zopim you can seamlessly offer chat support in your native mobile app

Also by proactively offering help when you notice customers struggling yoursquoll be able to smooth out the kinks in their shopping experience 57 of customers will abandon their cart if they find it difficult to solve their problem while shopping online Thatrsquos why it is important to ensure that obtaining support is simple and fuss-free for consumers even while on mobile

14

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager at iAdvize real time customer engagement platform wwwiadvizecom

In 2016 companies will have to adapt themselves to the necessity to assure a ubiquitous customer experience Being everywhere all the time instantly and assuring a perfect coherence in the speech whatever the interaction point with the brand is website social media community mobile The customer experience has to be global the internet user doesnrsquot have to come to the brand anymore it is for brands to engage the customer in real time at the right moment and where he is

Not only the customer experience has to be global but also conversational Social networks will slowly give way to personalized conversations (one-to-one) The messaging applications have their share in this transformation They have experienced a strong growth during the last five years In 2015 700 million of people used Facebook

each month 900 million used Whatsapp In 2016 the challenge for companies will be to integrate these tools to their multi-channel strategy

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S W I L L H A V E T O A D A P T T H E M S E L V E S T O T H E N E C E S S I T Y T O A S S U R E A U B I Q U I T O U S C U S T O M E R E X P E R I E N C E rdquo

07

Maxime Baumard

15

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales Vice President LeGuide Group a network of comparison sites and shopping guides for online product listings solutions wwwpricesavvycouk wwwchoozencouk

The e-business environment in 2016 is again set to be full of innovations and surprises The focus would be on the ever-changing e-buyersrsquo behaviours The growth of Mobile Shopping will undoubtedly keep on accelerating accompanied by the rise of two shopping behaviours in particular the Showrooming and the Webrooming These practices address two of the main current consumersrsquo needs researching the best prices and checking products before purchasing

Therefore an effective price positioning strategy is more important than ever The relevance of price in the consumer decision making process will continue to rise and it will be the most important factor to acquire new customers As a result being able to quickly track and react to competitorsrsquo price changes will prove to be the biggest challenge for online retailers

In order to help them LeGuide Group has launched a new price intelligence service which offers an efficient competitor analysis tool affordable to e-retailers of all sizes

ldquo T H E F O C U S W O U L D B E O N T H E E V E R - C H A N G I N G E - B U Y E R S rsquo B E H A V I O U R S rdquo

08

Cyril Bouskila

16

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Anthony Brebion

Mobile platforms now form an integral part of the customer experience According to McKinsey 50 of interactions between a brand and its customers now occur as part of a multi-channel path It is therefore essential to be present on mobile devices But this presence which is concerned as much with content as with form (online store consisting just of a product catalogue versus eCommerce website responsive website versus native application etc) must be adapted to the consumerrsquos needs because mobile devices have radically changed our expectations of brands We expect to obtain relevant information whenever we require it and to have a customised online experience that is both context sensitive and updated in real-time

In this respect and to an even greater extent than with desktop technology it is more relevant to track the engagement metric rather than that of customer acquisition cost The big advertisers have already realised this and shifted the focus of their mobile platform expenditure accordingly With the 2010-2012 period having been marked by a phase of investment in IT in 2013-2014 the focus was mainly on traffic acquisition Then in 2015 we began to see a shift towards improving

conversion rates and retention a trend that is set to continue in 2016

Improving the customer experience on mobile sites responsive sites and with native applications will therefore be the order of the day for the incoming year and this will involve challenges that need to be overcome not only device-inherent ones (display area size network speed etc) but also challenges of an organisational technical and financial nature With conversion rates on mobile platforms continuing to be inferior to those achieved through desktop technology and with the ROI on mobile platforms not yet clearly proven how can one justify making the new investments required to bring services up to speed Fortunately there are simple solutions in existence that allow you to modify your mobile sites or native applications and implement the kind of customised experience likely to engage your users no matter what the device The most advanced of these solutions also integrates the cross-device aspect by ensuring the coherence of the personalised customer experience across the web mobile platforms and the application

ldquo P E R S O N A L I S E T H E O M N I - C H A N N E L E X P E R I E N C E T O I N C R E A S E E N G A G E M E N T rdquo 09

Marketing Manager at AB Tasty wwwabtastycom

17

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Nicolas Chevalier

More and more online logistics platforms are created proportionnaly to the development of the eCommerce giving e-retailers a large choice in terms of service providers If some of them prefer focusing on their core activity thanks to the outsourcing other chose to manage the logistics internally But as an oline retailer why would you externalize your logistics

The logistics is at the heart itself of the eCommerce if your deliveries donrsquot respect the delivery times and if the management of your stocks is not transparent you are more likely to tread water with your business or even suffer from your customersrsquo complaints By outsourcing the first major asset is the economical aspect There is no need to pay order pickers or premises to stock your items You can therefore focus on your activity and its development

Thus the externalization of your logistics allows you to save time (order preparation administrative management returns management) as well as money (employees preferential tariff no rent for the stock)

More than just an economical criteria quality service is essential in order to satisfy your customer The job of e-logisticians with the expertise and experience is the decisive argument Thanks to the setting up of an optimized process logistics platforms are more efficient than internal teams Thus going through a qualified service provider will make you save money However donrsquot forget that logistics providers have their own characteristics With a transversal vision on the eCommerce world your logistician can appear to be a real partner to inform you about the market trends

Logistics and the management of the last mile will be key areas to succeed in eCommerce in 2016 so take time to choose the service provider who best fits your needs and donrsquot hesitate to ask additional information about the process of the platform and the services offered by the logistician

ldquo W H Y S H O U L D Y O U O U T S O U R C E Y O U R E C O M M E R C E L O G I S T I C S rdquo10

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for SupplyWeb and Co-founder of eCommerce Nation wwwsupplywebfr

18

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Michyl Culos

Even if yoursquore not a Spammer you may actually look like one to our friends the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) think Gmail Hotmail Yahoo Orange

For ISPs there are A LOT of factors that set off their SPAM alerts but in 2016 engagement-based filtering will continue to be a method of choice when detecting SPAM They are monitoring how readers interact with senderrsquos emails (opens clicks new sign-ups unsubscribes SPAM reports etc) to assess how desirable these emails actually are

ISPs are doing this for their end users They want to ensure that they are always having a better experience with their service and part of a better experience is having only the emails they actually want land in their inboxes

So what can you do about it There are many factors to take into consideration but herersquos a few tips to start with to keep up a healthy email engagement rate

- DONrsquoT email your contacts about things they didnrsquot sign-up for For example you invited

them to receive your e-book but then added them to your regular newsletter list

- DONrsquoT continue to send regular emails to inactive contacts 6 months of non-engagement with your emails tends to be the common length of time for a subscriber to be considered inactive Filter these contacts into a separate email list and either refrain from emailing them or create a campaign dedicated to re-engaging them

- DONrsquoT buy an email list Duh These people have not signed up to receive your emails and when they do receive them wonrsquot hesitate to hit unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

- DONrsquoT use spammy keywords in your emails Spammy words are still red-flags for ISPs but more than that they usually lead to deception If you put the word ldquoFreerdquo in your email subject then you better be offering something thatrsquos really for free or your subscribers wonrsquot hesitate to unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

Head over here for a full report on email deliverability by the experts at Mailjet

ldquo O U T O F T H E S P A M B O X E N G A G E M E N T I S A L L T H E R A G E rdquo11

Channel Marketing at Mailjet wwwmailjetcom

19

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Business Development Director at Boxtale the leading online shipping provider wwwboxtalecom

With the growth of eCommerce the shipping market is heating up Online retailers have to adapt themselves to consumersrsquo ever-more demanding expectations Next-day and same-day delivery or even delivery within the hour

New innovative solutions are appearing couriers drone deliveries urban delivery men deliveries in train stations in cars boots by private individuals In 2016 the war to the last kilometer will rage

Keep yourself up to date with new initiatives on the delivery market but donrsquot forget the fundamentals of a successful customer experience

In 2016 internet users are taking power

Make it possible for them to choose the type of delivery they want Diversify your modes of delivery to satisfy your future customers home delivery or in a pick-up station express delivery same-day delivery etc

Donrsquot underestimate the impact of your shipping policy to build your customer loyalty

Favour quality carriers communicate precise information concerning the tracking of your orders and be able to provide visibility to your recipient regarding the different steps of the delivery process

Finally continue to communicate as much as possible about your shipping policy before during and after the purchase by choosing transparency you reassure your customers and maximize your sales

At the time where marketplaces are becoming unmissable growth accelerators for small and medium online retailers itrsquos essential to answer to their delivery needs by shipping within the announced delivery times respecting the mode of delivery chosen by the customer supplying a tracking link as well as managing returns

ldquo A D A P T Y O U R S H I P P I N G P O L I C Y T O Y O U R C U S T O M E R S rsquo E X P E C T A T I O N S T O B U I L D L O Y A L T Y rdquo

12

Laure de Baudreuil

20

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for Watcheezywwwwatcheezycom

2015 put the customer relation at the heart of the companyrsquos strategy and confirmed the importance to homogenize the customer experience 2016 will be marked by the investment in a quality customer relation with 3 main elements the humanization personalization and omni-presence on every channels

First of all 2016 will be the year of the customer relation humanization thanks to the democratization of the customer relation tools (click-to-chat click-to-call) Chat is becoming a real live time conversion tool only offered to internet users who need help from an agent to finalize their purchase

2016 will also be the year of personalization thanks to the exploitation of customers data It is about for online retailers predicting customersrsquo intentions by targeting and personalizing the offers made to consumers The personalization of the customer follow-up will be a development opportunity as consumers buy more on a website that personalizes the customer experience

2016 will also be placed under the sign of the omni-presence and coherence of the customer journey on all the contact points Consumers have to feel this personalization and this attention from the brand each time they are in contact with it 2016 reserves some good surprises and promising evolutions in terms of customer relation Letrsquos progress towards the customer relation new generation

ldquo 2 0 1 6 T R E N D S I N T E R M S O F C U S T O M E R R E L A T I O N rdquo13

Marie Dufresne

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

9

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

The world of eCommerce is ruthless You only get one shot to convert your leads on your websitemdashthey either purchase or they may be gone forever As a result many eCommerce marketers spend the majority of their time improving their websites and landing pages AB testing the call-to-action merchandising with rich personalized content and posting reviews and social proof can all increase the conversion rate However we often forget that the way we drive customers to our site can make as much of a difference as their experience once they arrive

If 2015 was all about personalized marketing then 2016 is the year of targeted eCommerce traffic A great demand generation strategy keeps our marketing time and money focused on helping our most valuable prospective customers Not all customers are ready to buy but donrsquot miss out on the ones who are Donrsquot let leads escape your funnel

One channel where marketers can drive highly targeted traffic is social media We can use social media to figure out when to bring customers to our website based on their specific interests which usually comes in the form of keywords

At Socedo we harness the power of keywords to identify qualified leads based on their buyer personas and behavior Conversational keywords tell us what customers are Tweeting in real-time expressing their current state of mind and bio keywords can help us target based on location job title or interests

All of this datamdashand moremdashcan be used to create unique lead segments so you can send the right message to the right audience at the right time Socedorsquos platform runs analytics on keywords automatically and self-optimizes for the best results but there are also a few simple steps you can take as an eCommerce business owner or marketer

- Do a keyword mapping exercise to see which terms your customers are talking about the most in relation to your brand as well as which topics lead to the highest conversion rate

- Search for customers Tweeting or posting these keywords and engage with them in real time on social media while theyrsquore hot

- Incorporate relevant terms into your social media calendar when you have special offers

ldquo 2 0 1 6 I S T H E Y E A R O F T A R G E T E D E C O M M E R C E T R A F F I C rdquo

04

Aseem Badshah

Founder and CEO of Socedo a web platform that helps businesses discover and monitor their customers using social data wwwsocedocom

10

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

- Use social media data to build segments for other marketing channels such as email pay--per-click ads and website personalization

Learn how to use keywords in your marketing efforts to drive targeted traffic to your site and yoursquoll be miles ahead of the competition

11

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of My Pop Corner an ephemeral commercial spaces rental platform and My Box Corner a turnkey concept-store solution wwwmypopcornercom

The number of online stores has been in a constant increase since the advent of the web For instance we count more than 164 000 online stores in France in the first trimester of 2015 Therefore itrsquos fundamental for an online retailer to differentiate himself if he wants to stand out from the competition

Online the purchasing process is mainly triggered by the price proposed and the delivery times If your competitors excel in this domain itrsquos difficult to compete without reducing your margin and so put in danger your business model But how to stand out and gain notoriety

BACK TO BASICS

Today more than 90 of sales are still done in brick-and-mortars Amazon Groupon Zalando all these pure-players perfectly understood it and they recently took the plunge of the physical store by opening a pop-up store

Thus during the few weeks or months of the operation these brands face their customers listen to them and exchange Bref they come back to the commerce bases

AT THE RIGHT LOCATION AT THE RIGHT TIME

Wether it be for the release of a new collection a special event such as a birthday to offer to the public the possibility to touch or try on your last flagship product every year thousands of brands open a pop-up store in order to be at the right location and at the right time

Yoursquove understood no need to open a store during the entire year if you sell swimming trunks you just need to open a temporary shop or a corner from May to end of August in a beach resort

In 2016 I invite you to follow this trend and to develop your physical presence With some imagination your activity and your products can transform the purchasing process of your customers into a unique purchasing experience Tell them a story your story theyrsquoll love it

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 M E E T Y O U R C U S T O M E R S A N D B E D I F F E R E N T rdquo05

Pierre-Yves Banaszak

12

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content and Product Marketing Manager for Zopim wwwzopimcom and Zendesk wwwzendeskcom

During Thanksgiving 71 of all eCommerce traffic came directly from mobile devices The growth in mobile commerce has become unstoppable with consumers spending more time than ever shopping from their mobile devices

What do people expect

Customers are no longer content with retailers simply offering their products and services online They now expect a seamless shopping experience right from the convenience of their mobile phones This means being able to complete the entire purchase without having to switch devices in order to make payment or ask a question

As a business owner what should you do

The growth in mobile commerce has created greater opportunities for businesses Consumers can now make purchases from wherever they are and you can reach out to them using new technologies To take advantage of the new platforms here are some things to keep in mind

Invest in technologies and tools

42 of mobile shoppers buy on impulse compared to 25 of all other shoppers Customers behave differently on mobile and to understand their behaviour yoursquoll need to invest in analytical tools (such as Google Analytics) Information like purchasing amount time and frequency of mobile shoppers can help you develop strategies to increase sales If your metrics show that mobile customers are most active between 7-9pm consider launching special deals during then to increase sales

Having a mobile responsive website or a native mobile app (ie for Android and iOS) should also be your top priority Both a website and an app can be designed to provide the best experience on mobile If your mobile site is clumsy or slow 29 of smartphone users will immediately switch to another site (usually a competitor) to find what theyrsquore looking for

Always be there to help

Customers donrsquot like having to jump through hoops in order to receive support When they

ldquo 5 7 O F C U S T O M E R S W I L L A B A N D O N T H E I R C A R T I F T H E Y F I N D I T D I F F I C U L T T O S O L V E T H E I R P R O B L E M W H I L E S H O P P I N G O N L I N E rdquo06

Abhiroop Basu

13

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

encounter a problem while shopping on mobile they want to have their questions answered immediately Live chat is one way to provide prompt support on mobile Instead of forcing customers onto another platform with Zopim you can seamlessly offer chat support in your native mobile app

Also by proactively offering help when you notice customers struggling yoursquoll be able to smooth out the kinks in their shopping experience 57 of customers will abandon their cart if they find it difficult to solve their problem while shopping online Thatrsquos why it is important to ensure that obtaining support is simple and fuss-free for consumers even while on mobile

14

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager at iAdvize real time customer engagement platform wwwiadvizecom

In 2016 companies will have to adapt themselves to the necessity to assure a ubiquitous customer experience Being everywhere all the time instantly and assuring a perfect coherence in the speech whatever the interaction point with the brand is website social media community mobile The customer experience has to be global the internet user doesnrsquot have to come to the brand anymore it is for brands to engage the customer in real time at the right moment and where he is

Not only the customer experience has to be global but also conversational Social networks will slowly give way to personalized conversations (one-to-one) The messaging applications have their share in this transformation They have experienced a strong growth during the last five years In 2015 700 million of people used Facebook

each month 900 million used Whatsapp In 2016 the challenge for companies will be to integrate these tools to their multi-channel strategy

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S W I L L H A V E T O A D A P T T H E M S E L V E S T O T H E N E C E S S I T Y T O A S S U R E A U B I Q U I T O U S C U S T O M E R E X P E R I E N C E rdquo

07

Maxime Baumard

15

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales Vice President LeGuide Group a network of comparison sites and shopping guides for online product listings solutions wwwpricesavvycouk wwwchoozencouk

The e-business environment in 2016 is again set to be full of innovations and surprises The focus would be on the ever-changing e-buyersrsquo behaviours The growth of Mobile Shopping will undoubtedly keep on accelerating accompanied by the rise of two shopping behaviours in particular the Showrooming and the Webrooming These practices address two of the main current consumersrsquo needs researching the best prices and checking products before purchasing

Therefore an effective price positioning strategy is more important than ever The relevance of price in the consumer decision making process will continue to rise and it will be the most important factor to acquire new customers As a result being able to quickly track and react to competitorsrsquo price changes will prove to be the biggest challenge for online retailers

In order to help them LeGuide Group has launched a new price intelligence service which offers an efficient competitor analysis tool affordable to e-retailers of all sizes

ldquo T H E F O C U S W O U L D B E O N T H E E V E R - C H A N G I N G E - B U Y E R S rsquo B E H A V I O U R S rdquo

08

Cyril Bouskila

16

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Anthony Brebion

Mobile platforms now form an integral part of the customer experience According to McKinsey 50 of interactions between a brand and its customers now occur as part of a multi-channel path It is therefore essential to be present on mobile devices But this presence which is concerned as much with content as with form (online store consisting just of a product catalogue versus eCommerce website responsive website versus native application etc) must be adapted to the consumerrsquos needs because mobile devices have radically changed our expectations of brands We expect to obtain relevant information whenever we require it and to have a customised online experience that is both context sensitive and updated in real-time

In this respect and to an even greater extent than with desktop technology it is more relevant to track the engagement metric rather than that of customer acquisition cost The big advertisers have already realised this and shifted the focus of their mobile platform expenditure accordingly With the 2010-2012 period having been marked by a phase of investment in IT in 2013-2014 the focus was mainly on traffic acquisition Then in 2015 we began to see a shift towards improving

conversion rates and retention a trend that is set to continue in 2016

Improving the customer experience on mobile sites responsive sites and with native applications will therefore be the order of the day for the incoming year and this will involve challenges that need to be overcome not only device-inherent ones (display area size network speed etc) but also challenges of an organisational technical and financial nature With conversion rates on mobile platforms continuing to be inferior to those achieved through desktop technology and with the ROI on mobile platforms not yet clearly proven how can one justify making the new investments required to bring services up to speed Fortunately there are simple solutions in existence that allow you to modify your mobile sites or native applications and implement the kind of customised experience likely to engage your users no matter what the device The most advanced of these solutions also integrates the cross-device aspect by ensuring the coherence of the personalised customer experience across the web mobile platforms and the application

ldquo P E R S O N A L I S E T H E O M N I - C H A N N E L E X P E R I E N C E T O I N C R E A S E E N G A G E M E N T rdquo 09

