How to drive highly relevant, timely
content to your consumers, regardless
of channel
February 2012
Scott LiPera
Content is Still King in the Omni-Channel World
How to drive highly relevant, timely content to your consumers,
regardless of channel
Executive Summary
•
Customers are no longer “cross-channel customers” or “ecommerce customers” or
“bricks and mortar customers”. They are now simply “customers” – the channel doesn’t
matter. The reality is most customers now interact with a retailer and a brand across
all channels throughout their purchase journey
•
The rapid evolution of technology, tools, apps and competition means that a retailer’s
ability to stay on top of these trends is critical to stay competitive. The challenge is
what to focus on and how to execute given budget, talent and time constraints
•
There are ive key components a retailer should understand and master as per RSR
Research’s 5-C Model: Content, Community, Commerce, Context and Customer Insights
•
The focus of this paper is on driving timely and relevant content across channels as
and when the customer needs them. In particular, we will focus on how to execute
your content strategy across channels
•
The emergence of Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) irms with deep retailing
and ecommerce process experience has helped leading retailers stay on top and in
front of the highly dynamic omni-channel world
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Content is Still King in the Omni-Channel World
The Rise of Omni-Channel
Retailers today face many challenges.
on the go, as well as a range of permutations
From the macro-economic headwinds still
and uses not even thought of yet, presents
lingering from the Global Economic Crisis,
signi icant challenges to the retailer to
to the demographic shifts as millenials
effectively manage their operations and stay
(also known as digital natives) become
competitive in a hypercompetitive, real time
wage earners and baby boomers head into
world.
retirement, to the ever-changing technology
landscape, the retail sector is a dynamic
The rise of players like eBay, Amazon,
environment to do business in, to say the
PriceGrabber, or Shopzilla in the 1990s and
least.
2000s drove a massive shakeup in the retail
industry. These industry leaders were clearly
Take just one of these changing dimensions
the drivers of what we once called multi-
– the technology landscape: In less than ive
channel retail as they drove the traditional
years a whole new category of shopping has
retailer out from the comfort of the bricks-
emerged through the use of smartphones
and-mortar world they had perfected.
and tablets – this latter having only come
onto the scene in 2010. In that short
timeframe these new technologies have
become a game changer in retail, already
accounting for over 15% of total online sales
in Q2 2012, according to IBM’s Retail Online
Index. The ability to check reviews (from
both experts as well as diverse, highly active
social networks like Facebook, Twitter and
now Pinterest), check in, search for coupons,
immediately price compare and purchase
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Content is Still King in the Omni-Channel World
The Rise of Omni-Channel (contd.)
Digital natives, now coming of “ inancial age”,
Today, those whom retailers once called
are the next drivers of evolution, and helping
“cross-channel
lead the fundamental shift in how consumers
“ecommerce customers” or “bricks and
behave and interact with retailers. These
mortar
digital natives expect an “anywhere, any
“customers”. We’ve arrived in the omni-
time” experience and are being enabled by
channel world, where a customer journey
powerful mobile devices and networks and
is as linear and predictable as a drunken
highly creative next generation apps and
sailor’s walk home from a night out on the
services.
town. And as a result retailers must adapt or
customers”
customers”
face marginalization.
What was once a uni-channel world – you
walked into a store and bought what you
wanted, or what was offered – shifted to
a multi-channel world in which leading
retailers could offer a variety of ways for
you to browse and buy their wares, but
customers still tended to shop and buy in
a somewhat linear path. You might have
walked into a store, shopped and bought
what you wanted or what caught your eye;
while another headed to her computer,
Googled her interest and shopped around
online, buying from the online store that
offered the best deal; it was generally a
shopping experience that started and ended
in a predictable manner.
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are
or
now
perhaps
simply
Content is Still King in the Omni-Channel World
The Omni-Channel World
There are many names given to this
new paradigm. Forrester calls it “Agile
Commerce” and Oracle calls it “Commerce
Anywhere”, but regardless of the label, it
points in the same direction: The retail
industry is undergoing dramatic change and
the shakeout we’ve witnessed to date is just
the beginning.
Many watchers of the retail sector liken
this transformation to the last technology
revolution, when the rise of the “channel
masters” came to dominate retail. Those
players focused on optimizing the supply
chain and how to best leverage IT to become
the dominant players for 20+ years. These
irms focused on supply chain ef iciencies,
just-in-time supply, and products; the
customer wasn’t much of a factor or input.
