Charles Nicholls
Selling to Gen Z on Social? Forget Facebook Shops
Lots of research shows that Facebook is used significantly less by Generation Z, but what happens when it comes to shopping? How does Generation Z use social media for shopping? New research from SimplicityDX shows that just like the older age groups, about half of...
Harnessing Social Commerce: The Wild West of E-Commerce
E-Commerce and the 30-Year Learning Curve Since the mid-1990s, we’ve been optimizing e-commerce sites using experimentation, testing, design and continuous adaptation. It might not feel like it, but that’s more than 30 years of optimizations and collective learnings. In those 30 years, we’ve come a…
All I Want for Christmas Are These Retail Experiences
The lights are strung up, the carols are ringing – the 2020 holiday shopping season is in full swing. Capping a year of industry innovation and next-gen experiential retail, it’s primed to be one of the most successful in history. In fact, the National...
Remarketing and Anti-Spam Legislation In Canada (CASL)
A major slice of the new Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) goes into effect on July 1 introducing strict opt-in requirements for marketers targeting Canadian customers. Over the last few years, many governments have been reviewing their data privacy legislation, especially when it comes to...
Smartphone Conversions Set to Overtake Tablets in Q3
Smartphone traffic on ecommerce sites has been skyrocketing for months, but conversions have lagged a long way behind tablets. The problems are obvious: fat fingers and small screens don’t mix well, whereas on tablets there it’s a lot more screen real estate. You can see...
Men Buy, Women Shop on Mobile Devices
Ever since childhood, we’ve known that there are big differences between the sexes. They show up not only in play but also in shopping behavior. The latter is especially true when it comes to mobile. To understand desktop and mobile shopping behaviors better, website managers...
STUDY: Showrooming Realities – An Opportunity, Not Threat
Showrooming (when consumers check online prices when in store) used to be considered a potential threat for retailers, but new research shows that showroomers are almost twice as likely to purchase in store than from an online competitor. How many mobile purchases are actually taking...
Email drives almost two thirds of mobile conversions
Mobile conversions on smartphones and tablets grew rapidly in 2013, and now account for 19% of ecommerce conversions, representing a growth rate of 46% over the last 6 months. This growth can be attributed to widespread adoption of smartphones and tablets, 'always on' shopping,...
Faster, Better, Stronger: The Omnichannel Retail Experience
A common issue that deters shoppers from purchasing online is the absence of feeling that instant gratification after purchasing. Shoppers often opt to shop at brick and mortar stores because it is simply more satisfying to have your purchase at hand and ready to...
Amazon, what were you thinking?
Amazon is well known for its personalized recommendations, both on the site and delivered by email, but they don't always get it right. Take a look at this browse abandon email I received from Amazon on my PC and on my phone: There are some…
The Missing Piece in Marketing Automation
Marketing automation has become the "the next big thing" in high tech, or at least one of the next big things. How big? More than $1 billion in recent vendor valuations. According to GigaOM, the past six months have seen a flurry of financial...
Understanding Online Buying Behavior: Part II Time-to-Purchase Patterns
In the first part of this series, we talked about how first time buyers differ from returning buyers. We concluded that the more often a buyer returns, the more likely they are to complete a purchase. This post will focus on the buyer's time-to-purchase patterns...
Understanding Online Buyer Behavior Part I: First Time vs. Returning Visitors
In our last series, we looked at who's abandoning their online shopping carts, why they're abandoning, and what can be done to convert abandoners into customers. Now, it's time to improve our understanding of online buyer behavior. The numbers below are based on SeeWhy's extensive...
Breaking Down Cart Abandonment Part III: Converting Abandoners to Customers
In the first two parts of this series, we briefly covered the "who" and the "why" of shopping cart abandonment. In this blog post, we'll talk about what areas you should focus your efforts that will help convert abandoners into customers. What can be done...
Breaking Down Shopping Cart Abandonment Part II: Why Are People Abandoning?
In my previous post, we quickly profiled a typical abandoner on eCommerce websites. We learned that abandoners are college-educated, well-to-do individuals who actually end up spending 19% more money than their non-abandoner counterparts. Now that you know the "who," let's dive into the reasons...
Breaking Down Shopping Cart Abandonment: Part I Who’s Abandoning?
There is no doubt that shopping cart abandonment is a growing eCommerce concern. Our research shows that a whopping 72% of website visitors who add items to their shopping carts ultimately abandon those carts without making a purchase. In this blog series, I'll discuss the...
Oops! Best Buy and Target Stumble With Amazon Price Match
The Wall Street Journal reported recently that both Target and Best Buy plan to price match online prices with Amazon and other major online merchants in an effort to combat showrooming. This is a flawed tactic to compete with online merchants on their turf...
Should the 97% Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate on Mobile Devices Concern You?
The average shopping cart abandonment rate is 72% across all devices*. But mobile devices (excluding digital downloads), have an astounding 97% abandonment rate*. Recently, several people have asked me about the difference and whether or not they should be considering separate mobile device strategies. My...
Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate Set To Hit 90% by Cyber Monday
Now that Labor Day is behind us, between now and Cyber Monday consumers will fundamentally change the way they shop online. The majority will now defer their purchases in anticipation of the upcoming holiday deals. This is based on analysis of more than $1bn...
Highest ROI in eCommerce? Email Remarketing + Retargeted Ads
Digital marketers know they must measure and optimize all of their efforts, with the goal of increasing sales. They must also be able to prove a positive return on their investments. That said, digital marketers are constantly on the hunt for the latest technologies...