Predictions to consider, from Shop.org
Shop.org is a division of the National Retail Federation that acts as a trade organization for retailers interested in online and multi-channel retailing.
Multichannel is a current marketing word for sales through both online and brick-and-mortar channels. As a result, many of the resources that Shop.org offers on its website should be of interest to independent bookstores.
They have recently posted a roundup list of Nine E-Commerce Predictions for 2009 that affect retailers.
While all nine predictions merit careful consideration, I was immediately struck by three:
TWOM = Trusted Word of Mouth
“With new connective technologies, shoppers will now be able to see reviews, experiences, and critiques from people they actually know and trust.”
Jeremiah Owyang, Forrester Research
Widespread UGC [note: UGC = User Generated Content]
“In 2009, the most successful online retailers will do what some are already doing, and move toward incorporating consumer-written product or retailer reviews.”
Ann Handley, MarketingProfs
User Experience Innovation
E-commerce experiences will be informed even more by offline shopping experiences. Just as consumers expect to be able to try on, test drive, discuss and learn as part of the offline purchase journey, they will be further satisfied by smart retailers who organize shopping and buying experiences around natural consumer intent.
Adam Weinroth, Pluck
These are three areas that I think are important for independent bookstores to pay attention to: Increasing word-of-mouth about your store, Integrating customer reviews into your store and website, and refining/revising/improving your website so that customers can easily find what they are looking for, easily move through the purchasing process, and have confidence that their order went through properly and that their data is secure.
Are you doing anything to address these three areas this year? Have you started to think about it? Or are there other areas of focus that you are working on? As always, your comments are eagerly welcomed.