Marketing Manager at AB Tasty wwwabtastycom

17

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Nicolas Chevalier

More and more online logistics platforms are created proportionnaly to the development of the eCommerce giving e-retailers a large choice in terms of service providers If some of them prefer focusing on their core activity thanks to the outsourcing other chose to manage the logistics internally But as an oline retailer why would you externalize your logistics

The logistics is at the heart itself of the eCommerce if your deliveries donrsquot respect the delivery times and if the management of your stocks is not transparent you are more likely to tread water with your business or even suffer from your customersrsquo complaints By outsourcing the first major asset is the economical aspect There is no need to pay order pickers or premises to stock your items You can therefore focus on your activity and its development

Thus the externalization of your logistics allows you to save time (order preparation administrative management returns management) as well as money (employees preferential tariff no rent for the stock)

More than just an economical criteria quality service is essential in order to satisfy your customer The job of e-logisticians with the expertise and experience is the decisive argument Thanks to the setting up of an optimized process logistics platforms are more efficient than internal teams Thus going through a qualified service provider will make you save money However donrsquot forget that logistics providers have their own characteristics With a transversal vision on the eCommerce world your logistician can appear to be a real partner to inform you about the market trends

Logistics and the management of the last mile will be key areas to succeed in eCommerce in 2016 so take time to choose the service provider who best fits your needs and donrsquot hesitate to ask additional information about the process of the platform and the services offered by the logistician

ldquo W H Y S H O U L D Y O U O U T S O U R C E Y O U R E C O M M E R C E L O G I S T I C S rdquo10

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for SupplyWeb and Co-founder of eCommerce Nation wwwsupplywebfr

18

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Michyl Culos

Even if yoursquore not a Spammer you may actually look like one to our friends the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) think Gmail Hotmail Yahoo Orange

For ISPs there are A LOT of factors that set off their SPAM alerts but in 2016 engagement-based filtering will continue to be a method of choice when detecting SPAM They are monitoring how readers interact with senderrsquos emails (opens clicks new sign-ups unsubscribes SPAM reports etc) to assess how desirable these emails actually are

ISPs are doing this for their end users They want to ensure that they are always having a better experience with their service and part of a better experience is having only the emails they actually want land in their inboxes

So what can you do about it There are many factors to take into consideration but herersquos a few tips to start with to keep up a healthy email engagement rate

- DONrsquoT email your contacts about things they didnrsquot sign-up for For example you invited

them to receive your e-book but then added them to your regular newsletter list

- DONrsquoT continue to send regular emails to inactive contacts 6 months of non-engagement with your emails tends to be the common length of time for a subscriber to be considered inactive Filter these contacts into a separate email list and either refrain from emailing them or create a campaign dedicated to re-engaging them

- DONrsquoT buy an email list Duh These people have not signed up to receive your emails and when they do receive them wonrsquot hesitate to hit unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

- DONrsquoT use spammy keywords in your emails Spammy words are still red-flags for ISPs but more than that they usually lead to deception If you put the word ldquoFreerdquo in your email subject then you better be offering something thatrsquos really for free or your subscribers wonrsquot hesitate to unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

Head over here for a full report on email deliverability by the experts at Mailjet

ldquo O U T O F T H E S P A M B O X E N G A G E M E N T I S A L L T H E R A G E rdquo11

Channel Marketing at Mailjet wwwmailjetcom

19

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Business Development Director at Boxtale the leading online shipping provider wwwboxtalecom

With the growth of eCommerce the shipping market is heating up Online retailers have to adapt themselves to consumersrsquo ever-more demanding expectations Next-day and same-day delivery or even delivery within the hour

New innovative solutions are appearing couriers drone deliveries urban delivery men deliveries in train stations in cars boots by private individuals In 2016 the war to the last kilometer will rage

Keep yourself up to date with new initiatives on the delivery market but donrsquot forget the fundamentals of a successful customer experience

In 2016 internet users are taking power

Make it possible for them to choose the type of delivery they want Diversify your modes of delivery to satisfy your future customers home delivery or in a pick-up station express delivery same-day delivery etc

Donrsquot underestimate the impact of your shipping policy to build your customer loyalty

Favour quality carriers communicate precise information concerning the tracking of your orders and be able to provide visibility to your recipient regarding the different steps of the delivery process

Finally continue to communicate as much as possible about your shipping policy before during and after the purchase by choosing transparency you reassure your customers and maximize your sales

At the time where marketplaces are becoming unmissable growth accelerators for small and medium online retailers itrsquos essential to answer to their delivery needs by shipping within the announced delivery times respecting the mode of delivery chosen by the customer supplying a tracking link as well as managing returns

ldquo A D A P T Y O U R S H I P P I N G P O L I C Y T O Y O U R C U S T O M E R S rsquo E X P E C T A T I O N S T O B U I L D L O Y A L T Y rdquo

12

Laure de Baudreuil

20

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for Watcheezywwwwatcheezycom

2015 put the customer relation at the heart of the companyrsquos strategy and confirmed the importance to homogenize the customer experience 2016 will be marked by the investment in a quality customer relation with 3 main elements the humanization personalization and omni-presence on every channels

First of all 2016 will be the year of the customer relation humanization thanks to the democratization of the customer relation tools (click-to-chat click-to-call) Chat is becoming a real live time conversion tool only offered to internet users who need help from an agent to finalize their purchase

2016 will also be the year of personalization thanks to the exploitation of customers data It is about for online retailers predicting customersrsquo intentions by targeting and personalizing the offers made to consumers The personalization of the customer follow-up will be a development opportunity as consumers buy more on a website that personalizes the customer experience

2016 will also be placed under the sign of the omni-presence and coherence of the customer journey on all the contact points Consumers have to feel this personalization and this attention from the brand each time they are in contact with it 2016 reserves some good surprises and promising evolutions in terms of customer relation Letrsquos progress towards the customer relation new generation

ldquo 2 0 1 6 T R E N D S I N T E R M S O F C U S T O M E R R E L A T I O N rdquo13

Marie Dufresne

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

10

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

- Use social media data to build segments for other marketing channels such as email pay--per-click ads and website personalization

Learn how to use keywords in your marketing efforts to drive targeted traffic to your site and yoursquoll be miles ahead of the competition

11

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of My Pop Corner an ephemeral commercial spaces rental platform and My Box Corner a turnkey concept-store solution wwwmypopcornercom

The number of online stores has been in a constant increase since the advent of the web For instance we count more than 164 000 online stores in France in the first trimester of 2015 Therefore itrsquos fundamental for an online retailer to differentiate himself if he wants to stand out from the competition

Online the purchasing process is mainly triggered by the price proposed and the delivery times If your competitors excel in this domain itrsquos difficult to compete without reducing your margin and so put in danger your business model But how to stand out and gain notoriety

BACK TO BASICS

Today more than 90 of sales are still done in brick-and-mortars Amazon Groupon Zalando all these pure-players perfectly understood it and they recently took the plunge of the physical store by opening a pop-up store

Thus during the few weeks or months of the operation these brands face their customers listen to them and exchange Bref they come back to the commerce bases

AT THE RIGHT LOCATION AT THE RIGHT TIME

Wether it be for the release of a new collection a special event such as a birthday to offer to the public the possibility to touch or try on your last flagship product every year thousands of brands open a pop-up store in order to be at the right location and at the right time

Yoursquove understood no need to open a store during the entire year if you sell swimming trunks you just need to open a temporary shop or a corner from May to end of August in a beach resort

In 2016 I invite you to follow this trend and to develop your physical presence With some imagination your activity and your products can transform the purchasing process of your customers into a unique purchasing experience Tell them a story your story theyrsquoll love it

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 M E E T Y O U R C U S T O M E R S A N D B E D I F F E R E N T rdquo05

Pierre-Yves Banaszak

12

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content and Product Marketing Manager for Zopim wwwzopimcom and Zendesk wwwzendeskcom

During Thanksgiving 71 of all eCommerce traffic came directly from mobile devices The growth in mobile commerce has become unstoppable with consumers spending more time than ever shopping from their mobile devices

What do people expect

Customers are no longer content with retailers simply offering their products and services online They now expect a seamless shopping experience right from the convenience of their mobile phones This means being able to complete the entire purchase without having to switch devices in order to make payment or ask a question

As a business owner what should you do

The growth in mobile commerce has created greater opportunities for businesses Consumers can now make purchases from wherever they are and you can reach out to them using new technologies To take advantage of the new platforms here are some things to keep in mind

Invest in technologies and tools

42 of mobile shoppers buy on impulse compared to 25 of all other shoppers Customers behave differently on mobile and to understand their behaviour yoursquoll need to invest in analytical tools (such as Google Analytics) Information like purchasing amount time and frequency of mobile shoppers can help you develop strategies to increase sales If your metrics show that mobile customers are most active between 7-9pm consider launching special deals during then to increase sales

Having a mobile responsive website or a native mobile app (ie for Android and iOS) should also be your top priority Both a website and an app can be designed to provide the best experience on mobile If your mobile site is clumsy or slow 29 of smartphone users will immediately switch to another site (usually a competitor) to find what theyrsquore looking for

Always be there to help

Customers donrsquot like having to jump through hoops in order to receive support When they

ldquo 5 7 O F C U S T O M E R S W I L L A B A N D O N T H E I R C A R T I F T H E Y F I N D I T D I F F I C U L T T O S O L V E T H E I R P R O B L E M W H I L E S H O P P I N G O N L I N E rdquo06

Abhiroop Basu

13

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

encounter a problem while shopping on mobile they want to have their questions answered immediately Live chat is one way to provide prompt support on mobile Instead of forcing customers onto another platform with Zopim you can seamlessly offer chat support in your native mobile app

Also by proactively offering help when you notice customers struggling yoursquoll be able to smooth out the kinks in their shopping experience 57 of customers will abandon their cart if they find it difficult to solve their problem while shopping online Thatrsquos why it is important to ensure that obtaining support is simple and fuss-free for consumers even while on mobile

14

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager at iAdvize real time customer engagement platform wwwiadvizecom

In 2016 companies will have to adapt themselves to the necessity to assure a ubiquitous customer experience Being everywhere all the time instantly and assuring a perfect coherence in the speech whatever the interaction point with the brand is website social media community mobile The customer experience has to be global the internet user doesnrsquot have to come to the brand anymore it is for brands to engage the customer in real time at the right moment and where he is

Not only the customer experience has to be global but also conversational Social networks will slowly give way to personalized conversations (one-to-one) The messaging applications have their share in this transformation They have experienced a strong growth during the last five years In 2015 700 million of people used Facebook

each month 900 million used Whatsapp In 2016 the challenge for companies will be to integrate these tools to their multi-channel strategy

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S W I L L H A V E T O A D A P T T H E M S E L V E S T O T H E N E C E S S I T Y T O A S S U R E A U B I Q U I T O U S C U S T O M E R E X P E R I E N C E rdquo

07

Maxime Baumard

15

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales Vice President LeGuide Group a network of comparison sites and shopping guides for online product listings solutions wwwpricesavvycouk wwwchoozencouk

The e-business environment in 2016 is again set to be full of innovations and surprises The focus would be on the ever-changing e-buyersrsquo behaviours The growth of Mobile Shopping will undoubtedly keep on accelerating accompanied by the rise of two shopping behaviours in particular the Showrooming and the Webrooming These practices address two of the main current consumersrsquo needs researching the best prices and checking products before purchasing

Therefore an effective price positioning strategy is more important than ever The relevance of price in the consumer decision making process will continue to rise and it will be the most important factor to acquire new customers As a result being able to quickly track and react to competitorsrsquo price changes will prove to be the biggest challenge for online retailers

In order to help them LeGuide Group has launched a new price intelligence service which offers an efficient competitor analysis tool affordable to e-retailers of all sizes

ldquo T H E F O C U S W O U L D B E O N T H E E V E R - C H A N G I N G E - B U Y E R S rsquo B E H A V I O U R S rdquo

08

Cyril Bouskila

16

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Anthony Brebion

Mobile platforms now form an integral part of the customer experience According to McKinsey 50 of interactions between a brand and its customers now occur as part of a multi-channel path It is therefore essential to be present on mobile devices But this presence which is concerned as much with content as with form (online store consisting just of a product catalogue versus eCommerce website responsive website versus native application etc) must be adapted to the consumerrsquos needs because mobile devices have radically changed our expectations of brands We expect to obtain relevant information whenever we require it and to have a customised online experience that is both context sensitive and updated in real-time

In this respect and to an even greater extent than with desktop technology it is more relevant to track the engagement metric rather than that of customer acquisition cost The big advertisers have already realised this and shifted the focus of their mobile platform expenditure accordingly With the 2010-2012 period having been marked by a phase of investment in IT in 2013-2014 the focus was mainly on traffic acquisition Then in 2015 we began to see a shift towards improving

conversion rates and retention a trend that is set to continue in 2016

Improving the customer experience on mobile sites responsive sites and with native applications will therefore be the order of the day for the incoming year and this will involve challenges that need to be overcome not only device-inherent ones (display area size network speed etc) but also challenges of an organisational technical and financial nature With conversion rates on mobile platforms continuing to be inferior to those achieved through desktop technology and with the ROI on mobile platforms not yet clearly proven how can one justify making the new investments required to bring services up to speed Fortunately there are simple solutions in existence that allow you to modify your mobile sites or native applications and implement the kind of customised experience likely to engage your users no matter what the device The most advanced of these solutions also integrates the cross-device aspect by ensuring the coherence of the personalised customer experience across the web mobile platforms and the application

ldquo P E R S O N A L I S E T H E O M N I - C H A N N E L E X P E R I E N C E T O I N C R E A S E E N G A G E M E N T rdquo 09

Marketing Manager at AB Tasty wwwabtastycom

17

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Nicolas Chevalier

More and more online logistics platforms are created proportionnaly to the development of the eCommerce giving e-retailers a large choice in terms of service providers If some of them prefer focusing on their core activity thanks to the outsourcing other chose to manage the logistics internally But as an oline retailer why would you externalize your logistics

The logistics is at the heart itself of the eCommerce if your deliveries donrsquot respect the delivery times and if the management of your stocks is not transparent you are more likely to tread water with your business or even suffer from your customersrsquo complaints By outsourcing the first major asset is the economical aspect There is no need to pay order pickers or premises to stock your items You can therefore focus on your activity and its development

Thus the externalization of your logistics allows you to save time (order preparation administrative management returns management) as well as money (employees preferential tariff no rent for the stock)

More than just an economical criteria quality service is essential in order to satisfy your customer The job of e-logisticians with the expertise and experience is the decisive argument Thanks to the setting up of an optimized process logistics platforms are more efficient than internal teams Thus going through a qualified service provider will make you save money However donrsquot forget that logistics providers have their own characteristics With a transversal vision on the eCommerce world your logistician can appear to be a real partner to inform you about the market trends

Logistics and the management of the last mile will be key areas to succeed in eCommerce in 2016 so take time to choose the service provider who best fits your needs and donrsquot hesitate to ask additional information about the process of the platform and the services offered by the logistician

ldquo W H Y S H O U L D Y O U O U T S O U R C E Y O U R E C O M M E R C E L O G I S T I C S rdquo10

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for SupplyWeb and Co-founder of eCommerce Nation wwwsupplywebfr

18

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Michyl Culos

Even if yoursquore not a Spammer you may actually look like one to our friends the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) think Gmail Hotmail Yahoo Orange

For ISPs there are A LOT of factors that set off their SPAM alerts but in 2016 engagement-based filtering will continue to be a method of choice when detecting SPAM They are monitoring how readers interact with senderrsquos emails (opens clicks new sign-ups unsubscribes SPAM reports etc) to assess how desirable these emails actually are

ISPs are doing this for their end users They want to ensure that they are always having a better experience with their service and part of a better experience is having only the emails they actually want land in their inboxes

So what can you do about it There are many factors to take into consideration but herersquos a few tips to start with to keep up a healthy email engagement rate

- DONrsquoT email your contacts about things they didnrsquot sign-up for For example you invited

them to receive your e-book but then added them to your regular newsletter list

- DONrsquoT continue to send regular emails to inactive contacts 6 months of non-engagement with your emails tends to be the common length of time for a subscriber to be considered inactive Filter these contacts into a separate email list and either refrain from emailing them or create a campaign dedicated to re-engaging them

- DONrsquoT buy an email list Duh These people have not signed up to receive your emails and when they do receive them wonrsquot hesitate to hit unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

- DONrsquoT use spammy keywords in your emails Spammy words are still red-flags for ISPs but more than that they usually lead to deception If you put the word ldquoFreerdquo in your email subject then you better be offering something thatrsquos really for free or your subscribers wonrsquot hesitate to unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

Head over here for a full report on email deliverability by the experts at Mailjet

ldquo O U T O F T H E S P A M B O X E N G A G E M E N T I S A L L T H E R A G E rdquo11

Channel Marketing at Mailjet wwwmailjetcom

19

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Business Development Director at Boxtale the leading online shipping provider wwwboxtalecom

With the growth of eCommerce the shipping market is heating up Online retailers have to adapt themselves to consumersrsquo ever-more demanding expectations Next-day and same-day delivery or even delivery within the hour

New innovative solutions are appearing couriers drone deliveries urban delivery men deliveries in train stations in cars boots by private individuals In 2016 the war to the last kilometer will rage

Keep yourself up to date with new initiatives on the delivery market but donrsquot forget the fundamentals of a successful customer experience

In 2016 internet users are taking power

Make it possible for them to choose the type of delivery they want Diversify your modes of delivery to satisfy your future customers home delivery or in a pick-up station express delivery same-day delivery etc

Donrsquot underestimate the impact of your shipping policy to build your customer loyalty

Favour quality carriers communicate precise information concerning the tracking of your orders and be able to provide visibility to your recipient regarding the different steps of the delivery process

Finally continue to communicate as much as possible about your shipping policy before during and after the purchase by choosing transparency you reassure your customers and maximize your sales

At the time where marketplaces are becoming unmissable growth accelerators for small and medium online retailers itrsquos essential to answer to their delivery needs by shipping within the announced delivery times respecting the mode of delivery chosen by the customer supplying a tracking link as well as managing returns

ldquo A D A P T Y O U R S H I P P I N G P O L I C Y T O Y O U R C U S T O M E R S rsquo E X P E C T A T I O N S T O B U I L D L O Y A L T Y rdquo

12

Laure de Baudreuil

20

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for Watcheezywwwwatcheezycom

2015 put the customer relation at the heart of the companyrsquos strategy and confirmed the importance to homogenize the customer experience 2016 will be marked by the investment in a quality customer relation with 3 main elements the humanization personalization and omni-presence on every channels

First of all 2016 will be the year of the customer relation humanization thanks to the democratization of the customer relation tools (click-to-chat click-to-call) Chat is becoming a real live time conversion tool only offered to internet users who need help from an agent to finalize their purchase

2016 will also be the year of personalization thanks to the exploitation of customers data It is about for online retailers predicting customersrsquo intentions by targeting and personalizing the offers made to consumers The personalization of the customer follow-up will be a development opportunity as consumers buy more on a website that personalizes the customer experience

