MULTICHANNELNEWS
09
CONFUSED.COM BOOSTS
WEB SHOP BUILDS LBK
X Commercial-
grade marketing
PAY-PER-CLICK EFFICIENCY
E-COMMERCE SUCCESS
and transactional
email solutions
provider,
Confused.com, the online insurance, money and utilities
comparison site has appointed digital performance
marketing company, The Search Works to handle all of
A
lot of us are understandably worried about
StrongMail
job security these days. But Jacqui Donaldson
Systems has
(pictured) left Royal Bank of Scotland with the
announced that
its pay-per-click (PPC) requirements.
ambition of setting up her own business.
Cooking.com, the
By making the most of the search specialist’s
Donaldson now runs www.littlekidsbedrooms.com
leading online
expertise in paid search campaigns, Confused.com
marketplace for
(LKB) a web shop, which sells all the paraphernalia, colourful
will be able to ensure customers are only within one
cooks, has selected
bedding and related accessories you’d ever need for, err,
it to power email
or two clicks from its large product range and the
little kids’ bedrooms.
marketing for
insurance market’s most competitive prices.
“I did a lot of research
itself and all the
Tom Bennett, Confused.com marketing director
and experimented with
managed
stated: “When it came to choosing an agency, not only e-commerce
ecommerce with a couple
did we require a specialist to handle our search strategy,
sites it operates
we were also looking for an extension of our in-house
of friends,” she explained. “I
on behalf of
marketing team that would push our campaigns to the
knew that I wanted to do
Starbucks, The
next level. We are con½ dent The Search Works will be
something online, and as a
Food Network,
able to do just that and we look forward to working
parent, I was aware of how
General Mills and
other top culinary
with them.”
much money people spend
brands.
on accessorising children’s
bedrooms.
LOYALTY SCHEMES
“I spent a lot of time in the Library reading dozens of
KEY IN RECESSION
market reports,” said Donaldson. “And I spoke to a lot of
X A joint report
web companies before I found Indez. I knew right away that
from af½ liate
The latest report from GI Insight reveals that 86% of
they were the right people. They have so much knowledge,
network, LinkShare
½ nance directors and managers in the retail sector
and I still trust them completely. I don’t think there is has found 92%
consider loyalty schemes critical to preventing customer
anyone else in the industry who I would want to change to.”
of consumers
defection, maintaining competitive positioning and In October 2008 Donaldson commissioned an
now have more
con½ dence in
supporting commercial health in the current recession. e-commerce web shop from Glasgow-based specialists, Indez
online information
The report found that, across all sectors studied, International. It took two months to build and was launched
than salespeople
four in every ½ ve ½ nance directors and managers in UK
in December, in time for Christmas. Now, four months later, in-store. As a
½ rms believed that companies with a loyalty scheme
daily orders are worth four ½ gures and annualised sales are in
result, it predicts
will come out of the current economic downturn with
the region of a quarter of a million pounds.
there will be a
‘signi½ cant competitive advantage’.
net decrease of
Pete Mowforth, Indez chief executive observed: “We
Medium sized companies, with 51-249 employees,
19% of those
build web shops that are like Formula One cars: if they’re
who expect to
were most sceptical about the value of loyalty schemes
driven well, they knock the competition into a cocked hat. make High Street
in a recession. By contrast, large ½ rms with over 1,000
They have world-beating technology in them. But they
purchases in
employees saw loyalty schemes as critical to their
do need to be driven, and that requires a lot of work.
the coming year,
success over the next year or so, with almost nine in compared to an
Jacqui Donaldson has been the perfect customer for us
every ten ½ nance directors and managers subscribing
anticipated 22%
because she listens to all our advice and works so hard to
to this view.
net increase in
implement it. That’s why she’s been so successful so quickly.” online shoppers.
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APRIL/MAY 2009 RETAIL TECHNOLOGY
005-013 News.indd 9 6/5/09 9:40:07 am
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