A BLOG FOR E-COMMERCE LEADERS

SLI Blog

Posts in Search Conferences Category

All Things Amazon and Personalization Prevail at SLI Connect NYC

Posted by Chris Brubaker, Chief Marketing OfficerConferences, eCommerce, Personalization, Search Conferences, Site Search, SLI Buyer Engine, Uncategorized

sli-connect-2016-top-image

Dozens of e-commerce companies, thought leaders and SLI partners convened this fall at Carnegie Hall in New York City for our third annual SLI Connect event. During packed presentations and breakout sessions the group tackled many issues and opportunities for online retailers today. Among the over-arching themes were strategies to compete with Amazon, ways to offer a personalized experience, and best practices in quickly connecting buyers with the products they are most likely to buy.  Here are some highlights.

 

Many Ways to Compete with Amazon

 E-commerce is growing 12%, offering many opportunities to grow sales. As SLI Systems CMO, I shared ways that online merchants can seize the greatest share of sales, particularly when competing with Amazon, which is “ruthlessly efficient in selling online.” SLI’s goal is to give everyone else the tools that the big players have, so that they can increase traffic, turn shoppers into buyers, and sell more to each buyer. SLI enables a virtuous cycle of predictive product discovery: increased site traffic powers the SLI Buyer Engine to improve user experience; this converts more shoppers into buyers and increases AOVs; then, analysis of user behavior drives new site traffic. It’s the beauty of processing data streams in real time.

eShopportunity Founder Fahim Naim offered methods for retailers to expand sales, using examples from e-commerce trailblazers Jet.com, Boxed.com and Enjoy.com. Offer membership and subscription options to drive engagement, use sample boxes for trials and awareness, and add marketplaces to expand the share of wallet. He also explained key trends to watch, such as:

  • Showcasing video on mobile; customers are 64% more likely to buy after watching a video
  • Increasing personalization via emails; Jupiter said relevant emails drive 18x more revenue
  • Personalizing the site experience, including search, recommendations and displays
  • Ensuring site search considers out of stocks, smart autocomplete, trending items, location
  • Making use of augmented/virtual reality, like apps from IKEA and Converse

 Jeff Fox with SLI partner Feefo shared how customer reviews and ratings provide invaluable business insights for teams, service and products functions across industries. He net out best practices in capturing the customer experience to drive sales, including engaging genuine customers, evaluating feedback and responding, expanding content reach, driving traffic to the website, sharing reviews across social platforms and generating Gold stars to increase Google QS. In fact, Google rewards you for having an improved quality score by lowering your Adword spend – and in some instances, good ratings can cover your ad spend.

 

From Site to Paid, #SearchIsSexy

 SLI Chief Innovation Officer Shaun Ryan recapped the evolution of e-commerce and site search, beginning in 2001, covering the rise of user-generated content, social media – from Myspace to Pinterest, e-mail marketing, SEO and paid Search/Google Shopping, mobile, personalization, video, and marketplaces. He explained that the future of site search is about perfecting cross-channel selling, buying for profiles (implicitly OR explicitly letting users specify who they are buying for), and for non-Amazon merchants, exploring the (controversial) opportunity to collectively use preferences to offer a better experience for the shopper.

 Panel session moderator Melissa Campanelli, with Total Retail publishing, who earlier spoke on the state of retail amidst digital disrupters (notably the presidential election) (watch video here), asked the panel whether search has lost its edge, like email, the group agreed that search remains important given the strong value/intent to buy when someone uses a site search box. One panelist explained “Amazon is great if you know what you want but it sucks if you just want to browse. Think about how can people browse and find things easily. Not many sites do this well.” Another panelist added, “Search is sexy” – and a new hash tag was born: #searchissexy.

Greg Bauman of e-commerce paid search management firm ROI Revolution shared Google Shopping strategies, including tracking keywords, spending where the cost for CVR is less (such as with umbrellas in AZ vs. OR), and not using up your daily budget before peak hours. It’s important to leverage the data Google gives you when defining your strategy. Optimize your titles with the most impactful keywords at the front of a description (using brand or manufacturer; not company) and descriptions using the fewest number of keywords that will increase views. And, use Custom Labels to make use of best sellers or clearance based on seasonality, price, profitability, and stock location.

 

Make it Easy and Personalized

SLI customer Everlast teamed with SLI partner Bronto to share a results-packed case study about their use of Bronto’s software for email management. The duo provided a detailed playbook with strategies for list growth and customer segmentation, as well as how lifecycle messaging drives revenue. By executing on a series of well-timed – yet unpredictable – personalized email messages, Everlast has seen 13% list growth in less than one year.

