I know I saw it first hand as our clients sales were up considerably on cyber Monday. The DM News reports the biggest Cyber Monday ever at $607 Million.
Just to keep this all in perspective that's still less than the ~$855 Million Wal-Mart generates per day.
We have a long way to go!
First, I'd like to thank John Battelle for writing an in-depth analysis of Google Checkout. His blog is at battellemedia.com.
I had some questions about Google Checkout and customer data. I recently had lunch at the Googleplex with a good buddy of mine (note: yes, it's a fancy, free cafeteria, but it is still a CAFETERIA) and I wanted to ask. Yet, the conversation kept going on more important topics.
Luckily, Mr. Battelle did some work for me. Of course Google Checkout HAS TO share what you bought and how much you paid for it with the retailer. How else is the retailer going to ship it? But, if you read deeper in the notes, it's optional whether the retailer gets an email address or not. Ok, how is the retailer's customer going to know if you are out of stock or if the product has shipped?
What's clear to me is that Google understands two things very well. One, keeping the relationship between Google and the customer is paramount. It is Google Checkout's customer. The retailer is lucky to get an order through it and the retailer will get what it gets in the way of customer data and like it. The value of the relationship accrues to Google, not the retailer. Two, the amount and quailty of conversion data that Google is gathering will be invaluable. And, once again it will accrue to Google Checkout, not the retailer. Currently, through a combination of adwords and analytics, Google can track conversions pretty well. It knows what keywords convert to purchase at what price and what the customer ultimately spends. Now, if the retailer runs it through checkout, Google gathers retail segments, brands, items, and quantities. Imagine the brains that developed the world's leading search engine mining the retailer's customer data FOR THEIR BENEFIT.
That's probably the most paranoid thing I'll ever post. But, if you are a retailer and you are thinking about giving up that data to a partner who would rather own the customer than use the data to help you grow your business, think again.
Admittedly, I sign up for quite a few retailers' "special offer" Emails or newsletters. I do it as research and as a prospecting tool.
As a result, I've been getting a lot of Emails lately. It's holiday season. So, intuitively, retailers are "mining" their lists by sending direct response pieces to potential customers who have opted in. Sure, it's better than nothing. And, it's probably quite effective. If anyone has seasonal statistics on response rates, I'd love to hear 'em.
However, I think most of the retailers contacting me right now missed their best opporutunity with me long ago. In fact, with some of them, I forgot who they were because that was the first time I've heard from them EVER.
You see, I signed up for most of these Emails over the course of 2006. If I was "shopping" and not "researching", then my optin let the retailers know I shopped at their site AND I was interested in hearing from them again. The key is that unless the item for which I am shopping is a serious "considered purchase", I am probably going to buy it soon. Why not follow up with me immediately?
I'll spare all the gory theory on "consumer behavior". It makes sense, right? I mean, I just signed up to hear from them and, often enough, nothing. The obvious downside is clear. They are missing a prime opportunity to connect with an interested shopper.
Now, in the midst of a hectic and often very stressful period of the year, these retailers think it's time to start up a relationship. You don't write, you don't call, and now you want my business? Wait, who are you, again? That's one down side.
The more dangerous downside is that the message could be flagged as SPAM. As many people in the Email biz understand, Jane Average Internet User does not differentiate between commercial messages sent by someone they used to know and completely unsolicited Email (that's SPAM). Since our friends at Yahoo!, AOL et. al. have made it so easy to flag something as SPAM, many people see Emails from someone with whom they had a commercial "fling", don't remember it and BAM, SPAM flag. Not good.
So, if you're a retailer and have an opt-in on your site, use it, don't lose it. Stay in touch.
As I "planned" out my blog entries, I thought I'd go through a series of introductory posts before I would start posting ad-hoc.
But, over the past couple of days a couple of items crossed my desk that were so dead-on that I had to comment .
An October 26, 2006 article on Clickz E-mail Marketers Must Get Relevant hits the nail on the head and supports Top Right's mission (which I'll talk about on a soon to be launched site and later posts). According to Jupiter Research, only 11% of all marketers use their customer purchase history or other activity to send targeted offers. The article also points out that, although segmentation is more costly, it always generates increases in revenue that easily offset the costs. My personal opinion is that there is another benefit. The more relevant the message, the less likely the customer is to get annoyed and unsubscribe (in fact, I track unsubs for targeted vs. untargeted and will let you know if there is any substance to that belief). Not tangible, but very valuable for long term profitable relationships with your customers. Why do we send the same message to everyone?
Mediapost's EmailInsider writes about "The Disconnect." Get this! The DMA reports that the ROI for Email Marketing is $57.21 for every dollar spent. Yet, marketers spend $300 million on Email Marketing and $12 BILLION on search. Huh? I've seen this first hand both directly and in the work I do at Top Right. In fact, I've seen 100X ROI on Email Marketing. Why the disconnect?
In later posts I'll talk a bit more about why we don't segment nor give Email Marketing the attention it deserves. I'll share personal and client based stories.
Nonetheless, the numbers above are inrefutable. Focusing on your customers and leveraging the power of Email makes sense.
