Disruption Tour --- Run To Survive

Enlisting Insultants

excerpts fromThe  Breakthrough Company by Keith McFarland

It turns out that when a company botches strategy or misses out on the industries next big thing, the executive team probably fell victim to one of two common human afflictions -- at least that is what reseachers from MIT Sloan Business School believe. . The researchers call these two ubiquitous management traps "myopia" and "inertia".  Myopia or short-sightedness refers to the company's inability to see the forest from the tree. . Myopic executives tend to focus on fighting fires and tackling projects close to home, and foget to watch the tectonic changes reshaping the industry.

Simmilarly executives suffering from inertia fail to take advantage of new opportunties , choosing instead to stand pat in familiar markets, finding comfort in doing business the way they have always done so.

Why Company's need Insultants?

David Romer a University of California researcher studyestablished that NFL Coaches would actually win more games if they went for touchdowns and first downs instead of punting or attempting a field goal.  Bill belichick of the NE Patriots started winning Championships by applying Romers principles.

Breakthrough Companies not only are they open to people questioning  the fundamentals assumptions of the business, they encourage people to buck the system.

Another reason a Company needs Insultants is like animals people take safety in numbers (herding), The avoidance of being first or going it alone or being safe avoids the rebuke of your boss, Wall Street even if the Company's performance suffers. It is only after there is a success will the herd roll quickly behind the idea.  (sure sounds a lot like ShoppeSimple.com)

Dear Catalog CEOs: Six Catalog Trends

from Kevin Hilstrom minethedata.com

Hello there, my catalog friends!

These are interesting times, aren't they?

We are truly caught between two eras. The past 100 years were very good to catalog brands. And in five or ten years, there will be a road map for the catalog brand looking to enter the future.

Between the past and the future, that's where we are stuck. We're stuck in a period where, as one business leader recently told me, "nothing works".

We know that's not true. Plenty of things work. But nothing works at a scale necessary to cause optimism.

So let's discuss six important catalog trends that help the catalog brand bridge the past and the future.

Trend #1 = Micro-Targeting: This has been talked about for decades, but we're getting closer to seeing it happen. There simply isn't a need to send a 96 page catalog that has a lot of the merchandise you love to sell when there is this thing out there called the "internet" that also has a lot of the merchandise you love to sell. We're likely to see a 96 page catalog become three or four different 56 page catalogs, with the customer receiving just one of the 56 page offerings. People are using this strategy to generate 95% of the demand on about 60% of the pages --- mathematically, folks, it works! And instead of sending remails, you can send a different 56 page version to a customer a few weeks later. I cannot predict where micro-targeting is going to take us. I can predict that catalogs will get smaller and smaller and smaller, since the website is the store and we don't need to advertise everything anymore. E-mail will continue to progress down the micro-targeting path, with more an more versions that are sent on a triggered basis. Long-term, we'll see the slow death of the "campaign" ... sure, campaigns will be here twenty years from now, but we're headed down a path that cannot be reversed anymore.

Thegies: For the first time Merchants can digitally merchandise product offers and promotions to consumers by category and subcategory communities of interest when they work with the ShoppeSimple Loyalty and Customer Acquisition Tools.

Trend #2 = Filtering: We will see a dramatic change in how a catalog brand views customers. In many of my Multichannel Forensics projects, customers fall into four buckets.

1. Catalog shoppers who order via the telephone.
2. Catalog shoppers who order via the internet.
3. Online shoppers who order because of online marketing.
4. Brand buyers who like the merchandise.

It will take every ounce of energy possible to not mail catalogs to online shoppers and brand buyers. But this will be essential for the catalog brand to survive the transition that is coming/happening. Honestly, if I had to communicate one thing for a cataloger to do right now, it would be to start filtering, immediately. I've been able to generate a half-million to a million dollars of profit achieved for businesses between $30,000,000 and $100,000,000 in size just by doing a reasonable job of filtering. Quite honestly, filtering may be the difference between profit and loss for many catalogers. And psychologically, it isn't easy for a cataloger to transition the mindset from a customer buying because a catalog was sent to her and a customer buying because she loves the product. This transition has to happen, and filtering is a great place to start --- especially from a profit and loss standpoint.