On the future of e-commerce, panelist Marc Lippmann, Managing partner with Debra Lippmann cosmetics, stressed the value of providing shoppable content. That is, enabling shoppers to buy an item, in the moment, while they are looking at commerce content and video. Delivering frictionless mobile checkout is also critical for future success. Marc explained that Apple Pay is revolutionizing mobile commerce, with users calling the feature “delightful!”

 

To learn more about e-commerce personalization, read how SLI Enhanced Search Personalization™ instantly and dynamically personalizes the shopping experience for both first-time visitors and loyal customers in real time.

Aussie Retailers Imagine the Future of E-commerce at Annual Summit

Posted by Aparna GrayeCommerce, Search Conferences

SLI Connect AU photo 2SLI Systems welcomed leading retailers and e-commerce experts from across Australia to the second SLI Connect Sydney summit last week. Hosted at the iconic Sydney Opera House, the event featured a strong lineup of top brands, including Krispy Kreme, Nisbets, Shopbot, eStar, Braintree, Temando, ChannelAdvisor and Bronto Software. Throughout the day, speakers and guests alike discussed the future of e-commerce and how retailers need to evolve in a fast-changing world.

Change is constant in the e-commerce industry

Consumer purchasing habits are changing. Smartphones and tablets now account for 55 percent of time spent shopping online. And we no longer make purchases through one channel alone.

As Tim Davies, known in the industry as “Mr. eBay” explained, “sometimes we begin buying on one device and then move onto another before making a purchase. Brands need to respond with an omnichannel approach.”

Importantly, it’s no longer just millennials who are digitally savvy. The older generation, those known as digital dinosaurs, are now taking their shopping habits online. And with more disposable income, they offer a new opportunity for e-commerce retailers.

SLI Connect AU photoRetailers embrace new technology to remain competitive

Despite acknowledged challenges from international competitors, there was a real sense of optimism in the room. Retailers are taking steps to remain competitive, with nine out of 10 having updated their e-commerce strategies in the last year and adopting new technologies, such as optimising for mobile.

One of our keynote speakers, Krispy Kreme’s Digital Business Manager, Richard Schulman, emphasised the role of e-commerce tools in providing a high-quality customer experience and, ultimately, driving sales.

“It’s no secret that e-commerce retailers need to streamline their websites and make sure that they are easy to use for the average punter, but the secret is how,” he said. “Most businesses don’t realise how easy it is, or how important it is.”

It’s time to go mobile

The importance of mobile was a key theme throughout the day. Mobile commerce now accounts for 11% of e-commerce sales – and this figure is set to rise.

The growth in mobile has huge implications for e-commerce. No retailer wants to provide a poor mobile user experience as it creates friction for shoppers in finding and buying.

More than half of the retailers at SLI Connect had optimised their website for mobile and tablet – and those who hadn’t, have made it a priority for 2016.

No “silver bullet” for long-term success

Looking to the future, Blair Cassidy, VP of product management at SLI Systems, painted a compelling vision for the role of virtual reality in the future of e-commerce. He challenged innovative retailers to take the lead in implementing this promising technology.

But while virtual reality and other online retail technologies have much to offer e-commerce in the future, a key takeaway from the event was that no single approach or tool holds the key to success.

“There is no ‘silver bullet’ for success,” said panel member, John Menagh, director of sales at eStar. “Retailers must ensure their online and offline strategies are in harmony, so that consumers receive a consistent, high-quality experience of your brand, where ever they are.”

So that’s it for this year’s SLI Connect Sydney! A big thank you to all who attended, guests, speakers and sponsors, and for making our second SLI Connect such a success. The next SLI Connect event is planned for September 15, 2016 in New York City at the magnificent Carnegie Hall! Save the date and stay tuned – registration will open soon. Click here to view survey results from SLI Connect UK, which was held in March.

Why In-Person Connections Can’t Be Beat

Posted by Tim CallanConferences, eCommerce, Search Conferences

SLI ConnectNo matter how advanced conferencing technology becomes, there’s no substitute for meeting someone face-to-face. Shaking hands, sharing conversation over a nice meal, sitting together to brainstorm new strategies for online retail success – none of these experiences is replicated through meetings using Skype, WebEx or GoToMeeting.

