Does this new O2O shopping services matters to you?

Facy, an O2O (offline to online) service platform for fashion and apparel stores offering by Tokyo-based startup company Styler launched last September.

This service make it possible for consumer to have a new shopping experience simply by test messaging. Consumers with questions about fashion can ask for advice, and stores respond to those questions on the platform, like on Quora.

With the addition of the e-commerce function to Facy, it will allow physical fashion and apparel stores to easily set up their online storefront. For this function, Styler takes care of everything from the delivery of goods to the settlement of payments for online customers of shops on Facy. From the shops’ point of view, it is similar to Uber Eats’ system. Styler provides a series of services for shops and in return takes 20% of the price of items sold.

Tsubasa Koseki is the CEO and founder of Facy. He said their app was designed for people age between 25 and 35 who have jobs and cash to buy fashion items, but they don’t have much time to shop. Many of the stores on the platform are middle-priced brands, which are strong in the country.

Even though they got a really well result with 500,000 monthly active users who use the mobile app to interact with shops or browse interactions between shops and other users. Could they tell the exact difference with social network service-based interaction apps?

As Tsubasa mentioned, rather than post questions, most users just read conversations and find the right item which could also be possible for other apps customer review page. At the same time, they still need to develop and improve their chatbots and AI system for better operation.


reference:
https://www.techinasia.com/talk/tsubasa-koseki-facy

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Going Digital: How Digital Marketing has Revolutionized Retail

By Blaire Townshend

DataMentor Marketing Director Larisa Bedgood recently published an article on CustomerThink that outlines the successful strategies that retailers are implementing to optimize their relationships with customers online. She cites four such strategies, and how specifically they cater to the desires of today's customers. I found her data to be both useful and clearly communicated.

The strategies she outlined were as follows:

1. Optimizing search results to bring customers into stores
2. Using digital to improve in-store customer experience   
3. Using email to optimize personalization 
4. Recognizing the pervasiveness of mobile 

1. Bedgood wrote about the importance of search results in luring customers to visit stores, citing a Google study that found "3 in 4 shoppers who find local information in search results are more likely to visit stores." The local information considered to be valuable included: the price of the item at a nearby store, items in stock at the nearby store, the location of the closest store where item is in stock, and store hours and locations. Access to this information helps to galvanize the customer into action and makes purchasing easier and more attractive.

2. This next strategy capitalizes on the fact that 42% of shoppers use their smart phones to find information while in-store, both on search engines and the relevant retailer's website or app. Bedgood writes that successful retailers recognize the importance of this data, and ensure that their websites and apps are mobile-friendly accordingly. This helps the customer to have a seamless shopping experience, where they are assisted in their inquires both in person and via digital technology.

3. Bedgood argues that email is still the best way for retailers to optimize personalized interactions with their customers. Retargeting is cited as being particularly important, specifically "retargeting with a personalized email once a shopper visits a website"—Bedgood sees this as "one of the most effective tactics in which retailers are seeing success." Savvy retailers are: retargeting existing clients who visit their websites using email, sending emails featuring products that visitors have already looked at, sending emails featuring targeted product recommendations, and sending retargeting emails to visitors soon after they visit their website. 

4. Finally, Bedgood recognizes that mobile is absolutely integral to the digital customer experience, warning that customers who come across a website that isn't optimized for use on their mobile device will quickly transfer to another channel to find what they need. She writes that being mindful of these short attention spans is vital to one's success in digital retail, and that targeting across devices is a major priority. Successful retailers are able to cater to their customers seamlessly, regardless of what device they sign in to. 

The primary takeaway from Bedgood's article is that ease of use and the availability of relevant, personalized information are the key ingredients of a successful digital marketing retail platform. Retailers who have taken this to heart are seeing that their digitized customers engage with their stores and products on a variety of platforms, and have the sophistication to know when they are not being sufficiently catered to. Today's digital customers may expect a lot, but Bedgood argues that retailers have the ability to deliver on those expectations.   

Bedgood, Larisa. "4 Ways Retailers Are Making Big Strides in Digital Marketing." CustomerThink. 13 Apr. 2016. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.  

 

Holiday Season and Digital Marketing

At the time people fall in love with the digital world, we have to admit that it changes everything. Nowadays, more and more customers choose / prefer online shopping, which saves a lot of time and energy. Since people have large amount of choices, the use of digital marketing becomes crucial this winter. In other words, when two competitors promote similar products, timing is everything. 

First of all, we need to release holiday marketing campaign early. According to the article, “approximately 52% of shop do not make an actual sale until November, but will begin browsing as early as September”. In my opinion, customers also will not start buying until late November. More likely, they could either drop the products into shopping cart, or forget about them for now. So the frequency of advertisement is tricky. .

Furthermore, social media plays such an important role the whole holiday season. We can not only use social media to target (and reach out) the potential buyers, but also spread out the words of (for example) certain brand to a bigger population in a cheap and quick way. The best thing is that people will share promotions and deals with their families and friends -- free marketing. The power of recommendation is one of the most efficient strategies for online marketers, and it is capable of growing by itself. 

Last but not least, “free shipping” is definitely the best card. Shipping fee is the biggest disadvantage for online shopping. Especially when people facing substitutes (same price), without doubt, they will choose the one which has lower shipping fee. Therefore, during holiday season, even “discounted shipping” is not enough anymore, and “free shipping” is a basic offer. “According to the 2015 Holiday Shipping Survey produced by Pitney Bowes, 88% of holiday shoppers prefer free shipping”. We need to make customer feel like -- they are lucky to shop online and saving a lot. 

http://current360.com/play/4-tips-using-digital-marketing-holiday-season/

Alibaba - 1111 to $$$$

Recent years, November 11th becomes a new festival for Chinese young people -- 11.11 Singles Day. Thanks to internet and China’s Alibaba Group, Singles Day has become the world’s biggest online shopping day. Each year, Alibaba holds promotions and sales on its shopping sites. Chinese consumers spent a record 91.2 bn ($14.3bn) online during the 24 hours of Singles Day this year. 

“This year’s jump in sales showed the rising power of the Chinese consumer and the increasing presence of e-commerce in a country where the brick-and-mortar retail infrastructure isn’t as well-developed as it is in the U.S. It also shows the rising power of Chinese brands.” In October, WeChat, Weibo and all the other popular Chinese social media already started their distinct online marketing strategies, and turned the whole thing into a crazy global shopping festival. 

For instance, in the opening three minutes, Xiaomi (Smartphone) said it sold 110,000 of its new Mi3 phone and another 110,000 of its Hongmi (older version) phone. In other words, “sales” is no longer the biggest attraction anymore, the idea of Singles Day becomes the celebration of new lifestyle and also the fashionable trend to follow in this digital world. 

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304644104579191590951567808