Website Conversion Analysis

Part 1 of a website conversion analysis of www.silver-jewelry.ws (e-commerce website). We are focusing on sales conversion in this video.

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High-tech trolleys inform shoppers of unhealthy choices

ABC News reports that shoppers in London may soon have access to trolleys that can warn us when we are buying too much unhealthy food at the supermarket. According to the article, "the high-tech model will be fitted with a computer screen and barcode scanner. It will read each product's individual code to give customers information about calories, nutrition, ethical sourcing and the environment."

This is definitely an interesting concept, though it seems there may be more drawbacks than benefits. There are thousands of products in any supermarket that are not healthy (in fact I wouldn't be surprised if the unhealthy ones outnumber the healthy ones). So how will the folks at Frito Lay, Coca-Cola, etc. feel about a machine attached to a cart that essentially tells shoppers not to buy their product? I think it's safe to say that they won't be making any contributions to EDS, the U.S. based company responsible for the technology any time soon (unless said contributions would help to reclassify what things are "healthy".) I also would not be surprised to see some vendors lash out at supermarkets using the tech, since it will essentially be negating all of their product advertising and in-store promotions.

In the end, this kind of technology is probably better suited to high-end markets and specialized health food stores where people are making the conscious decision to eat an entirely healthy diet, and will be interested enough in what they're buying to stop and read the text on the screen for a minute or two. In such places it would be easy to tout the technology as a new service to provide even more information to consumers facing an increasing number of choices (especially in said high-end places where you're buying "lifestyle" as much as anything else). In mainstream supermarkets, though, I think it can only hurt business as a whole, and worse, it could pit the retailers against some of their biggest vendors.

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At Starbucks, Songs of Instant Gratification

Like that song you hear playing at Starbucks, but just cannot wait until you get to a computer to download the song?

Starting tomorrow at certain Starbucks stores, a person with an iPhone or iTunes software loaded onto a laptop can download the songs they hear over the speakers directly onto those devices. The price will be 99 cents a song, a small price, Starbucks says, to satisfy an immediate urge.

“For the customer it’s an instant gratification,” said Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment. “You’ll hear the song, be able to identify what it is and download to the device.”

And it’s just the tip of the iced latte. Businesses are using new technologies to enhance the impulse buy so consumers can purchase their temptations whenever they want, wherever they are, before the urge passes.

Amazon.com pioneered one-click shopping to speed purchases, whether made at home or on an employer’s time. But the development of more capable gadgets, coupled with mobile payment mechanisms, is allowing people to buy not just media, like music, videos and ring tones, but also hard goods, on the go.

This evolution follows the popularity of debit, gift and refill cards, which allow buyers to fill accounts and make cashless payments. Payments made with those cards exceed the payments made by cash and check, according to the Nilson Report, a credit industry newsletter, which used Commerce Department data.

Credit card companies in particular are experimenting with ways to turn the phone into a conduit for card purchases and to offer incentives, like coupons, for mobile purchases. Visa, for instance, is developing technology that will allow people to wave their cellphones in front of a reader to pay for items under $25 without a signature. (Swiping the card through a reader, an innovation several years old, is apparently too much of an impediment.)

The idea is no waiting, cashier or other buying barrier — aside from the charges that show up on a credit card or cellphone bill. And there, along with challenges revolving around security and business models, lies a chief rub.

The mobile-payment technology can create a desensitizing and seductive purchase experience, said James Katz, director of the Center for Mobile Communications Studies at Rutgers University.

“The more people think about a purchase decision, the more likely uncertainty creeps in,” he said. “One frame of mind is you’re helping create in consumers’ mind a source of pleasure, and enabling them to fulfill that pleasure,” Mr. Katz said of the mobile impulse temptation. Another is that “they’re preying on our materialistic souls.”

For now, the new Starbucks service’s preying capabilities will be limited. The concept is being introduced in around 600 cafes in New York and Seattle only, though Starbucks, based in Seattle, and Apple, of Cupertino, Calif., plan to offer the service in other major cities late this year and in 2008.

Impulsive music lovers will have to sign onto the cafe’s Wi-Fi network to discover what song is playing over the Starbucks speakers. With a few taps, users can download the song onto their iPhones (which double as an iPod), or the new Apple iPod Touch with its wireless connection. The 99-cent charge will appear on their phone bills.

Other coffee drinkers who have iTunes software loaded on their notebook computers can do somewhat similar things. When they open their laptops while sitting in a participating store, a Starbucks icon will pop up, giving them a chance to click and buy.

Starbucks said it was the first retail outlet to offer such capability. It is certainly not on the cutting edge of the downloadable music experience. For more than a year, Verizon Wireless has offered technology that lets consumers buy songs over the air. Other carriers, including Sprint and AT&T, allow over-the-air downloads.

Roger Entner, a communications industry consultant with IAG Research, which advises mobile carriers, said Sprint and Verizon were each offering around 60 million songs a month for downloading.

Verizon and others also allow users to buy video, pictures, wallpaper, ring tones and games — none of that revelatory anymore. Verizon also experimented with music fans’ buying concert tickets over the phone, then turning that phone into a bar code for concert entry.

John Harrobin, senior vice president for digital media at Verizon, said, “The fact that when you want something, you can get it instantly through the phone is something we believe in.”

Mr. Entner said the sticking point on the growth of the phone as a full-service payment device had less to do with technology, which is adequate, and more to do with business questions. He said that all the potential participants — phone carriers, retailers, credit card companies, music labels — wanted a cut of the action, and it was not clear how the money for over-the-air payments would be divided.

For example, he said, the mobile-carrier profits for downloadable songs were about 3 cents a song, which he deemed “razor thin.”