2016 will also be placed under the sign of the omni-presence and coherence of the customer journey on all the contact points Consumers have to feel this personalization and this attention from the brand each time they are in contact with it 2016 reserves some good surprises and promising evolutions in terms of customer relation Letrsquos progress towards the customer relation new generation

ldquo 2 0 1 6 T R E N D S I N T E R M S O F C U S T O M E R R E L A T I O N rdquo13

Marie Dufresne

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

11

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of My Pop Corner an ephemeral commercial spaces rental platform and My Box Corner a turnkey concept-store solution wwwmypopcornercom

The number of online stores has been in a constant increase since the advent of the web For instance we count more than 164 000 online stores in France in the first trimester of 2015 Therefore itrsquos fundamental for an online retailer to differentiate himself if he wants to stand out from the competition

Online the purchasing process is mainly triggered by the price proposed and the delivery times If your competitors excel in this domain itrsquos difficult to compete without reducing your margin and so put in danger your business model But how to stand out and gain notoriety

BACK TO BASICS

Today more than 90 of sales are still done in brick-and-mortars Amazon Groupon Zalando all these pure-players perfectly understood it and they recently took the plunge of the physical store by opening a pop-up store

Thus during the few weeks or months of the operation these brands face their customers listen to them and exchange Bref they come back to the commerce bases

AT THE RIGHT LOCATION AT THE RIGHT TIME

Wether it be for the release of a new collection a special event such as a birthday to offer to the public the possibility to touch or try on your last flagship product every year thousands of brands open a pop-up store in order to be at the right location and at the right time

Yoursquove understood no need to open a store during the entire year if you sell swimming trunks you just need to open a temporary shop or a corner from May to end of August in a beach resort

In 2016 I invite you to follow this trend and to develop your physical presence With some imagination your activity and your products can transform the purchasing process of your customers into a unique purchasing experience Tell them a story your story theyrsquoll love it

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 M E E T Y O U R C U S T O M E R S A N D B E D I F F E R E N T rdquo05

Pierre-Yves Banaszak

12

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content and Product Marketing Manager for Zopim wwwzopimcom and Zendesk wwwzendeskcom

During Thanksgiving 71 of all eCommerce traffic came directly from mobile devices The growth in mobile commerce has become unstoppable with consumers spending more time than ever shopping from their mobile devices

What do people expect

Customers are no longer content with retailers simply offering their products and services online They now expect a seamless shopping experience right from the convenience of their mobile phones This means being able to complete the entire purchase without having to switch devices in order to make payment or ask a question

As a business owner what should you do

The growth in mobile commerce has created greater opportunities for businesses Consumers can now make purchases from wherever they are and you can reach out to them using new technologies To take advantage of the new platforms here are some things to keep in mind

Invest in technologies and tools

42 of mobile shoppers buy on impulse compared to 25 of all other shoppers Customers behave differently on mobile and to understand their behaviour yoursquoll need to invest in analytical tools (such as Google Analytics) Information like purchasing amount time and frequency of mobile shoppers can help you develop strategies to increase sales If your metrics show that mobile customers are most active between 7-9pm consider launching special deals during then to increase sales

Having a mobile responsive website or a native mobile app (ie for Android and iOS) should also be your top priority Both a website and an app can be designed to provide the best experience on mobile If your mobile site is clumsy or slow 29 of smartphone users will immediately switch to another site (usually a competitor) to find what theyrsquore looking for

Always be there to help

Customers donrsquot like having to jump through hoops in order to receive support When they

ldquo 5 7 O F C U S T O M E R S W I L L A B A N D O N T H E I R C A R T I F T H E Y F I N D I T D I F F I C U L T T O S O L V E T H E I R P R O B L E M W H I L E S H O P P I N G O N L I N E rdquo06

Abhiroop Basu

13

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

encounter a problem while shopping on mobile they want to have their questions answered immediately Live chat is one way to provide prompt support on mobile Instead of forcing customers onto another platform with Zopim you can seamlessly offer chat support in your native mobile app

Also by proactively offering help when you notice customers struggling yoursquoll be able to smooth out the kinks in their shopping experience 57 of customers will abandon their cart if they find it difficult to solve their problem while shopping online Thatrsquos why it is important to ensure that obtaining support is simple and fuss-free for consumers even while on mobile

14

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager at iAdvize real time customer engagement platform wwwiadvizecom

In 2016 companies will have to adapt themselves to the necessity to assure a ubiquitous customer experience Being everywhere all the time instantly and assuring a perfect coherence in the speech whatever the interaction point with the brand is website social media community mobile The customer experience has to be global the internet user doesnrsquot have to come to the brand anymore it is for brands to engage the customer in real time at the right moment and where he is

Not only the customer experience has to be global but also conversational Social networks will slowly give way to personalized conversations (one-to-one) The messaging applications have their share in this transformation They have experienced a strong growth during the last five years In 2015 700 million of people used Facebook

each month 900 million used Whatsapp In 2016 the challenge for companies will be to integrate these tools to their multi-channel strategy

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S W I L L H A V E T O A D A P T T H E M S E L V E S T O T H E N E C E S S I T Y T O A S S U R E A U B I Q U I T O U S C U S T O M E R E X P E R I E N C E rdquo

07

Maxime Baumard

15

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales Vice President LeGuide Group a network of comparison sites and shopping guides for online product listings solutions wwwpricesavvycouk wwwchoozencouk

The e-business environment in 2016 is again set to be full of innovations and surprises The focus would be on the ever-changing e-buyersrsquo behaviours The growth of Mobile Shopping will undoubtedly keep on accelerating accompanied by the rise of two shopping behaviours in particular the Showrooming and the Webrooming These practices address two of the main current consumersrsquo needs researching the best prices and checking products before purchasing

Therefore an effective price positioning strategy is more important than ever The relevance of price in the consumer decision making process will continue to rise and it will be the most important factor to acquire new customers As a result being able to quickly track and react to competitorsrsquo price changes will prove to be the biggest challenge for online retailers

In order to help them LeGuide Group has launched a new price intelligence service which offers an efficient competitor analysis tool affordable to e-retailers of all sizes

ldquo T H E F O C U S W O U L D B E O N T H E E V E R - C H A N G I N G E - B U Y E R S rsquo B E H A V I O U R S rdquo

08

Cyril Bouskila

16

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Anthony Brebion

Mobile platforms now form an integral part of the customer experience According to McKinsey 50 of interactions between a brand and its customers now occur as part of a multi-channel path It is therefore essential to be present on mobile devices But this presence which is concerned as much with content as with form (online store consisting just of a product catalogue versus eCommerce website responsive website versus native application etc) must be adapted to the consumerrsquos needs because mobile devices have radically changed our expectations of brands We expect to obtain relevant information whenever we require it and to have a customised online experience that is both context sensitive and updated in real-time

In this respect and to an even greater extent than with desktop technology it is more relevant to track the engagement metric rather than that of customer acquisition cost The big advertisers have already realised this and shifted the focus of their mobile platform expenditure accordingly With the 2010-2012 period having been marked by a phase of investment in IT in 2013-2014 the focus was mainly on traffic acquisition Then in 2015 we began to see a shift towards improving

conversion rates and retention a trend that is set to continue in 2016

Improving the customer experience on mobile sites responsive sites and with native applications will therefore be the order of the day for the incoming year and this will involve challenges that need to be overcome not only device-inherent ones (display area size network speed etc) but also challenges of an organisational technical and financial nature With conversion rates on mobile platforms continuing to be inferior to those achieved through desktop technology and with the ROI on mobile platforms not yet clearly proven how can one justify making the new investments required to bring services up to speed Fortunately there are simple solutions in existence that allow you to modify your mobile sites or native applications and implement the kind of customised experience likely to engage your users no matter what the device The most advanced of these solutions also integrates the cross-device aspect by ensuring the coherence of the personalised customer experience across the web mobile platforms and the application

ldquo P E R S O N A L I S E T H E O M N I - C H A N N E L E X P E R I E N C E T O I N C R E A S E E N G A G E M E N T rdquo 09

Marketing Manager at AB Tasty wwwabtastycom

17

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Nicolas Chevalier

More and more online logistics platforms are created proportionnaly to the development of the eCommerce giving e-retailers a large choice in terms of service providers If some of them prefer focusing on their core activity thanks to the outsourcing other chose to manage the logistics internally But as an oline retailer why would you externalize your logistics

The logistics is at the heart itself of the eCommerce if your deliveries donrsquot respect the delivery times and if the management of your stocks is not transparent you are more likely to tread water with your business or even suffer from your customersrsquo complaints By outsourcing the first major asset is the economical aspect There is no need to pay order pickers or premises to stock your items You can therefore focus on your activity and its development

Thus the externalization of your logistics allows you to save time (order preparation administrative management returns management) as well as money (employees preferential tariff no rent for the stock)

More than just an economical criteria quality service is essential in order to satisfy your customer The job of e-logisticians with the expertise and experience is the decisive argument Thanks to the setting up of an optimized process logistics platforms are more efficient than internal teams Thus going through a qualified service provider will make you save money However donrsquot forget that logistics providers have their own characteristics With a transversal vision on the eCommerce world your logistician can appear to be a real partner to inform you about the market trends

Logistics and the management of the last mile will be key areas to succeed in eCommerce in 2016 so take time to choose the service provider who best fits your needs and donrsquot hesitate to ask additional information about the process of the platform and the services offered by the logistician

ldquo W H Y S H O U L D Y O U O U T S O U R C E Y O U R E C O M M E R C E L O G I S T I C S rdquo10

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for SupplyWeb and Co-founder of eCommerce Nation wwwsupplywebfr

18

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Michyl Culos

Even if yoursquore not a Spammer you may actually look like one to our friends the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) think Gmail Hotmail Yahoo Orange

For ISPs there are A LOT of factors that set off their SPAM alerts but in 2016 engagement-based filtering will continue to be a method of choice when detecting SPAM They are monitoring how readers interact with senderrsquos emails (opens clicks new sign-ups unsubscribes SPAM reports etc) to assess how desirable these emails actually are

ISPs are doing this for their end users They want to ensure that they are always having a better experience with their service and part of a better experience is having only the emails they actually want land in their inboxes

So what can you do about it There are many factors to take into consideration but herersquos a few tips to start with to keep up a healthy email engagement rate

- DONrsquoT email your contacts about things they didnrsquot sign-up for For example you invited

them to receive your e-book but then added them to your regular newsletter list

- DONrsquoT continue to send regular emails to inactive contacts 6 months of non-engagement with your emails tends to be the common length of time for a subscriber to be considered inactive Filter these contacts into a separate email list and either refrain from emailing them or create a campaign dedicated to re-engaging them

- DONrsquoT buy an email list Duh These people have not signed up to receive your emails and when they do receive them wonrsquot hesitate to hit unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

- DONrsquoT use spammy keywords in your emails Spammy words are still red-flags for ISPs but more than that they usually lead to deception If you put the word ldquoFreerdquo in your email subject then you better be offering something thatrsquos really for free or your subscribers wonrsquot hesitate to unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

Head over here for a full report on email deliverability by the experts at Mailjet

ldquo O U T O F T H E S P A M B O X E N G A G E M E N T I S A L L T H E R A G E rdquo11

Channel Marketing at Mailjet wwwmailjetcom

19

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Business Development Director at Boxtale the leading online shipping provider wwwboxtalecom

With the growth of eCommerce the shipping market is heating up Online retailers have to adapt themselves to consumersrsquo ever-more demanding expectations Next-day and same-day delivery or even delivery within the hour

New innovative solutions are appearing couriers drone deliveries urban delivery men deliveries in train stations in cars boots by private individuals In 2016 the war to the last kilometer will rage

Keep yourself up to date with new initiatives on the delivery market but donrsquot forget the fundamentals of a successful customer experience

In 2016 internet users are taking power

Make it possible for them to choose the type of delivery they want Diversify your modes of delivery to satisfy your future customers home delivery or in a pick-up station express delivery same-day delivery etc

Donrsquot underestimate the impact of your shipping policy to build your customer loyalty

Favour quality carriers communicate precise information concerning the tracking of your orders and be able to provide visibility to your recipient regarding the different steps of the delivery process

Finally continue to communicate as much as possible about your shipping policy before during and after the purchase by choosing transparency you reassure your customers and maximize your sales

At the time where marketplaces are becoming unmissable growth accelerators for small and medium online retailers itrsquos essential to answer to their delivery needs by shipping within the announced delivery times respecting the mode of delivery chosen by the customer supplying a tracking link as well as managing returns

ldquo A D A P T Y O U R S H I P P I N G P O L I C Y T O Y O U R C U S T O M E R S rsquo E X P E C T A T I O N S T O B U I L D L O Y A L T Y rdquo

12

Laure de Baudreuil

20

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for Watcheezywwwwatcheezycom

2015 put the customer relation at the heart of the companyrsquos strategy and confirmed the importance to homogenize the customer experience 2016 will be marked by the investment in a quality customer relation with 3 main elements the humanization personalization and omni-presence on every channels

First of all 2016 will be the year of the customer relation humanization thanks to the democratization of the customer relation tools (click-to-chat click-to-call) Chat is becoming a real live time conversion tool only offered to internet users who need help from an agent to finalize their purchase

2016 will also be the year of personalization thanks to the exploitation of customers data It is about for online retailers predicting customersrsquo intentions by targeting and personalizing the offers made to consumers The personalization of the customer follow-up will be a development opportunity as consumers buy more on a website that personalizes the customer experience

2016 will also be placed under the sign of the omni-presence and coherence of the customer journey on all the contact points Consumers have to feel this personalization and this attention from the brand each time they are in contact with it 2016 reserves some good surprises and promising evolutions in terms of customer relation Letrsquos progress towards the customer relation new generation

ldquo 2 0 1 6 T R E N D S I N T E R M S O F C U S T O M E R R E L A T I O N rdquo13

Marie Dufresne

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

12

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content and Product Marketing Manager for Zopim wwwzopimcom and Zendesk wwwzendeskcom

During Thanksgiving 71 of all eCommerce traffic came directly from mobile devices The growth in mobile commerce has become unstoppable with consumers spending more time than ever shopping from their mobile devices

What do people expect

Customers are no longer content with retailers simply offering their products and services online They now expect a seamless shopping experience right from the convenience of their mobile phones This means being able to complete the entire purchase without having to switch devices in order to make payment or ask a question

As a business owner what should you do

The growth in mobile commerce has created greater opportunities for businesses Consumers can now make purchases from wherever they are and you can reach out to them using new technologies To take advantage of the new platforms here are some things to keep in mind

Invest in technologies and tools

42 of mobile shoppers buy on impulse compared to 25 of all other shoppers Customers behave differently on mobile and to understand their behaviour yoursquoll need to invest in analytical tools (such as Google Analytics) Information like purchasing amount time and frequency of mobile shoppers can help you develop strategies to increase sales If your metrics show that mobile customers are most active between 7-9pm consider launching special deals during then to increase sales

Having a mobile responsive website or a native mobile app (ie for Android and iOS) should also be your top priority Both a website and an app can be designed to provide the best experience on mobile If your mobile site is clumsy or slow 29 of smartphone users will immediately switch to another site (usually a competitor) to find what theyrsquore looking for

Always be there to help

Customers donrsquot like having to jump through hoops in order to receive support When they

ldquo 5 7 O F C U S T O M E R S W I L L A B A N D O N T H E I R C A R T I F T H E Y F I N D I T D I F F I C U L T T O S O L V E T H E I R P R O B L E M W H I L E S H O P P I N G O N L I N E rdquo06

Abhiroop Basu

13

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

encounter a problem while shopping on mobile they want to have their questions answered immediately Live chat is one way to provide prompt support on mobile Instead of forcing customers onto another platform with Zopim you can seamlessly offer chat support in your native mobile app

Also by proactively offering help when you notice customers struggling yoursquoll be able to smooth out the kinks in their shopping experience 57 of customers will abandon their cart if they find it difficult to solve their problem while shopping online Thatrsquos why it is important to ensure that obtaining support is simple and fuss-free for consumers even while on mobile

14

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager at iAdvize real time customer engagement platform wwwiadvizecom

In 2016 companies will have to adapt themselves to the necessity to assure a ubiquitous customer experience Being everywhere all the time instantly and assuring a perfect coherence in the speech whatever the interaction point with the brand is website social media community mobile The customer experience has to be global the internet user doesnrsquot have to come to the brand anymore it is for brands to engage the customer in real time at the right moment and where he is

Not only the customer experience has to be global but also conversational Social networks will slowly give way to personalized conversations (one-to-one) The messaging applications have their share in this transformation They have experienced a strong growth during the last five years In 2015 700 million of people used Facebook

each month 900 million used Whatsapp In 2016 the challenge for companies will be to integrate these tools to their multi-channel strategy

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S W I L L H A V E T O A D A P T T H E M S E L V E S T O T H E N E C E S S I T Y T O A S S U R E A U B I Q U I T O U S C U S T O M E R E X P E R I E N C E rdquo

07

Maxime Baumard

15

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales Vice President LeGuide Group a network of comparison sites and shopping guides for online product listings solutions wwwpricesavvycouk wwwchoozencouk

The e-business environment in 2016 is again set to be full of innovations and surprises The focus would be on the ever-changing e-buyersrsquo behaviours The growth of Mobile Shopping will undoubtedly keep on accelerating accompanied by the rise of two shopping behaviours in particular the Showrooming and the Webrooming These practices address two of the main current consumersrsquo needs researching the best prices and checking products before purchasing

Therefore an effective price positioning strategy is more important than ever The relevance of price in the consumer decision making process will continue to rise and it will be the most important factor to acquire new customers As a result being able to quickly track and react to competitorsrsquo price changes will prove to be the biggest challenge for online retailers

In order to help them LeGuide Group has launched a new price intelligence service which offers an efficient competitor analysis tool affordable to e-retailers of all sizes

ldquo T H E F O C U S W O U L D B E O N T H E E V E R - C H A N G I N G E - B U Y E R S rsquo B E H A V I O U R S rdquo

08

Cyril Bouskila

16

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Anthony Brebion

Mobile platforms now form an integral part of the customer experience According to McKinsey 50 of interactions between a brand and its customers now occur as part of a multi-channel path It is therefore essential to be present on mobile devices But this presence which is concerned as much with content as with form (online store consisting just of a product catalogue versus eCommerce website responsive website versus native application etc) must be adapted to the consumerrsquos needs because mobile devices have radically changed our expectations of brands We expect to obtain relevant information whenever we require it and to have a customised online experience that is both context sensitive and updated in real-time

In this respect and to an even greater extent than with desktop technology it is more relevant to track the engagement metric rather than that of customer acquisition cost The big advertisers have already realised this and shifted the focus of their mobile platform expenditure accordingly With the 2010-2012 period having been marked by a phase of investment in IT in 2013-2014 the focus was mainly on traffic acquisition Then in 2015 we began to see a shift towards improving

conversion rates and retention a trend that is set to continue in 2016

Improving the customer experience on mobile sites responsive sites and with native applications will therefore be the order of the day for the incoming year and this will involve challenges that need to be overcome not only device-inherent ones (display area size network speed etc) but also challenges of an organisational technical and financial nature With conversion rates on mobile platforms continuing to be inferior to those achieved through desktop technology and with the ROI on mobile platforms not yet clearly proven how can one justify making the new investments required to bring services up to speed Fortunately there are simple solutions in existence that allow you to modify your mobile sites or native applications and implement the kind of customised experience likely to engage your users no matter what the device The most advanced of these solutions also integrates the cross-device aspect by ensuring the coherence of the personalised customer experience across the web mobile platforms and the application

ldquo P E R S O N A L I S E T H E O M N I - C H A N N E L E X P E R I E N C E T O I N C R E A S E E N G A G E M E N T rdquo 09

