payments - Retail Systems

RS
letters to the editor
48 RS June - July 2012
letters
MEASURING SOCIAL ROI
A recent survey that states 90 per cent of UK businesses
are failing to effectively measure social media ROI,
highlights some fundamental flaws in the way in which many
organisations approach their social media marketing and social
user engagement. KPIs in social media are currently measured
by likes and fans. Although this is increasingly recognised as
a flawed and ineffective method for evaluating social media
success, the industry at large is failing to come up with any
other measure for success.
And this is the key: In the new social landscape, there is no single
right way of engaging in social media marketing. Likewise,
social media KPIs and return on investment will be unique to
every brand because the very nature of the interaction and
consumer engagement is personalised and unique.
The key therefore for any brand is to know and understand
who their ‘likes’ are from; everything else is just extrapolation.
Social login – the ability for consumers to use their social
media profile to register on a brand’s website – is now
providing brands with the ability to find out who their users
are by gaining insight from their social data. Indeed, consumers
are becoming more open to data sharing and expect to
receive the more targeted, relevant engagement in return
for sharing their personal profile. In recent research, Janrain
established that 85 per cent of UK consumers would like social
login to be offered as an alternative when registering for
sites over the standard web registration process.
The rise in social media and the effect it is having on
consumers’ willingness to share personal data with brands,
as part of a value-exchange, means that the goal posts for
b2c engagement are changing. Brands need to recognise
that social media marketing is personal and start measuring
their social media success on the depth of their own unique
engagement with their individual customers.
Russell Loarridge, European sales director, Janrain
CONVENIENCE STORE SHIFT
In the face of recent growth and profit figures released by
some of the multiples, it is clear to see that something is
afoot when comparing their figures against those of the
convenience sector. Fascia groups’ annual growth is nearly
in double figures at 9.2 per cent compared to Sainsbury’s,
currently one of the leading multiples in terms of growth,
who only achieved 5.6 per cent growth.
Similarly, at the lower end of the growth scale, Morrison’s reported
1.5 per cent like for like growth. The growth figures in
the convenience sector will have the multiples reeling as they
try to get to grips with the disparity in consumer behaviours
and retailer results. However, with a greatly improved product
offering and range, particularly within fresh chilled and bakery
goods, competition is hotting up. There has been a big shift in
consumer perception towards convenience stores, attributable
to a drive on their part for competitive prices comparable
to the multiples. For example, Budgens now price match large
retailers and have been advertising the top 800 line to be the
same price as Tesco. Moreover, many convenience stores are
also embracing smarter marketing and investing in larger
campaigns such as Nisa’s recent national TV advertising
campaign outlining their product ranges available in store.
Add to this that consumer shopping patterns have altered
dramatically due to austerity, with a shift to higher frequency
shopping trips, visiting stores four to five times per week,
spending less but more often, and you start to see where the
growth is coming from.
But the convenience sector is also getting savvy. The quality
and quantity of sales performance information now available
at an individual store level is allowing stores to use data
insight into product performance by range, by brand, by
geography and by outlet type to better equip their stores
to serve the local consumers they want to attract.
Hand in hand, this growth in the convenience market has also
encouraged manufacturers to increase their investment,
offering bespoke promotional brand activity, such as new
product variants and pack sizes. This change in attitude and
indeed perception by the product providers is further fuelling
the convenience market’s growth and opportunity to succeed
further.,
Roger Suddaby, head of sales, SalesOut
FACEBOOK ENTERS M-COMMERCE
There are estimates that the social commerce market
will be worth up to $50 billion in the next eight years and
undoubtedly Facebook is positioned to be the main primary
beneficiary. With the company’s IPO garnering so much
interest it is clear that shareholders will be wanting to see a
return on their investment in the future. With this in mind
it is a logical step that Facebook is trying to position itself
as more than just a social networking platform. Facebook’s
acquisition of Karma is a further indication that it has serious
aspirations to become a commerce platform. Certainly we
have already seen a positive trend from businesses selling
through Facebook. Our own figures have shown that those
e-commerce businesses that also have Facebook stores saw a
17.7 per cent increase in revenue in the first quarter of 2012.
Eugene Kaznacheev, product manager Ecwid
Letters to the Editor should be emailed to: karen.moss@retail-systems.com