14


DIRECT COMMERCE ED-AD days of


Nicholas is YUDU Media’s Marketing Analyst. In this useful article, he runs through 12 different suggestions for retailers in the run up to the busy Christmas period.


Having a presence in the app store is no longer optional for physical and online retailers. Statistics show that 42% of all mobile commerce revenue comes through apps and app store search volumes are increasing all the time. Retailers are taking advantage of this: UK department store,


Debenhams launched Android and Nokia apps after its iPhone app achieved 360,000 downloads and achieved sales of nearly £1m within five months of launch. Having worked with a number of online retailers including


Screwfix, Precor and Scotts and Co, we’ve pulled together some ideas of how to create a great retail app:


Day 1: Create a digital magazine


Create or enhance an existing digital magazine so that consumers can directly shop from it. Harper’s Bazaar found success in providing functionality for consumers to purchase content that caught their eye directly from the magazine.


Day 2: Be social media savvy


Build up to the launch of your retail app by engaging your fans on social media. Learn what channels work best for your market, and prioritize these. Offer a reason for consumers to click-through, so combine social media announcements with digital exclusive offers that can be found within the app.


Day 3: App Store Optimization


App Store Optimization refers to improving the visibility of your retail app on the various app stores, making sure that your app is discoverable in the areas that deliver more traffic and more revenue. Tis means paying attention to profitable keywords, keeping app descriptions concise and offering feedback channels about the app.


Day 4: E-mail signatures across the whole company


When your retail app launches, or if you have a particularly important app-related announcement you want to draw attention to, attach a link to the app within your employees’ e-mail signatures. Couple this link with a short, single-sentence


Direct Commerce | www.directcommercemagazine.com


explanation of why the app should be downloaded, for example “Access exclusive Christmas deals by downloading our iOS app today”.


Day 5: Competitions


Generate interest from consumers by running relevant competitions exclusive to the app. Te key to running a successful digital competition is to offer something that is both desirable, but more importantly seems winnable.


Day 6: App design and seasonal themes


Make sure your app welcome page is clean, easy to read and that the relevant calls to action are attention grabbing without being intrusive. You can introduce seasonal themes into your app design. For Christmas, you’d want something appropriately festive and seasonal.


Day 7: Enhance your digital content with rich media


While it may be tempting to saturate your app with rich-media content, consider that for the consumer, they’re saturated with video in every environment. Only add video when it is relevant, for example: if it illustrates


something about a product that imagery alone cannot. Interactive content, such as product breakaways follows a similar rule of thumb.


Day 8: Check shopping cart conversions A/B testing


Retail apps are a great place to test new approaches, the results of which can be replicated elsewhere in your general digital strategy. Start with some simple A/B testing of different hypotheses and, as with anything in marketing and product management, refine as you move forward.


Day 9: Build an in-store experience for your app


Tis is a difficult concept for any retailer to grapple with. Te idea of creating an app-based showroom is something that Ikea in- particular have taken and run with: Allowing customers to create a bespoke kitchen.


retail apps


Some ideas for Christmas m-commerce strategies


By Nicholas Kleanthous, Marketing Analyst at YUDU Media


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