The Wall Street Journal article “The New Face of Face-to-Face meetings” cites an Oxford Economics study showing that every dollar invested in business travel results in $12.50 in added revenue and $3.80 in new profits. Face-to-face meetings are necessary, and even profitable, for reasons both obvious and research-based:

  • A handshake tells a lot about a person, and you can’t shake hands with a monitor
  • Facial expressions and other body language can communicate more than the words we use
  • Non-verbal cues help us predict a person’s trustworthiness (Science Daily)
  • In-person meetings are usually more casual and more likely to be considered “off the record,” so it’s possible to get more done in less time
  • Sharing a common experience is a building block of a long-term relationship
  • In-person meetings are simply more memorable than digital conversations

Connecting with Customers

Knowing the importance of connecting in-person, we hold SLI Connect events each year in North America, Asia Pacific and the UK. It’s a unique opportunity to mingle with our customers, other retailers and industry leaders to discuss current e-commerce topics, explore future possibilities and learn from each other’s experiences.

Our SLI Connect event is Thursday, September 24, at Carnegie Hall in New York City, and there’s still a couple days to register. Our agenda, speaker list, venue details and sign up form are available at www.sli-connect.com.

If you’re already scheduled to attend, you can follow real-time updates on Twitter using the hashtag #sliconnect. We can’t wait to share some non-verbal cues and build some common experiences (i.e. shake hands and have some fun together).

 

At Inaugural SLI Connect AU, Retailers Discover How to Stay Competitive

Posted by Tim CallanConferences, eCommerce, Search Conferences, Site Search

SLI Connect AU photoOur inaugural SLI Connect AU is a wrap! I would like to thank all of our engaging speakers and thoughtful attendees for making our first SLI Connect in Australia a great success. Speakers included SLI customers Bras N Things and Appliances Online along with industry leaders from Testivate, ChannelAdvisor, SKUVantage, Harris Farm and ShopBot. We brought together Australia’s leading online retailers to discuss and learn about the top e-commerce challenges and opportunities for the coming year, and we came away with some powerful insights.

The Aussie E-Commerce Boom

According to SLI Connect speaker Mark Gray, managing director at ChannelAdvisor, the Australian e-commerce market is growing at a breakneck rate. Mark said: “Australians spent $16.4 billon on online retail in 2014! This level is equivalent to 6.8% of spending at traditional brick and mortar retailers” (source: NAB Feb, 2015).

Moreover, Testivate Founder and Principal Analyst Steven Noble, who also presented his findings at SLI Connect, reported that Australian retailers are adopting global e-commerce best practices and meeting U.S. and EU competition head on.

Aussie Retailers’ Biggest Worry

Even with business booming, we learned via an SLI survey at the show that half of these leading Australian retail brands worried about losing business to international competitors in the past year. SLI Systems Regional VP Mark Brixton said: “The results show local retailers are concerned by the increased willingness of Australian shoppers to interact with international retailers.”

In response to this pressure, the vast majority of Aussie retailers have taken action to ensure they remain relevant in a increasingly competitive market by implementing advanced e-commerce solutions, including sophisticated site search (80%) and mobile and tablet optimization (67%).

SLI customer and presenter Duncan Brett, general manager of e-commerce at Bras N Things, shared how learning-based site search, navigation and recommendations solutions from SLI are helping Bras N Things tailor product searches for customers and increase sales from top search terms over time.

The Omnichannel Future

Similar to our experience at SLI Connect UK, retailers discussed moving toward omnichannel retailing as fast as possible. Neil Thomas, general manager at ShopBot, wisely suggested in his presentation that “it is time to think about dropping the ‘e’ from ‘e-commerce platform’ and calling it what it is really becoming – a commerce platform.”

Duncan of Bras N Things further emphasized that the brick and mortar store and e-commerce store should be “a joint force and not another source of competition.”

As the buying journey becomes more complex, so too does the competition. It’s inspiring to see so many retailers in Australia and across the globe using learning site search as a competitive advantage to drive conversion rates and sales worldwide.

The next SLI Connect event is planned for September 24, 2015 in New York City! Save the date and stay tuned – registration will open soon.

At eTail East, Plan for a Profitable Holiday and Beyond

Posted by Dawn MortensenConferences, eCommerce, Search Conferences

As eTail East begins today in Philadelphia, we want to point out some of the highlights we’re looking forward to at this year’s show.