Marketing Manager at AB Tasty wwwabtastycom

17

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Nicolas Chevalier

More and more online logistics platforms are created proportionnaly to the development of the eCommerce giving e-retailers a large choice in terms of service providers If some of them prefer focusing on their core activity thanks to the outsourcing other chose to manage the logistics internally But as an oline retailer why would you externalize your logistics

The logistics is at the heart itself of the eCommerce if your deliveries donrsquot respect the delivery times and if the management of your stocks is not transparent you are more likely to tread water with your business or even suffer from your customersrsquo complaints By outsourcing the first major asset is the economical aspect There is no need to pay order pickers or premises to stock your items You can therefore focus on your activity and its development

Thus the externalization of your logistics allows you to save time (order preparation administrative management returns management) as well as money (employees preferential tariff no rent for the stock)

More than just an economical criteria quality service is essential in order to satisfy your customer The job of e-logisticians with the expertise and experience is the decisive argument Thanks to the setting up of an optimized process logistics platforms are more efficient than internal teams Thus going through a qualified service provider will make you save money However donrsquot forget that logistics providers have their own characteristics With a transversal vision on the eCommerce world your logistician can appear to be a real partner to inform you about the market trends

Logistics and the management of the last mile will be key areas to succeed in eCommerce in 2016 so take time to choose the service provider who best fits your needs and donrsquot hesitate to ask additional information about the process of the platform and the services offered by the logistician

ldquo W H Y S H O U L D Y O U O U T S O U R C E Y O U R E C O M M E R C E L O G I S T I C S rdquo10

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for SupplyWeb and Co-founder of eCommerce Nation wwwsupplywebfr

18

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Michyl Culos

Even if yoursquore not a Spammer you may actually look like one to our friends the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) think Gmail Hotmail Yahoo Orange

For ISPs there are A LOT of factors that set off their SPAM alerts but in 2016 engagement-based filtering will continue to be a method of choice when detecting SPAM They are monitoring how readers interact with senderrsquos emails (opens clicks new sign-ups unsubscribes SPAM reports etc) to assess how desirable these emails actually are

ISPs are doing this for their end users They want to ensure that they are always having a better experience with their service and part of a better experience is having only the emails they actually want land in their inboxes

So what can you do about it There are many factors to take into consideration but herersquos a few tips to start with to keep up a healthy email engagement rate

- DONrsquoT email your contacts about things they didnrsquot sign-up for For example you invited

them to receive your e-book but then added them to your regular newsletter list

- DONrsquoT continue to send regular emails to inactive contacts 6 months of non-engagement with your emails tends to be the common length of time for a subscriber to be considered inactive Filter these contacts into a separate email list and either refrain from emailing them or create a campaign dedicated to re-engaging them

- DONrsquoT buy an email list Duh These people have not signed up to receive your emails and when they do receive them wonrsquot hesitate to hit unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

- DONrsquoT use spammy keywords in your emails Spammy words are still red-flags for ISPs but more than that they usually lead to deception If you put the word ldquoFreerdquo in your email subject then you better be offering something thatrsquos really for free or your subscribers wonrsquot hesitate to unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

Head over here for a full report on email deliverability by the experts at Mailjet

ldquo O U T O F T H E S P A M B O X E N G A G E M E N T I S A L L T H E R A G E rdquo11

Channel Marketing at Mailjet wwwmailjetcom

19

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Business Development Director at Boxtale the leading online shipping provider wwwboxtalecom

With the growth of eCommerce the shipping market is heating up Online retailers have to adapt themselves to consumersrsquo ever-more demanding expectations Next-day and same-day delivery or even delivery within the hour

New innovative solutions are appearing couriers drone deliveries urban delivery men deliveries in train stations in cars boots by private individuals In 2016 the war to the last kilometer will rage

Keep yourself up to date with new initiatives on the delivery market but donrsquot forget the fundamentals of a successful customer experience

In 2016 internet users are taking power

Make it possible for them to choose the type of delivery they want Diversify your modes of delivery to satisfy your future customers home delivery or in a pick-up station express delivery same-day delivery etc

Donrsquot underestimate the impact of your shipping policy to build your customer loyalty

Favour quality carriers communicate precise information concerning the tracking of your orders and be able to provide visibility to your recipient regarding the different steps of the delivery process

Finally continue to communicate as much as possible about your shipping policy before during and after the purchase by choosing transparency you reassure your customers and maximize your sales

At the time where marketplaces are becoming unmissable growth accelerators for small and medium online retailers itrsquos essential to answer to their delivery needs by shipping within the announced delivery times respecting the mode of delivery chosen by the customer supplying a tracking link as well as managing returns

ldquo A D A P T Y O U R S H I P P I N G P O L I C Y T O Y O U R C U S T O M E R S rsquo E X P E C T A T I O N S T O B U I L D L O Y A L T Y rdquo

12

Laure de Baudreuil

20

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for Watcheezywwwwatcheezycom

2015 put the customer relation at the heart of the companyrsquos strategy and confirmed the importance to homogenize the customer experience 2016 will be marked by the investment in a quality customer relation with 3 main elements the humanization personalization and omni-presence on every channels

First of all 2016 will be the year of the customer relation humanization thanks to the democratization of the customer relation tools (click-to-chat click-to-call) Chat is becoming a real live time conversion tool only offered to internet users who need help from an agent to finalize their purchase

2016 will also be the year of personalization thanks to the exploitation of customers data It is about for online retailers predicting customersrsquo intentions by targeting and personalizing the offers made to consumers The personalization of the customer follow-up will be a development opportunity as consumers buy more on a website that personalizes the customer experience

2016 will also be placed under the sign of the omni-presence and coherence of the customer journey on all the contact points Consumers have to feel this personalization and this attention from the brand each time they are in contact with it 2016 reserves some good surprises and promising evolutions in terms of customer relation Letrsquos progress towards the customer relation new generation

ldquo 2 0 1 6 T R E N D S I N T E R M S O F C U S T O M E R R E L A T I O N rdquo13

Marie Dufresne

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

13

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

encounter a problem while shopping on mobile they want to have their questions answered immediately Live chat is one way to provide prompt support on mobile Instead of forcing customers onto another platform with Zopim you can seamlessly offer chat support in your native mobile app

Also by proactively offering help when you notice customers struggling yoursquoll be able to smooth out the kinks in their shopping experience 57 of customers will abandon their cart if they find it difficult to solve their problem while shopping online Thatrsquos why it is important to ensure that obtaining support is simple and fuss-free for consumers even while on mobile

14

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager at iAdvize real time customer engagement platform wwwiadvizecom

In 2016 companies will have to adapt themselves to the necessity to assure a ubiquitous customer experience Being everywhere all the time instantly and assuring a perfect coherence in the speech whatever the interaction point with the brand is website social media community mobile The customer experience has to be global the internet user doesnrsquot have to come to the brand anymore it is for brands to engage the customer in real time at the right moment and where he is

Not only the customer experience has to be global but also conversational Social networks will slowly give way to personalized conversations (one-to-one) The messaging applications have their share in this transformation They have experienced a strong growth during the last five years In 2015 700 million of people used Facebook

each month 900 million used Whatsapp In 2016 the challenge for companies will be to integrate these tools to their multi-channel strategy

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S W I L L H A V E T O A D A P T T H E M S E L V E S T O T H E N E C E S S I T Y T O A S S U R E A U B I Q U I T O U S C U S T O M E R E X P E R I E N C E rdquo

07

Maxime Baumard

15

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales Vice President LeGuide Group a network of comparison sites and shopping guides for online product listings solutions wwwpricesavvycouk wwwchoozencouk

The e-business environment in 2016 is again set to be full of innovations and surprises The focus would be on the ever-changing e-buyersrsquo behaviours The growth of Mobile Shopping will undoubtedly keep on accelerating accompanied by the rise of two shopping behaviours in particular the Showrooming and the Webrooming These practices address two of the main current consumersrsquo needs researching the best prices and checking products before purchasing

Therefore an effective price positioning strategy is more important than ever The relevance of price in the consumer decision making process will continue to rise and it will be the most important factor to acquire new customers As a result being able to quickly track and react to competitorsrsquo price changes will prove to be the biggest challenge for online retailers

In order to help them LeGuide Group has launched a new price intelligence service which offers an efficient competitor analysis tool affordable to e-retailers of all sizes

ldquo T H E F O C U S W O U L D B E O N T H E E V E R - C H A N G I N G E - B U Y E R S rsquo B E H A V I O U R S rdquo

08

Cyril Bouskila

16

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Anthony Brebion

Mobile platforms now form an integral part of the customer experience According to McKinsey 50 of interactions between a brand and its customers now occur as part of a multi-channel path It is therefore essential to be present on mobile devices But this presence which is concerned as much with content as with form (online store consisting just of a product catalogue versus eCommerce website responsive website versus native application etc) must be adapted to the consumerrsquos needs because mobile devices have radically changed our expectations of brands We expect to obtain relevant information whenever we require it and to have a customised online experience that is both context sensitive and updated in real-time

In this respect and to an even greater extent than with desktop technology it is more relevant to track the engagement metric rather than that of customer acquisition cost The big advertisers have already realised this and shifted the focus of their mobile platform expenditure accordingly With the 2010-2012 period having been marked by a phase of investment in IT in 2013-2014 the focus was mainly on traffic acquisition Then in 2015 we began to see a shift towards improving

conversion rates and retention a trend that is set to continue in 2016

Improving the customer experience on mobile sites responsive sites and with native applications will therefore be the order of the day for the incoming year and this will involve challenges that need to be overcome not only device-inherent ones (display area size network speed etc) but also challenges of an organisational technical and financial nature With conversion rates on mobile platforms continuing to be inferior to those achieved through desktop technology and with the ROI on mobile platforms not yet clearly proven how can one justify making the new investments required to bring services up to speed Fortunately there are simple solutions in existence that allow you to modify your mobile sites or native applications and implement the kind of customised experience likely to engage your users no matter what the device The most advanced of these solutions also integrates the cross-device aspect by ensuring the coherence of the personalised customer experience across the web mobile platforms and the application

ldquo P E R S O N A L I S E T H E O M N I - C H A N N E L E X P E R I E N C E T O I N C R E A S E E N G A G E M E N T rdquo 09

Marketing Manager at AB Tasty wwwabtastycom

17

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Nicolas Chevalier

More and more online logistics platforms are created proportionnaly to the development of the eCommerce giving e-retailers a large choice in terms of service providers If some of them prefer focusing on their core activity thanks to the outsourcing other chose to manage the logistics internally But as an oline retailer why would you externalize your logistics

The logistics is at the heart itself of the eCommerce if your deliveries donrsquot respect the delivery times and if the management of your stocks is not transparent you are more likely to tread water with your business or even suffer from your customersrsquo complaints By outsourcing the first major asset is the economical aspect There is no need to pay order pickers or premises to stock your items You can therefore focus on your activity and its development

Thus the externalization of your logistics allows you to save time (order preparation administrative management returns management) as well as money (employees preferential tariff no rent for the stock)

More than just an economical criteria quality service is essential in order to satisfy your customer The job of e-logisticians with the expertise and experience is the decisive argument Thanks to the setting up of an optimized process logistics platforms are more efficient than internal teams Thus going through a qualified service provider will make you save money However donrsquot forget that logistics providers have their own characteristics With a transversal vision on the eCommerce world your logistician can appear to be a real partner to inform you about the market trends

Logistics and the management of the last mile will be key areas to succeed in eCommerce in 2016 so take time to choose the service provider who best fits your needs and donrsquot hesitate to ask additional information about the process of the platform and the services offered by the logistician

ldquo W H Y S H O U L D Y O U O U T S O U R C E Y O U R E C O M M E R C E L O G I S T I C S rdquo10

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for SupplyWeb and Co-founder of eCommerce Nation wwwsupplywebfr

18

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Michyl Culos

Even if yoursquore not a Spammer you may actually look like one to our friends the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) think Gmail Hotmail Yahoo Orange

For ISPs there are A LOT of factors that set off their SPAM alerts but in 2016 engagement-based filtering will continue to be a method of choice when detecting SPAM They are monitoring how readers interact with senderrsquos emails (opens clicks new sign-ups unsubscribes SPAM reports etc) to assess how desirable these emails actually are

ISPs are doing this for their end users They want to ensure that they are always having a better experience with their service and part of a better experience is having only the emails they actually want land in their inboxes

So what can you do about it There are many factors to take into consideration but herersquos a few tips to start with to keep up a healthy email engagement rate

- DONrsquoT email your contacts about things they didnrsquot sign-up for For example you invited

them to receive your e-book but then added them to your regular newsletter list

- DONrsquoT continue to send regular emails to inactive contacts 6 months of non-engagement with your emails tends to be the common length of time for a subscriber to be considered inactive Filter these contacts into a separate email list and either refrain from emailing them or create a campaign dedicated to re-engaging them

- DONrsquoT buy an email list Duh These people have not signed up to receive your emails and when they do receive them wonrsquot hesitate to hit unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

- DONrsquoT use spammy keywords in your emails Spammy words are still red-flags for ISPs but more than that they usually lead to deception If you put the word ldquoFreerdquo in your email subject then you better be offering something thatrsquos really for free or your subscribers wonrsquot hesitate to unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

Head over here for a full report on email deliverability by the experts at Mailjet

ldquo O U T O F T H E S P A M B O X E N G A G E M E N T I S A L L T H E R A G E rdquo11

Channel Marketing at Mailjet wwwmailjetcom

19

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Business Development Director at Boxtale the leading online shipping provider wwwboxtalecom

With the growth of eCommerce the shipping market is heating up Online retailers have to adapt themselves to consumersrsquo ever-more demanding expectations Next-day and same-day delivery or even delivery within the hour

New innovative solutions are appearing couriers drone deliveries urban delivery men deliveries in train stations in cars boots by private individuals In 2016 the war to the last kilometer will rage

Keep yourself up to date with new initiatives on the delivery market but donrsquot forget the fundamentals of a successful customer experience

In 2016 internet users are taking power

Make it possible for them to choose the type of delivery they want Diversify your modes of delivery to satisfy your future customers home delivery or in a pick-up station express delivery same-day delivery etc

Donrsquot underestimate the impact of your shipping policy to build your customer loyalty

Favour quality carriers communicate precise information concerning the tracking of your orders and be able to provide visibility to your recipient regarding the different steps of the delivery process

Finally continue to communicate as much as possible about your shipping policy before during and after the purchase by choosing transparency you reassure your customers and maximize your sales

At the time where marketplaces are becoming unmissable growth accelerators for small and medium online retailers itrsquos essential to answer to their delivery needs by shipping within the announced delivery times respecting the mode of delivery chosen by the customer supplying a tracking link as well as managing returns

ldquo A D A P T Y O U R S H I P P I N G P O L I C Y T O Y O U R C U S T O M E R S rsquo E X P E C T A T I O N S T O B U I L D L O Y A L T Y rdquo

12

Laure de Baudreuil

20

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for Watcheezywwwwatcheezycom

2015 put the customer relation at the heart of the companyrsquos strategy and confirmed the importance to homogenize the customer experience 2016 will be marked by the investment in a quality customer relation with 3 main elements the humanization personalization and omni-presence on every channels

First of all 2016 will be the year of the customer relation humanization thanks to the democratization of the customer relation tools (click-to-chat click-to-call) Chat is becoming a real live time conversion tool only offered to internet users who need help from an agent to finalize their purchase

2016 will also be the year of personalization thanks to the exploitation of customers data It is about for online retailers predicting customersrsquo intentions by targeting and personalizing the offers made to consumers The personalization of the customer follow-up will be a development opportunity as consumers buy more on a website that personalizes the customer experience

2016 will also be placed under the sign of the omni-presence and coherence of the customer journey on all the contact points Consumers have to feel this personalization and this attention from the brand each time they are in contact with it 2016 reserves some good surprises and promising evolutions in terms of customer relation Letrsquos progress towards the customer relation new generation

ldquo 2 0 1 6 T R E N D S I N T E R M S O F C U S T O M E R R E L A T I O N rdquo13

Marie Dufresne

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

14

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager at iAdvize real time customer engagement platform wwwiadvizecom

In 2016 companies will have to adapt themselves to the necessity to assure a ubiquitous customer experience Being everywhere all the time instantly and assuring a perfect coherence in the speech whatever the interaction point with the brand is website social media community mobile The customer experience has to be global the internet user doesnrsquot have to come to the brand anymore it is for brands to engage the customer in real time at the right moment and where he is

Not only the customer experience has to be global but also conversational Social networks will slowly give way to personalized conversations (one-to-one) The messaging applications have their share in this transformation They have experienced a strong growth during the last five years In 2015 700 million of people used Facebook

each month 900 million used Whatsapp In 2016 the challenge for companies will be to integrate these tools to their multi-channel strategy

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S W I L L H A V E T O A D A P T T H E M S E L V E S T O T H E N E C E S S I T Y T O A S S U R E A U B I Q U I T O U S C U S T O M E R E X P E R I E N C E rdquo

07

Maxime Baumard

15

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales Vice President LeGuide Group a network of comparison sites and shopping guides for online product listings solutions wwwpricesavvycouk wwwchoozencouk

The e-business environment in 2016 is again set to be full of innovations and surprises The focus would be on the ever-changing e-buyersrsquo behaviours The growth of Mobile Shopping will undoubtedly keep on accelerating accompanied by the rise of two shopping behaviours in particular the Showrooming and the Webrooming These practices address two of the main current consumersrsquo needs researching the best prices and checking products before purchasing

Therefore an effective price positioning strategy is more important than ever The relevance of price in the consumer decision making process will continue to rise and it will be the most important factor to acquire new customers As a result being able to quickly track and react to competitorsrsquo price changes will prove to be the biggest challenge for online retailers

In order to help them LeGuide Group has launched a new price intelligence service which offers an efficient competitor analysis tool affordable to e-retailers of all sizes

ldquo T H E F O C U S W O U L D B E O N T H E E V E R - C H A N G I N G E - B U Y E R S rsquo B E H A V I O U R S rdquo

08

Cyril Bouskila

16

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Anthony Brebion

Mobile platforms now form an integral part of the customer experience According to McKinsey 50 of interactions between a brand and its customers now occur as part of a multi-channel path It is therefore essential to be present on mobile devices But this presence which is concerned as much with content as with form (online store consisting just of a product catalogue versus eCommerce website responsive website versus native application etc) must be adapted to the consumerrsquos needs because mobile devices have radically changed our expectations of brands We expect to obtain relevant information whenever we require it and to have a customised online experience that is both context sensitive and updated in real-time

