Social Media

E-commerce retailers could do better in converting shoppers at the point of sale, but are displaying encouraging signs.   According to the Checkout Conversion Index for the second quarter of 2016 from payment platform provider Pymtns.com, underperforming e-commerce retailers will lose $162.4 billion in potential revenue during 2016 due to failure to convert site visitors to sales. This is due to a variety of frictions that exist between online discovery and checkout.  

Despite all the hype surrounding mobile commerce, good old-fashioned desktops and laptops are still in style when it comes to making digital purchases.   According to the 2016 Digital Commerce Survey of more than 1,000 adult U.S. consumers from digital commerce strategy firm Sumo Heavy, 72% of respondents prefer using a laptop or desktop PC to shop online. Only 28% prefer using tablets or smartphones. Furthermore, 42% of respondents have never used a tablet to shop online, while 32% have never used a smartphone.  

Bob Dylan sang “The Times They Are A Changin’” more than 50 years ago, but the sentiment is very current in the world of digital commerce.

Bob Dylan sang “The Times They Are A Changin’” more than 50 years ago, but the sentiment is very current in the world of digital commerce.

Consumers love to shop and love using social media, but somehow the two passions are not connecting.
 
Twitter, which has been piloting an embedded buy button in tweets since September 2014, is abandoning the effort. Recent studies from Forrester and GlobalWebIndex indicate generally low consumer usage rates for social buy buttons, which are also offered by platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram.
 

Consumers love to shop and love using social media, but somehow the two passions are not connecting.
 
Twitter, which has been piloting an embedded buy button in tweets since September 2014, is abandoning the effort. Recent studies from Forrester and GlobalWebIndex indicate generally low consumer usage rates for social buy buttons, which are also offered by platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram.
 

Increasingly, retailers are recognizing the need to remove boundaries between channels to maximize customer satisfaction.
 
According to the 2016 Customer Experience/Unified Commerce Survey from Boston Retail Partners, 51% of retailers indicate that creating a seamless experience across channels is their top priority. To support a seamless customer experience, 23% of the retailers surveyed have already implemented a single, unified commerce platform and another 52% plan to implement one within the next three years.
 

Miracle Mile Shops, at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, is targeting customers online in a big way.
 
The 1.2-mile shopping center has relaunched its site to offer a comprehensive snapshot of its offerings while encouraging visitors to engage on its social media channels. Now optimized for mobile technology, the site lets users search stores, promotions and offerings.