In a recent US survey amongst 1000 respondents nearly one in two stated they would be more likely to do business with a retail store if that store had a mobile web site.
This got me thinking about the whole area of cross-channel retailing – particularly as we lead up to Christmas.
The digital channel (defined here as online, web, mobile, apps) is getting a fair bit of airtime lately. I recently wrote about Toys R Us and their iPad catalogue app and today read that Target US (see pic above) have recently launched their own iPad solution. Target are hoping it will help drive purchase intent amongst their expansive and ever-increasingly connected shopper base.
Why does this all this matter?
In a recent interview, Glen Senk CEO of Urban Outfitters in the USA stated that his highest value customers use three or more of their channels and spend six times what a single-channel shopper spends in the process.
Wow. Now that’s a motivation!
Insight? Focus on helping your shoppers shop your brand – not your channels
The US based brand, Moose Jaw is an example of a brand that really “gets” this. Whilst they have a seriously well-planned multi-channel retail strategy, they measure success on the total value of their customers (vs siloed metrics for each channel).
As Jason Goldview from Crossview stated “They [MooseJaw] understand that the more opportunities they create to touch each customer across different channels, the more valuable that customer will be in the long run.”
The other thing I thought was brilliant about Moose Jaw was that they reward customers for interacting with the brand – not just buying from it.
Insight Two? More brand interaction drives greater lifetime value
Brands that successfully implement cross channel retailing share two things in common. First, they know how to manage deployment of touch-points and tactics “in the trenches” (ie: channels). This is important because some of your customer segments may only shop in particular channels and not others. Second, they have vision. They know what kind of bigger brand story and experience they’re wanting to create and use a “helicopter view” to ensure that all channels and touchpoints merge together.
Sources
www.mobilecommercedaily.com
www.retailcustomerexperience.com
