KalioCommerce enables merchants to design and manage their eCommerce site in a fully hosted, professionally supported environment. Retailers and media companies who use both Merchantry and Kalio solutions are provided a smooth implementation and the opportunity to sell more products to more customers.

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Five years is really long time in technology. Five years ago, many brands that are now household names did not even exist, including deal-of-the-day sites such as Groupon or Living Social, discovery communities such as Pinterest and Polyvore, curated commerce sites like Fab and AHAlife and flash sale sites, including Gilt and One Kings Lane. In 2012 flash sale sites captured $2B of $186B in total U.S. online retail market. Not too bad for a business model that is only five years old.

Publishers need new revenue sources. Subscription and advertising sales have been in decline. As such, publishers are venturing furtively into eCommerce, trying to diversify their revenue streams and engage new audiences. Most have already traveled half way to eCommerce by employing affiliate marketing, in which they provide a link to an item featured on their site that directs the consumer to the point-of-sale site, the brand manufacturer or the retailer. The publisher then gets a commission on that item. However, there are drawbacks to this tactic. First, 27% of shoppers are repeat customers but the publisher typically only gets a commission on that first sale. Secondly, publishers have spent a lot time and money engaging that reader by collecting customer data; with the affiliate model, that data is freely given to the retailer. Publishers are sending their most engaged customers to another site, which is where they then spend their money.

Retailers are (successfully!) competing with content providers. Retailers have found a way to disguise their catalogs—by making them look like magazines! They’re creating their own content and encroaching into the traditional publisher’s domain; for example, the John Lewis Edition, published by retail giant John Lewis, has become the #1 women’s lifestyle magazine in the UK. What’s #2, you ask? It’s online retailer ASOS’s magazine, with a circulation approaching half a million readers. This has further blurred the lines between content and commerce and infringed on publishers’ sales.

The shift to eCommerce has already begun. Some publishers are boldly striding into eCommerce. Thrillist saw its opportunity and purchased retailer Jackthreads in 2010 and now offers its subscribers access to this private shopping community. Harper’s Bazaar launched a marketplace on its website, Shop Bazaar, last year. As a leading provider of technology that enables shoppable content, we’re aware of many more efforts that are in development today. Finally, according to a recent study conducted by Forrester Research, 68% of publishers said that enabling eCommerce was important to their business.

We think the future will be rife with eCommerce as more and more publishers find it both an irresistible supplement to subscriptions and ad sales and a superior reader experience than the affiliate model.

Merchantry’s CEO, Tommaso Trionfi, explored these ideas in his keynote during the OnMedia Awards (Tommaso’s speech is in the second video, beginning at 2:15:30).

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Product matching is defined as the recognition of identical products and the merging of product content from those identical products. Product matching can be a source of frustration for retailers because there is no unique product identifier that is consistently used by retailers and suppliers. However, software can be employed to match by the following:

• Global identifiers such as Universal Product Code (UPC) or European Article Number (EAN)
• Product brand and title
• Product attributes

Since the 1970s, UPCs have been used to track products at various points of sale. This form of product matching is the most consistent and reliable as there is no ambiguity and little chance of typographical error. However, not all products have a UPC. Consumer electronics and appliances almost always do; housewares are generally a mixed bag, with some having a UPC and some not; apparel and jewelry, however, do not have UPCs.

It’s obvious why product matching is beneficial to retailers running a marketplace: customers may become confused if they see what appears to be the same item several times on one site–especially if that item is offered at different prices. Check back next week to learn how marketplace platforms are changing the game by making product matching more automated and comprehensive.

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1. “Shoppable” content. There are many ways to merchandise website content, including tags, hyperlinks or placing product catalogs alongside content. The degree to which the integration of the merchandise and its relevance to the content are optimized directly impacts conversion rates. Sophisticated marketplace platforms enable media companies to operate a curated, contextually relevant marketplace. Today, AlwaysOn announced the OnMedia Top 100 Private Companies, which acknowledges technology pioneers that create “new business opportunities in the world of media, advertising, marketing, social commerce, branding and public relations.” Merchantry was recognized on this list for our leadership in helping media businesses monetize their website traffic and diversify their revenue streams by making content “shoppable”.
2. User-generated curation. With the advent of sites such as Pinterest and Polyvore, social commerce is gaining a lot of buzz. Users build trust and a highly relevant audience by virtue of their curated merchandise—the more targeted the curation, the more followers they’ll have and the more authority they build. Curators could then offer their selections for consumption.
3. Expert-generated curation. Much like social commerce, expert-generated curation relies on authority to promote merchandise. This authority, however, is not grown symbiotically with the curation but there at the onset, such as celebrities or stylists. This can either be a select group of curators, such as OpenSky, or a single person with taste, like Shoptiques.
4. Interactive TV (ITV). New technologies are being developed to support the merger of media and commerce, such as ITV. The proliferation of tablets has developed unique browsing and shopping behavior (couch commerce) that television is now taking advantage of. For example, American Express has partnered with NBC Universal and Fox to allow viewers to purchase items seen onscreen via a tablet app.
5. Affiliate marketing. This has been the oldest, and for many years the only, solution for monetizing content. However, its use is in decline due to the many challenges that have come about. Affiliates (the content providers) have worked hard to amass demographics of their target audiences; affiliate programs allow retailers to tap into this information while paying low commissions. On the flip side, in recent years, affiliates have shifted from being media companies to coupon sites. They generate no content and drive to the site only value seekers who to not develop into repeat customers. The retailer gains very little from these transactions.

