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All Things Amazon and Personalization Prevail at SLI Connect NYC

Posted by Chris Brubaker, Chief Marketing OfficerNovember 9, 2016Conferences, eCommerce, Personalization, Search Conferences, Site Search, SLI Buyer Engine, Uncategorized

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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 GrayApril 12, 2016eCommerce, Search Conferences

SLI 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.

Retailers 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.

Aim for Holiday Merchandising Perfection

Posted by Dawn MortensenOctober 23, 2015eCommerce, Merchandising, Mobile, Webinar

There’s a great deal of science behind online retail, especially this time of year. Holiday shopping projections and results are measured by every retail organization and publication from August through February. Smart retailers analyze these numbers to create merchandising strategies that maximize their conversions.

At SLI Connect last month, Jim Davidson, Head of Research at Bronto Software, shared his latest findings on what retailers believe shoppers want versus what consumers actually expect for the 2015 holiday season. Following are a few interesting points from his presentation, “Creating Holiday Perfection Online,” which he will share in an SLI webinar next week.

Highest Converting Holiday Promotions
Bronto surveyed retailers and shoppers to learn which holiday promotion messages work best for online buyers versus in-store buyers. One of the discoveries was that 38% of shoppers will not buy if free shipping isn’t offered.

Mobile Shoppers: Browsing or Buying?
We know there’s an increasing trend toward using smartphones or tablets to shop online. However, because some retailers are slow to make their sites mobile-friendly, many mobile shoppers still turn to their desktops or go to a store to make the purchase. Bronto found that 22% of shoppers plan to actually make a purchase on their smartphone this holiday.

Even with holiday merchandising in full swing, there are plenty of digital promotions yet to be executed and much fine tuning to be done in the next two months of 2015. Listening to the retail analysts, along with optimizing your site search and mobile search, can help you achieve perfection.

Learn more by registering for the webinar “Creating Holiday Perfection Online” on Tuesday, October 27, at 11:00 a.m. PDT.

Why In-Person Connections Can’t Be Beat

Posted by Tim CallanSeptember 21, 2015Conferences, eCommerce, Search Conferences

No 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 CallanApril 2, 2015Conferences, eCommerce, Search Conferences, Site Search

Our 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 SLI Connect, Retailers Imagine an Omnichannel Future

Posted by Tim CallanMarch 18, 2015Conferences, eCommerce, Site Search, Success Stories, User Experience

SLI Connect is sparking exciting e-commerce discussions on both sides of the globe this month.

Earlier in March, we had our most successful SLI Connect UK yet. With an unprecedented 200 attendees from 150+ leading retailers such as Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Tesco, Jigsaw London, Warehouse, Chemist Direct and Paul Smith, we could not have asked for a better or more expert turnout. I want to thank all who attended and presented for your invaluable participation at the show.

At the end of the month, we will hold our next SLI Connect in Australia – SLI Connect AU.

Through discussions with customers and colleagues at SLI Connect UK, it was clear that the future of e-commerce is flush with opportunity. We’ve all heard the buzzword ‘omnichannel,’ but the reality comes down to this: true ‘omnichannel’ means the channel becomes totally invisible to the customer. To make the omnichannel experience seamless and successful, the retailer must subtly meet shoppers at all points in their user journeys in a personalized manner. Here are two real-world examples I was fortunate to learn about at SLI Connect.

Fashion Retailers Move Toward Omnichannel

Top clothing retailer Jigsaw is positively moving toward omnichannel retailing. Jigsaw’s Head of E-commerce Kate Holt presented at SLI Connect, where she revealed that Jigsaw was experiencing a massive rise in smartphone traffic. She informed us that 55% of traffic and 44% of sales came from mobile devices! Jigsaw uses SLI Mobile to ensure its mobile shoppers are quickly finding the items they want to buy. Kate reported that the results to date have been staggering, with revenue up 47% and conversion rate up 30%.

Leading clothing retailer Warehouse is also working toward omnichannel retailing by executing a robust personalization strategy, according to SLI Connect presenter and Warehouse Digital Trading Manager Liam Price. Through Warehouse’s popular blog ‘Tales of the City’; various payment, delivery and returns options; product recommendations (via SLI Learning Recommendations); and advanced site search (via SLI Learning Search), the retailer’s e-commerce site is experiencing a 7% increase in visitors and 3.4% increase in conversions.

In fact, a test run by Warehouse found that when SLI Learning Recommendations were removed from the product page, total revenue fell by 2%!

Multichannel, Omnichannel – It’s Just Retail!

E-commerce industry analyst Linda Bustos says it best, “Whether you refer to it as multichannel or omnichannel, the ways in which your consumers are researching, purchasing, and interacting have evolved, effectively backing most brands into a largely-reactive corner…organizations must realign with experience-driven systems to build relationships with, and sell to, the modern consumer.”