Thegies: Imagine if you can take the above point from Kevin and deliver product messaging (whether it is new arrivals or promotional products) several times a day, 365 days a year without opt-out. At ShoppeSimple YOU Can!. Our client has seen substantial increases in site traffic, a 5X increase in conversion over email and an increase in Average Order Value. To estimate a mature TransactionalRSS (TRSS) program from ShoppeSimple an email program is estimated to be 10% of online revenue. A mature TRSS program is estimated to a 1/3 of email revenue. And if you take 25% of this number and only pay a Pay Per Transaction fee to get the sale, we haven’t had anyone say pass. Check out shoppesimple.com for more information.

Trend #3 = Dynamic Landing Pages: Folks are doing this as well (just hit refresh when you visit Amazon.com). Merchants will submit the items they want to feature, while the rules-based system that feeds e-mail campaigns to customers will fill in the holes with customer preferences. Catalogers will not pursue the algorithmic approaches of their online brethren, and that could be acceptable as long as there is a warm story being told to the customer. Again, this isn't a new idea, but it is one that catalogers will embrace, because catalogers will understand that the merchandising of landing pages is very similar to the merchandising of spreads. In fact, any online strategy that can be made to look, from a process standpoint like, old-time cataloging will be embraced by catalogers.

Thegies: Through the ShoppeSimple Loyalty and Customer Acquisition Tools we build dynamic landing pages for every TransactionalRSS Feed we publish.

Trend #4 = Co-Op Evolution: We're going to see between one and three companies emerge (could be existing catalog co-ops, could be online co-ops, could be the big data providers, could be one of the web analytics companies), companies that focus on evaluating real-time customer behavior. This is a very different strategy than what we see today. Today's catalog co-ops are very good at massaging past purchase history across brands. Tomorrow's co-op leaders will combine web analytics data with offline data and web surfing behavior. You won't pay $0.06 for one-time access to a name. Instead, you'll pay $0.03, and you'll get to pick the contact you wish to employ --- catalog, e-mail, personalized online landing page, etc., or you'll pay $0.15 to employ a multiple micro-channel campaign (catalog + e-mail + online display ads + search optimization + ads on social media platforms). Of course, catalogers will pay about anything for the multiple micro-channel campaign. This will be transformative, especially among catalog brands targeting lapsed buyers.

Trend #5 = Frenemies And Pods: As catalog productivity continues to decline (not yours, but industry-wide), you'll see new and unusual partnerships. Expect to see contact center and distribution center consolidation --- a company in one industry (automotive parts) and a company in another industry (gifts) will share contact center and distribution center resources, human resources, information technology departments, database marketing teams, circulation teams, all in an effort to conserve back-of-the-office expenses. Customer lists and resources will be freely shared across what I call "pods", a half-dozen or dozen frenemies who leverage what each other are good at. Catalogers already share all of their customer data with each other, and private equity firms already consolidate lists and back-of-the-office operations. It's only a matter of time before frenemies form pods.

Thegies: In ShoppeSimple Feeds there are opportunities for merchants to place your ads on the iGoogle/My Yahoo Home pages, on Facebook, Twitter and on Smartphones.

Trend #6 = Organizational Transformation: A generation of catalog marketers, age 50 - 65, are getting ready to retire. Quite simply, this generation will not be replaced by individuals who have the same passion for catalog marketing that the generation of catalogers raised in the 1970 - 1995 timeframe had. During the next ten years, we will see a considerable number of business failures, because a generation of individuals used to communicating with customers age 50+ will be replaced by a generation of leaders ready to market to customers in their 30s and 40s. The disconnect (strategies for young customers, marketed to older customers) will drive down productivity, and result in organizational transformation. Leading catalog companies will recognize this well ahead of time, and will cope by developing new brands that are targeted to a younger audience, led by a younger generation of leaders. Think of a business like, say, Cuddledown of Maine, building a new online brand for a younger demographic, training younger employees to manage this business, so that when a generation of leaders and customers move on to retirement there is an infrastructure ready to replace the core business.

