Hold up certain bottles of the sports drink Muscle Milk to a webcam, and something strange happens. Shaquille O’Neal suddenly pops out of the bottle on your computer screen, like some kind of virtual genie. The 7-foot basketball star, who now appears only a few inches tall, stands firmly on the bottle cap, even when you move the bottle around. It’s not a hologram — it’s all happening on the screen, but it looks as if tiny Shaq is right in front of you, cracking jokes and interacting with animations that pop up around him. At one point, he even jams on an animated electric guitar before appearing to dive back into the bottle with a splash.
More time spent shopping, good signage and a flow that encourages exploration all can help boost sales online, as well as in stores, says a new report.
With more consumers shopping online, as well as in bricks-and-mortar stores, it’s important for retailers to provide a consistent shopping experience, says a new report from retail consulting firm Envirosell and online recommendations technology vendor RichRelevance Inc. And many of the principles that apply to stores can be applied to the web as well, the report says.
The majority of consumers surveyed at bricks-and-mortar locations of Macy’s, The Gap, Best Buy and the Apple Store said they use the retailers’ web sites to help make their in-store purchase:
• 88% said they had shopped that retailer’s web site
• 75% said visiting the brand’s web site helps them to shop in-store
• 85% compared prices online
• 44% visited a competitor’s web site
• 26% will visit the retailer’s web site to continue shopping after leaving the store
This past holiday season, 88% of consumers leaving or entering top retail locations around New York City reported visiting the same stores online. That’s according to a new multichannel study conducted by research firm Envirosell in partnership with RichRelevance, a provider of personalized recommendations for ecommerce sites.
Landmark program for retailers and brands provides new findings and fresh best practices for integrating consumer experiences across all channels
San Francisco, CA – Mar. 9, 2010 –– RichRelevance™, the leading provider of dynamic e-commerce personalization for the world’s largest retailers, today announced “Respect The Shopper: Harmonizing the Cross-Channel Experience,” a three-city road show this March and April featuring RichRelevance CEO David Selinger and Paco Underhill, CEO of Envirosell and author of Why We Buy.
This first-in-kind program will arm retailers and brands with the data, insight, and best practices they need to successfully integrate online, offline, and mobile channels and lead the brand experience in the eyes of their customers. Attendees will benefit from exclusive access to data from a qualitative and quantitative multichannel, landmark study conducted during the last quarter of 2009, as well as networking and learning opportunities with peers from the nation’s most respected brands in New York, San Francisco, and Chicago.
“In 2010 the power and convenience is in the consumer’s hands. Between the web-enabled mobile phone, the Internet and world of brick and mortar, we can find the cracks and inconsistencies in the business models of our merchant community. ‘Respect the Shopper’ aims to provide retailers and brands with concrete strategies to create a streamlined and meaningful experience for the individual shopper – regardless of the channel,” said Paco Underhill, CEO of Envirosell and author of Why We Buy, the all-time best-selling book on retail.
“Amazon was recently named the most trustworthy retailer in a Millward Brown study, thereby recognizing the brand value they create by giving consumers a rewarding, enriched shopping experience,” said David Selinger, CEO of RichRelevance. “As retailers look to create and expand this shopping experience, it is imperative that they take a second look at how their customers interact with their brand across all channels. I’m excited to team with Paco and Envirosell to help guide retailers in providing consumers with a relevant experience wherever they shop.”
“Respect the Shopper: Harmonizing the Cross-Channel Experience” will kick off in New York City on March 24 at The W Union Square at 8:30 a.m. EST. The program will travel to San Francisco on April 27 and then to Chicago on April 29. To register for the events, please visit the links below:
• New York: https://richrelevance.com/events/respecttheshopper/nyc/
• San Francisco: https://richrelevance.com/events/respecttheshopper/sanfran/
• Chicago: https://richrelevance.com/events/respecttheshopper/chicago/
About Envirosell
Founded by Paco Underhill, Envirosell is the premier consumer behavior research and consulting agency for commercial environments, integrating analysis of layout, merchandising and operations. With 25 years of experience conducting in-store research for major consumer product manufacturers, retailers, banks, restaurants and design agencies, Envirosell boasts a client list that includes almost half of the Fortune 50 list. To each project Envirosell brings internationally recognized experience and unmatched processing skills, understanding the dynamics of shopping behavior and the factors that impact the customer experience as well as the actual purchase decision. Envirosell is based in New York with offices in Tokyo, Milan, Moscow, Mexico City, São Paulo and Bangalore.
About RichRelevance
RichRelevance is the leading provider of dynamic e-commerce personalization for the world’s largest retailers, including Wal-Mart and Sears. Founded and led by the e-commerce expert who pioneered personalization R&D at Amazon.com, RichRelevance helps retailers increase revenues by powering relevant experiences throughout the customer lifecycle and across multiple sales channels. The company stands apart for its dedicated team of personalization experts, integrated product suite, and award-winning personalization engine, which enables twice as many consumer touchpoints as the industry average. RichRelevance is located in San Francisco, with offices in Seattle and London. For more information, please visit www.richrelevance.com.
As I sat down before the Augmented Reality session began at last week’s Retail Innovation & Marketing Conference, one problematic thought was running through my head:
I have no idea what this is.