Whilst many online retail sites concentrate on usability in their drive to improve the online customer experience for consumers, thereby increasing conversions, Littlewoods owner, Shop Direct Group, are taking a somewhat different approach.
Woolworths to start “gamifying” site
Shop Direct Group have this week stated that they are looking at “gamification” techniques to improve online retention and spend, starting with the now online-only varied brand Woolworths, before expanding to their fashion focused sites, Very and Littlewoods.
So what does “gamification” actually mean? Taking a cue from social media and online gaming content, the Shop Direct social media and mobile lead for Shop Direct, Jonathan Hudson, stated that they were looking at various ways to reward consumers for activity on their sites. For example, online badges, points or leaderboards could be used to encourage writing reviews, supporting others on help forums and buying products. Hudson has high hopes, especially, for reviews, which he thinks could drive up conversion rates by 10% on some ranges.
Ad targeting by location to be a focus in 2013
The company is also making a big effort to make its advertising more locally targeted, despite not owning any physical stores. For example, they are aware that consumers located in inner cities are better customers for them than the population in other locations, so they want to geolocate advertising and Facebook marketing to reach these users on their mobiles when they are out shopping. The goal? – tempt shoppers away from high street competitors such as New Look towards their online competitors; to in effect “hijack the high street”.
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