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Coinciding with New York and London Fashion Weeks, Merchantry hosted fashion eCommerce panel events featuring speakers from Arch & Loop, C. Wonder, Head, Perry Ellis, Polyvore and Thomas Pink. We discussed what some of the most innovative fashion brands—both emerging and established—are doing today and what they envision in the near term and beyond. Here are five trends to watch:

• Consumers will expect to interact with brands consistently and personally across multiple touchpoints, including via social media, mobile devices and curated commerce sites. This will require flexible multichannel technology, responsive design and thoughtful brand management.
• Personalization will drive a true omni-channel experience, with data sharing between online and in-store channels creating a seamless shopping experience.
• The fragmentation of authority will continue, with social media and user-generated content allowing new voices to be heard. A fashionista with a loyal Twitter following can establish real influence and, increasing, will expect to be able to profit from that influence.
• Curated commerce, powered by online marketplace technology, will allow retailers to differentiate themselves from generalist sites while giving fashion brands a way to access new customer markets—including international markets.
• Increasing numbers of brands will become “digital first”—launching online and establishing a following before venturing into brick-and-mortar retail.

Watch the full fashion eCommerce panel discussion or read the transcription.

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Last week Merchantry had the opportunity to introduce the online marketplace concept to the attendees at Digital Content Monitisation (DCM) Europe. The annual event brings together some of the world’s largest publishers and media companies who are looking for innovative ways to monetise their content. There was no better place to present and discuss ideas on how eCommerce will be transforming the future of publishing–and ultimately the turnover of many of the organisations in the room.

Olivier Adam, Managing Director of Merchantry for Europe, led a panel discussion that comprised of Chris Gadsby Marketing Director at Bauer Media, Eloy Sasot, Director of Pricing and Analytics at Harper Collins and Steve Price, Managing director of iSubscribe. The panel agreed that it could be a difficult transition for some; many key industry leaders and companies are waiting to see what, and how well, others do before committing to this new revenue stream. Other organisations are just playing the long game by dipping their toe in the eCommerce waters, such as using QR codes in ad campaigns and deal of the day offers. Such tactics, however, are not always successful due to a lack of public education on how they work and not enough promotion in prominent areas.

When asked to give their advice to a skeptical audience, the panel held no punches. Sasot emphasised the need to “Embrace change,” as it will come anyway. He also highlighted the importance of “Listening to the market”—evolving new start-ups have some great ideas.

The conversation about media venturing into eCommerce is just beginning but we predict many more animated and exciting debates to come.

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Omnichannel is not just the latest trend for retail but a strategy that all retailers will need to adopt to maximize sales by catering to the myriad ways consumers prefer to shop. Mobile is the link to unite online and offline shopping experiences. Consumers can now use their smartphones to:

• Compare in-store prices to online prices
• Assess products in-store and then purchase online
• Garner product information online while evaluating an in-store item, without needing to discuss with a sales associate
• View online ratings about products they’re interested in purchasing in-store
• Pay in-store using mobile proximity payments

Increasingly, retailers are enabling proximity payments using apps like Isis. Proximity payments are growing considerably faster than mobile commerce and comprise a much larger share of mobile payments, mainly due to their convenience. They may also increase customer loyalty: unlike companies such as Catalina Marketing, which track purchase history and offer POS-generated coupons, proximity payment solutions may include loyalty programs and offer tailored coupons directly to your smartphone, which can then be redeemed in-store.

Proximity payments may see the return of brick-and-mortar shopping, where growth has been slowing in recent years as online growth accelerates. However, the strong continued growth of online commerce in conjunction with the return of shoppers in-store shows the true value of omnichannel.

Shoppers want to be able to buy anything, anywhere and return anywhere—the endless aisle. By successfully utilizing omnichannel, especially in conjunction with a marketplace, retailers can not only stay ahead of the crowd but lead the way as well.

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More and more, shoppers are expecting options for their shopping experience. Online, in-store, tablet or mobile, not everyone prefers to shop the same way: to keep up, retailers need to offer every option available and anticipate prospective ways to reach shoppers. This is omnichannel.

In conjunction with omnichannel, attendees discussed showrooming, a well-known phenomenon, and a new term: reverse showrooming. Commonly, shoppers would evaluate products in-store and then head online to purchase. And many shoppers who did purchase in-store have said their next purchase will be online. Now, however, some shoppers research products online but want the instant gratification of heading to their local store to buy it same day—reverse showrooming. Retailers need to switch their tactics to see showrooming as an opportunity rather than a lost sale by directing shoppers to their own sites. The ability to showroom and reverse showroom require having a well-designed, well-executed omnichannel strategy.

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• Online shoppers value consumer-tailored content. A 2011 study into consumers’ attitudes toward custom content found that 70% of consumers would prefer to learn about a company through bespoke articles than an ad, and a further 50% of respondents agreed that custom content positively influenced their decision to buy from one company over another.
• Search engines reward unique content. Supplier-written product descriptions may be provided to multiple marketplace owners, thereby reducing the overall originality of their content and adversely impacting search engine positioning. This issue could be addressed by writing unique—witty, even!—descriptions that override the generic ones provided by suppliers.

Those who adopt a fused approach towards SEO and content marketing won’t have to fear changes to Google’s algorithm since their content will speak for itself. Creating truly interesting content around keywords has become an extremely effective way of engaging and acquiring users, with Google favoring genuine attempts at authorship as well as those who make efforts to foster a social media buzz. Social media can drive referral traffic and the “shareability” of content has become key. A fusion between a natural SEO strategy and a comprehensive content marketing program is a must for any digital marketing campaign.

With consumers now increasingly engaging with content through multiple platforms, be it via desktop, mobile or tablet, the benefits of investing in quality content production are manifold.

iTrigga, a Merchantry partner and author of this article, specialises in writing for the web, on any topic, in any language. You can contact the iTrigga team at sales@itrigga.com, or on +44 02070536150.

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