Visa, which takes a piece of the action of credit purchases and would love to see buying opportunities blossom, introduced a new microcard last week. It works like a credit card, but it is small enough to fit onto a key chain. At merchants equipped with wireless payment systems, consumers wave the card to pay; purchases under $25 do not require a signature.

Visa is also rolling out a “mobile payment platform.” That’s marketing-speak for software that not only lets consumers pay by waving their phones, but also lets merchants beam coupons to their customers on the go. For instance, Visa has experimented at its headquarters in Foster City, Calif., with sending employees coupons for discounts in the company cafeteria.

The plan got a strong reception by consumers, said Pam Zuercher, Visa’s vice president for innovation.

“Think about this as an extension of direct mail, but you have a much lower chance of leaving your coupon at home,” she said, adding that the technology “provides the ability to influence experiences within a retail location.”

Ms. Zuercher said Visa planned a test of its mobile payment system with its partner, Wells Fargo. It is already testing the system in South Korea and Taiwan. (Some of the mobile payment systems are more advanced overseas, where wireless networks are faster, allowing more complex services. But, Mr. Entner said, the United States may wind up in the forefront because credit payments are so tied up with consumer culture).

The prospect of coupons by phone, or location-based advertising, might give shivers to people already distressed by seeing every nook and cranny of public space crammed with commercial messages.

They are getting trade-offs. Services including the Internet and e-mail, like television before it, are subsidized by advertising and those who respond to it.

“One of the great steps forward for denizens of the online world was the development of one-click buying,” Mr. Katz from Rutgers said. Before that technology, “there was a vast amount of evidence that a small percentage of people who started the checkout process actually
completed it.”

In the mobile world, the barriers fall further. No checkout aisle, cashier or money changing hands. Just an impulse — click and a buy.

This article by Matt Richtel of the New York Times.

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Who is Cheaper?

I know this is rather childish, but it made me laugh, so I could not resist posting it here. Please comment and leave your views below.

Metrologic Releases New Vertical Mini-slot Scanner – the MS7820 Solaris™

Blackwood, New Jersey – September 17, 2007

-- Metrologic Instruments, Inc. today announced the release of its new vertical mini-slot scanner engineered to increase productivity with an unmatched feature set. The MS7820 Solaris aggressively scans high-density codes (five mil) and fits easily into any existing enclosure found in small-item, high-volume retail environments. It is designed for a variety of retail environments, including convenience,liquor (off-license), specialty and grocery stores.

“We developed Solaris to increase system output and lower the total cost of ownership,” said Taylor Smith, product manager for Metrologic. “It scans the widest range of bar codes from high-density to poor quality codes, and its troubleshooting visual diagnostic indicator and optional protective window reduce on-site service costs and downtime.”

Solaris sets itself apart from other comparable devices with its unrivaled feature set and advanced decoding architecture which enable operators to scan all standard bar codes on the first pass with minimal concern for orientation or print quality.

Multiple on-board interfaces make Solaris compatible with most POS systems,while automatic detection of the interface cable expedites system configuration. For investment protection, all Solaris scanners come standard with an integrated RF antenna and interlock compatibility for both Checkpoint and Sensormatic EAS systems. The scanner’s multifunctional RS232 auxiliary port provides a single point of communication for either a hand-held scanner or external scale.

While the scanner’s innovative flat-screen design maximizes scanning effectiveness by preventing debris accumulation, touch-screen technology minimizes wear and tear associated with standard scanner switches.

Metrologic complements the design and engineering of Solaris with superior technical support and an industry-leading warranty. Solaris symbolizes Metrologic’s four-decade commitment to producing advanced and reliable bar code scanning technology.

About Metrologic

Metrologic Instruments, Inc. is a global supplier of choice for data capture and collection hardware and software. Metrologic has been delivering innovative products that are cost effective, reliable and supported by a superior level of personal service for nearly 40 years. Metrologic products are sold worldwide through sales, service and distribution offices located in North & South America, Europe, Australia and Asia. For more information, please visit Metrologic.com.

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The Shopping Trolley

Is this the future for the shopping trolley?

Click on the link to watch a short video....Click Here

Remember to press the "back" button to return to this page.

What do you think? Will this technology be adopted in the UK?

The Walmart Shopping Experience

I am not sure of the origin of this article, but I came across it in a free publication called the Crab Line, which is available in the North Norfolk region. I enjoyed reading the article and thought that lots of others would too, so with suitable acknowledgement to the anonymous author, here goes......

Mr. & Mrs. Fenton are retired, and Mrs. Fenton insists her husband go with her to Walmart, but he gets bored, he prefers to get in and get out, but Mrs. Fenton loves to browse.

Here's a letter sent to Mrs. Fenton:

Dear Mrs. Fenton,

Over the past six months, your husband has been causing quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behaviour and may ban both of you from our stores. We have documented all incidents on our video surveillance equipment. All complaints against Mr. Fenton are listed below.

Things Mr. Fenton has done while his spouse was shopping in Walmart:

June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts when they weren't looking.
July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.
July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the restrooms.
August 4: Went to the Service Desk and asked to put a bag of M&M's on layaway.
September14: Moved a "CAUTION - WET FLOOR" sign to a carpeted area.
September 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told other shoppers he'd invite them in if they'll bring pillows from the bedding department.
November 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, asked the clerk if he knows where the antidepressants are.
December 6: In the auto department practised his "Madonna look" using different size funnels.
December 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browse through, yelled "PICK ME!" "PICK ME!"
December 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumes the foetal position and screams "NO! NO! It's those voices again!!"
And last, but not least.....
December 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, "There is no toilet paper in here!"

Regards,

Walmart

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