The goal was to ensure the ef icient low
of product to stores, inventory turns were
optimized and stock-outs were avoided,
thereby minimizing lost-revenue risks. RSR
Research calls this the left-brain aspect of
business, aptly comparing it to the common
However, in their report “Executing on
the Promise: Retail Ful illment 2012”,
RSR Research shows that the industry
is trending toward a right-brain model,
wherein the customer reigns supreme. It’s
about loyalty, purchase history, preferences,
and digital behaviors – nonlinear ideas
more typically associated with the creative
types represented by a right-brain thinker.
Retail management is thus no longer about
just product information, POs, receipts and
sales plans; it’s now also about the customer
and her wants. The underpinning of this
change has been the power and ubiquity of
information and technological enablers like
smartphones and online tools.
psychological model of a left-brain thinker’s
greater tendencies to being more analytical,
logical, etc.
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Content is Still King in the Omni-Channel World
The Omni-Channel World (contd.)
This evolution is creating the ability (and
For each customer journey like this, there
opportunity) to respond to consumers’
are in inite other permutations with only
demands to be served when, where and how
one thing in common: They will all touch
they wish. Figure 1 below, from Oracle’s
retailers at multiple points along the way.
Commerce Anywhere paper, illustrates
a sample consumer’s non-linear path to
Is your business ready for the omni-
purchase, which can (and often does) touch
channel consumer?
multiple channels prior to that buying
decision.
Research
Web
Shop
Buy
Comparison
Site
Buy Online
Mobile
Device
Visit Retail Store
Local Store
Kiosk
Begin
Catalog
Order
Browse
Catalog
Google
Search
Product Info
Email Order
Confirm w/Rec
e-Mail
Social
Facebook
Fan Club
Read Reviews
Share
Experience on
Twitter
Figure 1: The Evolving Customer Journey
Source: Oracle, March 2011
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Call to Research
Accessory
Place Order
in-Store
Service
Buy Online
Chat
Contact
Center
Catalog
Pickup
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Troubleshoot
On Community
Content is Still King in the Omni-Channel World
Omni-Channel Success: Content Is King
These trends and developments are hardly
In the same survey it was shown that the
news to most retailers. In fact, in a recent
“Retail Winners” demonstrate a relentless
survey by RSR Research they reported
focus on the customer: 100% of “Winners”
that 100% of respondents said that the
surveyed plan to consolidate the shopping
customer
should
experience, loyalty programs, and social and
be consolidated across all channels for a
digital marketing across all channels. The
consistent experience. However, only 32%
key differentiator of Winners is their focus
reported having achieved that goal. Figure 2
on the customer; they de ine the brand in
highlights the broader scope of this survey.
terms of customer engagement, whereas the
shopping
experience
others are still de ining it in terms of product
availability.
Customer shopping experience
Loyalty management
Inventory visibility
Ful illment
100%
32%
Digital marketing
Social media marketing
Demand Forecasting
Pricing Strategies
Mobile Marketing
Procurement / Assortment
Customer Call Center
Traditional Advertisement
61%
37%
59%
30%
57%
50%
54%
Customer segmentation
Store Operations
70%
35%
27%
40%
54%
43% 53%
46%
33%
46%
48%
39%
30%
39%
36%
35%
25%
22%
32%
Very Important
Synchronzation Done or in Progress
Figure 2: Cross-Channel Process Consolidation
Source: RSR Research, June 2012
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Content is Still King in the Omni-Channel World
Omni-Channel Success: Content Is King (contd.)
RSR’s 5-C Framework, a model that helps
•
Context represents an understanding of
frame different opportunities for successful
where the consumer is in her purchase
cross-channel retailing, brings together ive
journey and the targeted needs she has
domains that retailers should understand
at that particular time and place
(and ideally master): retailers need to exert
control over at least the irst three in order
to move from cross-channel retailing to the
omni-channel world.
•
•
Customer insights is the intersection
of content, community and commerce
and helps de ine the context of the
customer’s journey
Content represents information about
products, the company and everything
Context
else that a retailer uses to educate
a consumer might rely on to make a
purchase decision
•
Co
mm
un
Community represents everyone that
Customer
Insights
nt
nte
Co
•
ity
consumers
Commerce represents everything
else at the retailer’s disposal to
convert a shopper into a buyer; for
example, price, offer, the shopping
experience itself, etc.
