How Multichannel Marketing Can Help to Elevate Your E-Commerce ROI

In today’s marketing world, consumers have a better grip on the buying process than marketers do. Prospects are present everywhere, and they want more. In fact, according to the fourth Annual Consumer Insights survey, over 70 percent of consumers have reportedly preferred a multi-channel marketing approach from online stores.

It is indeed ‘the more, the merrier’ scenario. With competitors constantly breathing down the neck, fighting for the top spot of the search engine result pages (SERPs) is no longer the single-most effective option for e-commerce sites. Just search with a common phrase such as ‘buy Samsung Galaxy S6’, and you’ll know what we mean. With Pay Per Click or PPC text and image adverts from leading online stores ruling the top of the roster, what chance do you have at success other than multichannel marketing?

Relying on multichannel marketing for e-commerce

There is no denying the fact that multichannel marketing poses greater challenges, especially when it comes to managing such wide range of customers. However, it also opens up newer avenues to reach consumers. If done with proper planning, this marketing strategy holds the power to elevate your e-commerce return on investment (ROI) in no time at all.

Sticking to a single marketing channel, such as search engine optimization (SEO), is not a smart move anymore. As an e-commerce marketer, your aim should be to utilize both the direct and indirect channels of customer interaction – direct mails, email newsletters, website, retail stores, mail order catalogs, and social networks – and encourage prospective clients to buy your products.

This combination of some effective traditional ways (such as direct mail and telemarketing) of advertising along with the latest Web 2.0 media channels helps to create a strong media convergence model. According to the Multichannel Maturity Mandate published by Forrester, a US-based market research company, 86 percent of marketers have agreed that this integration of numerous marketing channels aids in long-term success by making it easier to target customer interactions, orchestrate highly choreographed touch points and monitor them using high-end Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools.

Also read: 10 M-Commerce Tips – How To Ace The Next Big Thing

How can multichannel marketing help?

Chances of things going wrong in multichannel marketing are quite slim. As it is ‘multi’ channel, there will be other platforms to rely on when one medium falters. Wondering whether this is the only benefit or not? Here are some other advantages of this marketing strategy:

1. Understanding the customer: Once you reach out to customers via different channels, you also start receiving a wide variety of feedback. These responses make it easier to figure out their exact demands from your products. You can not only figure out the best performing channel, but also determine the factors required to be improved upon.

2. Better revenue: If you are using a wide variety of channels, greater are your chances to gain more number of potential customers.  For example, if you are promoting your e-commerce store just on Facebook, you’re missing out on people who are more frequent in online classified websites. If you include these websites into your marketing mix, you’ll be able to grab more number of eyeballs. The net result — your store will generate better (read bigger) revenue.

The future of e-commerce is in multichannel marketing, and time is NOW. Therefore, buckle up and embrace the future in order to enjoy a successful online shopping campaign.

Want help in determining the best marketing strategy for e-commerce store? Contact us here.

The ‘App-Only’ Strategy – How Prudent Is It for Your Business

With the number of unique mobile users across the world currently being  a whopping 3.5 billion, introducing mobile applications into the present marketing machinery is no longer a choice; it’s a must to achieve entrepreneurship success. The catch, however, is whether to go app-first, app-later, or app-only. After all, jumping on to the app bandwagon is certainly not the only thing that you can hold on to in order to outwit your competitors in the ecommerce sector. Solidifying your brand via desktop and mobile websites is imperative. Saying so, wondering what’s with online retailers such as Myntra and Flipkart risking to go ‘only app’? We find out:

 The big switch

According to a survey by US-based financial services corporation, Morgan Stanley, India’s online shopping penetration is predicted to grow from 9 percent in 2013 to 36 percent in 2020. Myntra didn’t want to leave any stone unturned to grab a share of this big cookie or so it appears to be. Justifying their complete switch, Mukesh Bansal, Myntra co-founder, was quoted saying that desktops were not giving the same ROI as they used to. The business was drawing 70 percent of sales and 80 percent of traffic from its mobile app only.

This move, however, has been a hard pill to swallow for the generation of desktop lovers, who love to shop via their personal computers (PCs). In fact, Alok Kejriwal, the CEO and co-founder of Games2win, in his article went on to heavily criticize this ‘app-only’ approach, calling it nothing but a ‘cost-cutting measure’. “Starving people of access to large, popular Internet brands and making them available only via an app is a premeditated strategy to significantly reduce sales volume,” stated Kejriwal, who feels that a reputed website is equivalent to a well-known store on a busy market area. Shoppers can move from one store to another, haggling until they find their pick. It’s completely their choice whether they visit this well-known store or not. On the other hand, a dedicated app is like an exclusive private store, where the shoppers’ choice to compare is a lot more restricted. Not just Kejriwal, many other industry experts, too, feel that by going ‘app-only’, these online retailers have controlled consumer behavior, and this can make them “feel stifled (we are trained to google options and compare prices) and may never come back.”

