Palming the Power of Mobile Shopping. insightful customer driven commerce. An Intelligent Selling whitepaper from MarketLive and Shopatron WHITEPAPER

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1 WHITEPAPER insightful customer driven commerce Palming the Power of Mobile Shopping An Intelligent Selling whitepaper from MarketLive and Shopatron

2 Palming the Power of Mobile Shopping MarketLive, Inc. Since 1995, MarketLive, Inc., has been the leading provider of ecommerce technology and services that help fast-growing companies successfully sell goods and services online. Designed to meet the unique requirements of catalogers, retailers, direct marketers, and manufacturers, the extensible MarketLive ecommerce Suite and MarketLive s best practices-based Intelligent Selling methodology enable merchants to enhance their customers experience online while dramatically improving acquisition, conversion, and retention rates. The MarketLive platform is the most retail-targeted, fully featured, customizable ecommerce solution on the market today. MarketLive powers many successful retail ecommerce sites, including Armani, Party City, Perricone MD, Sport Chalet, Sundance, Helzberg, John Deere, Title Nine, Intermix and others. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS WHITEPAPER, CONTACT MARKETLIVE, INC marketlive.com Shopatron Shopatron is the leading provider of cloud-based, ecommerce order management. Our patented Shopatron Order Exchange allows branded manufacturers and multi-channel retailers to seamlessly leverage the available inventory of every retail storefront and distribution center when fulfilling online orders. Unlike legacy order management software or custom-built solutions, Shopatron makes it easy and affordable to deploy advanced capabilities like in-store pickup, ship-from-store, inventory lookup, and vendor drop-ship. With Shopatron, retail channels join forces to increase sales, turn inventory, and deliver a superior purchase experience to online shoppers. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS WHITEPAPER, CONTACT SHOPATRON shopatron.com

3 Palming the Power of Mobile Shopping Remember when responsive referred to positive human engagement? Nowadays, the ineffable R word seems to crop up in nearly every tech blog on retail commerce -- promising a lucrative impact on ROI alongside a shift in IT focus. For those who have happily hid under a rock-sized computer, a responsive website is designed to display and function perfectly on a screen of any size -- from a mobile phone or tablet to a full-size monitor. So, why is it so important to make your ecommerce site responsive? With more and more consumers researching products online (with estimates ranging from 65% [Cisco] to 97% [BIA/Kelsey Group]), leading brands and retailers want consumers to be able to shop on their websites via any connected device. Dial M for Mobile Over the past few years, it s become increasingly clear that mobile commerce -- mcommerce for short -- is not just an emerging trend, it s a vital channel. According to a recent GE Capital Retail bank study, 15% of consumers conduct research on a mobile device at home, while 19% think it s very important that retailers have mobile-friendly websites. Perhaps more interestingly, a 2013 survey by Cincinnati-based card processor Vantiv found that 43% of consumers use mobile devices while shopping in a store. But more on that later. The potential revenue growth for delivering a device-agnostic shopping experience is nothing short of game-changing. According to Branding Brand s 2014 Mobile Commerce Index, retail sales over mobile-optimized sites grew 168% since That translates into a tremendous revenue opportunity: Bank of America predicts that $67.1 billion in commerce will be transacted over mobile devices by European and U.S. shoppers in If you re a retailer or brand, this represents as much an opportunity as a challenge. Unless you empower your customers to shop for your products quickly and easily -- via a desktop, laptop, smartphone or tablet -- you risk losing them altogether. What s all this talk about Total Commerce? While omni-channel commerce has become the standard in ecommerce parlance, the term Total Commerce has been picking up momentum. So, what s the difference? Omni-channel recognizes that multiple channels -- online, offline, print, mobile, tablet -- must integrate to provide consumers with a seamless shopping experience. Total Commerce does not challenge this assumption, but rather emphasizes that, from the consumer perspective, commerce has become a multi-touch experience. In other words, your typical customer might discover a product in a store, go home and research that product on a computer, go to another store and perform additional research via a mobile device or tablet and finally purchase the product via any of the above channels, arranging for home delivery or instore pickup. Given that shopping is likely to touch upon multiple channels, savvy brands and retailers must ensure that all of these touches come together to provide strong and consistent brand message and pricing strategy, so today s educated consumer trusts you when it comes time to make a buying decision. Engaging the educated consumer You ll notice that we talked about the consumer being educated. This is probably the most salient fact to keep in mind when marketing to today s Palming the Power of Mobile Shopping MarketLive, Inc

