Staying competitive in tomorrow’s retail space: Seven technologies for 2020 and beyond

2020 will see the rise of experience as a differentiator. Gartner predicts 81% of all purchases in 2020 will be based on customer experience and this is largely due to the boom of eCommerce. Today, logistical issues of shopping such as lengthy queues, limited opening hours and heavy bags have seemingly vanished.

Shoppers are armed with extensive product and pricing knowledge – available through effortless online research – to identify the most desirable products and...

27 January 2020 | Advertising Technology

Eight ways to make potential customers feel safer browsing your site

Shoppers going to brick-and-mortar stores have clear signals that the environment they’re in is safe and secure: manicured storefronts, security guards or cameras, helpful employees, well-ordered check out stations and other intuitive cues all create a sense of comfort and safety, helping put shoppers at ease. 

But when shopping online, these physical cues don’t come into play. Without such signs, how can we create a sense of safety for customers, especially when it...

6 November 2019 | Commerce

How Mastercard is leveraging its sonic identity – and evolving brand security in the process

In February, Mastercard issued a press release which announced the launch of what the company called its ‘sonic brand identity.’ The result was touted as ‘a distinct and memorable melody with adaptations across genres and cultures.’

Naturally, there was also an audio press release sent out where the tone was played (1:04) and further described as the ‘sound equivalent’ of the company’s red and yellow circles. “What you just heard was...

30 October 2019 | Advertising

Salesforce explores the rise of the connected shopper – and what retailers need to do

Retail continues to be an area where the consumer is king. Engagement channels are changing, tech-enabled customer experience has never been more vital, and the battle between traditional retail and online marketplaces is well and truly joined.

Salesforce’s latest Connected Shoppers Report aimed to explore the relationship between bricks-and-mortar and digital retailers – and found that while the former still has its place, the latter’s continued dominance is...

16 October 2019 | Commerce

Fashion retailers have multi-channel elements in place – but need to accelerate to omnichannel

Omnichannel may be the buzzword du jour right now when it comes to retail – but like many of these here-today terms there is often more than a kernel of truth. Where omnichannel differs from multi-channel is through its threading. A multi-channel retailer may have distinct presences both in its website, on social media as well as its physical store – but omnichannel truly links them together for a seamless customer experience.

With this in mind, a new report from Veeqo...

13 August 2019 | Advertising

How Amazon’s ad network fuelled the 2019 Prime Day – and will continue to do so

The richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, has even more reason to celebrate. Amazon’s 48-hour Prime Day event this year just provided a glimpse of what ecommerce — and most likely, all commerce — might look like in the years to come.

Almost half of online shoppers in the US now begin their product searches on Amazon, compared with 35 percent who turn first to Google. Bezos is also pushing to broaden Amazon’s influence in brick-and-mortar operations,...

25 July 2019 | Advertising

Interview: Making the marketer’s leap from B2B to B2C with Albert Heijn’s Eva Vree

The differences between B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) marketing can be chasm-like.

On the one hand (if broadly), B2B purchases are more likely to be driven by logic and an eye on demonstrable ROI. B2C purchases, on the other, are more probably driven by a consumer’s emotion.

Eva Vree is a senior creative content specialist for the online arm of Dutch supermarket giant Albert Heijn, and notably made an internal leap from the B2B side of the...

22 October 2018 | Commerce

Why retail marketers should sideline AR and VR technology, at least for a while

Marketers are always on the hunt for the latest in innovative tech in a quest to snare prospective customers with the wow-factor.

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are two such technologies touted as the next to revolutionise the retail landscape, however, a new study by Censuswide and payments provider Klarna suggests customers don’t share the same enthusiasm.

Interviewing 2,000 shoppers, the study revealed that four in five had no interest in these...

11 October 2018 | Advertising

The rise of the commuter-shopper: Driving digital commerce in surprising environments

Thanks to the hyper-connected, ‘always on’ world in which we now live, the opportunity for brands to drive commerce is literally everywhere. As with other areas of our lives, connected mobile devices have changed the way we think about buying things; when it comes to shopping, we’re no longer bound by ‘restrictions’ such as location and time of day.

Last week, Instagram announced that it will be making some updates to its shopping capabilities,...

27 September 2018 | Advertising

Forget AR: Visual search will be the hottest eCommerce tech among millennials

It’s been a big week for visual search.

In a partnership with Amazon, Snapchat announced it was testing a new tool allowing users to take a photo of a product or barcode and, if recognised, launch an Amazon product page to learn more and (hopefully) make a purchase.

On 20th birthday week, meanwhile, Google announced the integration of its AI-driven Lens into searches, the goal of which is to help users find information visually and improve specific image-oriented...

27 September 2018 | Advertising Technology