Thegies: We ask our clients what is the strategic and tactical direction regarding Social Media and Mobile and it is surprising how few merchants can share the strategically vision in these areas. But today Shoppesimple can help you monetize both your Social Media and Mobile strategies. Simple checkout RSSCheck.com for answers and contact information. Email info@rsscheck.com

Ten Great Ecommerce Ideas

From practicalecommerce.com

Practical eCommerce asks industry insiders each month to share a great, innovative idea that could help an ecommerce company. Here’s what ten of them had to say for the October 2009 installment.

The Power of Product Reviews

"Use the power of product reviews and motivate your team to do their best work. Instruct your employees to route satisfied customers to the most important online sites for leaving feedback, and give your people a bonus if a referred customer writes a review about your company there."

Alex Mulin
Director of Sales
X-Cart

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Only Ask For Information You Absolutely Need

"Ask your customers only for the information you absolutely need. If you are selling digital products, do you need the customer's full address? What about the phone number? Most customers dislike giving their precious personal information away until they get to know your company better."

Roy Andre Tollefsen
Managing Director and Lead Designer
Silverthemes.com

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Grab Your Market Share Now

"A recession is no time to reduce your marketing and advertising budgets. Manage expenses according to ROI, but this is a good time to grab additional market share."

Brad Yeager
Certified Business Intermediary
Ecommerce Exit Strategies

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Improve Rankings With Press Releases

"Press releases provide an opportunity to provide high-quality content within your press-related pages. Many merchants disassociate the importance of marketing activity from their websites. But each press release allows the opportunity to increase your keyword density and improve your rankings."

Anthony Vitro
Account Manager
Sage Tree LLC

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Deploy Decision-making Widgets

"When selling big ticket items or products that require research, deploy merchandising widgets to aid in the decision-making process. Customers who interact with online merchandising widgets will generally view more products per session and are more likely to add a product to their shopping cart, increasing conversions, repeat visits and customer satisfaction."

Carl Prindle
President and Chief Operating Officer
Blueport Commerce

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Add Unique Content to Improve Product Descriptions

"Improve your product descriptions by adding informative and unique content. The more descriptive and unique you are in your product descriptions, the better the chance that someone will buy from you. Figure out a way to make your product descriptions unique to differentiate you from the competition."

Stephen Enfield
Vice President
POS Supply Solutions

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Hire Interns With Advanced Skills

"Utilize local high school and college student’s talent for jobs whenever possible, including paid internships. You will be amazed at the talent you can find, such as advanced skills in programming, photography, blogging etc. And the interns can gain necessary experience in a practical environment."

Elizabeth Bighorse
CEO
Moodswings Inc. 


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Step Up Security Accreditation

"Go one step further than SSL or 'McAfee Hacker Safe' certifications on your site. Try to get industry-endorsed accreditations such as the 'Good Web Shopping Guide' or 'Governed by the Internet Shopping Code of Practice.'"

Kate Holroyd
Marketing Manager
Tiger Commerce

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Earn Trust By Keeping Your Promises

"Be honest with your customers and never promise anything that cannot be accomplished. Once you make a promise you must keep it. Earning a customer's trust is the best way to get a lifelong partner."

Anna Semshchikova
Chief Sales Executive
Qualiteam

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Spread the Word on Facebook

"A Facebook page is a great way to promote your online store. Not only does it give you customized presence and branding, it also gives your customers a channel to interact with you. And, it provides great SEO value, too. Set up a Facebook page now and spread the word among your friends and customers."

Navaneeth Krishnan
Founder
Netcarnation

New ShoppeSimple Features

from RSCheck.com

What really separates ShoppeSimple TransactionalRSS (TRSS) from plain old RSS?  One of many compelling answers: Management and Analytics. ShoppeSimple’s SaaS-based TransactionalRSS platform is the only place to get a rich suite of tools that online marketers need to manage and grow the TRSS sales channel.