4 consumers. Never before have consumers had so much access -- as well as appetite -- for information. As we mentioned earlier, we already know that the customer is likely to research online before making a purchase. What s more, consumers aren t necessarily going to download the snazzy app your engineers spent months developing. In fact, they re more likely to visit your website, possibly over a smartphone or tablet. According to a recent survey by mobile advertising company InMobi, 60% of respondents use their mobile phones as their primary or even exclusive means of going online. And 83% plan to make a purchase over their mobile device in the next twelve months. This means your website must be responsive if you want to maximize omni-channel sales. Mobilizing your salesforce Mobile is not only impacting ecommerce, it s also changing the in-store experience. According to Google, 84% of smartphone shoppers use their phones while they re shopping in-store. Coined showrooming, these customers typically check product reviews and engage in comparative shopping to find the best prices. As a result, the function of the sales associate is rapidly evolving. Today s consumers are often more knowledgeable about products than salespeople, themselves. IRS/IHL reports that more than 70% of retailers want their sales associates to access product information. But you don t want your sales team rushing off to a back office to hop on a computer. Once again, we turn our attention to mobile. Smart merchants are arming their sales associates with tablets, surfacing real-time product availability and order history for processing instore returns, which typically results in incremental lift. ecommerce leaders like Shopatron, which provides cloud-based distributed order management, enable mobile access to customer orders, product information and promotions. This allows sales associates to remain on the floor with customers while accepting in-store returns, modifying orders and offering appeasements, culminating in a world-class customer experience. By deploying this industry-leading solution, both the customer and the sales associate can access real-time inventory across the entire retail network, eliminating the frustration of out-of-stock scenarios. That s a huge plus for consumers. In fact, Forrester reports that 50% of retailers and brands will enable real-time inventory visibility by Delivering this capability via any device -- especially on the sales floor -- means happier customers, stronger brand equity and increased sales. Top trends in mcommerce We would be remiss if we didn t mention some of the other notable trends in mcommerce technology that are transforming consumer expectations. Mobile- and tablet-based point-ofsale systems similarly permit the sales associate to deliver a more personal and engaging shopping experience, while sparing the customer the hassle of the checkout line. Beacons are also drawing widespread attention. These mobile apps enable push notifications to in-store shoppers with promotions and product information, ostensibly improving in-store engagement. While customers clearly enjoy researching products on a mobile phone or tablet in store, it appears most do not want the brand or retailer to pursue these initiatives. In a recent study by Retale, 71% of mobile users said they preferred not to be tracked in-store, while 56% indicated that they did not like push notifications. Palming the Power of Mobile Shopping MarketLive, Inc

5 Interactive retail storefronts and pop-up-shops, which provide 24x7 mobile shopping, are also gaining traction -- enabling consumers to purchase products offline without a sales associate by using their favorite devices. While media attention is running hot, conversion still lags coolly behind. Which brings us back to the basics. In order to optimize both in-store and online sales capture, merchants need to integrate their frontend websites with their backend functionality, incorporating responsive design to enable instant, easy access to inventory, customer data and product information, anytime, anywhere. MarketLive, a leader in creating integrated ecommerce experiences for leading merchants, reports: Mobile commerce provides an opportunity for retailers to be with shoppers at all times; to stay top of mind, build the brand, deliver on-the-go customer service and support in-store sales. We built our MarketLive Total Commerce Platform to provide powerful, mobile-optimized shopping environment for smartphones and tablets. Offering an integrated multi-channel approach, MarketLive s Responsive Commerce is designed and configured once to ensure a consistent brand experience and then deployed across multiple devices and channels, enabling frictionless shopping and payment as well as access to real-time inventory and customer data via any connected screen. Calling all merchants Leading brands and retailers must recognize that failing to provide customers with the online shopping experience they want over the channels they prefer will result in lost sales. On this subject, TECHNEWSWORLD recently published, [i]n order to attract foot traffic to brickand-mortar locations in a digital age, retailers must provide an experience that seamlessly bridges the gap between browsing on a touchscreen and strolling through aisles with a smartphone. While much of our attention has focused on retailers, brands are not immune from this trend. In fact, they are arguably more vulnerable to the rapid acceleration of mcommerce. As we ve mentioned before, customers today are statistically likely to research products online, often beginning with the brand s website. In fact, a recent consumer survey by Price Waterhouse Cooper (PWC) revealed that more than half of U.S. customers (52%) go directly to a brand s website when considering a purchase. In China the percentage is even higher (56%). And they re increasingly inclined to conduct that research using a smartphone or tablet. According to Forrester, a third of consumers have a stated preference for buying directly from a manufacturer s website. And nearly a quarter of those customers purchase from a manufacturer s website via a mobile phone or tablet. So your brand s website had better be ready to greet those eyeballs on a small screen. Of course, your customers may also want to engage with your brand in a retail store. Despite more than a decade of soothsayers foretelling the demise of brick-and-mortar, consumers still relish the joy of shopping. In a recent PWC survey, a surprising 73% of survey respondents rated the [a]bility to see, touch and try merchandise as a key element of a satisfying shopping experience. But, as we discussed earlier, today s customers are packing heat -- they re checking their tablets and smartphones while engaging with your products Palming the Power of Mobile Shopping MarketLive, Inc

6 in-store. That means, retailers and brands, alike, need to provide responsive ecommerce sites that are chock full of rich, informative content, including product reviews and special promotions, while empowering sales associates to provide a superior customer experience that online can t beat. Closing the gap As we conclude our brief journey into the world of mcommerce, we d like to take a moment to pay tribute to an emerging retail pioneer. Sport Chalet -- powered by MarketLive and Shopatron -- has been a forerunner in the area of omni-channel commerce. Customers can purchase or reserve products online and pickup in store (which has been rated one of the top services a retailer can provide) and accept in-store returns for online purchases. They re committed to providing real-time inventory visibility across all channels over the next few years. And last, but by no means least, they re working on launching a mobile-optimized online shopping experience. This, we believe, is the future of retail. It s smart merchants leveraging the power of technology to deliver a best-in-class experience to today s agile, omni-channel consumers. Those who are nimble will reap unprecedented reward. Those who fail to keep pace with technology will wind up in a stockpile of forgotten inventory -- right next to the pet rocks and mood rings from the days of uni-channel commerce. Where will your business land? Success sits in the palm of your hand. Palming the Power of Mobile Shopping MarketLive, Inc

7 customer driven commerce FOR MORE INFORMATION HEADQUARTERS: MarketLive, Inc. 617 B 2nd Street Petaluma, California info@marketlive.com HEADQUARTERS: Shopatron, Inc. 825 Buckley Road, Suite 200 San Luis Obispo, CA consulting@shopatron.com