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The backbone of any successful business is repeat customers.  Retailers often fall in to the trap of expending large amounts of resources to look for new customers, whereas experts have noted that investing in existing customers consistently brings more revenue over time.  The impact that customer retention can have on revenue is quite substantial, quoting a study done by Harvard Business School, “increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%.” It would be in the interest of any prudent executive to take heed of these numbers.

There are many ways in which customer retention percentages can be increased, but the most effective methods are ones that grow over time organically. Creating a community which your customers feel happy to be part of is the best method to keep customers loyal over the long haul.  This can be done in a lot of different ways; here are a few of them that are easy to implement:

Social Media -- If there is one thing that impacts customer retention/loyalty in today's marketplace – it’s social media. People are more likely to do business with a company that they feel a personal connection to in some way or another. Social media allows businesses to speak directly to their customers, in fun and engaging ways. Facebook giveaways, humorous YouTube commercials, Twitter accounts run by corporate executives – where customers can directly speak to the business owners and create a personal connection.

Customized Emails -- Emails are a corner stone of eCommerce, and are among the most important tools an eCommerce business has. An excellent way to utilize emails to help customer retention is to customize emails. Send people emails about what they have purchased in the past – provide a list of accessory products, helpful tips and reviews – and suggestions for related products they may be interested in. From time to time, send them deals specifically for being a repeat customer – and let them know that their business is greatly appreciated.

Customer Service -- When a customer is treated with respect and made to feel they are important, the likelihood of them returning is much higher. Answering customer emails and phone calls in a professional and timely manner goes a long way. Make sure that there is ample information on your website that can answer most questions that a potential customer may have. Also take the time to build up a strong reputation with your customers, invite them to provide reviews about your products and services. This establishes believability and promotes community on the site. Post the bad ones too. It’s all about trust.

The key to take from this is that successful business practices leading to customer retention should be looked at as more of a marathon than a sprint, and although the benefit seems small at the start of the relationship, it pays off greatly over time.

If you would like some more info on how to grow your eCommerce community, give us a call. Building the best eCommerce sites is what we do!

San Diego Media
800.808.8696
www.sandiegomedia.com

The roots of modern marketing can be traced back to the turn of the 20th century and the emergence of various facets of psychology in academic circles, leading to its adaptation in different aspects of society, most notably in public relations and marketing. Since that time making use of psychological findings about human behavior and the eliciting of varied emotions has become a staple in the field of marketing.

There are many ways in which a potential business can make use of these psychological findings; one of the simplest is the role that color plays in influencing behavior. In fact, in a study done by the University of Winnipeg in Canada, it was found that people make their judgments about products within 90 seconds, and that up to 90% of that judgment is based on color.

Neurological scientists are of the opinion that it is not the human eye that perceives color, but it is the brain that does so. As color enters in to the brain through light, it activates various portions of the brain known as visual area 4. This is a portion of the brain located towards the rear of the cranium, below the temples. The activation of these areas in turn activates various brain and bodily functions.

Behavioral psychologists have studied what effects different colors have on people, and using that information marketing experts have specified how various colors can affect business.

Just how effective can color be in business? An experiment was done where a "get started now" button on a home page was changed from green to red. The page was kept exactly the same otherwise, and it was noted that the click rate of the button increased by 21% just from the color change alone.

The following is a list of some general traits of colors and how they may potentially be used in marketing.

There are three primary colors: Red, Blue and Yellow. All other colors are formed via the mixing of these 3 colors. For this list we will be looking at the three primary colors along with the three secondary colors (Orange, Purple and Green).

Red:
Red has been shown to create excitement, and can even increase pulse rate. It creates a sense of urgency and gives the perception that there may be a limited time to act. Studies have shown that something as simple as changing the color of a button on an eCommerce site to red has created significant increase in conversion rates.

Blue:
Blue is a calming as well as authoritative color. Many studies have shown that worldwide Blue is most often selected as a person's favorite color. This makes blue a very neutral choice in color schemes, and can be an effective choice when attempting to convey information to a customer.

Yellow:
Yellow is considered to be the "strongest" of colors; it evokes feelings of happiness and optimism. Gold is a shade of yellow, and thus gives yellow an effect on the viewer that is deeply rooted in the psyche. Used correctly on an eCommerce site yellow and its various shades can give a potential buyer the impression that the product advertised may increase their personal happiness and satisfaction.

