E-commerce in 2012: the experts' view

The e-commerce market continued to grow last year, with online sales expected to reach £81bn for 2011. 
I've been asking some industry experts about significant trends from last year, and what they expect to see in 2012.

What were the most significant trends in e-commerce in 2011?

Paul Rouke, Founder, PRWD
Some of the UK's biggest retailers were engaging the likes of ourselves at PRWD in the planning and early design phases of their replatforming projects.
This approach, compared to previous years where our involvement would typically be towards the end of the project lifecycle, has enabled retailers to move more towards a user-centred design approach, reducing the scale and cost of technical changes.
It had also enabled a greater degree of best practice to be implemented whilst at the same time looking at ways to provide more persuasive and in some cases innovative user experiences. 

Depesh Mandalia, Senior Marketing Manager (Personalisation & MVT), Tesco
I've seen far more conversations around conversion optimisation in the last few years and in 2011 more action around this.
Perhaps this is just an evolution of online as e-commerce usability rapidly matures. Or perhaps companies are moving the weighting of budgets away from acquisition as markets saturate or as a symptom of the global crisis. It's certainly not a bad trend!
Mobile was one of my big trends to look out for in 2011 and we've not been let down. Mobile apps and sites are rapidly being deployed as competition increases for consumer spend.
There's still a long way to go to maximise this tool as companies realise the role mobile plays. Whether its for direct purchases, click and collect, researching before buying online or in-store it seems you need a presence or potentially lose out on a significant channel. 

Dan Barker, E-business consultant:
Android really took off in 2011, and some of the sites I work with now get more Android traffic than iPhone. That meant lots of companies instantly moved from worrying about 'iPhone apps' to producing mobile versions of their main sites.
It was also the year Magento became 'the standard option' for small/medium-sized e-commerce sites thinking about replatforming.
Social media finally moved past the top of the bell curve, and it's now an oddity to find online retailers not doing something with Facebook or Twitter.

What's on your e-commerce wishlist for this year?

Paul Rouke:
More retailers will recognise the importance of both conducting user research and implementing a continuous testing and optimisation strategy, although I personally feel this is actually still a few years away.
Retailers will begin to focus on providing more persuasive browsing and shopping experiences, adopting some of the many approaches used by the likes of Booking.com.

Depesh Mandalia:
I'd like to see mobile maturing much quicker in 2012,  whether it’s an app, mobile web or a hybrid strategy.
I'm looking forward as a consumer and a marketer to making more of this channel. I love the apps I currently use and love some of the mobile specific websites out there but we're not quite there yet, both in terms of what consumers want and how consumers want to shop.
It'll be a learning curve but one I'd like to see quickly evolve.

Dan Barker:
Lots of the 'walled garden' stuff Google has been doing lately is sad. I hope there'll be less of that.
I hope the Kindle Fire will sell loads, and that tablets will push more into the mainstream. It's fairly common to see sites taking more orders from iPads than from phones now, I'd bet the Kindle Fire will continue that.
There're lots of interesting possibilities there too, such as tie-ins between books and websites, films, games and websites, etc.
It would be nice to see personal commerce grow much more. eBay got everyone used to selling second hand stuff, and marketplaces have accustomed lots of people to the idea of selling directly themselves. I think marketplace sites will continue to grow, and more will move on from there to launching their own sites.

What are your predictions for 2012?

Paul Rouke:
Retailers who don't yet enclose their checkout process will implement what the likes of Amazon, ASOS, John Lewis and Game have been doing for years.
Retailers who currently force new customers to create an account or register at the start of checkout will finally realise that consumers don't want this forced on them and will therefore adopt a new approach.
This is to provide new customers with the option to create an account at the end of checkout.
The usability, persuasion and conversion optimisation industry is still very much in its infancy in terms of penetration & budget allocation with senior decision makes within retail organisations, but I certainly expect that during 2012 there will be a marked improvement in these areas.
Attendance at conferences like Conversion Conference London will be significantly higher that 2011 as more businesses recognise that investing more in conversion whilst potentially reducing some of their acquisition spend is a very intelligent commercial decision.
Remote user testing services like whatusersdo will grow significantly as more businesses use this type of approach to begin understanding consumer behaviour.
More SEO agencies will look to position themselves as also being conversion rate optimisation specialists, as they seek to exploit the growing market opportunity that exists in this industry.