Case in point:  VP of User  Experience Jake Ingman just announced two new analytics features for the TransactionalRSS management side that should help our clients and peak the interest of many an online merchant:

1. The “Today” Row

This row on the analytics page provides up-to-the-second information about the pageviews, product click-throughs, and order conversions for the current day.

2. Campaign Tracking

ShoppeSimple stats now support Hub traffic source segmentation!  That means you can add a unique identifier to the end of your ShoppeSimple Hub URL, and it will be displayed separately in your detailed statistics report (and soon, in your summary table as well).  Some email campaign programs add variables to the end of your URLs automatically.  If you don’t use a program that adds these variables for you, you can add them manually.

For example, if you wanted to track visitors that came through your email campaign, you could modify your Hub URL like this:

Your generic hub link:

http://hub.shoppesimple.com/for/yourcompany/

Your email-specific hub link:

http://hub.shoppesimple.com/for/yourcompany/via/email/campaign/23/

This would tell the ShoppeSimple statistics program that those visitors came “via: email” and “campaign: 23″.  If you don’t have a campaign id, you can just use the /via variable.

There’s more, of course.  As usual, check out www.shoppesimple.com to see how it looks to the consumer; and have a look at www.shoppesimple.net to get a sneak preview of the next phase — a first of its kind opt-in prospecting portal for online merchants.

Let us know what you think — and if you want to learn more

For more information click on the Contact Us link at the top right of the home at RSSCheck.com

Jump starting your catalog sales with TransactionalRSS -- TRSS

Have you considered using TransactionalRSS (TRSS) starting the week before the drop of the latest catalog drop  through the first few weeks of the catalog mailing to announce your catalog is on the way. The TRSS feeds should focus on on key items from the catalog.  Announcing the catalog mailing and introduction of new collection or products items from the catalog will help jumpstart the book sales.  To learn more check out RSSCheck.com contact us at info@rsscheck.com

iDEAS to BUILD your brand in a continued downturn

Check out this video from http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/24361.asp and then contact ShoppeSimple who can put your New Arrival and New Seasonal Offerings in front of your consumers every day 365 days.

Worried about being to promotional and as a result loosing contribution margin? Then ShoppeSimple can give you a cost affordable way to let your customers know about merchandise you want to show them.

Through ShoppeSimple's TransactionalRSS (TRSS) Content Management System (TCMS) you can now digital merchandise your product line to consumers who have requested to see you merchandise every day

To learn more check out RSSCheck.com and also ShoppeSimple.net for more information email info@RSSCheck.com or phone 612.349.2740

Take a peek at our new online customer acquisition portal at shoppesimple.net

From Federated Media

Boing Boing

Boing Boing attracts more than 5 million unique visitors to its site each month, and has over 600,000 RSS subscribers. This mirrors my experience of email to RSS. The power of TransactionalRSS or TRSS like RSS is not in the collection or growing a massive TRSS subscriber file but in its ability to provide a consumer with promotional or product offerings everyday or multiple product offerings every day 365 days a year.

This is a very different strategic approach then what you tend to do with email subscriber files. thegies

"Never underestimate the profit opportunity that comes with adding ShoppeSimple's TransactionalRSS to your shopping cart. Just add a ShoppeSimple gadget and you will see an increase in product sales and average order value." For more information check out RSSCheck.com for more information or email info@rsscheck.com. Phone 612.349.2740

ShoppeSimple August over July 2009 up over 250%

ShoppeSimple gross Client Revenue up more than 250% August over July 2009. Can we help your online business? You bet we can. Check out RSSCheck.com

TransactionalRSS and ShoppeSimple.net will be the electricity...

TransactionalRSS and ShoppeSimple.net will be the electricity for a new way of publishing products to consumers. alike." Shoppesimple has made it easy for consumers and merchants alike." Theegies