The two savvy retailers mentioned above are personalizing the e-commerce experience, making the ‘channel’ virtually unseen, to meet the needs of their modern shoppers and drive e-commerce sales. SLI Connect attendee Jon Woodall from Space48 summed it up nicely: “Forget omnichannel, it’s retail!”

SLI Connect Australia – Less than Two Weeks Away!

There’s still time to register for SLI Connect Australia, which is coming to Sydney on 31 March 2015 at the Quay West. More retailers and e-commerce professionals will gather there to discuss and explore the future of e-commerce, with speakers from ChannelAdvisor, Shopbot, Bras N Things, Appliances Online and more. We hope you can be part of this powerful event!

Holiday E-commerce & Personalization Among Top Themes at SLI Connect

Posted by Shaun RyanOctober 21, 2014Conferences, eCommerce

I’ve written before about the many benefits of face-to-face meetings, and after our inaugural SLI Connect event in Seattle earlier this month, I can affirm the immense value of gathering our customers together in one place.

SLI Connect provided a full day of retailer presentations and discussions about best practices for site search, navigation, product recommendations, mobile, merchandising, SEO and more. As retailers shared their current challenges in breakout groups, many were able to help each other identify “quick win” solutions. And as SLI executives shared our tentative product roadmap, we received real-time feedback about which innovations are most important to our customers.

We all enjoyed discussing the shopping experience of the future. Plus, we had fun dining, networking and laughing together at evening events. The relationships we built or enhanced were worth the effort of gathering from various parts of the world. Many SLI customers contacted us afterward to share their enthusiasm, indicating that their time was well spent.

There were many clear takeaways, but a few themes stood out most for me:

Holiday 2014

We requested that attendees complete a survey, which asked: “Which capabilities are expected to be the biggest drivers of your e-commerce business this holiday season?” Given nine options, retailers identified the top three drivers as SEO, Optimized Site Search and Optimized Mobile Sites. The answers indicate that getting shoppers to arrive on your site is just as important as ensuring they find the products they seek once they’re on the site.

We also surveyed SLI Connect attendees about their business drivers and new initiatives for the 2014 holiday season. When we asked: “Is Omnichannel an important part of your 2014 holiday season strategy?” 85% responded “Yes,” indicating a clear priority for multi-channel retailers to optimize interactions across mobile, social, desktop and/or brick-and-mortar store channels.

Personalization

I believe e-commerce is just at the cusp of what can happen with personalization, and I am not alone. Others at SLI Connect shared an interest in enabling their customers to find (or be pushed) relevant product information or content at the right time, via the right channel. In a panel discussion, Alicia Fiorletta, a senior editor at Retail TouchPoints, explained: “All retailers just want to get closer to the customer – to get to where the customer is and interact with them in a way that relates to them.”

During her presentation about using SLI to help customers find products amid tens of thousands of SKUs, Lisa Dahlke, web operations manager at Silver Star Brands (a multi-channel retailer that includes Miles Kimball, Walter Drake, Exposures and others) said: “We are trying to understand who our customers are, how we need to treat them differently, and how our smaller brands can most stand out.”

Sam Sarullo of Lakeshore Learning shared: “We’re seeing a high trend in text/SMS messages converting, so we’re changing our strategy to do more text blasts.” His comment underscored how the strategies for reaching and converting shoppers in a relevant way across channels are ever-evolving.

Partners in Innovation

During SLI Connect, SLI CTO Wayne Munro and I offered a sneak peek into SLI’s product roadmap, with an interactive session that gave customers and prospects the opportunity to share their priorities for 2015. In addition to hearing what’s on deck, customers learned more about the products and features already available for accelerating e-commerce.

Following the event, Gavin Trippe of 2 Wheel Parts Supply said, “I attended SLI Connect knowing SLI was going to play a big part of our success in e-commerce, and I was extremely impressed with the event and the SLI team’s knowledge. It was clear that SLI really understands the future of e-commerce. The company continues to improve and invest in the product, offering a huge amount of features.”

He added: “One of the most important things SLI offers is the willingness to develop our integration past the initial installation − it shows they agree that a site will never be finished and will always have room for improvement.”

I appreciate Gavin’s comment, because I take pride in our business model; we provide ongoing innovations and advice that will continually improve our clients’ sites – not as a separate professional services or support fee, but as an included service. And I think it’s this way of doing business that makes it valuable and enjoyable for our customers to spend time with us. They know that we are genuinely listening to and responding to their requests for improvement, rather than pushing sales pitches.

I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with those who attended SLI Connect, and I look forward to hosting the event again in the future.

If you missed the event and would like some tips on improving your holiday results, please enjoy this on-demand version of our latest webinar, the E-Commerce Holiday Playbook.

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