Commerce
Figure 3: RSR’s 5-C Framework
Source: RSR Research, June 2012
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Content is Still King in the Omni-Channel World
Omni-Channel Success: Content Is King (contd.)
The domains of content, community and
•
Are all of your content types even
commerce are where retailers should ind
known, and is their impact on each point
the most obvious opportunities for taking
of the journey understood? What about
on the omni-channel challenge; that is,
content you don’t own, especially in the
integrating the digital and physical worlds
social realm?
into one compelling and seamless customer
experience.
•
Is the brand experience consistent
throughout?
For the purpose of this white paper, our focus
is on the realm of content and how to execute
a successful omni-channel content strategy.
While creating a compelling and seamless
Remember, the Winners in retail are those
who de ine the brand in terms of customer
engagement, and nothing engages the
customer more than relevant content.
customer experience via strong content is
a relatively well understood retailing goal,
many retailers have yet to make the suf icient
Content is still king in the omni-channel
world.
investment to set off on the path to achieve
it. Consider these questions:
One need look no farther than the fates of
Borders, Tower Records, or Kodak to see
•
Do you understand why your customers
choose one particular touch point
over another at any given point in the
purchase path?
•
the effect that digitization has had on retail.
While they were the early casualties in the
digital revolution, it was merely because
these products were the easiest to digitize
What’s the context at each point along the
and sell directly to the consumer. Amazon,
journey? Research? Simply browsing?
iTunes, digital camera purveyors and the like
Ready to purchase?
made digital mincemeat of these laggards.
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Content is Still King in the Omni-Channel World
Omni-Channel Success: Content Is King (contd.)
However, before retailers think that they
Focusing on the customer and your
are immune to the digitization effects that
relationship with that customer will build
created the irst wave of casualties, the next
loyalty that exceeds the value of low price.
retailing roadkill is likely to be those where
And in our opinion, content is the easiest
the product/service and the information
way to start on that journey.
about that product/service can be easily
separated, with the latter digitized and made
Given the diversity of products and
available everywhere the web, SMS or future
consumers’ needs and buying cycles, the
technologies reach.
ability to prescribe the right type of content
in a whitepaper is not feasible, but starting to
The emergence of “showrooming” is a
focus on aligning content and it’s relevancy
perfect example of the need to adapt or
to the consumers’ touch points and stage in
die. Initially some retailers have gone to
the purchase cycle, regardless of channel,
extremes to stop it, but the inevitability of
will signi icantly increase the probability of
the tide suggests a form of retailing jiu-jitsu
a sale and an ongoing customer relationship.
is in order. The opportunity exists to leverage
Focusing on the customer, not just the
this behavior to your advantage; rather than
product, will move you into RSR’s “Retail
ight those walking into your stores, help
Winners”.
them – there’s plenty of opportunity to
use geo-location and mobile offers to drive
BUT…..you still have limited budgets and
positive in-store experience and purchase.
headcount. How can you do more with
Enable a true omni-channel experience by
less?
ensuring that the content you provide meets
the consumers’ needs at every point along
her journey.
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Content is Still King in the Omni-Channel World
Help Already Exists: Leveraging KPOs
So now you’ve seen the light and recognize
an arm and a leg, quickly drying up
the need to shift or increase focus on
available budget
the customer and deliver highly relevant
and
timely
content
across
•
channels
Agencies will have some broader
industry experience and can help get
Unfortunately, the reality of budget and
the work done, although it is unlikely to
staf ing constraints are going to present a
be their core competency and similarly
challenge to your achieving this goal . RSR’s
their cost structures will also eat into
other key inding about “Retail Winners”
budgets quickly
was that the Winners recognized that
omni-channel client focus is hard work and
•
In-house team expansion can be
Winners were not afraid to seek help in
cheaper, and new hires can become
seeking their transformation goals.
part of your organization so goals will
generally be aligned, but ramp up time,
Historically, the answer to taking on a new
and availability of affordable good talent,
initiative is a combination of any or all of
especially with skill sets diverse and
these: consultants, agencies or new hires
evolving at the rate of the industry are
(full time and contractors). Of course, the
counterpoints. Also, except at yearend
inal option was always to make do with
reviews, it’s tough to hold an employee
to a service level agreement
what you’ve got and try to it it in after your
day job.
