Rue La La & Forester (Shop.org Keynote)

Think

Some Notes Worth Keeping


Rue La La & Forester

Shop.org Keynote on Wednesday

Forester
What is the role of social commerce and eCommerce?
Social is about small wins

Winners in using social to drive ecommerce:
-       To engage in product sharing through “Like” and “Recommendations”
-       Consumers say they like to read what their friends recommend
o   New products, brands
o   Sales promotions
o   Want to know and do what their friends are doing

Yet still, email and direct site tactics drive >50% of business.  Social <10%.


Rue La La (Flash Sales / Daily Deals) – CEO of Rue La La
400 Employees & $200m in sales

Usage: 14% of online shoppers receive emails from sites like Gilt Groupe, 27% of online shoppers receive emails from sites like Groupon

eCommerce V1.0
-       Convenience
-       Efficiency
-       But, not thrilling

eCommerce V2.0
-       Great theatre to sell product
-       Get the blood flowing of the consumers
-       It is about the thrilling experience
-       Engage the customer other than a vast category of goods
-       When the box arrives, the consumer needs to be blown away…  Drives supplier strategy

Rue La La buys/owns about 60% of inventory and drop ships the other 40%.

General Notes:
-       Flash sales (Rue La La) is about selling things you “want to have” not “need to have”. 
-       Care must be taken to ensure you are a channel that the brands need and want.
-       Mobile has been an amaizing growth experience.  From 3% in 2010 to 28% in 2011 (of total sales) – 55% of mobile sales are iPhone/iPad.  50% of mobile sales are through iPad (much higher than expected).
-       Social is not a bolted on piece of the business.  It needs to be fully integrated into the business.  “There is no Social Commerce”.  The buying experience is all about Social.
o   New product launches and features “Have to work across all channels”.  Social, Twitter, Mobile, Web
-       Credential memory is CRITICAL to the experience.
o   Checkout loss is less than 12% (industry average is >50%).  Reason:  you are already logged in!  You cannot enter the site without being logged in already.
-       Brand management is also CRITICAL to the experience. 
o   Care must be taken to ensure exclusivity, scarcity, etc.
o   For instance: if there is a Tumi sale, you need to make sure the customer knows that Tumi wont show up for another 3 plus moths.
-       Brands need to think of you as a “media company” as much as a sell through commerce channel.