Monday Roundtable:
Use Creative and Social Content to Convince Shoppers to Buy
Moderator: Jason Miller, Product Evangelist, SLI Systems
Grand Ballroom C, D – Table 6
August 11, 10:05-11:05 AND 3:10-4:10

At this eTail East Roundtable, SLI Product Evangelist Jason Miller will share examples of leading retailers that increase site conversions by using rich content like videos, blogs, social posts and how-to articles – all integrated into their site search and navigation. He’ll discuss why compelling content helps entice and convince shoppers to convert. Learn and discuss best practices that leading retailers use to create a site experience that turns shoppers into buyers. If you can’t make this session, listen to our on-demand webinar, “Use Creative Content to Turn Shoppers into Buyers.”

Vault 11_27_08Monday Dinner with SLI Systems:
Del Frisco’s Steakhouse, private Vault Room
August 11, 2014, 7:30 p.m.
For retailers only, by invitation
RVSPs accepted until 2 p.m. EST today

To kick off the first night of eTail East in style, SLI Systems is hosting an unforgettable dining experience at Del Frisco’s Steakhouse. We’ll have the privilege of dining in the private Vault Room of Del Frisco’s, located inside what once was the First Philadelphia Bank. If you are a retailer and have not yet reserved a place at the table, you may RSVP here until 2 p.m. EST today.

Wednesday Main Session:
Easy Upgrades to Optimize Holiday Profits
Presenters: Victor Castro, Director of E-commerce, Zachys Wine & Liquor and Tim Callan, CMO, SLI Systems
Grand Ballroom E, F
August 13, 12:50 p.m.

With no time to spare before the 2013 holiday shopping rush, Zachys Wine & Liquor’s Director of E-commerce Victor Castro implemented e-commerce acceleration solutions to the Zachys site and saw an incredible 130% increase in site revenue by the end of the season. In this main-stage presentation, hear from Victor about the solutions he used and how you can optimize your own e-commerce site before Holiday 2014.

Enjoy eTail East!

Boden, LED Hut and SwimShop Talk ROI at Internet Retailing Expo

Posted by SLI SystemsConferences, Search Conferences, Success Stories

This week at the Internet Retailing Expo in Birmingham, England, thousands of e-commerce retailers are attending presentations, browsing the exhibit hall and taking part in workshops to connect with peers and gain insight into how they can improve their business in a multichannel ecosystem. Among the 60 retail speakers at the event are several SLI customers.

MarkSmearPrezIRX14In a presentation on the topic of connecting shoppers to the products they’re most likely to buy, Keith Scott of LED Hut and Mark Sear of SwimShop spoke to an over-filled room about the results they’ve seen using SLI Learning Search technology and other SLI e-commerce acceleration solutions. LED Hut is the UK’s largest retailer of LED lighting products, while SwimShop is the Swim Specialist for Sports Direct, the UK’s largest sports retailer.

 

Here are a few comments from their presentations:

  • “SLI is giving us an estimated 400% to 500% ROI.” – Mark Sear, SwimShop
  • “My recommendation: I would implement SLI.” – Mark Sear, SwimShop
  • “Keyword suggestions with images and descriptions help our customers find what they’re searching for.” – Keith Scott, LED Hut
  • “The technology learns from visitor behavior to deliver the most relevant products.” – Keith Scott, LED Hut
  • “We use SLI search to examine the customer journey and improve the user experience.” – Keith Scott, LED Hut

In a separate presentation, Boden E-commerce Manager Paul Knutton presented a session on best practices for offering your e-commerce site across multiple countries and languages. Also speaking to a standing-room-only crowd, Knutton provided examples and metrics on how SLI Systems has helped with Boden’s international reach. His comments included:

  • “What SLI does particularly well is make sense of non-English languages.”
  • “Our search users convert at 1.77x the rate of non-search users and spend 2x more than what non-search users spend.”

To read more about how Boden, LED Hut and other leading companies around the globe use SLI to increase their profitability, take a look at our case studies.

If you’re at IRX today, stop by to see us on the show floor or in the Top 500 Lounge. Otherwise, keep an eye on our Events page to see where SLI will be in the coming months.

Reason to Party: 203% More Conversions

Posted by Dawn MortensenConferences, eCommerce, Navigation, Search Conferences, SEO, Site Search

This is first in a series of success stories on eCommerce sites that are growing their business with advanced site search. See live presentations of these stories at the SLI Theater at IRCE June 4-6.

Every eTailer knows this: You can’t get people to buy what they can’t find.

