eRetail Association Newsletter
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Welcome to the September e-newsletter from the International eRetail Association & eRetailNews.In this edition, I'd like to open by thanking all those people who have taken our survey on rich media. (If you haven't taken it yet it's not too late!) I'd also like to welcome new readers, many of whom join thanks to existing readers sharing this newsletter with friends and associates. In this newsletter:
This month our industry report focuses attention on rich media, looking at some of the key technology components leading eRetailers are using to bring merchandise to life. The report includes examples from Neiman Marcus, FAO Schwartz, REI and ZanyBrainy as well as new technology that is just getting ready for prime-time in eRetailing. For information on how to subscribe, click here (We do accept online payments: Visa, Mastercard/Access, American Express, Discover/Novus). LESSONS FROM THE FRONT: ASHFORD.COMOur feature this month is a report on how Ashford.com is using market segmentation to focus on the needs of its target customers. The article is based on an interview with Ashford's Vice President of Marketing, Mary Lou Kelly. Mary Lou Kelly subscribes to a broad definition of brand marketing: "whenever the company targets or touches a customer in any form, that's building our brand." Her focus is on driving traffic, converting browsers to customers, and providing them with an experience that is so great that they build loyalty for the long term. Kelly is a believer in customer segmentation as a way to achieve this goal. She works on the basis that once you understand your target consumer, it is easier to satisfy their needs. To segment the market, Kelly suggests eRetailers look at the following criteria: * Who are your highest potential customers? * What distinguishes them? * What do they care about? * How is your business distinct? * How can you exceed customer expectations within a sustainable business model? Ashford's customers are all buyers of luxury goods. However, the company needed to further define its target consumers, so it commissioned some research to categorize these buyers. The company has identified four segments that define online buyers of luxury goods:
To learn more about Ashford's segmentation and how it uses this information in its marketing strategy: click here. FREE Sept 19th - Online Web cast: Drive customer loyalty through e-fulfillment: conferences. THE WOW FACTOR!SMI coined this phrase several years ago, before I had even heard of "The Pursuit of Wow," by Tom Peters. To me, The Wow Factor is about going the extra mile for your customers. It is about generating more than just a ho-hum response from your customers. You want them to say "WOW! That is fantastic" or "WOW! I hadn't expected that kind of great service." By generating this kind of response, you are recognizing that your customers mean more to you than they do to your competitors. Your customers will recognize that and reward you with increased business and wonderful referrals. You create evangelists for your business. So why doesn't everybody do it? There are two primary reasons: 1. It is expensive; your customers have to be highly valued to justify it. 2. If everybody does it, it becomes expected and you need to raise the bar again to get a WOW reaction. Lets take each point: Firstly, it is expensive, but not as expensive as losing your customers, plus you can reduce your marketing budget because your customers become your chief evangelists. This is "The WOW Effect." Putting money into creating The WOW Effect does make sense, especially if you can also increase your margins because your customers will be willing to pay more for such outstanding service. Secondly, raising the bar is a natural process. In fact, everybody tries to copy outstanding service, but in the process, the service becomes expected. Think about this for a moment. Many improvements in customer service result from just one company trying to be different and everybody else emulating them. Creating The WOW Factor! is not something that is done once. It is an ongoing process of constantly exceeding customer expectations. The WOW Factor and profit: Creating the WOW effect is not going to help if it can't be done profitably. The trick is to figure out how to create a big impact for as little additional cost as possible. Don't forget though, creating the WOW effect can help to raise the average margin on products and services, allowing you to charge your customers for such outstanding service. The WOW Factor! Is not suitable for every business, but most customers are thrilled at being on the receiving end of The WOW Factor! On the website, we will be featuring examples of companies pursuing The WOW Factor! We've all seen examples of companies going the extra mile. I'd like to hear your stories. Tell me how your company makes your customers say WOW! Or let me know about an eRetailer that made you say WOW! Click here to view the WOW factor pages. If you feel like writing about your bad experiences, I might also create a section called The OW Factor! :) MAKING NEWSBefore we look at the headlines since our last newsletter, I'd like to ask you to fill in the quick poll on our main page. This simply asks if you would prefer more articles and features like the Ashford one above, or more news snippets like those below.
TOP TEN RULES For Customer Service StaffIn the tough eRetail market, customer service can make or break loyalty and bottom-line results. Susan Macri, Vice President of Client Services at eSupportNow, a provider of online customer care solutions, is making sure that her customer service representatives cross their virtual Ts and dot their virtual Is to put each client's best face forward. "Our client partners know that etiquette isn't just something extra; it's an essential part of caring for a customer. So much of customer service today happens via written communications, whether e-mail or chat; the wrong tone, an answer that's buried, these things can send a customer clicking over to nextstore.com. Online etiquette is essential to assuring customer loyalty, and we take it very seriously," says Marci. eSupportNow has compiled a list of golden rules for online etiquette. CONFERENCE DISCOUNTShttp://www.eretailassociation.org/conference FREE Sept 19th - Online Webcast: Drive customer loyalty through e-fulfillment (this link sponsored by IBM). Nov. 21/22 - London - E-fulfilment (save 20%) Jan. 18-19th - New York - e-Apparel (save 20%) Jan. 22-24th - New York - Web Site Content Management for Retail Jan 23-24th - London - Etail2001 Europe - (save 15%) SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCEIf you have something eRetail related you'd like to write about, drop me a line (or better still, send me your story) and we may publish your piece on the Web (with full credit to the author of course). FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTERAlthough this is a copyright publication, I'd like you to send it on to your friends and colleagues. If you do, please make sure you send the full newsletter in its entirety, including the copyright statement at the end. (If you received this from a friend, you may request your own free copies at any time simply by filling out the form at the association website http://www.eretailnews.com or use this email link mailto:freenews@eretailnews.com?subject=subscribe). Finally, this cartoon seemed very apt: http://www.rudypark.com/archives/rp000806.html Be happy, _________________ ------------------------COPYRIGHT NOTICE----------------------Copyright: 2000 eRetailNews, Inc. This newsletter may not be reproduced completely or in part without permission from eRetailNews. The entire unedited newsletter may be forwarded via email to personal contacts only; NOTE use of this newsletter as part of a broadcast mail service or SPAM is expressly forbidden. To publish excerpts on a website, please use this HTML version and include a link back to the full text at <http://www.eretailnews.com/newsletters/000908newsletter.htm>. "The WOW Factor!", "eRetail Association", "eRetailNews", and "International eRetail Association" are servicemarks or trademarks of eRetailNews, Inc or BizBrick Corporation.--------------------------- TO REMOVE ------------------------ To remove your name from the recipient list for this newsletter use this link.
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