Depesh Mandalia:
As quickly as mobile has taken off I think tablets still remain largely untapped. Some consider the strategies similar but I think the way they're used to consume media, games, and productivity differs.
The devices may well converge as more and more is compressed into smart phones and it'd take a brave marketer to bet against the tablets but with announcements recently of the automotive industry using tablets in their vehicles there's still scope for growth and a wide market to tap into.

Dan Barker:
I think we'll see a lot more 'e-commerce add-on' businesses pop up. People like Predictive Intent and Peerius have done this really well with smart on-site merchandising, the same with Feefo and a few other on-site reviews systems.
And third party 'abandoned basket rescue' systems have really caught on. I think we'll see a lot more of those types of systems. Things will continue to be a bit rocky in the UK, so I'd bet internationalisation will move from being a 'nice to have' to something far more sites focus on.
And, as traditional shops struggle, I expect a few more pureplay online businesses will start to open physical shops to function alongside their online stuff, and for more to push into direct mail. Mobile and social will continue to be the big, buzzy topics.

source: econsultancy.com

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E-Commerce for the Hospitality Industry

The Internet has consolidated itself as a very powerful platform that has changed the way we communicate, and the way we do business. Over the last decade the population of Internet users has increased rapidly. The hospitality industry has always been among the first to capitalize on new technologies. Costumers are constantly seeking new sources of information to help them make decisions before purchasing services. E-commerce has been defined as "the buying and selling of products and services by businesses and consumers over the Internet." With hotel e-commerce, the landscape of the hospitality industry is forever changed. Online sales are an important part of the business. The growing importance of e-commerce in the modern hospitality industry has created an urgent need for simple solutions to manage companies' online presence. Now that each hotel is involved in e-commerce, why is hotel e-commerce so important today?

• Accelerating Internet usage worldwide
• The Internet is the lowest cost hotel-booking channel
• Most travelers research hotel reservations on the Internet
• Social media and online hotel reviews are an increasingly important decision factor
• The web is the preferred media source for travel information, favored 17:1 over television and 6:1 over newspapers and magazines.

Smart hoteliers need to keep a sharp focus on the fundamental shift in ways customers are seeking information and channels that drive maximum return on investment. Here is a list of the basic e-commerce strategies that will help to get the best from the Internet world.

