The New Digital Role in Shopping

Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012

According to a new study by Ryan Partnership, branded shopping apps are the strongest driver behind unplanned purchases. Branded content on social networks drives people to try new products, and texts and social media are most likely to influence where people shop.
The study finds that consumer usage of digital tools to support shopping has grown tremendously in just 18 months. In 2010, usage of digital shopper tools was more limited to early adopters, while in 2012 the vast majority of shoppers have woven them into multiple points throughout their path to purchase. The RetailNet Group projects that this shift from analog to digitally-influenced shopping will continue for the foreseeable future.

Projected Influence of Digital Tools on Shopping Trips
Influence	2011	2016
Analog	54%	36%
Digitally influenced	38	53
Source: RetailNet Group, September 2012

“Digital retail,” in the study, is defined as the use of digital communications to engage shoppers along the path-to-purchase and drive incremental sales. Any marketing-related digital interaction that the shopper has in-store would be considered part of the digital retail universe.”
Shoppers' usage of digital retail tools, ranging from store websites and mobile coupons to daily deal sites and QR codes, has doubled or even tripled, depending on the tool, in the previous 18-month period. 96% of the survey respondents said they have used at least one digital shopping tool, with the majority using multiple tools.
The five most heavily used tools were:

• Store websites (64% of respondents)
• Downloadable coupons (61%)
• Search engines (51%)
• Retailer emails (53%)
• Brand websites (49%)

Additional tools mentioned include daily deal sites, brand social media, mobile coupons and shopping apps.

Digital Tools Used When Shopping Or Planning To Shop (% of Respondents)
Digital Tool	2012	2010
Store websites	64%	28%
Downloadable coupons	61	28
Search engines	59
Retailer Emails	53	25
Brand sites	49
Brand emails	47
Daily deal sites	37
Reviews/recommendations	36	12
Load to card coupons	28	10
Brand social media	26	12
Retail social media	23
Mobile coupons	18	5
Retailer texts	16	5
Shopping apps	14
QR codes	8
Source: RyanPartnership, September 2012

Kim Finnerty, VP, Consumer and Shopper Insights at Ryan, says "... usage of digital tools during the planning phase of shopping is... virtually ubiquitous..."
The survey of 8,000 primary household shoppers about their usage of various digital retail tools found that shoppers use different tools for different purposes, and which tools impact which behaviors.

• Social Media from retailers is the strongest driver of new brand and product trial. Brands launching new products should feature their new offerings not only in their own social media efforts, but in their retailers' as well.
• Shopping Apps and retailer tools are strongest drivers of unplanned purchasing.  It is important for the Brand to be a part of the retailer's digital tools as their traditional tools, opines the report.
• Texts Messages from Retailers and Brands are most likely to influence choice of where to shop.

Tool Impact on Product Trial (% of Respondents Who Bought Products/Brands Never Before Purchased)
Influence Tool	% Bought
QR codes/bar code readers	22%
Shopping apps	32
Retailer texts	21
Mobile coupons	19
Retailer social media	36
Brand social media	32
Load-to-card coupons	20
Reviews/recommendations	29
Daily deal sites	26
Brand emails	26
In-store brand sites	25
Pre-shop brand sites	29
Brand sites	19
Retailer emails	21
Search engines	16
Downloadable coupons	18
In-store retailer sites	15
Pre-shop retailer sites	17
Retailer sites	15
Source: RyanPartnership, September 2012

The study points to shopping apps and social media updates as the tools best poised for near-term growth, because they deliver the strongest combination of shopper utility (such measures as "makes shopping more fun," and "makes me feel like a smart shopper"), and behavioral impact ("I make more unplanned purchases," "I try products or brands I never bought before," "I spend more than I planned").
The impact of digital shopper experiences on the selection of a retailer was quite strong.  Interestingly, retailers’ own social media updates were the strongest driver of a shopper’s selection of a retailer. Although quantifiable ROI data can be challenging to come by, retailers’ recent efforts to scale up their social media following seem to be bearing fruit, notes the report.

Most Important Tools Influencing Retailer Choice
Tool	% of Respondents
Retailer social media	44%
Product reviews/recommendations	42
Pre-shop brand sites	42
Shopping apps	40
Pre-shop retailer sites	37
Retailer emails	37
Brand social media	36
Brand emails	34
Source: RyanPartnership, September 2012

Finnerty concludes that "... two years ago, early adopters were the only consumer segment using shopping apps and following retailers' updates on social media... Now, the vast majority of consumers are weaving these digital tools into their path to purchase,..".