In the online party supply world, for example, a consumer has dozens of choices for where to buy a $250 life-sized Dr. Who TARDIS. If your site doesn’t appear high in Google results for this item – or if your customers can’t find the science fiction party supplies on your site – then your conversion rates will be as unpredictable as is the TARDIS’ ability for accurate time travel.

PartySuppliesDelivered.com is one among dozens of online party supply stores. With more than 4,000 products and the backing of parent company Mattress USA, PartySuppliesDelivered.com had a couple great things going for it. But there was one major problem: Customers could not find what they were looking for.

The party supplier’s original site search technology was the default search included with its eCommerce platform. It ranked search results only by the number of times the search term was found in the description, instead of ranking search results by relevance. This limited approach led to skewed results and frustrated potential customers.

To solve this problem, Party Supplies Delivered put its search function and site navigation into the full-service care of SLI Systems. As customers began to find more relevant results for their searches, the business improvements were remarkable; the bounce rate dropped 40 percent, page views increased by 132 percent and conversions went up by 203 percent. Key features like focused category pages, rich auto-complete and user-generated SEO are among the changes that are turning the business around.

“Now when customers drill into a subcategory, they really browse around; pages per visit are up 111 percent. This increases their average order too,” said Ian MacDonald, VP of eCommerce & Marketing for Party Supplies Delivered.

To learn more about how advanced site search and navigation technology helps Party Supplies Delivered, read their case study. If you’re coming to IRCE, stop by the SLI Theater at booth #501, where you can see a live demo from our customers including Ian from Party Supplies Delivered – plus get a free site critique. We look forward to seeing you there!

SLI to Exhibit at SMX West

Posted by geoffbConferences, Search Conferences

This week SLI is exhibiting at the SMX West Conference. The event is being held at the Santa Clara Convention Center which is nice as its only 15 minutes from our office.

SLI is exhibiting plus we are running a Theatre Presentation -Wednesday, Feb 11, 2009 at 11:20am on Internal Search & Navigation Best Practices & Their Impact on SEO.

2009

Posted by Shaun RyanSearch Conferences

Welcome to my first blog post for 2009. I’ve had a few weeks off relaxing in a fantastic New Zealand summer and only checking my email when I feel that buzz in my pocket. I’m refreshed and ready to go. 2009 is certainly going to be an interesting year. I’m starting off with a trip to Miami next week attending the Internet Retailer Web Design conference where I hope to meet a bunch of current and future customers and partners and learn a thing or two about web design. If you’re going to be there then come along and meet us at our booth or drop me an email: shaun.ryan at sli-systems.com.

I often hear from our customers and partners that SLI is one of the most responsive vendors they have ever worked with. One of my goals for this year is to ensure that we continue to provide a remarkable level of service as we grow. As always, we are looking to add new  features to our service that will help our customers’ businesses.

Last year we updated our merchandising console, introduced Auto Complete, improved the speed of our search, and upgraded our infrastructure to provide improved redundancy. All of these were provided at no additional cost to our customers. We also continued to improve our best practices as we gained experience running the search on over 350 sites. We have several more improvements in the works – that you will see rolled out in 2009. I look forward to telling you more as we release these and I wish you all a prosperous 2009.

See us at Internet Retailer Web Design and Vote for SLI in Shop.org’s Innovation Contest

Posted by geoffbeCommerce, Search Conferences

Happy New Year to everyone! 2009 is barely underway and there are already many exciting things happening…

Internet Retailer Web Design Conference
While the U.S. makes history with the inauguration of president Obama, we’ll be busy – along with many other ecommerce technology companies – showing our wares at the Internet Retailer Web Design conference Jan. 19-22 in Miami.

Stop by our booth (#43), or join us at the SLI-sponsored cocktail receptions on Monday and Tuesday nights. (The theme of Tuesday night’s reception will be Chinese New Year and a celebration of the “Year of the Search B-Ox.” Come have a drink on us!)

Shop.org Strategy & Innovation Forum
We’re also looking forward to Shop.org’s Strategy & Innovation Forum Feb. 2-4 in Orlando.

We’re participating in the Innovation contest, the winners of which will be announced on Feb. 3 at the show. If you have a few minutes, go to the web site and take a look at the entries – and if you think SLI’s idea shows true innovation, feel free to cast a vote our way. (Note: this contest is open to retailers’ votes only.) You may vote for up to 5 entries. The deadline is 11:59 EST on Friday, Jan. 16.

If you’re planning to attend either event, let us know – we’d love to see you!

Load More