UCD Concepts

Some of you who read my posts may see a pattern here when I display another e-mail from Circuit City.  I have to admit that I am quite fond of their marketing techniques.

Today I received an interesting e-mail that actually had me thinking about shopping even when I didn’t have to.  It wasn’t the subject line that caught me, but rather the big red bow.

I was drawn to the writing beneath the picture saying “How to shop big on a budget” and felt compelled to click.  Now if you knew me, you would know that I am clueless to the term budget when standing in any electronics section of any store. 

What I did think about when reading this e-mail is all those affected by the current status of the market/economy and how Circuit City is trying to help those who have been affected.

Let’s take a look and see.

Click image for a larger view

I can see how Circuit City is trying to help the customer feel like it’s ok to think (and buy) small or so I thought until I actually clicked the link.

What I saw next had me wondering what was Circuit City thinking.

Now I don’t know about you, but I was thinking that I would learn a thing or two about budgeting.  I don’t think that is the case here.  I’m reading this as something that is telling me to go spend $400 on a gaming system (PS3) or Blue-Ray dvd player because, and I quote, “one sensational gift will wow the whole family.”

I guess it all depends on who the gift is really for and what the real intent is behind that gift.  I’d like to think that maybe Circuit City is really trying to help the consumer here.  Sure there are links to other products that don’t cost that much, but no matter how you look at this, the bottom line is get one gift worth lots of money because it will be better for the family.

I know that this is business and they’re trying to make money, but I’m just wondering if they are taking advantage of a situation here by relating today’s economic issues with purchasing big ticket items.  I can’t speak for all families, but if the guess is that people will only be spending around $466, why would you advertise a $400 product?

How did you feel the e-mail and corresponding page compliments the consumer?  Is this something you would agree with?

Your thoughts?

Cheers.

Did I get your attention?

Well this e-mail from Peapod sure got mine.  I can’t even begin to tell you how much I want to order from them based off the e-mail they sent me.

Tell me if this is enticing to you.

This has got to be one of the best looking sundaes I have ever seen.  It is seriously making my mouth water it looks so good.

Anyway, what do you think?  Did Peapod hit the nail on the head with this one?  It’s simple, direct and let’s you know when the deal expires so you make no mistake knowing when you need to order by.

Great job Peapod!  I’ll be placing my order now.

Carson Pirie Scott sure has.

I woke up to receive an e-mail with the subject line “It’s Your Birthday This Month! Celebrate with 25% off!”.

Ok, it’s an e-mail from the sender “Carson’s Birthday Wishes”.  Now how nice was that?

This was something completely unexpected and a pleasant surprise.

Now take a look at the page the e-mail links to.

Cool, I have been wanting to buy an iPod Nano and I can use the 10% off right now to buy online. 

Oh wait, no I can’t.  The coupon is not good for Internet orders.  Seriously?  Carson’s just lost a sale.

What’s the point of sending out a coupon to your online subscribers if you are not going to let them use the coupon online?

Let me break down the experience.

1. Yeah, I got a coupon in the e-mail and I was just looking to buy an iPod.
2. Awesome, I get an extra 10% off the price.
3. What, can’t use the coupon online?
4. Ok, I’ll just go to Apple’s website and get one for $20 more, but at least I have the convenience of not having to leave my house to purchase it.
5. I am satsified with my purchase on Apple.com and even got free engraving on my new iPod.

Well, there it is.   That’s how I roll.

I am guessing that Carson’s was just trying to get me in the door (and possibly buy more while I was there), but I just don’t have the time to drive off to find a Carson’s to purchase from.

I realized I still have a warm, fuzzy feeling from Carson’s though.  They went above and beyond by offering me something as personalized as they did and it me me feel good about Carson’s overall.  I hope that they offer me something I can use online in the future though.

Have you been given that personal touch lately?  If not, I hope you do soon.

Cheers.

(currently listening to the sounds of the city from the 30th floor)

I never really paid attention to the Lightning Deals section in Amazon.com’s Gold Box until tonight.

Check the bottom left corner of the picture above.  Do you see how much time is remaining?  I’ve got 1 hour and 20 minutes to purchase and 60% of the product has already been claimed.  The time remaining is also ticking down as I stare at the page.