•
Contractors:
for
well
de ined
established tasks, contractors are a
Each of these options has its bene its, but
viable, relatively cost effective approach,
also tradeoffs:
however incentives and motivations
are less aligned and so can require
•
Consultants can bring industry best
signi icant hidden management costs
practices to bear, but they won’t actually
and frustrations
help get the work done and usually cost
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Content is Still King in the Omni-Channel World
Help Already Exists: Leveraging KPOs (contd.)
There is, thankfully, another option that
content
operations
across
multiple
many of the more advanced retailers are
touchpoints and the disparate systems most
adopting as a highly viable, ef icient and
retailers have accumulated. Such a partner
cost effective solution that blends the
will become a key part of their team and
best of these worlds: knowledge process
ongoing execution for the long term.
outsourcing (KPO).
Content is certainly still king in this new
era of retailing, but your vendor partners
A strong KPO company offers:
1) Out-of-the-box industry experience
2) Speciϐic
knowledge
of
content
production processes and platforms
should be more than the proverbial “one
trick pony”, because when your content
processes are redesigned, there’s inevitable
upstream and downstream process impacts,
3) A rigorous focus on documentation,
such as SEO, site search, web analytics,
continuous process improvement and
merchandising and so on. Experience across
excellence
the retailing and digital marketing domain
4) The cost advantages of offshoring
should be a key consideration in evaluating
a KPO partner.
5) Best of breed expertise working with
some of the largest retailers
Taken together, these advantages likely offer
the best cost-bene it ratio available to any
retailer seriously looking to transform its
business to keep pace with the tremendous
pressure of current market forces. Retailers
looking to integrate their various channels
need a partner with experience executing
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Content is Still King in the Omni-Channel World
Conclusion
Omni-channel, highly engaged and demanding customers are a reality and the retailing
winners will be those who work out how to give them the content (and engagement)
they need, when and where they want it. What that content is needs to be developed by
your team.
How you get it done, given the realities of budgets, time and available talent is often
the bigger question. There is de initely a need for consultants, agencies, new hires and
contractors, but Retailing Winners have also discovered that partnering with a KPO irm
with extensive retailing experience and relentless focus on process improvement and
excellence brings a highly cost-effective solution to the demands of today’s retailing
landscape.
Author Biography
Scott D. LiPera is eClerx’s Digital Operations Practice Lead responsible for consulting with
our clients across their online strategies and operations. He brings a wealth of experience
that spans over 25 years across a diverse array of roles and industries, including ecommerce,
software delivery, retail, high tech, telecommunications and management consulting.
Scott is known for his customer advocacy and passion for helping customers understand and
navigate the eBusiness landscape and optimizing effectiveness in the multiplying electronic
channels, including achieving the synergies and avoiding the pitfalls of operating across multiple
channels. He’s worked closely with diverse, market leading customers including Walmart, Dell,
Nike, AT&T, Sephora, Autodesk, Quiksilver and others. Scott holds an MBA from the Haas School
of Business at the University of California at Berkeley, and a BS in chemistry from the University
of Southern California.
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Content is Still King in the Omni-Channel World
About eClerx
eClerx is the leading knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) company providing operational
support, data management and reporting and analytics solutions to sales and marketing
organizations of over 50 Global Fortune 500 and Internet Retailer 500 scale companies.
With a particular focus on the burgeoning digital marketing and ecommerce universe, our
clients are among the world’s leading Retail, eCommerce, Software, High Tech and Industrial
Manufacturing, Interactive Media and Entertainment, Travel & Leisure and Financial Services
companies.
Incorporated in 2000, and public since 2007, we provide our clients with expertise in consulting,
rigorous process work lows, automation and improvement and robust outsourcing solutions
to help reduce costs, drive actionable insights to lead fast-paced markets and correct longstanding process inef iciencies. With over 5,500 professionals across ive delivery centers
worldwide, no job is too large or complicated. Our corporate of ices are based in New York,
London, Silicon Valley, Seattle, Austin, Chicago, Dublin, Singapore and Dalian (China).
For more information, visit www.eclerx.com/sms and follow us on twitter: @eClerxSMS
Contact Us
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[email protected]
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