In this respect and to an even greater extent than with desktop technology it is more relevant to track the engagement metric rather than that of customer acquisition cost The big advertisers have already realised this and shifted the focus of their mobile platform expenditure accordingly With the 2010-2012 period having been marked by a phase of investment in IT in 2013-2014 the focus was mainly on traffic acquisition Then in 2015 we began to see a shift towards improving

conversion rates and retention a trend that is set to continue in 2016

Improving the customer experience on mobile sites responsive sites and with native applications will therefore be the order of the day for the incoming year and this will involve challenges that need to be overcome not only device-inherent ones (display area size network speed etc) but also challenges of an organisational technical and financial nature With conversion rates on mobile platforms continuing to be inferior to those achieved through desktop technology and with the ROI on mobile platforms not yet clearly proven how can one justify making the new investments required to bring services up to speed Fortunately there are simple solutions in existence that allow you to modify your mobile sites or native applications and implement the kind of customised experience likely to engage your users no matter what the device The most advanced of these solutions also integrates the cross-device aspect by ensuring the coherence of the personalised customer experience across the web mobile platforms and the application

ldquo P E R S O N A L I S E T H E O M N I - C H A N N E L E X P E R I E N C E T O I N C R E A S E E N G A G E M E N T rdquo 09

Marketing Manager at AB Tasty wwwabtastycom

17

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Nicolas Chevalier

More and more online logistics platforms are created proportionnaly to the development of the eCommerce giving e-retailers a large choice in terms of service providers If some of them prefer focusing on their core activity thanks to the outsourcing other chose to manage the logistics internally But as an oline retailer why would you externalize your logistics

The logistics is at the heart itself of the eCommerce if your deliveries donrsquot respect the delivery times and if the management of your stocks is not transparent you are more likely to tread water with your business or even suffer from your customersrsquo complaints By outsourcing the first major asset is the economical aspect There is no need to pay order pickers or premises to stock your items You can therefore focus on your activity and its development

Thus the externalization of your logistics allows you to save time (order preparation administrative management returns management) as well as money (employees preferential tariff no rent for the stock)

More than just an economical criteria quality service is essential in order to satisfy your customer The job of e-logisticians with the expertise and experience is the decisive argument Thanks to the setting up of an optimized process logistics platforms are more efficient than internal teams Thus going through a qualified service provider will make you save money However donrsquot forget that logistics providers have their own characteristics With a transversal vision on the eCommerce world your logistician can appear to be a real partner to inform you about the market trends

Logistics and the management of the last mile will be key areas to succeed in eCommerce in 2016 so take time to choose the service provider who best fits your needs and donrsquot hesitate to ask additional information about the process of the platform and the services offered by the logistician

ldquo W H Y S H O U L D Y O U O U T S O U R C E Y O U R E C O M M E R C E L O G I S T I C S rdquo10

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for SupplyWeb and Co-founder of eCommerce Nation wwwsupplywebfr

18

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Michyl Culos

Even if yoursquore not a Spammer you may actually look like one to our friends the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) think Gmail Hotmail Yahoo Orange

For ISPs there are A LOT of factors that set off their SPAM alerts but in 2016 engagement-based filtering will continue to be a method of choice when detecting SPAM They are monitoring how readers interact with senderrsquos emails (opens clicks new sign-ups unsubscribes SPAM reports etc) to assess how desirable these emails actually are

ISPs are doing this for their end users They want to ensure that they are always having a better experience with their service and part of a better experience is having only the emails they actually want land in their inboxes

So what can you do about it There are many factors to take into consideration but herersquos a few tips to start with to keep up a healthy email engagement rate

- DONrsquoT email your contacts about things they didnrsquot sign-up for For example you invited

them to receive your e-book but then added them to your regular newsletter list

- DONrsquoT continue to send regular emails to inactive contacts 6 months of non-engagement with your emails tends to be the common length of time for a subscriber to be considered inactive Filter these contacts into a separate email list and either refrain from emailing them or create a campaign dedicated to re-engaging them

- DONrsquoT buy an email list Duh These people have not signed up to receive your emails and when they do receive them wonrsquot hesitate to hit unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

- DONrsquoT use spammy keywords in your emails Spammy words are still red-flags for ISPs but more than that they usually lead to deception If you put the word ldquoFreerdquo in your email subject then you better be offering something thatrsquos really for free or your subscribers wonrsquot hesitate to unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

Head over here for a full report on email deliverability by the experts at Mailjet

ldquo O U T O F T H E S P A M B O X E N G A G E M E N T I S A L L T H E R A G E rdquo11

Channel Marketing at Mailjet wwwmailjetcom

19

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Business Development Director at Boxtale the leading online shipping provider wwwboxtalecom

With the growth of eCommerce the shipping market is heating up Online retailers have to adapt themselves to consumersrsquo ever-more demanding expectations Next-day and same-day delivery or even delivery within the hour

New innovative solutions are appearing couriers drone deliveries urban delivery men deliveries in train stations in cars boots by private individuals In 2016 the war to the last kilometer will rage

Keep yourself up to date with new initiatives on the delivery market but donrsquot forget the fundamentals of a successful customer experience

In 2016 internet users are taking power

Make it possible for them to choose the type of delivery they want Diversify your modes of delivery to satisfy your future customers home delivery or in a pick-up station express delivery same-day delivery etc

Donrsquot underestimate the impact of your shipping policy to build your customer loyalty

Favour quality carriers communicate precise information concerning the tracking of your orders and be able to provide visibility to your recipient regarding the different steps of the delivery process

Finally continue to communicate as much as possible about your shipping policy before during and after the purchase by choosing transparency you reassure your customers and maximize your sales

At the time where marketplaces are becoming unmissable growth accelerators for small and medium online retailers itrsquos essential to answer to their delivery needs by shipping within the announced delivery times respecting the mode of delivery chosen by the customer supplying a tracking link as well as managing returns

ldquo A D A P T Y O U R S H I P P I N G P O L I C Y T O Y O U R C U S T O M E R S rsquo E X P E C T A T I O N S T O B U I L D L O Y A L T Y rdquo

12

Laure de Baudreuil

20

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for Watcheezywwwwatcheezycom

2015 put the customer relation at the heart of the companyrsquos strategy and confirmed the importance to homogenize the customer experience 2016 will be marked by the investment in a quality customer relation with 3 main elements the humanization personalization and omni-presence on every channels

First of all 2016 will be the year of the customer relation humanization thanks to the democratization of the customer relation tools (click-to-chat click-to-call) Chat is becoming a real live time conversion tool only offered to internet users who need help from an agent to finalize their purchase

2016 will also be the year of personalization thanks to the exploitation of customers data It is about for online retailers predicting customersrsquo intentions by targeting and personalizing the offers made to consumers The personalization of the customer follow-up will be a development opportunity as consumers buy more on a website that personalizes the customer experience

2016 will also be placed under the sign of the omni-presence and coherence of the customer journey on all the contact points Consumers have to feel this personalization and this attention from the brand each time they are in contact with it 2016 reserves some good surprises and promising evolutions in terms of customer relation Letrsquos progress towards the customer relation new generation

ldquo 2 0 1 6 T R E N D S I N T E R M S O F C U S T O M E R R E L A T I O N rdquo13

Marie Dufresne

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

15

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales Vice President LeGuide Group a network of comparison sites and shopping guides for online product listings solutions wwwpricesavvycouk wwwchoozencouk

The e-business environment in 2016 is again set to be full of innovations and surprises The focus would be on the ever-changing e-buyersrsquo behaviours The growth of Mobile Shopping will undoubtedly keep on accelerating accompanied by the rise of two shopping behaviours in particular the Showrooming and the Webrooming These practices address two of the main current consumersrsquo needs researching the best prices and checking products before purchasing

Therefore an effective price positioning strategy is more important than ever The relevance of price in the consumer decision making process will continue to rise and it will be the most important factor to acquire new customers As a result being able to quickly track and react to competitorsrsquo price changes will prove to be the biggest challenge for online retailers

In order to help them LeGuide Group has launched a new price intelligence service which offers an efficient competitor analysis tool affordable to e-retailers of all sizes

ldquo T H E F O C U S W O U L D B E O N T H E E V E R - C H A N G I N G E - B U Y E R S rsquo B E H A V I O U R S rdquo

08

Cyril Bouskila

16

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Anthony Brebion

Mobile platforms now form an integral part of the customer experience According to McKinsey 50 of interactions between a brand and its customers now occur as part of a multi-channel path It is therefore essential to be present on mobile devices But this presence which is concerned as much with content as with form (online store consisting just of a product catalogue versus eCommerce website responsive website versus native application etc) must be adapted to the consumerrsquos needs because mobile devices have radically changed our expectations of brands We expect to obtain relevant information whenever we require it and to have a customised online experience that is both context sensitive and updated in real-time

In this respect and to an even greater extent than with desktop technology it is more relevant to track the engagement metric rather than that of customer acquisition cost The big advertisers have already realised this and shifted the focus of their mobile platform expenditure accordingly With the 2010-2012 period having been marked by a phase of investment in IT in 2013-2014 the focus was mainly on traffic acquisition Then in 2015 we began to see a shift towards improving

conversion rates and retention a trend that is set to continue in 2016

Improving the customer experience on mobile sites responsive sites and with native applications will therefore be the order of the day for the incoming year and this will involve challenges that need to be overcome not only device-inherent ones (display area size network speed etc) but also challenges of an organisational technical and financial nature With conversion rates on mobile platforms continuing to be inferior to those achieved through desktop technology and with the ROI on mobile platforms not yet clearly proven how can one justify making the new investments required to bring services up to speed Fortunately there are simple solutions in existence that allow you to modify your mobile sites or native applications and implement the kind of customised experience likely to engage your users no matter what the device The most advanced of these solutions also integrates the cross-device aspect by ensuring the coherence of the personalised customer experience across the web mobile platforms and the application

ldquo P E R S O N A L I S E T H E O M N I - C H A N N E L E X P E R I E N C E T O I N C R E A S E E N G A G E M E N T rdquo 09

Marketing Manager at AB Tasty wwwabtastycom

17

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Nicolas Chevalier

More and more online logistics platforms are created proportionnaly to the development of the eCommerce giving e-retailers a large choice in terms of service providers If some of them prefer focusing on their core activity thanks to the outsourcing other chose to manage the logistics internally But as an oline retailer why would you externalize your logistics

The logistics is at the heart itself of the eCommerce if your deliveries donrsquot respect the delivery times and if the management of your stocks is not transparent you are more likely to tread water with your business or even suffer from your customersrsquo complaints By outsourcing the first major asset is the economical aspect There is no need to pay order pickers or premises to stock your items You can therefore focus on your activity and its development

Thus the externalization of your logistics allows you to save time (order preparation administrative management returns management) as well as money (employees preferential tariff no rent for the stock)

More than just an economical criteria quality service is essential in order to satisfy your customer The job of e-logisticians with the expertise and experience is the decisive argument Thanks to the setting up of an optimized process logistics platforms are more efficient than internal teams Thus going through a qualified service provider will make you save money However donrsquot forget that logistics providers have their own characteristics With a transversal vision on the eCommerce world your logistician can appear to be a real partner to inform you about the market trends

Logistics and the management of the last mile will be key areas to succeed in eCommerce in 2016 so take time to choose the service provider who best fits your needs and donrsquot hesitate to ask additional information about the process of the platform and the services offered by the logistician

ldquo W H Y S H O U L D Y O U O U T S O U R C E Y O U R E C O M M E R C E L O G I S T I C S rdquo10

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for SupplyWeb and Co-founder of eCommerce Nation wwwsupplywebfr

18

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Michyl Culos

Even if yoursquore not a Spammer you may actually look like one to our friends the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) think Gmail Hotmail Yahoo Orange

For ISPs there are A LOT of factors that set off their SPAM alerts but in 2016 engagement-based filtering will continue to be a method of choice when detecting SPAM They are monitoring how readers interact with senderrsquos emails (opens clicks new sign-ups unsubscribes SPAM reports etc) to assess how desirable these emails actually are

ISPs are doing this for their end users They want to ensure that they are always having a better experience with their service and part of a better experience is having only the emails they actually want land in their inboxes

So what can you do about it There are many factors to take into consideration but herersquos a few tips to start with to keep up a healthy email engagement rate

- DONrsquoT email your contacts about things they didnrsquot sign-up for For example you invited

them to receive your e-book but then added them to your regular newsletter list

- DONrsquoT continue to send regular emails to inactive contacts 6 months of non-engagement with your emails tends to be the common length of time for a subscriber to be considered inactive Filter these contacts into a separate email list and either refrain from emailing them or create a campaign dedicated to re-engaging them

- DONrsquoT buy an email list Duh These people have not signed up to receive your emails and when they do receive them wonrsquot hesitate to hit unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

- DONrsquoT use spammy keywords in your emails Spammy words are still red-flags for ISPs but more than that they usually lead to deception If you put the word ldquoFreerdquo in your email subject then you better be offering something thatrsquos really for free or your subscribers wonrsquot hesitate to unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

Head over here for a full report on email deliverability by the experts at Mailjet

ldquo O U T O F T H E S P A M B O X E N G A G E M E N T I S A L L T H E R A G E rdquo11

Channel Marketing at Mailjet wwwmailjetcom

19

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Business Development Director at Boxtale the leading online shipping provider wwwboxtalecom

With the growth of eCommerce the shipping market is heating up Online retailers have to adapt themselves to consumersrsquo ever-more demanding expectations Next-day and same-day delivery or even delivery within the hour

New innovative solutions are appearing couriers drone deliveries urban delivery men deliveries in train stations in cars boots by private individuals In 2016 the war to the last kilometer will rage

Keep yourself up to date with new initiatives on the delivery market but donrsquot forget the fundamentals of a successful customer experience

In 2016 internet users are taking power

Make it possible for them to choose the type of delivery they want Diversify your modes of delivery to satisfy your future customers home delivery or in a pick-up station express delivery same-day delivery etc

Donrsquot underestimate the impact of your shipping policy to build your customer loyalty

Favour quality carriers communicate precise information concerning the tracking of your orders and be able to provide visibility to your recipient regarding the different steps of the delivery process

Finally continue to communicate as much as possible about your shipping policy before during and after the purchase by choosing transparency you reassure your customers and maximize your sales

At the time where marketplaces are becoming unmissable growth accelerators for small and medium online retailers itrsquos essential to answer to their delivery needs by shipping within the announced delivery times respecting the mode of delivery chosen by the customer supplying a tracking link as well as managing returns

ldquo A D A P T Y O U R S H I P P I N G P O L I C Y T O Y O U R C U S T O M E R S rsquo E X P E C T A T I O N S T O B U I L D L O Y A L T Y rdquo

12

Laure de Baudreuil

20

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for Watcheezywwwwatcheezycom

2015 put the customer relation at the heart of the companyrsquos strategy and confirmed the importance to homogenize the customer experience 2016 will be marked by the investment in a quality customer relation with 3 main elements the humanization personalization and omni-presence on every channels

First of all 2016 will be the year of the customer relation humanization thanks to the democratization of the customer relation tools (click-to-chat click-to-call) Chat is becoming a real live time conversion tool only offered to internet users who need help from an agent to finalize their purchase

2016 will also be the year of personalization thanks to the exploitation of customers data It is about for online retailers predicting customersrsquo intentions by targeting and personalizing the offers made to consumers The personalization of the customer follow-up will be a development opportunity as consumers buy more on a website that personalizes the customer experience

2016 will also be placed under the sign of the omni-presence and coherence of the customer journey on all the contact points Consumers have to feel this personalization and this attention from the brand each time they are in contact with it 2016 reserves some good surprises and promising evolutions in terms of customer relation Letrsquos progress towards the customer relation new generation

ldquo 2 0 1 6 T R E N D S I N T E R M S O F C U S T O M E R R E L A T I O N rdquo13

Marie Dufresne

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

16

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Anthony Brebion

Mobile platforms now form an integral part of the customer experience According to McKinsey 50 of interactions between a brand and its customers now occur as part of a multi-channel path It is therefore essential to be present on mobile devices But this presence which is concerned as much with content as with form (online store consisting just of a product catalogue versus eCommerce website responsive website versus native application etc) must be adapted to the consumerrsquos needs because mobile devices have radically changed our expectations of brands We expect to obtain relevant information whenever we require it and to have a customised online experience that is both context sensitive and updated in real-time

In this respect and to an even greater extent than with desktop technology it is more relevant to track the engagement metric rather than that of customer acquisition cost The big advertisers have already realised this and shifted the focus of their mobile platform expenditure accordingly With the 2010-2012 period having been marked by a phase of investment in IT in 2013-2014 the focus was mainly on traffic acquisition Then in 2015 we began to see a shift towards improving

conversion rates and retention a trend that is set to continue in 2016

Improving the customer experience on mobile sites responsive sites and with native applications will therefore be the order of the day for the incoming year and this will involve challenges that need to be overcome not only device-inherent ones (display area size network speed etc) but also challenges of an organisational technical and financial nature With conversion rates on mobile platforms continuing to be inferior to those achieved through desktop technology and with the ROI on mobile platforms not yet clearly proven how can one justify making the new investments required to bring services up to speed Fortunately there are simple solutions in existence that allow you to modify your mobile sites or native applications and implement the kind of customised experience likely to engage your users no matter what the device The most advanced of these solutions also integrates the cross-device aspect by ensuring the coherence of the personalised customer experience across the web mobile platforms and the application

ldquo P E R S O N A L I S E T H E O M N I - C H A N N E L E X P E R I E N C E T O I N C R E A S E E N G A G E M E N T rdquo 09

Marketing Manager at AB Tasty wwwabtastycom

17

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Nicolas Chevalier

More and more online logistics platforms are created proportionnaly to the development of the eCommerce giving e-retailers a large choice in terms of service providers If some of them prefer focusing on their core activity thanks to the outsourcing other chose to manage the logistics internally But as an oline retailer why would you externalize your logistics

The logistics is at the heart itself of the eCommerce if your deliveries donrsquot respect the delivery times and if the management of your stocks is not transparent you are more likely to tread water with your business or even suffer from your customersrsquo complaints By outsourcing the first major asset is the economical aspect There is no need to pay order pickers or premises to stock your items You can therefore focus on your activity and its development

Thus the externalization of your logistics allows you to save time (order preparation administrative management returns management) as well as money (employees preferential tariff no rent for the stock)

More than just an economical criteria quality service is essential in order to satisfy your customer The job of e-logisticians with the expertise and experience is the decisive argument Thanks to the setting up of an optimized process logistics platforms are more efficient than internal teams Thus going through a qualified service provider will make you save money However donrsquot forget that logistics providers have their own characteristics With a transversal vision on the eCommerce world your logistician can appear to be a real partner to inform you about the market trends

Logistics and the management of the last mile will be key areas to succeed in eCommerce in 2016 so take time to choose the service provider who best fits your needs and donrsquot hesitate to ask additional information about the process of the platform and the services offered by the logistician

ldquo W H Y S H O U L D Y O U O U T S O U R C E Y O U R E C O M M E R C E L O G I S T I C S rdquo10

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for SupplyWeb and Co-founder of eCommerce Nation wwwsupplywebfr

18

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Michyl Culos

Even if yoursquore not a Spammer you may actually look like one to our friends the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) think Gmail Hotmail Yahoo Orange

For ISPs there are A LOT of factors that set off their SPAM alerts but in 2016 engagement-based filtering will continue to be a method of choice when detecting SPAM They are monitoring how readers interact with senderrsquos emails (opens clicks new sign-ups unsubscribes SPAM reports etc) to assess how desirable these emails actually are

ISPs are doing this for their end users They want to ensure that they are always having a better experience with their service and part of a better experience is having only the emails they actually want land in their inboxes