Report: Mobile Now Driving 36 Percent Of All Email Opens

Sep 10, 2012 at 5:38pm ET by Greg Sterling

• inShare42

Reading email is one of the primary activities of smartphone owners. Indeed, several reports over the past year have indicated that more and more email interaction is happening on mobile devices. Adding to that narrative Knotice today released its latest Email Opens report covering the first half of 2012.
Since 2010 the company has documented the rise of mobile email, which obviously corresponds to increasing smartphone penetration in the US.

Source: Knotice (9/12)
The report benchmarks everything to PC open rates and related email marketing data. The PC still dominates most email interaction and sees 64 percent of opens overall. However, mobile (tablet + smartphones) sees the other 36 percent. That’s up from 27 percent at the end of last year.
If the current pace of mobile email growth continues nearly 45 percent of “on the go” consumers will be reading email on their smartphones or tablets by this time next year. Indeed, Knotice recommends that email marketers “begin planning for a point in time when mobile users will be the majority audience.”
Email Open Rates:


Source: Knotice (9/12)
For reasons that aren’t entirely clear or explained iOS devices dominate Android when it comes to open rates.

Source: Knotice (9/12)
Knotice says that iOS and Android, in the US, “account for 99.19 percent of all mobile email opens.” Financial services and consumer services (whatever that means precisely) were the two categories that saw the highest percentage of mobile opens.

Source: Knotice (9/12)
Knotice added that “the distribution of [email] opens occurring on phones is more heavily concentrated within the first 3 hours following email delivery . . . Knotice data [also] reveal email engagement by phone is significantly higher in the first 90 minutes, with negligible differences between phone, tablet and desktop email engagement after approximately 5 hours.”
Accordingly the Knotice report had some basic “best practices” recommendations:

• Embrace a “mobile first” mindset
• Recognize that now, by default, email marketers are effectively mobile marketers
• Know your mobile audience (via data and analytics)

Finally Knotice tries to explode the “myth of multiple opens” where multiple devices are allegedly used to look at or revisit the same emails. In a retail case study, Knotice found that very few emails were revisited on a separate device.

The implications of all this are fairly straightforward: take mobile seriously and be ready to optimize email campaigns for an increasingly large mobile user base. For marketers that are complacent or skeptical of mobile, there’s a chance that email campaigns not optimized for mobile will simply no longer be seen.

Starts Ups

Hovr
A Pinterest addict's dream. Hovr attempts to remedy that awful Pinterest (or similar website) frustration of finding something you like, but have no idea of where to buy. As a browser add-on and mobile app, Hovr lets you "hover" over the image of a coveted item (say, a perfect little black dress), and gives you a list of comparables that can be instantly purchased online. The mobile app can also be set to send an alert when you are close to a retail store with said LBD in stock. A somewhat juxtaposed take on the impulse buy?
Event Holler
This one's for event planners, organizers, and general party people. Event Holler is an event management and ticketing system that lets planner create their event on the system for free. Connected to a network of promoters, planners can set ticket amounts and promoter commissions before, essentially, waiting for RSVPs to roll in. The organizer just pays when a ticket is sold. Event Holler has been operating in beta since July, with the average promoter reaching 885 people.
MyGoodNight
And speaking of party people, MyGoodNight is for those who want to plan a night out on their own. Still in stealth mode for now, the guide will allow users to browse honed lists of night-out-options based on the preferences they plug in. The platform will integrate information from social media, venues, promoters, publishers, artists and more, while offering the option to purchase tickets online and share the plans your night out. For those who don't mind the occasional party crasher, of course.
GameDay Interactive
Something to occupy your interest during those too-frequent sports commercial breaks. GameDay Interactive is an app that allows users to interact with broadcasters, team reps, and other viewers in real time while watching the game. Users participate in a social media quiz where they can try to predict what will happen next in the game (such, "I bet the Leafs will blow this power play") and answer questions about sponsors (oh hey there, advertisers) with the opportunity to win prizes. Participants log in via their Facebook pages.
So, what do you think? Would you give any of these burgeoning companies capital to expand?