The English are coming. And so are the Americans. Even the Chinese are on their way. This is no Gillard/Abbot-style migration rhetoric, this is e-commerce. That old '80s catchphrase has arrived in Australia thanks to a perfect storm of the strong Aussie dollar, reduced costs of international freight, deflated prices of consumer goods abroad and relatively strong levels of local disposable income.
As a result, Australian consumers are finally taking to their computers to shop. Unfortunately, much of that shopping is being done on international websites as Australian retailers have lagged behind in their online retail offerings and capabilities.
Gerry turned this into an issue with his proposed tax on online goods, but the consumers have spoken and our valuable Aussie dollars are flowing over the broadband cables to faraway lands, to the likes of Zappos, ASOS, Amazon and others who are offering things like free returns to even further reduce perceived risk of shopping online.
As Christmas looms, can Australian retailers turn things around to stem the flow? If they are to do so, they must immediately steal from the playbook of the more established overseas competitors who, in the case of the Americans in particular, have been leading the game for a decade or more.
Don’t just listen, act.
Last month Responsys released its Big Australian Report, which contained the survey results of 350 leading Australian marketers and analysis of more than one billion marketing messages sent by Australian companies. The most compelling finding was that lifecycle-driven relationship marketing has finally taken off in this country.
While traditional media remains strong, the volume of targeted emails and SMS messages went through the roof, as did the intelligent use of social channels, most specifically Facebook and Twitter. Go ahead and roll your eyes, you’ve heard it all before, but the big shift is taking place in sophisticated segmentation and targeting. While overall email volumes increased by a third, the number of targeted campaigns more than doubled. Marketers are listening to their customers and sending personalised and relevant messages. And by doing so they are not just building relationships, they are increasing ROI, in some cases by as much as 42 times.
The golden rule is still golden, just more direct.
To send emails and SMS messages you need to have a customer opted in. To reach them on Facebook or Twitter they have to ‘like’ or follow you. What if they refuse to opt-in? If the golden rule is to go where your customers and prospects are, and we know they are online, what do you do?
The practice of display ad re-targeting is an innovation from the US that’s beginning to get some traction locally. It’s another way - beyond email, mobile and social channels - to find your customers (and more importantly, your potential customers) and deliver relevant messages and offers to them online.
Let’s consider Nick. He visits the ACME Car Rental website, browses for a four-door sedan in Sydney, goes right through the browsing process but doesn’t complete the reservation. Before he leaves the site he is encouraged to join the ‘special offers’ program to have discounts delivered to his in-box, but he declines and leaves, probably back to Google to find another rental company.
Imagine if on the next site he visits he sees a display ad offering him 25% discount on that four-door sedan. Pretty compelling. Perhaps a little spooky, but he’s saved 25% and ACME has a new customer and most likely the ability to communicate with Nick on an ongoing basis. The technology to do this is now available and the processes to manage it are achievable for any competent marketing team.
What next?
Australian retailers who are hoping for a big Christmas must do more than hope and not just redouble down on the tried and true marketing programs. Online has arrived in Australia and companies who don’t embrace the new power that the online channels bring could have a very disappointing holiday season.
Simon O'Day
Director
Responsys Australia
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