So what can you do about it There are many factors to take into consideration but herersquos a few tips to start with to keep up a healthy email engagement rate

- DONrsquoT email your contacts about things they didnrsquot sign-up for For example you invited

them to receive your e-book but then added them to your regular newsletter list

- DONrsquoT continue to send regular emails to inactive contacts 6 months of non-engagement with your emails tends to be the common length of time for a subscriber to be considered inactive Filter these contacts into a separate email list and either refrain from emailing them or create a campaign dedicated to re-engaging them

- DONrsquoT buy an email list Duh These people have not signed up to receive your emails and when they do receive them wonrsquot hesitate to hit unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

- DONrsquoT use spammy keywords in your emails Spammy words are still red-flags for ISPs but more than that they usually lead to deception If you put the word ldquoFreerdquo in your email subject then you better be offering something thatrsquos really for free or your subscribers wonrsquot hesitate to unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

Head over here for a full report on email deliverability by the experts at Mailjet

ldquo O U T O F T H E S P A M B O X E N G A G E M E N T I S A L L T H E R A G E rdquo11

Channel Marketing at Mailjet wwwmailjetcom

19

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Business Development Director at Boxtale the leading online shipping provider wwwboxtalecom

With the growth of eCommerce the shipping market is heating up Online retailers have to adapt themselves to consumersrsquo ever-more demanding expectations Next-day and same-day delivery or even delivery within the hour

New innovative solutions are appearing couriers drone deliveries urban delivery men deliveries in train stations in cars boots by private individuals In 2016 the war to the last kilometer will rage

Keep yourself up to date with new initiatives on the delivery market but donrsquot forget the fundamentals of a successful customer experience

In 2016 internet users are taking power

Make it possible for them to choose the type of delivery they want Diversify your modes of delivery to satisfy your future customers home delivery or in a pick-up station express delivery same-day delivery etc

Donrsquot underestimate the impact of your shipping policy to build your customer loyalty

Favour quality carriers communicate precise information concerning the tracking of your orders and be able to provide visibility to your recipient regarding the different steps of the delivery process

Finally continue to communicate as much as possible about your shipping policy before during and after the purchase by choosing transparency you reassure your customers and maximize your sales

At the time where marketplaces are becoming unmissable growth accelerators for small and medium online retailers itrsquos essential to answer to their delivery needs by shipping within the announced delivery times respecting the mode of delivery chosen by the customer supplying a tracking link as well as managing returns

ldquo A D A P T Y O U R S H I P P I N G P O L I C Y T O Y O U R C U S T O M E R S rsquo E X P E C T A T I O N S T O B U I L D L O Y A L T Y rdquo

12

Laure de Baudreuil

20

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for Watcheezywwwwatcheezycom

2015 put the customer relation at the heart of the companyrsquos strategy and confirmed the importance to homogenize the customer experience 2016 will be marked by the investment in a quality customer relation with 3 main elements the humanization personalization and omni-presence on every channels

First of all 2016 will be the year of the customer relation humanization thanks to the democratization of the customer relation tools (click-to-chat click-to-call) Chat is becoming a real live time conversion tool only offered to internet users who need help from an agent to finalize their purchase

2016 will also be the year of personalization thanks to the exploitation of customers data It is about for online retailers predicting customersrsquo intentions by targeting and personalizing the offers made to consumers The personalization of the customer follow-up will be a development opportunity as consumers buy more on a website that personalizes the customer experience

2016 will also be placed under the sign of the omni-presence and coherence of the customer journey on all the contact points Consumers have to feel this personalization and this attention from the brand each time they are in contact with it 2016 reserves some good surprises and promising evolutions in terms of customer relation Letrsquos progress towards the customer relation new generation

ldquo 2 0 1 6 T R E N D S I N T E R M S O F C U S T O M E R R E L A T I O N rdquo13

Marie Dufresne

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

17

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Nicolas Chevalier

More and more online logistics platforms are created proportionnaly to the development of the eCommerce giving e-retailers a large choice in terms of service providers If some of them prefer focusing on their core activity thanks to the outsourcing other chose to manage the logistics internally But as an oline retailer why would you externalize your logistics

The logistics is at the heart itself of the eCommerce if your deliveries donrsquot respect the delivery times and if the management of your stocks is not transparent you are more likely to tread water with your business or even suffer from your customersrsquo complaints By outsourcing the first major asset is the economical aspect There is no need to pay order pickers or premises to stock your items You can therefore focus on your activity and its development

Thus the externalization of your logistics allows you to save time (order preparation administrative management returns management) as well as money (employees preferential tariff no rent for the stock)

More than just an economical criteria quality service is essential in order to satisfy your customer The job of e-logisticians with the expertise and experience is the decisive argument Thanks to the setting up of an optimized process logistics platforms are more efficient than internal teams Thus going through a qualified service provider will make you save money However donrsquot forget that logistics providers have their own characteristics With a transversal vision on the eCommerce world your logistician can appear to be a real partner to inform you about the market trends

Logistics and the management of the last mile will be key areas to succeed in eCommerce in 2016 so take time to choose the service provider who best fits your needs and donrsquot hesitate to ask additional information about the process of the platform and the services offered by the logistician

ldquo W H Y S H O U L D Y O U O U T S O U R C E Y O U R E C O M M E R C E L O G I S T I C S rdquo10

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for SupplyWeb and Co-founder of eCommerce Nation wwwsupplywebfr

18

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Michyl Culos

Even if yoursquore not a Spammer you may actually look like one to our friends the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) think Gmail Hotmail Yahoo Orange

For ISPs there are A LOT of factors that set off their SPAM alerts but in 2016 engagement-based filtering will continue to be a method of choice when detecting SPAM They are monitoring how readers interact with senderrsquos emails (opens clicks new sign-ups unsubscribes SPAM reports etc) to assess how desirable these emails actually are

ISPs are doing this for their end users They want to ensure that they are always having a better experience with their service and part of a better experience is having only the emails they actually want land in their inboxes

So what can you do about it There are many factors to take into consideration but herersquos a few tips to start with to keep up a healthy email engagement rate

- DONrsquoT email your contacts about things they didnrsquot sign-up for For example you invited

them to receive your e-book but then added them to your regular newsletter list

- DONrsquoT continue to send regular emails to inactive contacts 6 months of non-engagement with your emails tends to be the common length of time for a subscriber to be considered inactive Filter these contacts into a separate email list and either refrain from emailing them or create a campaign dedicated to re-engaging them

- DONrsquoT buy an email list Duh These people have not signed up to receive your emails and when they do receive them wonrsquot hesitate to hit unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

- DONrsquoT use spammy keywords in your emails Spammy words are still red-flags for ISPs but more than that they usually lead to deception If you put the word ldquoFreerdquo in your email subject then you better be offering something thatrsquos really for free or your subscribers wonrsquot hesitate to unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

Head over here for a full report on email deliverability by the experts at Mailjet

ldquo O U T O F T H E S P A M B O X E N G A G E M E N T I S A L L T H E R A G E rdquo11

Channel Marketing at Mailjet wwwmailjetcom

19

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Business Development Director at Boxtale the leading online shipping provider wwwboxtalecom

With the growth of eCommerce the shipping market is heating up Online retailers have to adapt themselves to consumersrsquo ever-more demanding expectations Next-day and same-day delivery or even delivery within the hour

New innovative solutions are appearing couriers drone deliveries urban delivery men deliveries in train stations in cars boots by private individuals In 2016 the war to the last kilometer will rage

Keep yourself up to date with new initiatives on the delivery market but donrsquot forget the fundamentals of a successful customer experience

In 2016 internet users are taking power

Make it possible for them to choose the type of delivery they want Diversify your modes of delivery to satisfy your future customers home delivery or in a pick-up station express delivery same-day delivery etc

Donrsquot underestimate the impact of your shipping policy to build your customer loyalty

Favour quality carriers communicate precise information concerning the tracking of your orders and be able to provide visibility to your recipient regarding the different steps of the delivery process

Finally continue to communicate as much as possible about your shipping policy before during and after the purchase by choosing transparency you reassure your customers and maximize your sales

At the time where marketplaces are becoming unmissable growth accelerators for small and medium online retailers itrsquos essential to answer to their delivery needs by shipping within the announced delivery times respecting the mode of delivery chosen by the customer supplying a tracking link as well as managing returns

ldquo A D A P T Y O U R S H I P P I N G P O L I C Y T O Y O U R C U S T O M E R S rsquo E X P E C T A T I O N S T O B U I L D L O Y A L T Y rdquo

12

Laure de Baudreuil

20

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for Watcheezywwwwatcheezycom

2015 put the customer relation at the heart of the companyrsquos strategy and confirmed the importance to homogenize the customer experience 2016 will be marked by the investment in a quality customer relation with 3 main elements the humanization personalization and omni-presence on every channels

First of all 2016 will be the year of the customer relation humanization thanks to the democratization of the customer relation tools (click-to-chat click-to-call) Chat is becoming a real live time conversion tool only offered to internet users who need help from an agent to finalize their purchase

2016 will also be the year of personalization thanks to the exploitation of customers data It is about for online retailers predicting customersrsquo intentions by targeting and personalizing the offers made to consumers The personalization of the customer follow-up will be a development opportunity as consumers buy more on a website that personalizes the customer experience

2016 will also be placed under the sign of the omni-presence and coherence of the customer journey on all the contact points Consumers have to feel this personalization and this attention from the brand each time they are in contact with it 2016 reserves some good surprises and promising evolutions in terms of customer relation Letrsquos progress towards the customer relation new generation

ldquo 2 0 1 6 T R E N D S I N T E R M S O F C U S T O M E R R E L A T I O N rdquo13

Marie Dufresne

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

18

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Michyl Culos

Even if yoursquore not a Spammer you may actually look like one to our friends the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) think Gmail Hotmail Yahoo Orange

For ISPs there are A LOT of factors that set off their SPAM alerts but in 2016 engagement-based filtering will continue to be a method of choice when detecting SPAM They are monitoring how readers interact with senderrsquos emails (opens clicks new sign-ups unsubscribes SPAM reports etc) to assess how desirable these emails actually are

ISPs are doing this for their end users They want to ensure that they are always having a better experience with their service and part of a better experience is having only the emails they actually want land in their inboxes

So what can you do about it There are many factors to take into consideration but herersquos a few tips to start with to keep up a healthy email engagement rate

- DONrsquoT email your contacts about things they didnrsquot sign-up for For example you invited

them to receive your e-book but then added them to your regular newsletter list

- DONrsquoT continue to send regular emails to inactive contacts 6 months of non-engagement with your emails tends to be the common length of time for a subscriber to be considered inactive Filter these contacts into a separate email list and either refrain from emailing them or create a campaign dedicated to re-engaging them

- DONrsquoT buy an email list Duh These people have not signed up to receive your emails and when they do receive them wonrsquot hesitate to hit unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

- DONrsquoT use spammy keywords in your emails Spammy words are still red-flags for ISPs but more than that they usually lead to deception If you put the word ldquoFreerdquo in your email subject then you better be offering something thatrsquos really for free or your subscribers wonrsquot hesitate to unsubscribe or mark you as SPAM

Head over here for a full report on email deliverability by the experts at Mailjet

ldquo O U T O F T H E S P A M B O X E N G A G E M E N T I S A L L T H E R A G E rdquo11

Channel Marketing at Mailjet wwwmailjetcom

19

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Business Development Director at Boxtale the leading online shipping provider wwwboxtalecom

With the growth of eCommerce the shipping market is heating up Online retailers have to adapt themselves to consumersrsquo ever-more demanding expectations Next-day and same-day delivery or even delivery within the hour

New innovative solutions are appearing couriers drone deliveries urban delivery men deliveries in train stations in cars boots by private individuals In 2016 the war to the last kilometer will rage

Keep yourself up to date with new initiatives on the delivery market but donrsquot forget the fundamentals of a successful customer experience

In 2016 internet users are taking power

Make it possible for them to choose the type of delivery they want Diversify your modes of delivery to satisfy your future customers home delivery or in a pick-up station express delivery same-day delivery etc

Donrsquot underestimate the impact of your shipping policy to build your customer loyalty

Favour quality carriers communicate precise information concerning the tracking of your orders and be able to provide visibility to your recipient regarding the different steps of the delivery process

Finally continue to communicate as much as possible about your shipping policy before during and after the purchase by choosing transparency you reassure your customers and maximize your sales

At the time where marketplaces are becoming unmissable growth accelerators for small and medium online retailers itrsquos essential to answer to their delivery needs by shipping within the announced delivery times respecting the mode of delivery chosen by the customer supplying a tracking link as well as managing returns

ldquo A D A P T Y O U R S H I P P I N G P O L I C Y T O Y O U R C U S T O M E R S rsquo E X P E C T A T I O N S T O B U I L D L O Y A L T Y rdquo

12

Laure de Baudreuil

20

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for Watcheezywwwwatcheezycom

2015 put the customer relation at the heart of the companyrsquos strategy and confirmed the importance to homogenize the customer experience 2016 will be marked by the investment in a quality customer relation with 3 main elements the humanization personalization and omni-presence on every channels

First of all 2016 will be the year of the customer relation humanization thanks to the democratization of the customer relation tools (click-to-chat click-to-call) Chat is becoming a real live time conversion tool only offered to internet users who need help from an agent to finalize their purchase

2016 will also be the year of personalization thanks to the exploitation of customers data It is about for online retailers predicting customersrsquo intentions by targeting and personalizing the offers made to consumers The personalization of the customer follow-up will be a development opportunity as consumers buy more on a website that personalizes the customer experience

2016 will also be placed under the sign of the omni-presence and coherence of the customer journey on all the contact points Consumers have to feel this personalization and this attention from the brand each time they are in contact with it 2016 reserves some good surprises and promising evolutions in terms of customer relation Letrsquos progress towards the customer relation new generation

ldquo 2 0 1 6 T R E N D S I N T E R M S O F C U S T O M E R R E L A T I O N rdquo13

Marie Dufresne

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

19

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Business Development Director at Boxtale the leading online shipping provider wwwboxtalecom

With the growth of eCommerce the shipping market is heating up Online retailers have to adapt themselves to consumersrsquo ever-more demanding expectations Next-day and same-day delivery or even delivery within the hour

New innovative solutions are appearing couriers drone deliveries urban delivery men deliveries in train stations in cars boots by private individuals In 2016 the war to the last kilometer will rage

Keep yourself up to date with new initiatives on the delivery market but donrsquot forget the fundamentals of a successful customer experience

In 2016 internet users are taking power

Make it possible for them to choose the type of delivery they want Diversify your modes of delivery to satisfy your future customers home delivery or in a pick-up station express delivery same-day delivery etc

Donrsquot underestimate the impact of your shipping policy to build your customer loyalty

Favour quality carriers communicate precise information concerning the tracking of your orders and be able to provide visibility to your recipient regarding the different steps of the delivery process

Finally continue to communicate as much as possible about your shipping policy before during and after the purchase by choosing transparency you reassure your customers and maximize your sales

At the time where marketplaces are becoming unmissable growth accelerators for small and medium online retailers itrsquos essential to answer to their delivery needs by shipping within the announced delivery times respecting the mode of delivery chosen by the customer supplying a tracking link as well as managing returns

ldquo A D A P T Y O U R S H I P P I N G P O L I C Y T O Y O U R C U S T O M E R S rsquo E X P E C T A T I O N S T O B U I L D L O Y A L T Y rdquo

12

Laure de Baudreuil

20

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for Watcheezywwwwatcheezycom

2015 put the customer relation at the heart of the companyrsquos strategy and confirmed the importance to homogenize the customer experience 2016 will be marked by the investment in a quality customer relation with 3 main elements the humanization personalization and omni-presence on every channels

First of all 2016 will be the year of the customer relation humanization thanks to the democratization of the customer relation tools (click-to-chat click-to-call) Chat is becoming a real live time conversion tool only offered to internet users who need help from an agent to finalize their purchase

2016 will also be the year of personalization thanks to the exploitation of customers data It is about for online retailers predicting customersrsquo intentions by targeting and personalizing the offers made to consumers The personalization of the customer follow-up will be a development opportunity as consumers buy more on a website that personalizes the customer experience

2016 will also be placed under the sign of the omni-presence and coherence of the customer journey on all the contact points Consumers have to feel this personalization and this attention from the brand each time they are in contact with it 2016 reserves some good surprises and promising evolutions in terms of customer relation Letrsquos progress towards the customer relation new generation

ldquo 2 0 1 6 T R E N D S I N T E R M S O F C U S T O M E R R E L A T I O N rdquo13

Marie Dufresne

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

20

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing amp Commercial Manager for Watcheezywwwwatcheezycom

2015 put the customer relation at the heart of the companyrsquos strategy and confirmed the importance to homogenize the customer experience 2016 will be marked by the investment in a quality customer relation with 3 main elements the humanization personalization and omni-presence on every channels

First of all 2016 will be the year of the customer relation humanization thanks to the democratization of the customer relation tools (click-to-chat click-to-call) Chat is becoming a real live time conversion tool only offered to internet users who need help from an agent to finalize their purchase

2016 will also be the year of personalization thanks to the exploitation of customers data It is about for online retailers predicting customersrsquo intentions by targeting and personalizing the offers made to consumers The personalization of the customer follow-up will be a development opportunity as consumers buy more on a website that personalizes the customer experience

2016 will also be placed under the sign of the omni-presence and coherence of the customer journey on all the contact points Consumers have to feel this personalization and this attention from the brand each time they are in contact with it 2016 reserves some good surprises and promising evolutions in terms of customer relation Letrsquos progress towards the customer relation new generation

ldquo 2 0 1 6 T R E N D S I N T E R M S O F C U S T O M E R R E L A T I O N rdquo13

Marie Dufresne

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

21

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Bryan Eisenberg is the Co-founder and CMO of IdealSpot He is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Business Week USA Today and New York Times bestselling books ldquoCall to Actionrdquo ldquoWaiting For Your Cat to Barkrdquo and ldquoAlways Be Testingrdquo wwwbryaneisenbergcom

Most retailers are surprised when we say the the most difficult challenge is NOT keeping up with competitors The biggest challenge IS keeping up with customer expectations

Mobile traffic is exploding Desktop searching browsing and shopping are like sitting down for a full course meal Mobile is like grabbing a snack on the go The challenge is getting prospective customers to the right content product or offer

The number one reason most people donrsquot convert is because your navigation internal search or even the pages you land them on donrsquot contain the information for what they were looking for

Of course some people would assume this is essential for those that sell purely online but in reality this is the core of omni-channel retail Forrester research explains

ldquoThe categories that have the lowest online sales are also the ones that see the greatest levels of online research In general consumers in virtually all categories touch the web during some part of their purchase journey but web sales (ie dollars spent online) tend to be strongest in categories where consumers donrsquot need to touch

the products or have them immediatelyrdquo

The lower your percentage of sales online the more important it is that you give your customers online answers to their questions Customers are intolerant of subpar mobile experiences More than 60 percent who leave a mobile site or app after a poor experience donrsquot return according to IBM Tealeafrsquos ldquoThe Digital Customer Experience (2014 Survey)rdquo Yes you need to solve your mobile experience challenges yesterday but what are you doing to help your customers buy from you tomorrow

ldquo F O C U S O N K E E P I N G A H E A D O F Y O U R C U S T O M E R S N O T Y O U R C O M P E T I T O R S rdquo14

Bryan Eisenberg

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

22

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Manager for The Shelf an influencer marketing platform wwwtheshelfcom

