Free returns on the way out, despite their benefits
Free returns are becoming the exception rather than the rule in e-commerce. Yet scientific research reveals that their impact on sales and customer loyalty is enormous.
E-commerce: 6 use cases for generative AI
Generative AI is revolutionizing many sectors. E-commerce is no exception. This article analyzes 6 real-life use cases, from the simplest (text content creation) to the most complicated (video avatars for online sales).
Product Information Management: ChatGPT changes the game
ChatGPT makes it easier to manage products in e-commerce. This is known as Product Information Management or PIM. ChatGPT makes it easier to create and enhance product descriptions. As our test shows, you can even use a photo to produce a product description.
E-commerce: worrying trends for 2023-2024
The situation for e-commerce retailers is no longer as positive as it once was. The slowdown is noticeable but does not affect all sectors similarly. In this article, we propose a summary of the latest e-commerce statistics. We also draw a parallel with a survey of e-commerce bosses.
B2B2C: its 5 main advantages and 5 concrete examples
The B2B2C approach of companies consists in bringing together companies and customers. It combines B2B and B2C players to develop marketing operations with multiple advantages. Brands use this method to create value, increase their notoriety or carry out economies of scale. For this reason, many companies have already adopted B2B2C to reach a larger audience and increase their profits. This article aims to explain how this marketing strategy works before explaining its benefits and listing 5...
Le Styliste: the conversational assistant who advises you in your shopping
We recently interviewed Samuel Sadoun, CEO of start-up Le Styliste, who has created a conversational assistant that advises and guides consumers in their online purchases by providing them with stylistic recommendations adapted to their profile. A new online way of consuming and a new channel for e-commerce brands. Summary Presentation of the company The genesis of the idea Customers and partners The evolution of the assistant Key figures and prospects for the future Presentation of the...
This startup may have needed a market research before going live
A Belgian startup, OneHouseStand, has launched an online platform to help businesses and individuals alike rent private places to organize their events. At first it may look like a good idea to enable private owners to make their property available for rent. But is this business idea really worthwhile? A market research may have been useful. What’s the market? In an interview (in French) with national newspaper Le Soir, one of the founders explains that 50% of...
Everything will be purchased online: only those offline businesses will survive
What will remain of brick-and-mortar stores in 20 years from now ? Not much. Consumers will adopt online behaviors and will visit physical points of sale on very few occasions : when forced to to enjoy a very special customer experience for the purpose of showrooming when e-commerce is a worse option Here are our predictions on 3 types of businesses which will survive to e-commerce and why they will. luxury sector : the #1 industry...
Online market research reveals the #1 factor to reduce showrooming
Showrooming is a massive problem for brick-and-mortar retailers. Customers visit stores but eventually make their purchases online. Operating a brick-and-mortar point of sale becomes more and more difficult. A scientific research reveals the #1 thing retailers should do to avoid showrooming. And it’s not about price. Showrooming in context and phygitalisation Showrooming is a symptom of the tug-of-war between the offline and online worlds. Offline business are slowly dying while online sales are booming. As a...
Zalando free-returns policy drives customer loyalty up
Online retailer Zalando has announced revenues of €4.5b in 2017, up 23% from the year before. Despite a slight decrease of its Ebit (from 5.9% to 4.7%-4.9%), profits before taxes will be over €200m. This is a very solid result for a company that needed huge economies of scale to be profitable. The logistics and supply-chain costs are indeed a major cost center and the free-returns no-hassle policy of Zalando cost them huge amounts of money...
Walmart wants to deliver you IN your home
It should be always easier for people to order online, and in particular the delivery should be a smooth experience. Market researches show that delivery is actually a real pain point and the source of many complaints (delivery times longer than expected, nobody at home to take delivery of the parcel, …) In a attempt to do a thorough market research back in 2014-2015, we reported the huge progresses made by the logistics sector and the...
DHL, Amazon and Audi partner to revolution the supply chain
If you are in e-commerce, you know that delivery is a crucial part of the customer experience. If you want your clients to be satisfied and to repurchase from your site, you’ll have to make sure the delivery runs flawless. Yet, flawless delivery (on time) is not enough anymore : it needs to be free-of-charge and the trend is towards quicker and same-day deliveries. Customers’ expectations are more and more to get their order the same...
Must-read : interview of a customer satisfaction champion
We are publishing today a very special post. You’ll find below the interview of someone I consider to be a customer service hero, a champion of customer satisfaction. Frédéric Klotz had worked for RueDuCommerce (one of the most renown e-commerce website in France) for 10 years and became known on forums, blogs, social media for his outstanding qualities. He kindly agreed to give us an interview where you’ll learn what he learned in terms of complaint...
Zalando : e-commerce giant recruits clients offline
How can you push your organic growth in e-commerce? That’s basically the problem that Zalando is facing. The e-commerce giant is still not profitable and believes that profitability will come with economies of scale, which can only be achieved through recruitment of more customers. But customers are difficult to convince and Zalando must therefore go offline to find them. Two types of consumers with different behaviors This may seem like a caricature but there are only...
Suit Supply has found a nice way to measure customer satisfaction
Customer Satisfaction surveys have been popular for decades; Yet the response rate to online surveys is very low if there is no reward. One of the major problem is the time required to answer the survey. People don’t have time. Marketing experts have proposed solutions in the form of one-item satisfaction instrument. In other words you get only one question to answer. The NPS (Net Promoter Score) is a good example of such instrument (read our...
Online gambling : how has the market evolved since the opening of the market to competition?
On May, 13th 2010 the law was passed to open the market of online gambling to competition. Two years after, how does the market look like? Prior to that date online gambling was forbidden in France and gamblers using Gilbratar- or other exotic countries-based websites were in complete illegality. After May 2010 numerous new actors popped up and everyone was expecting hard times for the old and venerable PMU, which had the monopoly of horse gambling....
Delhaize seems to be happy about the results of The Cube barcodes scanning campaign
When Delhaize launched The Cube earlier this year we were warning that it wouldn’t be as successful as expected. However in a recent press release Delhaize said it was a success and that online sales increased 22.6%. So in the end, who tells the truth? As we explained in our post Delhaize got its inspiration from Tesco in South-Korea, the online sales of which had increased 130%. As you can note there is already a...
Do you know Archiduchesse
Just like Michel & Augustin (whom I’ll meet in a few weeks), Archiduchesse is also a brand that receives much attention currently thanks to its products, 100% Made in France men socks. Archiduchesse is a pretty good example of a brand which was built entirely on Facebook-generated word-of-mouth (WOM). The owner of the company (Patrice …) applies a participative model and even shares the evolution of his turnover with his fans, followers and customers. It may...