1. Search-friendly web site design. Site download speed is one of the most important ranking factors in organic search. Search engines want users to have a good experience. A good experience translates into a site that has relevant and compelling content, is quick to download, can be found easily and is compatible across all browsers. Heavy graphics, animation and flash demos cause your site to perform slowly. Sites that are built keeping these guidelines in mind will deliver better user experiences, will perform better on search engines, and ultimately drive higher ROI.
2. Improve conversion and usability. With the increasing volume of information that hoteliers are trying to provide travelers, it is key for hotels to focus on usability and conversion. Hotels tend to keep adding promotions, banners to promote offers and special deals. We forget that the human brain can only consume limited information. It is important to take a holistic approach and prioritize information. Good web site architecture and organized content improves site usability and its efficiency when used with search engines.
3. Paid search. This instantly drives targeted, qualified traffic to the web site and increases conversions. Locally targeted paid search campaigns are a great option. Most of the search queries related to hotels include location as a modifier (for example, Moscow hotels). Identifying top feeder markets and targeting campaigns specifically to those markets will help to increase conversions. It is also important to optimize all aspects of your campaign to maximize conversions. Here are some tips: make sure your ad has a call to action and offers value to customers; make sure your ad groups are made up of tightly knit keyword themes and that those keywords are reflected in your ad copy; ensure that your landing pages clearly reflect the offer promoted in the ad copy and includes clear calls to action and conversion factors.
4. Real time search — natural ranking. Building strong sites with compelling fresh content, and quality incoming links will always be essential for any site. With search engines launching real time indexing, it has become crucial to treat their site as an information platform for fresh content. Adding real time search functionality to your site, capability to generate user reviews, launching contests helps to build fresh content and quality links. Maps, photo galleries, videos and press releases are creative ways to distribute content on different channels.
5. Mobile. As things stand now, mobile queries represent about 10% of all queries made on Google. People are using mobile devices to conduct searches, as well as share content, connect with friends and browse the web. Google has recently announced that the mobile market is their priority. We are seeing a steady growth in traffic coming from mobile phones and smart phones. Hotels can leverage the mobile market by optimizing their site for mobile phones, improving the download speed of their site by avoiding heavy graphics and flash, making sure their site is mobile compatible, and promoting mobile sites across all platforms including paid, social and local. Location based services such as Foursquare and Facebook Places can also help to reach sets of customers who are active on these channels in their local community. Offering mobile specific coupons and specials helps to connect with a different set of customers who are active in the mobile space.
6. Embracing social media. 93 percent of social media users expect companies to have a social presence. 85 percent of social media users want companies to interact with them on social sites. A well-planned social initiative can turn fans into brand evangelists.
7. Test, test, test. Top e-commerce sites are continually testing new things. It's the only way to achieve continual improvement. I've seen examples where changing one word in a headline increased sales over 3 times. What difference could a seemingly insignificant change like that do for your web site?

Hoteliers need to ensure that they are using the full potential of the Internet. If someone walks up to you today and claims that they are an "Internet expert," walk away … fast! The web as we know it today has only evolved over the last 18 years, yet no other technology has impacted humanity so radically in our history. We have to constantly learn and look for ways to harness the power of new developments and trends. "For tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today," in the words of a famous proverb.
source: The Moscow Times

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Travel & hospitality brands need to make mobile a top priority for 2012

62% of travel brands don’t have a mobile friendly website. This was just one of the findings from a recent global EyeforTravel survey which examined key trends in travel marketing and distribution.

The survey found that globally, Travel brands are failing to adequately invest in mobile, despite widespread adoption of smartphones and increasing customer search queries via mobile (19.5% of search queries for hotels are made via mobile devices).

The survey (released as part of EyeforTravel’s Travel Distribution & Marketing Barometer report October, 2011) highlighted that overall, mobile investment globally for apps and websites had not moved with great pace during 2011 for Travel.

Investment by certain countries however did gain pace.  In Europe, Germany is leading the way with 45% of respondents this autumn indicating that they now have a mobile application for their brand – an increase from just 9% back in February 2011.

China saw the biggest increase in investment with 67% of respondents indicating that they have a mobile website for their brand, up from just 30% in February.

The shift towards mobile has been likened to the seismic shift from offline to online that occurred over a decade ago.  In a month that saw major travel brands such as Thomas Cook feel the impact of being too complacent about adapting to change, the survey comes as a warning to all travel brands.   Those brands who relish and adapt to new consumer facing technology are the ones who will succeed over the coming years.

For many brands, adapting to a rapidly changing technological environment can be daunting.  EyeforTravel’s Mobile Innovation in Travel Awards (which will take place in San Francisco, March 5-6) seek to recognise and reward those brands who are investing in mobile right now.

‘Innovative travel brands who have recognised the urgent need to invest in mobile right now to stay competitive are helping to pave the way for the rest of the industry to follow suit,’ says Gina Baillie, GM, EyeforTravel. 

‘The Mobile Innovation in Travel Awards recognise the valuable time and resources that they have invested and will no doubt serve to encourage industry wide mobile best practices.’

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source: eyefortravel