Do you feel a sense of urgency while viewing this product?  Is feeling that sense of urgency going to increase the chance you will purchase this item?

Amazon is limiting the amount of time an item is on sale and showing a percentage of stock already claimed.  In turn, Amazon is creating a sense of urgency for the shopper to purchase.

Let’s take a look at the Amazon’s Lightning Deal one hour later.

Hmm.  One hour later and 72% of the items have now been claimed.

Do you feel the anxiety kicking in now?  Time is running out and you can see the timer ticking down.  How does it make you feel?  Do you feel motivated to purchase in any way?  Imagine this was an item you were somewhat interested in and then answer the questions again.

After the deal time expires, Amazon relays how much of the stock was actually claimed.

I like how Amazon takes a more direct approach to the countdown.  Keeping the user updated as to how much time is left and basically how much stock is left of the item.  I think the information helps motivate the user toward making a decision to purchase.

I have a feeling not many people have actually sat on the Lightning Deals page and watched a deal come to a close, so I wanted to give everyone a glimpse at the experience Amazon provides.

Cheers.

(currently listening to MGMT – Kids)

I received my first cart remarketing e-mail from Circuit City recently and was pleasantly surprised.

Well, how often does your shopping cart take the time to contact you while you’re offline?  I subscribe to a few retailers and register at those I purchase from.  Sometimes I am forced to register and sometimes I am not.  Either way, none of the retailers have actually gotten my attention as much as Circuit City has this past week.

Sure enough, I open my e-mail to find the words, “Having trouble deciding? We can help.”  Now, granted, I don’t recall looking at the Polaroid 32″ LCD HDTV, but I must have if it is displaying there.  I do recall the rest of the items though and that led me to believe, even more, that I must have looked at the 32″ television.

So have you received a friendly e-mail like this from one of your retailers? If not, expect to in the near future.

Cart remarketing is a great tool for increasing conversion, but there is a fine line between building the customer relationship and being annoying.  At first I had to ask myself whether I was feeling violated that Circuit City was keeping track of the items I viewed or if I was happy they took the extra step of contacting me so I wouldn’t forget about the items I viewed.

Here is how I really feel.  I’m not ecstatic that these items were added to my cart, but I understand that it is one step less for me to perform if I wanted to purchase any of those items.  Maybe they should have added the items to my Wish List so that I could then choose when I wanted to purchase instead of being forced to make a decision the next time I visit my shopping cart.

If you don’t know about Circuit City’s Wish List, I reviewed the functionality in a previous post.  I have grown fonder of their Wish List functionality since I last reviewed and think it is the perfect choice for storing items I may want to purchase in the future.

Aside from this e-mail, I expect to also see remarketing e-mails geared toward items I may have left in my cart or added to my Wish List and then left the site.  The key is knowing when to send these e-mails and to which shoppers. 

I am certainly not an expert on cart remarketing, but you can find some good information out there in From talk to reality: Successful remarketing techniques written by Angel Morales over at DMNews.

Cheers.

This will be part one of a series of video merchandising posts.  I have been researching this topic for a couple weeks now and came across something so unique that I had to share it with you.

One of my favorite blogs is Future Now’s GrokDotCom blog.  Future Now Inc. is a New York City interactive marketing firm.  I have been a fan of their blog for quite some time now.  Since I have joined the online retail industry, I have been visiting their site on a daily basis to see what’s new and learn a thing or two.

Well, tonight I saw something really cool that had to do with video merchandising.  This is something I have not seen before and it just might be bleeding edge (so to say).

Johnny Bunko trailer from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.

I am quoting directly from Robert Gorell’s GrokDotCom post.

Riverhead Books and Penguin Books hired Lindsey Testolin to make the words of Daniel H. Pink and the illustrations of Rob Ten Pas come to life in the shape of a film trailer — complete with gratuitous needle-dragging-on-record sound effect to suggest a sudden change of expectations. There’s a strong call to action for the book’s website and it insists at the end credits that Johnny Bunko is the best graduation gift of 2008.

If you get a chance, check out some of Robert’s other posts.  He is a major contributor to the blog and I always look forward to his “Top 10 Online Retailers by Conversion Rate” post.

Stay tuned for future posts on video merchandising.

Cheers.