Orange:
Orange is often seen as a "fun" color. It brings about warmth and in bright shades it is the most eye catching of all colors. Using orange can be a great way to draw the eyes attention, and potentially convey information to a customer.

Green:
If used effectively green can create a sense of trust and a feeling of reassurance. It is very easy for the eyes to adjust to green light. When used correctly green can be placed on an eCommerce site to give assurances to the customer and invoke in them a feeling of confidence towards the retailer. Note that virtually all security icons (such as padlock icons when accessing secure pages) are shown in green.

Purple:
Purple is among the rarest of all colors to be seen in nature, coupled with its historical use in many cultures as being a color associated with royalty. Purple can be an ideal color to communicate the high quality and uniqueness of a product.

There are many ways in which color can be utilized, and there are many factors that play in to how effective color changes are. The prudent business owner would do well to pay special attention to color schemes on their website, taking in to account their target audience, what emotions they wish to evoke for their particular products or services, and the potential cultural implications of color choice based on the national and ethnic background of their audience.

If you would like some more info on how color can help your eCommerce, give us a call. Building the best eCommerce sites is what we do!

San Diego Media
800.808.8696
www.sandiegomedia.com

The other day I was shopping for a ski parka. What struck me was the number of ecommerce sites doing Pay Per Click correctly (fully utilizing tools) and the number who aren't.

Look at this screen grab. Are you doing these in your PPC programs? If not, why not?

We can help. Give us a call today.

800.808.8696

When building a site, especially an eCommerce store, it is paramount to consider how visitors will be using the site. Analytics have shown that almost half the purchases are made via tablets or smartphones. Designers must consider this and build multi-screen sites to accommodate this cross-platform necessity.

Responsive Web Design or Adaptive Web Design?

Responsive Web Design (RWD) is a design technique that results in websites being displayed properly on any screen. This is the most popular method for developers as it requires few adjustments to HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Regardless of device, the page is served all the code and sized by the browser.

Adaptive Web Design (AWD) adapts a site to the specific device, screen, and user by leveraging server side technology, CSS, and JavaScript. Using a predefined set of layout sizes based on device screen size along with CSS and JavaScript, the AWD approach adapts to the detected device. Only code specific for that device is served.

"The biggest similarity between the two methods is that they both allow websites to be viewed in mobile devices and various screen sizes, ultimately providing visitors with a better mobile user experience,” says Ryan Boudreaux in Web Designer Magazine, April 11, 2013. "Where the two methods differ is in their delivery of the responsive/adaptive structures: RWD relying on flexible and fluid grids, and AWD relying on predefined screen sizes. One of the main distinctions between the two is that RWD might take more code and implementation strategies with the fluid grids, CSS, and flexible foundations, while AWD has a streamlined, layered approach, which utilizes scripting to assist with adapting to various devices and screen sizes."

At San Diego Media, we generally develop mobile sites using Responsive Web Design. The concept is to build one site that has the ability to adapt to all devices.

Recognizing a growing number of all customer traffic involves access from mobile phones and tablet devices, we wanted to optimize the experience for these shoppers. We also knew that this mobile traffic was going to continue to grow.

The idea was to create a Responsive user experience that was elegant and had a performance level equal to that of a traditional desktop site. Conversion rates were lower on mobile devices compared to desktop rates, identifying a clear objective to bring the conversion rate for mobile users closer to those shoppers accessing a site on desktops and laptops.

Additionally some sites support both B2C and B2B users with different shopping needs. We had to configure a Responsive Design strategy to support the diverse needs of B2C consumers, as well as mobile dealers and distributors.

We did this by implementing media queries to create stylesheets for phones and tablets. A media query consists of a media type and at least one expression that limit the style sheets' scope by using media features, such as width, height, and color. Media queries, added in CSS3, let the presentation of content be tailored to a specific range of output devices without having to change the content itself.

Since San Diego Media's RWD Program implementation, our clients' mobile programs have seen a significant rise in revenues and traffic.

The clients couldn't be happier. And neither could their mobile customers.

San Diego Media is a one stop eCommerce solution provider. Utilizing MaxEXP proprietary software as our flagship product, we implement scalable eCommerce strategies for mid to large size companies. We also offer third-party solutions for smaller eCommerce needs.

To see how we can help you with your eCommerce needs, please give us a call.  We would welcome the opportunity to take a look under the hood and offer some solutions.

800.808.8696