How ‘app-only’ benefits Flipkart and Myntra?

Kejriwal’s view received sharp censure from the Sachin Bansal, the CEO of Flipkart, the parent company of Myntra. He almost slammed Kejriwal, tagging his handle @rodinhood on microblogging site, Twitter, saying: when he tweeted, saying, “One of the most retarded pieces of writing I’ve read in a long time. @rodinhood: Bhai tu rehne de… (sic)”

Well, considering Myntra was getting more traffic and conversions from its app, the decision to adopt the ‘app-only’ strategy was nothing short of a masterstroke by the company. Aimed to cut losses from sales via delivery costs, returns etc and even from infrastructure, by going ‘app only’, businesses like these can in fact benefit from the present m-commerce scenario in India.

India hasjust started experiencing the full-fledged potential of mobile devices. The mobile phenomenon is penetrating the sub continent with increasing speed every day, making Tier II and Tier III cities get greater access to smartphones and Internet connection, so much that the country is slated to become the second largest smartphone market in 2016. Besides, the mobile app market in India doesn’t have an alpha yet so this is undoubtedly the right time to invest in a standalone app strategy. However, implementation is the key here. It will be nothing short of suicidal for a newly-opened business to think that it’ll find success with its app straightaway. An ‘app-only’ approach can be adopted by a business only when its website is popular, and it has already established its brand presence in the marketplace.

Want to go the app way with your business? Consult with us here.

E-Store Vs. Online Marketplace – What is Good for Your Small Business?

According to Remarkety, a US-based marketing platform for e-commerce, there are over 190 million online buyers in the United States alone. However, only 28 percent of US small businesses have made their products available for online shoppers. With competition in the e-commerce sphere not yet to turn aggressive among small businesses, it opens up a huge scope for you to go online and find retail success.

Before moving forward, it’s however important for you to decide which model of online selling you want to opt for? Should you revamp yourexisting website and start your own dedicated e-store or should you opt for an online marketplace and list your products on that website? The answer lies in the size of your business and your brand (recognition) value. If both fare high, an e-store is the obvious choice. If not, why not set shop in a thriving ‘marketplace’, and make the most of its popularity!

Why choose a marketplace?

You must have made umpteen purchases from eBay, Amazon or Etsy, haven’t you? Do these sites manufacture the products they sell? No. They are all online marketplaces. Here, shoppers have the option to try out a wide range of products listed by the respective brands on the site. A vendor has to pay the website (read market place), a certain percentage of sales on its products that are here, while the owner of this website handles the responsibility of managing the monetary transactions and attracting the customers.

The sole reason why you should sell your products on online marketplaces is to tap into a massive rate of daily traffic. The community programs manager at Etsy, Susannah Bradley feels, “With over 19.8 million active buyers worldwide, Etsy offers the potential to get in front of a huge global audience. With free listing codes for new sellers, there is 0% investment until an item has been sold”. Smorgasbords such as Etsy is a great option for small and growing businesses, where they can quickly reach a wealth of customers at an affordable rate.

WORLD’S LEADING MARKETPLACES AT A GLANCE

WEBSITE NAME	TRAFFIC
amazon.com	Reaches over 77 million Americans, monthly
eBay.com	Reaches over 77 million Americans, monthly
etsy.com	Reaches over 9 million Americans, monthly
flipkart.com	Reaches over 23 million Indians, monthly
snapdeal.com	Reaches over 17 million Indians, monthly

GOING WITH AN E-STORE

You can obviously take the big leap of turning your own website into an exclusive e-store when shoppers are well acquainted with your brand. However, for a small business that’s yet to find a strong footing in the competitive market, it’s probably a bit too early to take that risk.  With hordes of big names acting as competitors, products from small businesses often run the risk of being ignored. When shopping virtually, people tend to prefer trusted brands they are familiar with. However, there have been instances of small businesses creating their own e-commerce stores, too. With precisely targeted paid advertising now running amuck on social networking sites, these businesses are effectively using platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to make people more aware of their products. Once your brand is a popular one, online shoppers will visit you directly and buy your products from your own e-commerce store. This will also save you of the commission to be paid to the marketplace owner on sold items. All you need is a little upfront cost during the promotional phase. To begin with, you can first list yourself on a popular marketplace, and once your brand name and products gain popularity, you can kick start your own online shop!

 Need help listing your product in a marketplace or want to designyour personal e-store at an affordable price? We can help you with both. Contact us here.