Minutes of the meeting: OME Community meet-up December- 2010
Programme Outline:
- Introduction - attendees and members
- Introduction - OME Community (by Suresh Babu)
- Introduction - NSRCEL and the NextBigIdea concept (by Suresh Babu)
- Introduction to e-commerce (Suresh babu)
- Presentation on e-commerce (A Malve)
- Q & A
- Coffee, Networking, and Discussions
- Power Tips
- Photo Session
- Conclusion
Sunday, the 18th of December 2010 saw numerous new and most of the regular Online Marketing Enthusiasts get together for the tenth time, since the inception of OME in April 2010. From established brands to startups, from veterans to amateurs - the OME now boasts of members from several industrial sectors, who unite under the Central Pergola roof of IIMB to imbibe and share knowledge on topics of online marketing and most of all enjoy themselves immensely during the process. The start was as enthusiastic as the members on the floor; introductions revealed abundant inquisitiveness among all attendees to know what the evening had to offer them.
Introductions were followed by brief introductions on OME and the NextBigIdea challenge launched by the entrepreneurial sector of IIMB, NSRCEL.
Presentation by Aashish Malve
Aashish was working as Marketing Manager - Online in Infosys Technologies Ltd., Bangalore taking care of their online campaigns and website.
Presentation on:
Optimizing and Maximizing Online Sales During Holiday Seasons - Workshop in IIM Bangalore
Suresh Babu:
Introduction to E-Commerce.
Examples of Décor- New York
Sentiment Analysis
400 Algorithms used by Google
Aashish Malve:
· We would not be talking about SEO, PPC today.
o We will find out something new: E-commerce.
o What is SEO, PPC?
o SEO, PPC will not generate business. They can only help in better search.
o E-commerce is useful. Shopping Cart, Navigation, etc helps in online buying.
· Sales Guy needs to go to the consumer’s door to sell something
· Online sales: The customer comes to the seller’s Web Site.
· Many tools are available: Google Trends
o We generally notice that sales and sales planning start 2 months in advance.
o Especially Holiday season, the planning starts much before 2 months.
· In India, Coupons are not as popular at all.
o Discounts are highly favored.
o In the U.S. Coupons are growing, whereas, discounts show a declining trend.
· Christmas planning starts 2 months in advance
· India is a difficult market to understand. Discount is in our culture.
· Tip: Update your content for every holiday using: keywords, tools, analytics, trends, etc.
· Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu are major e-commerce states.
· Optimize the Web sites for U.S as well as India.
· Wants are different:
o India: Shipping Not trusted, Needs Driven
o U.S: Impulsive, Deals driven.
· There are three types of Online Customers:
o 1. Buy Online. Search Online. Do everything Online.
o 2. Avail Online. Pay offline.
o 3. Search Online. Pay / Buy online.
o The target should be the 3rd category. Lure them by providing cash on Delivery options. Give them a Hotline number. They will convert.
· Return Policies are not good in India. We should think beyond profit. Gain Customer trust.
· Best Part: Create your own festivals like Back to school, IPL, Geographically linked festivals as per the target market.
· Use Google Insights. Google trends.
o Create campaigns, applications, viral, buzz, etc like FIFA Calendar.
o Engage customers.
· The customer spends about 7 seconds on your landing page. Create value. Engage them.
· SEO Tip: Meta tag is important on a Holiday. Call to Action.
o Update meta tags
§ Seasonally
§ Festivals
§ Geographically
o Add Anchor texts
o Add Anchor links
· People want Guides, Service, Educators, Demos
o Make PPC Effective
o Start Pre-Order
o Do It Now!!!!!
o These strategies are not adopted in India.
· Indian Online companies and businesses need Repeat Orders.
· Shiva Purohith:
o Lead Visitors
o Email Storage to be maximized
o Get in Touch
· Gift me this: Shoplocal.com from Facebook
· Connect Online, SMM, Offline, etc.
· Social Media is for better awareness, knowledge sharing about the product. Not a place to push sales. It should be used to improve relations with the consumers and get closer to them.
· Like Button Deals: People click Like for different reasons:
o Discounts: 40%
o Show Support: 38%
o Share Knowledge: 13%
· It is always good to buy something for yourself.
· Why do customers leave the Shopping cart?
o High Shipping Costs
o No Money
o Compare before buying
o Security
· Indians compare before buying. Therefore, provide a compare option.
· How to offer Discounts?
o Have strong economic sense
o Price is inversely proportional to Demand
o Discounts should improve sales volumes
o Economies of scale have to be achieved
o Sell products on a higher margin via counters
o Build an online presence that is trustworthy
Inputs, Question & Answers:
Shankar SEO: What about services?
· Focus on identifying customer needs.
· Discounts, repeat orders should be the main focus
· US: Relationship model
· India: Transactional relation with the customer.
· Gain Customer Trust. It is a MUST for service industry.
Swapna: Ticket Sales?
· Print Coupons
· Luxury Sales
· Have a Physical Store for premium brands, customer want to be highly involved in buying a high-priced product.
· Check Offline. Buy Online.
Brand Bull Shyam: Retail Product Chain
Retailer should work on some percentage model
Price should be competitive
Direct delivery will not make sense
We should have delivery points, and warehouses.
Amit: Fliers can also help.
Raghava: Gifts. What is a method to sell Gifts, promote online gifting?
Lots of personalities exist.
Match and TAV concept.
Give e-books, PowerPoint presentations on the Web site. That will help them learn, get idea about the product, and understand its value.
For expensive products, such catalogs are important.
Cheaper goods: Provide choices, and a good variety.
Provide experiences, testimonials, reviews
Add, share videos, demo videos, personas.
Swapna: individualistic products do not need testimonials. Transparency is a problem in such cases.
Experiences:
1. There was a discussion on Home Shop 18. People shared the bad experiences. The lack of clarity in their transactions, and the misguiding behavior.
2. Flipkart there was a bad experience with a deal.
3. Redbus amazing service. Superb gesture.
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