As an e-merchant you will have one of two challenges in 2016

1 The competition has never been so fierce With a huge increase in competition and so many people starting eCommerce shops the average business has twice as many competitors as it did five years ago Getting found or standing out amongst them seems near impossible

2 Your product isnrsquot the type of thing that people Google around for In fact your ideal customer might not even realize that they have a need for your product

Both of these problems can be solved by working with influential people that have the ears and eyes of your target market

By working with people who have already built the audiences that yoursquore striving to get in front of you can beat out the competition This boils down to working with hyper-relevant influencers who have already built up super engaged audiences Of course the type of business yoursquore running dictates who your influencers are and what social media channels theyrsquore most active on But the key is to get creative and not limit yourself to your specific niche You need to think about

demographic-matching not vertical matching

Yoursquoll need to read through their content to ensure itrsquos in line with what yoursquore selling because your product will need to integrate nicely within their current content mix From there you can figure out how best to work with them whether it be through a sponsored blog or social media post video tutorial product placement giveawayThese are all great for B2C companies but if yoursquore selling B2B you might want to look into guest posting and building thought leadership with their audience on their platform

Working with influencers is great for SEO increasing sales exposure credibility customer loyalty user-generated contenthellipItrsquos a great way to get external validation in a sea of competitors or for a product that no one even knew they needed Itrsquos a good way to put your products in front of the right audience Itrsquos way more targeted than ads could ever be as long as you work with the right people Plus your content lives on forever as compared to short-lived ads All of these things will help in increasing the exposure of your e-merchant shop and therefore lead to an increase in online sales

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 W O R K W I T H I N F L U E N C E R S T O C A P T U R E T H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F Y O U R T A R G E T M A R K E T ldquo 15

Sabrina Fenster

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

23

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Commercial Engineer PayZen Lyra Network Group Serving your eCommerce payments amp Digital Store wwwenpayzeneu

The multiplication of the sales channels and the evolution of the cross-channel on consumersrsquo behavior need an easy and unique payment management

This is a major asset to make loyal and engage your customers and gain in reactivity

The other 2016 big trend is the Full responsive allowing to make the customer journey flow better to the payment process If your website is ldquoMobile-friendlyrdquo but not your payment pages yoursquoll probably make your customers disappointed and your conversion rate will fall

Think about the email payment receipts which also have to be adapted to the device (Desktop tablet smartphone) Moreover I advise you to use the selective 3D Secure allowing you to deactivate or activate the 3D Secure according to criterion (Amount media type of card hellip)

Payment methods are not in rest- Direct debit meets a real success on the BtoB

sector - Alternative currencies are on a roll

My last tip will be about security essential for you and your buyers Concerning the payment choose a certified platform PCI DSS Regarding fraud analyse your level of fraud study the typology of the attacks and protect yourself by defining your own rules to manage risks

ldquo 2 0 1 6 P L A C E S I T S E L F U N D E R T H E S I G N O F O M N I - C H A N N E Lrdquo 16

Fabien Ghiglione

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

24

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing Specialist at PushCrew a tool for sending push notifications from websites wwwpushcrewcom

In 2016 the eCommerce industry will be dead center in the war between mobile apps and websites In the last few months Chrome and Firefox have both come out with push notification support This means that eCommerce websites now have the ability to compete with apps when it comes to having one-on-one real-time conversations with their audience

Pick up any report from a reputed publication analyzing the traffic distribution of apps and mobile websites and itrsquos evident that though apps get more screen time websites have a more even distribution This means that if yoursquore a medium or small-sized eCommerce store you have a better chance of being discovered via your website than through a mobile app Last year we saw many eCommerce stores de-emphasize their websites and focus more on apps I believe that this year success in eCommerce involves going back to websites and having a great balance between your app and website strategy

My second tip involves connecting with your audience through personalized offers based on on-site behaviour and suggesting relevant curated products based on past purchases You canrsquot expect to treat every visitor the same way and still increase sales The age of mass marketing is over Itrsquos time to sell to each and every customer personally

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 T H E E C O M M E R C E I N D U S T R Y W I L L B E D E A D C E N T E R I N T H E W A R B E T W E E N M O B I L E A P P S A N D W E B S I T E S rdquo17

Anand Kansal

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

25

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Sales and Marketing Director of B2C Europewwwb2ceuropeeu

It canrsquot be denied that eCommerce is booming In 2014 euro424 billion of e-sales were made across Europe in goods and services and by 2018 the number of individuals shopping online across Europe is predicted to reach 210 million

In a race to meet this customer demand it makes sense that retailers are continuing to develop and expand their online presence This is good news for consumers as it means more shopping options but presents a challenge for businesses in the form of increased competition for sales So what should you be doing to ensure yoursquore leading the pack when it comes to maximising sale opportunities

Removing the barriers around delivery and returns is key to improving the purchase experience and securing a loyal satisfied customer base This is especially true considering that research we conducted in 2015 showed that a staggering 79 of consumers abandoned an online purchase at least once within a six month period with 78 of people doing so for logistical reasons such as delivery time and flexibility And it doesnrsquot stop there the research also showed

that 40 fail to complete a purchase because the cost of delivery is too high Clearly there are still improvements to be made so where should people start

- Make transparency a priority Customers donrsquot want to spend their valuable

time searching for delivery information As an online retailer you need to display a clear and concise breakdown of costs at the earliest possible opportunity so customers arenrsquot left surprised when they come to checkout

- Offer flexible delivery optionsThe stock-standard lsquodeliver to your doorrsquo

option will no longer make the cut for todayrsquos savvy consumers You need to offer click-and-collect express and track amp trace services (among others) otherwise you may see your customers go elsewhere for more convenient delivery services

- Provide a simple returns processOur research showed one of the main reasons

for shopping cart abandonment was the lack of information about returns Customers want to be assured that should they not like the product or

ldquo D O N rsquo T L E T D E L I V E R Y A N D R E T U R N S P O L I C I E S L E A D T O L O S T S A L E S rdquo18

Rianne Klein Geltink

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

26

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

have received an incorrect item they can return it easily A clear returns policy will remove any concerns meaning that people are more likely to follow through on a purchase The returns process also needs to be made as simple as possible for example by providing customers with printable return labels and local drop-off collection points

Ultimately delivery and returns should never be a barrier for online purchases especially with all the readily available technology to help you as e-tailers optimise your checkout processes

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

27

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

VP Marketing at Twenga Solutions a customer acquisition solutions provider and shopping search engine in 15 countries wwwtwenga-solutionscom

Acquiring customers is an essential part of making products and businesses work and while SEO can take you so far many e-retailers also use paid acquisition to supplement this channel

However anyone that already uses paid acquisition knows that it is never as simple as paying for a few clicks Not only is eCommerce constantly changing user behaviour is too meaning that our strategies need to evolve at a similar pace

Here are my 5 top tips to improving your customer acquisition in 2016

1 Perfect your traffic mixThe nature of the buying funnel means that

e-retailers are required to use multiple channels in the attempt to acquire customers at every given opportunity To evaluate your traffic mix take a look at your audience reports in Google Analytics where you will be able to analyse traffic per source

The saying goes that you shouldnrsquot place all of your eggs in one basket and the same goes for paid acquisition Channels to consider include

the obvious choice of Google AdWords Google Shopping which is often considered as better adapted to eCommerce due to the visual nature of its ads e-mail campaigns for special promotions display advertising to appear on third party websites and more recently social media which has managed to successfully identify real business opportunities in eCommerce

2 Use social media as an alternative channelIn particular social media is an increasingly

important channel for customer acquisition We Are Social claims that there were over 2 billion active social media accounts in 2015 which was a 12 increase when compared to figures from 2014

Presence on social media is particularly interesting right now thanks to Twitter Instagram and Pinterestrsquos new lsquobuy nowrsquo buttons and lsquoCanvasrsquo which was launched by Facebook With a closer gap between inspiration and transaction and a better experience on mobile ROI is expected to be better than ever on social networks These are opportunities not to miss out on in 2016

ldquo 5 K E Y S T E P S T O T A K E Y O U R C U S T O M E R A C Q U I S I T I O N T O T H E N E X T L E V E L I N 2 0 1 6 rdquo19

Herbert Knibiehly

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

28

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

3 Optimise for mobileMobile devices are slowly over taking

computers not only for searches but also for transactions which are becoming increasingly frequent on this device too

E-retailers need to concentrate on building a dedicated application or a mobile-optimised site for their eCommerce store With Googlersquos recent announcement for lsquomicro momentsrsquo and new features such as swipeable ads improved product ratings and Local Inventory Ads you will also need to pay particular attention to these features and be sure to take the necessary steps once they are available in Europe in 2016

4 Improve user experience with personalisation

For a good while now the use of software means that personalisation is not only possible but expected in the online world Should this be through social media paid search or display we are now able to use numerous variables to provide consumers with exactly what they want when they want it

This customisation was made even easier in 2015 Be sure to make most of Instagramrsquos new targeting options RLSAs in Google Shopping campaigns and lsquoCustomer Match targetingrsquo in AdWords

5 Revise your bidding strategyWhile adopting new channels may be a

necessity for some e-retailers optimising existing ones may be a priority for others An important strategy to consider in 2016 is to use the power of machine learning algorithms to find patterns

make sense of weak signals and make decisions faster to allow for bids to be changed in real-time

There are many questions that need to be asked when determining the value of a bid Is this a top product What is the userrsquos intention to purchase Which other variables should we take into account right now By responding in real-time bids can be set at a fair price for the current context to ultimately improve the profitability of advertising campaigns and boost ROI

Continually changing bids is therefore now necessary for the very best ROI Doing so manually several times a day is theoretically possible however if you really want to make the most of this technology you will most likely have to turn to third party solutions in order to put these real-time bidding strategies into place

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

29

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of the global returns management solution ShopRunBack wwwshoprunbackcom

Do you grant importance to the quality of the shipments for your customers So donrsquot underestimate the one of your return policy

Indeed logistics is the keystone of your organization aiming for the entire satisfaction of your customers through the provision of the item ordered

You therefore made sure of the availability of your stock optimized the order tunnel on your website negotiated the best transportation offers assuring choice tracking and quality of the service and finally put in place the best customer service practices guaranteeing a transaction at the end of the process Itrsquos perfect

But did you grand the same importance to the after-sales process

Indeed your customer once his order received will have the possibility and the right to return it without having to justify himself in condition to be in the statutory time limit

As 73 of consumers have a look at the return policies and are ready to abandon their purchase

if those ones are too complicated or unreadable make your return policies a strength and an opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competitors

However between cancellation clause at the European level and adaptation of the local rules itrsquos easy to get lost

To do so ShopRunBack helps you to put in place a personalized return policy perfectly adapted to your values and economic model

But also helps you to offer THE global return solution which will bring entire satisfaction to your customer by taking into account his preferences (removal at home or in a pick-up location) and by facilitating the return process with the providing of the package or an offered insurance in order to guarantee the shipping of his product

Opt for the free return - more than 60 of online consumers vote in for this practice as a successful return experience and a necessary one a possibility offered thanks to ShopRunBackrsquos inovative and economical services

ldquo M A K E Y O U R R E T U R N P O L I C Y A C O M P E T I T I V E A D V A N T A G E rdquo20

Florian Laudillay

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

30

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Marketing and Media Relations Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

During the past 10 years press relations were transformed in order to better fit the new digital challenges that companies are facing and ways of communicating on your eCommerce store have expanded Traditionally for newspapersrsquo journalists the 20 press relations are now for all your influencers offline and online journalists freelancer bloggers institutions and other types of media

If you add the number of media available today yoursquoll see that this is essential to correctly target your communications Tools such as Cision allow you to have access to hundreds of databases to identify your key influencers and create contact lists depending on the type subject audience or on the age of the media The objective in 2016 is to optimize your press communications in order to have the best ROI possible

Your 2016 media planning will cover all the offline and online communications that you planned for the year If of course it has to include exclusive information such as the release of a new product or a coming event it also has to include micro-information such as an infographic

about your sector of activity or a testimonial of an expert They wonrsquot be published every time but theyrsquoll help you to identify yourself as a real expert of the sector and to gain visibility in the same time

You have different ways to contact media of your sector Obviously you wonrsquot have the same approach if itrsquos a journalist a blogger or an institution Bloggers favor the proximity and hope to build a real relation of trust with you based on a ldquowin-winrdquo collaboration they share their favourites but they expect consideration from you A way to prove your interest in their work Invite them to one of your event send them one of your product for free offer a contest with prizes for their readershellip So many tips that are going together with the sending of your information via a concise email well written kind and most important with your personal touch

Regarding journalists and institutions they are used to work with press releases written in accordance with standard practice especially in an objective way The use of superlative to announce a specific information are not

ldquo B E T O N T H E 2 0 P R E S S E R E L A T I O N S rdquo21

Barbara Libdri

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

31

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

appreciated by journalists Of course those types of media appreciate little attentions once the publication approved Therefore donrsquot skimp on little notes and thank-you gifts

A little tip to remember when writing your information the more your information is close to the news the more chances yoursquoll have to be published

In 2016 maintain privileged relations with all your media and take care of your 20 press relations because this will help you to spread your message but also to spread your image history values as well as arousing interest and liking for your eCommerce

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

32

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Operations Ecommerce Manager at ToysrsquoRrsquous and President of the Omnichannel Retail Council by DA Retail wwwtoysruscom

There is no turn back omnichannel is here to stay

In the race to the best omnichannel strategy of all time it is not the one in the first position who wins but the one who does it better

Itrsquos a proven fact that a well executed omnichannel is profitable because omnibuyers spend between 15-30 more than traditional buyers Besides a solid omnichannel strategy increases brand loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value

Customers demand omnichannel but if we give it to them in a poor and inefficient way the buying experience will be affected and the customer wonrsquot be back again

My advice is to rather avoid omnichannel than to do it wrong Todayrsquos customers are very demanding and rarely bear with inefficiency Their loyalty to the brand is linked directly with the issues that could have raised during the buying process

For instance what is the point of having a pickup point in store if customers take time in

finding the pick up point wait for their turn in a queue and the clerk takes an eternity to locate the order Or even worse he doesnrsquot find it

Also when you take the risk of damaging the brand and losing customers with a poor managed omnichannel strategy you also take a financial risk When omnichannel is poorly implemented it will cause associated costs that affect benefits and profitability

When I talk about associated costs I mean inefficiencies such as indeterminate stock in the physical store not having visibility of the stock in real time in all channels keeping duplicated stocks due to an inflexible chain supply or not having systems with algorithms that allow to assign online orders properly using for instance brick and mortar stores as mini warehouses which demand extra costs in order to keep the promise of an omnichannel purchase

Being omnichannel is not easy nor cheap and it requires a substantial investment in time and resources and that is why there is nothing wrong in avoiding channels or implementing new strategies if we are not ready It is all about identifying and prioritizing channelsstrategies

ldquo O M N I C H A N N E L Y E S B U T W E L L D O N E rdquo22

Mireya Masclans

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

33

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

we want to focus on and finding balance between what customers want and what we are able to offer

Before launching any new omnichannel strategy we should ask ourselves

- Which is our budget- Do we have the technology required or do

we know where we can find it Have we designed the process for such strategy or are we able to redesign it

- Do we have people trained and educated to tackle it

- And most important is our organizational culture heading towards omnichannel customer and change Does management support and encourage the strategy

It is recommended to take it step by step implementing channels or strategies little by little in order to discover how they get managed and optimized how they have an impact on customers (it is important to listen to them and have their constant feedback) how they interact with the rest of the companyrsquos process (mostly those regarding logistics) with HR

Definitely fulfilling todayrsquos customer expectations is not a fast process nor riskless Therefore ldquoOmnichannel yes but well donerdquo

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

34

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Traffic Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShop wwwwizishopio

Itrsquos been couple years that bdquofake expertsrdquo of the sector make us believe that SEO is all behind us now They say that you should abandon your search engine optimization strategy to generate quality traffic and that all wersquove done until now is henceforth useless

Well log in to your Analytics and check the lever that generates the most traffic to your website and the most sales

In 2016 the majority of online stores wonrsquot be able to miss out on their websitersquos SEO optimization

But those much talked about bdquoexpertsrdquo are right on one thing you have to continue to optimize and improve your website because search engines are continually evolving and regularly updating their algorithms

Optimize your website for mobileInternet users are increasingly using mobile

devices to shop online In 2015 Google added the label bdquoMobile websiterdquo to its search results in order to clearly show to users which are the websites theyrsquoll be able to decently see from their smartphones or tablettes Moreover websites that are optimized for mobile will be privileged in the search results and gain visibility

Secure your pages2016 will be marked by an internet securing

process Indeed Google announced that eCommerce websites offering to their visitors a complete encryption of their browsing data through a SSL certificate will gain more positions compared to those who for instance only offer a secure payment page The objective of search engines is to offer internet users a more and more reliable browsing experience and without risks to protect their personal data

Find qualitative linksThis year yoursquoll have to care about the

incoming links to your website The last changes in the Google algorithm indicate that the giant of Mountain View will boost the referencing of websites presenting qualitative external links This means that you donrsquot need to have thousands of links to your website but to have a hundreds on websites with a high PageRank and a precise anchor

Try to put in place a link building strategy aims for quality instead of quantity Contact influential bloggers Offer them for instance to test your products and ask them to place a link to your website under a pertinent keyword on which you want to be referenced

ldquo S E O I S D E A D L O N G L I V E S E O rdquo23

Michele Mossali

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

35

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Finally stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and help yourself with tools and experts partners if you need it In 2016 the success of your online store will still and always go through SEO

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

36

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Chief Product amp Strategy Officer for HiPay wwwhipaycom

The eCommerce is an industry full of opportunities but in which profitability is a primary concern One of the major challenges for online retailers is to maintain the balance between an optimal conversion rate and a limited fraud rate In terms of fraud all the challenge for online retailers resides in the adoption of a risk management politic which doesnrsquot impact the development of the turnover by keeping a fluid purchasing process in the same time

First of all online retailers have to put in place rules to fight against fraud that have to be adapted to their activity and geographical area where they are set up

Itrsquos important to consider for every order a set of settings including the buyerrsquos location the difference between his purchasing behavior and the average buyersrsquo behavior the shopping cart content as well as a maximum of other data such as the mode of delivery the terminal (mobile desktop tablette )

Thanks to these analyses online retailers are able to significantly reduce the impact of fraud on their business However if a fraudulent transaction escapes from the filter put in place itrsquos essential to understand its origin in order to propose new ones

On the other hand in the era of Big Data online retailers have to be able to analyze data from their website in order to offer to their customers an adapted purchasing journey entirely personalized from the product to the payment page The analysis of the payment performance indicators and their optimization allows to take actions and visualize the real impact on conversion

ldquo F I G H T A G A I N S T F R A U D A C O N V E R S I O N L E V E R F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo 24

Nabil Naimy

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

37

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

eCommerce Editor at price comparison wwwidealocouk

Your customers lead busy lives and their time is scarce meaning online shopping has an increasingly dominant role to play In order to get it right making the eCommerce experience as easy and efficient as possible is key in order to convert one-time shoppers into loyal returning customers

By law there is no requirement for retailers to pay the cost of returning a non-faulty item and yet 54 of idealo partner shops choose to do so a trend we see rising each year In addition to this retailers are becoming increasingly generous with their returns period with many upping the statutory 14 days to 28 and sometimes even 100 or 365 days

Todayrsquos online shoppers require and to an extent even expect flexibility ndash find the right balance for your eCommerce shop and try improving your customer retention in 2016 with a spruced-up returns policy

Another way of making life easier for your customers is to review your delivery options 2015 was a good year for click amp collect with new services cropping up at local shops and train stations these are really practical solutions that should be forming a part of your delivery strategy for 2016

ldquo E C O M M E R C E M A K I N G L O Y A L C U S T O M E R S rdquo25

Katy Phillips

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

38

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Communication specialist for more than 10 years coaching activities and advice to companies wwwmelaniepincom

The trap is tempting but yoursquoll need to go through The eCommerce has nothing physical the shop is virtual however real men and women are behind Itrsquos not enough anymore to just highlight the product yoursquoll also need to tell a story Telling the story of the ones who built the shop This is one of the reason why you have to work on the storytelling (telling your own story through a blog testimonials pictures presentation of the team) Itrsquos not voyeurism but itrsquos about creating affect The objective is to cause customers to become attached to the online retailer such as they do with traditional shops with nice sellers Then the relation of trust developed leads to customer loyalty They come attached to your brand and they are reassured They see real faces behind their computerrsquos screen The browsing experience is not only an act of purchase anymore but also a real human relation

The humanization of your commercial acts has another interest they become less intrusives Customers appreciate not being considered only as numbers So donrsquot forget that itrsquos more than essential to collect shares on social media to answer to comments and to put in place all the actions that will transform your customers from numbers to humans

ldquo D O N O T F O R G E T T H A T B E H I N D T H E S C R E E N T H E R E A R E M E N A N D W O M E N rdquo26

Meacutelanie Pin

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

39

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder of Easyparapharmacie wwweasyparapharmaciecouk

With the new year it seems more important than ever to be customer centric whatever the type of project you are developing This may not only deal with your websitersquos user experience but also with your businessrsquos marketing and communication approach which will give your clients a real customer oriented service We will also need to go looking for our future customers on emerging social networking platforms and to start thinking about consumers in a broader sense thinking about them in the moment thinking about what mood they are in and what values which they share with us at a precise moment in time they hold and to no longer insert these individuals in a hermetic persona which is lost in the context that surrounds them

These customers are increasingly demanding more and more services and responses from eCommerce sites Because of this we need to have a greater global understanding of these clients so we can follow them throughout their entire lifecycle This will allow us to respond to and see our clients as individuals with their own problems and to better meet any needs they may have Because of this customer service teams need to have the best tools at their disposal

We will obviously have to think mobile first more than ever and to make us both visible and especially accessible via this device The difficulty in this case resides in administering the resources at our disposal so that we donrsquot invest in projects which will soon be rendered obsolete Such as data analysis which is a must-have support to be included across different services

In the coming year the challenges we will face in our sector will certainly see a rise in importance for eHealth which has started to make its way onto the marketplace as well as wearable technology which has to be viewed as a real revolution Finally we must foresee any future situations which may develop so that we can be properly situated when the environment matures

ldquo W I T H T H E N E W Y E A R I T S E E M S M O R E I M P O R T A N T T H A N E V E R T O B E C U S T O M E R C E N T R I C rdquo27

Ceacutedric Prosper

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

40

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

In charge of the commercial development in France and abroad wwwfitizzycom

1 Delegate The eCommerce is a complex sector constantly evolving You will always find freelance experts and solutions for your stakes and problems (SEO payment ergonomics logistics) You will gain free time to keep focused on your core activity your clients and products

2 Integrate the shopping experience at the

hearth of your digital strategy Itrsquos essential to know and analyze your usersrsquo navigation As a matter of fact you have to understand their difficulties and expectations to improve their shopping experience To do so you should opt for gamification in order to make your clients participate and interact It is even more efficient when they get rewarded

3 Reassure your visitors Before buying your products a couple of questions will go through your clientsrsquo mind concerning your business sector For instance the fear of choosing the wrong size is one of the biggest purchasing brake in the clothing industry Therefore you should keep them informed as much as possible offer them a decision-making support so they can make the good choice

ldquo 2 0 1 6 3 G O O D R E S O L U T I O N S F O R Y O U R E C O M M E R C E W E B S I T E rdquo28

Seacutebastien Ramel

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

41

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Co-founder of mQment Everyday we help online retailers to sell more with our behavioral amp predictive marketing technology wwwmqmentcom

The biggest challenge in 2016 is our capacity to create a privileged relationship with our visitors and customers It becomes a huge competitive advantage as acquisition is more and more tough and costly Fortunately there is a key difference between 2015 and 2016 now any size of businesses has access to powerful technologies to create a personal journey for each of their visitors

Recommendation engines have been the first successes and real-time behavioral targeting softwares are coming next In other words everyone will be able to understand the state of mind of a visitor and react with a good value proposition This alone can turn businesses from dying to double-digit growth

Therersquos no doubt that the adoption of this kind of service grows each day In the short future predictive algorithms will become usual and behaviors anticipation easy

Only one question remains will Europeans retailers have the willingness and the means to adopt theses technologies as fast as the biggest players

ldquo T H E B I G G E S T C H A L L E N G E I N 2 0 1 6 I S O U R C A P A C I T Y T O C R E A T E A P R I V I L E G E D R E L A T I O N S H I P W I T H O U R V I S I T O R S A N D C U S T O M E R S rdquo29

Samuel Roy

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

42

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Founder and Author of www6ft9com

Assuming that you have already figured out the most important thing your demographic and how to talk to them letrsquos look at another extremely important thing that many online stores overlook which causes them to lose money and customers Split testing or AB testing

How would your business look if you could

increase conversions on your site by 5 10 or even more Do you know your current conversion rates Is it converting well and how would you know if you donrsquot have anything to compare it to Always test several versions of your sales and product pages Change images headlines wording button placement and always optimize Donrsquot forget to make sure that your ads coincide with what you are selling otherwise conversions will be low and bounce rates will be high

ldquo A L W A Y S T E S T S E V E R A L V E R S I O N S O F Y O U R S A L E S A N D P R O D U C T P A G E S rdquo30

Sami Rusani

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

43

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Director of Sales at Mouseflow wwwmouseflowcom

If you own a website chances are it was built to serve a purpose But if yoursquore just looking at charts and graphs to track it yoursquore missing the bigger picture

You might want to use a tool like Mouseflow - basically CCTV or DVR for your website that tracks clickstouches mouse movement scrolling keystrokes and more You can also consult a full suite of heatmaps which to see the aggregate trends in behavior over time This helps you find out what works and more importantly what doesnrsquot with your overall content and navigation strategy

It also is incredibly important to understand how visitors browse your site - especially through sales funnels With funnel tracking you can define a list pages that you want to measure Then you can track how people navigate between various points find out why people drop off and actually do something about it This kind of reporting makes it easy to track how changes (perhaps through AB tests) influence your visitors and conversions over time

You can manipulate filters like ldquoPage Countrdquo ldquoDurationrdquo and ldquoReferral Sourcerdquo as well to transform the data and understand how these factors influence the conversion rate and drop off rates at each step If you spend a small amount of time with reports like this chances are yoursquoll learn some extremely valuable information

We recommend making it a continuous process where you ask yourself ldquowhat is the one big goal on each page of our siterdquo (to define success) and then take steps to measure and improve it If you incorporate this workflow into your daily and weekly tasks soon yoursquoll have a powerful website that starts to work for you - not the other way around

This can help you optimize your layout improve usability and increase conversions throughout your site You can give it a try by setting up a free account at httpsmouseflowcomsign-up and be sure to use the coupon code ldquoWIZISHOPrdquo to get 500 free credits

ldquo H O W T O I N C R E A S E C O N V E R S I O N S B Y 1 5 X W I T H F U N N E L S rdquo31

Trenton Scott

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

44

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Writer at Brandwatch wwwbrandwatchcom

Social media continues to infiltrate most of our daily lives and the disruption it brings to the retail sector is only increasing Traditional forms of research and customer relations are taking a back seat when social data can cover these aspects and more besides

While early adopters jumped on the opportunity to deliver results in a timely and cost effective way developing a robust social strategy has now become mandatory for all Consumers now expect to be able to communicate with brands in the medium of their choosing Having the correct systems in place will not only deliver good customer service but inform product research monitor industry trends and provide competitor insights

Increasingly however e-commerce is becoming equally important in the space in the form of social selling Gathering and analysing social data allows marketers to proactively seek leads by monitoring prospect personas finding discussions of their product category and discovering purchase intent statements

The prevalence of selling in the social space is only going to increase Facebook Twitter Instagram and Pinterest all recently expanded their advertising options This change precedes another important development the rise of the Buy Button Google Youtube and all four of the above mentioned networks started introducing direct selling at the end of last year Those who are already making use of social data will be best placed to take advantage of this rise of social selling

The steady increase of time spent browsing on mobile devices has not been reflected in mobile e-commerce but these recent changes to the social landscape mean that a prioritisation of social strategy will see that change With social data increasingly prevalent across multiple departments retailers must ensure they are gathering and analysing social data and that they have the internal systems in place to make the most of the advantages it conveys

ldquo T H E R I S I N G I M P O R T A N C E O F S O C I A L D A T A I N E C O M M E R C E rdquo32

Kit Smith

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

45

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Content Strategist at SEMrush wwwsemrushcom

We used to hear that brands should focus on the quality of their content - produce something valuable useful and that satisfies usersrsquo needs and expectations Although this was perfect advice in 2015 itrsquos not quite applicable in 2016 Let me explain Of course content creators still have to think about the quality of the content they produce thatrsquos a reality that wonrsquot change anytime soon (hopefully never) but itrsquos just simply not enough anymore There are a lot of reasons for this

Last year was a year of content marketing triumphs Companies increased their budgets and accumulated experience and expertise Google is constantly working to improve its semantic search algorithms So the competition is getting tough

In 2016 companies have to focus on producing not only great content but outstanding content And wersquore not just talking about the quality of your content but its level of engagement

Build emotional connection and relations The power of social media here is undisputable

itrsquos also ideal for connecting users together Creating a friendly environment where users can share their experience will also help if you want to create not just customers but brand advocates

Including all kinds of visuals also works well because itrsquos now more about the look and appearance of your site and your products From pictures and graphics to product descriptions standards are going to be very high

Make people laugh and keep them from getting bored Your users donrsquot live in a distilled Internet environment where they strictly follow lead generation funnels Wersquore all looking for some fun and we spend a lot of time on content that is useless from a marketing point of view So make this content profitable and use it for customer retention mdash just maintain the right balance

ldquo I N 2 0 1 6 C O M P A N I E S H A V E T O F O C U S O N P R O D U C I N G N O T O N L Y G R E A T C O N T E N T B U T O U T S T A N D I N G C O N T E N T rdquo33

Elena Terenteva

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

46

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Product Photography Expert wwwpackshot-creatorcom

The quality of your visuals is not a sufficient condition anymore but at best a condition necessary to your success

You henceforth have to adopt an industrial logic by reasoning in bdquopicture per hourrdquo This is the challenge that I see for you this new year

The big eCommerce actors have already rationalized their shootings in order to be more efficient productive and profitable The Leclerc Group and Synalia ventepriveacuteecom and others decided to adopt productivist photographic workflows The goal is to obtain equal visuals from a shooting to another in order to be always efficient and make online buyers loyal Here are my tips for 2016 coming from this reasoning

- Internalize your shootings reduce your expenses and master the image of your products in the same time

- Automate your shootings as muchs as possible and increase your photographic production

- Standardize your visuals in order to better present your products and avoid barriers to online sale

I helped around 7000 companies in this process in more than 35 countries resulting in a constant decrease of costs and a systematic increase of sales for my partners

ldquo T H E Q U A L I T Y O F Y O U R V I S U A L S I S N O T A S U F F I C I E N T C O N D I T I O N A N Y M O R E B U T A T B E S T A C O N D I T I O N N E C E S S A R Y T O Y O U R S U C C E S S rdquo

34

Franccedilois-Xavier Tonnel

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

47

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Account Director at Luckycycle wwwluckycyclecom

One of the potholes I often see eCommerce businesses fall in to is constantly trying to get new customers This often leads to neglecting older customers that have already purchased from them These customers the ones that know where you are already and can trust you are the easiest people to create a relationship with

People donrsquot buy from ads as much as they

used to sure itrsquos an important part of your strategy but itrsquos not the most important cog in the machine

When your customers have a great experience

they are far more likely to spread the word to their friends On average each Facebook user has 340 friends 340 like minded people with similar interests (birds of a feather flock together) these are your target market Within this pool of Facebook contacts is at least 1 brand new customer

Keep your customers engaged with reward

schemes giveaways and good contact on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram As an example at Luckycycle we have found

that conversion rates go up by an average of 25 by simply using a reward scheme based on gamification in the post purchase part of a customer journey Word of mouth such as recommendations from friends and family has been proved to be the most influential tool to change a personrsquos opinion or to get them to try something new Get your loyal customers using your companyrsquos name in their tweets or incentivise them to post pictures of their purchases on Instagram and let them find your newest customers and do your work for you

ldquo E N G A G E Y O U R C U S T O M E R S I T I S O F T E N M U C H C H E A P E R T O K E E P A N E X I S T I N G C U S T O M E R T H A N T O G O A N D G E T A N E W O N E rdquo35

Sam Van Leer

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

48

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Project Manager for wwwguides-shoppingcom

The business volume generated on market places and dedicated shopping search engines has increased of around 50 since 2013

Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow itrsquos essential to be able to adapt yourself and to apply the good practices in order to obtain the best conversion rate and increase your turnover in the same time

Offer the visibility that your products deserve A good visibility on search engines is the guarantee of a permanent quality traffic Optimizing the SEO of your pages is a long-term endeavour But that seems worthwhile

Take advantage as much as you can of the interactions generated by your visitors This doesnrsquot cost you anything and provides you with new and unique content Improve your pages by using simple and targeted keywords unique descriptions without using the ones already on other eCommerce shops So you wonrsquot create duplicate content and risk to be indexed at the end of search engines or not appear at all

90 of the internet users are only clicking on the first three results So if your product isrsquont well ranked and doesnrsquot appear on the first page

therersquos nothing for it but to cross your fingers for the other 10 to arrive on your website

Offer an intelligent and appropriate shopping experience In order to stay in the race you have to think about offering a personalized and adapted shopping experience to and for your customers

Put yourself in your customersrsquo place and think about the number of times you had an idea in mind of what you wanted to buy and finally ended up with 5 items in your shopping basket The magy of suggestion is doing a great job Today itrsquos therefore favourable and judicious to use data-mining tools in order to offer cross-selling andor up-selling to your customers so theyrsquoll feel special and be guided to additional products that might interest them

You can also offer if you can afford it the bdquofree deliveryrdquo for all your orders or from a certain amount Online purchases are mainly motivated by the desire to make a good deal Customers donrsquot necessarily have a real purchasing intention but the fact of seeing that the delivery is free motives them to buy on your website and not on your competitorsrsquo one This will help you

ldquo T H I S Y E A R B E I N V I N C I B L E I N D I S P E N S A B L E A N D I N E S C A P A B L E rdquo36

Tiphaine Vey

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

49

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

to drive customer loyalty increase your orders exponentially and to create a lever for your conversion

Donrsquot neglect the M-Buyers Your website must be responsive even if you already have an app of your online store If the user gets on a website that is not adapted to his tablette or smartphonersquos screen or if itrsquos getting difficult - or impossible - to access the information or productsrsquo pages easily hersquoll loose is patience and go on another website

So for 2016 donrsquot loose your time and adapt your content to the M-Buyer potential

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

50

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

Social Media Manager for the eCommerce solution WiziShopwwwwizishopio wwwwizishopfrblog

2015 experienced some new features in social media This year I advise you to test them in order to check their pertinence with your activity and take advantage of it

Buy buttonsIn 2015 the bdquoBuyrdquo button progressively

appeared on Facebook Twitter and even Pinterest And while Google will probably launch it on its search engine mobile version pretty soon this button marks the powerful entry of social media in the eCommerce sector The idea is to buy directly a product without living the platform This feature is accessible via the advertising services of those media This year launch your first campaigns with this bdquoBuyrdquo button Exporting your online shop on social media allows you to reach a new audience that wouldnrsquot have maybe come on your website otherwise Thus this is the product which is going to your audience Moreover these platforms are all optimized for mobile a real opportunity when we know the importance of this device in the online selling Test the different platforms and focus on the ones where your target is the most active

Concerning the choice of the products you should highlight it brings us to the next point

The Facebook Ads personalizationWe owe this new feature to the Nosto

personalized recommendations solution Indeed the company offers now the possibility to integrate recommendations directly in the new multi-products dynamic ads on Facebook Thus Nosto marks the end of the static ads Thanks to them yoursquoll offer to Facebook users products that particularly seduce them as the algorithm is based on their past visits and purchases Yoursquoll therefore be sure to propose the right product to the right person This new one-to-one strategy also allows you to target in an automated way people having a similar profile to your existing customers whorsquove never ordered on your website before Technically the integration is simple and the optimization fo your campaign is pushed to its maximum Why would you leave you without it

The end of the tweets of 140-charactersJack Dorseyrsquos announcement Twitter CEO

didnrsquot create a real following as we knew it would happen at some point Then even if the rumor announces a 10000-characters limitation we still donrsquot know the real number What we really know is that yoursquoll have to closely follow this evolution as this will probably help you to go further in your

ldquo T A K E A D V A N T A G E O F T H E N E W S O C I A L T R E N D S rdquo37

Alexandre Viale

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

51

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

after sales service strategy Indeed we already know that Twitter is largely voted in by internet users to engage with a company in order to solve a problem with their orders or products Some big companies have already created their dedicated Twitter profiles for their after sales service With a limitation to 140 characters online retailers were able to only assure a first level service For more complex questions they had to redirect customers to another communication support Maybe with 10000 characters you will be able to go further with the deployment of your after sales service on Twitter

PeriscopeThe real-time video application Periscope

appeared in 2015 Now directly integrated in autoplay in the Twitter news feed videos recorded on Periscope allow you to attrack a quick audience watching the images in real-time This way if you organize an event if you want to show the life of your company or its functionning or if you want to reveal your new products Periscope is an excellent way to make your website more human and show that you are at the heart of the web trends Yoursquoll prove your expertise and reassure your target whorsquoll better trust you to order on your shop

Whatever your social media strategy is make sure to be creative Donrsquot copy what yoursquove already seen somewhere Try to tell a story and adopt your own redactionnal style Thus yoursquoll develop a real brand image which will help you to gain new customers on your website Finally think about analyzing the results of your different actions in order to optimize them permanently

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio

WiziShop is a Saas eCommerce solution which is powering more than 4000 online stores

WiziShop surrounds itself with a network of partners from the eCommerce ecosystem web agencies service providers experts bloggers

52

37 Expert Tips - to succeed in eCommerce in 2016

THIS EBOOK IS OFFERED BY WIZISHOP

Find out how the innovation of WiziShop is transforming the eCommerce sector

wwwwizishopio