Digital Commerce at Webwinkel Vakdagen
February 4th, 2020. My first visit to Webwinkel Vakdagen at the Jaarsbeurs in Utrecht taught me something invaluable: that there are thousands of e-commerce professionals and all of them are seeking information, training and inspiration. In addition to the extensive list of exhibitors — from paying-solutions to packaging and fulfilment — there was a comprehensive keynote program presented on twelve stages. Almost around the clock, insightful presentations by industry peers and experts took place and every room was maxed to capacity, with even more people peering in.
Doing is the Best Teacher
Truth be told, no University can adequately educate you in these fast-evolving areas. Let’s take digital advertising, for example, a field that lives on experimentation and testing, and that changes by the week. More than ever, it’s really about “learning by doing”, on the job and in collaboration with colleagues and suppliers. Thus, the format of the talks, where two people from different companies who collaborate on a daily basis present together made for interesting and lively interactions.
Implementing an Omnichannel Strategy
From the vast program, I selected my own route. I began by attending ‘ Fygital, The Next Step in Omnichannel Commerce’, a presentation held by Intergamma, the organisation behind GAMMA and KARWEI.
Intergamma presented several initiatives on how it is undergoing a digital transformation that integrates the physical and the digital retail worlds. At their shops, in-store touchscreens offer a visual of the products in a home interior. To implement this, Intergamma requires a consistent photography style and is requesting better photography from its suppliers. Another example is the digital label that allows both the company and customers to track stock, find the product quickly in the shop and browse through specifications, even if the consumer doesn’t yet recognize this label as a digital one. Advantageously, the price can easily be adjusted by season or sale without creating any problems at the cash register.
Mixing Text and Visual Ads for Greater Success
From this followed, ‘ LinkedIn Paid Advertising: How is it Done at Sana’, delivered by Stephanie Neusser. The Growth & Digital Marketeer at Sana discussed the power of LinkedIn advertising for B2B companies and gave great insight into the powerful combination of text and visual ads for different moments within the marketing funnel. Among the lessons discussed was how non-business-related photography cuts through the noise.
Creating Clear Titles and Product Copy
I continued on to, ‘ How to Make your Advert More Relevant for Potential Clients’ by Marktplaats together with Heleen Prins, owner of Oud is Nieuw.
Specializing in making new out of old furniture, this small company asked Marktplaats for advice on how to improve their advertising on the platform. On stage, they talked about the value of having clear titles and clear product copy, and how this should also match the landing page text information. An additional point made was how important it is to list the technical specifications, such as material, colour, measurements, and how these facts can already be included in the advertising itself.
Upscaling Your Online Business
Next on my list was ‘ From Online Boutique to eCommerce Platform’ by Studio Pip in combination with Elevate Digital agency.
Studio Pip mainly mapped out the difficulties involved in website transitioning and content management with a small budget and team. It gave insights into the steps being taken to grow and strengthen the team and the results. An important finding is how the inclusion of Paypal increased sales by 30%. Advised by Elevate, some improvements were implemented such as addressing the abandoned cart, providing the buyer with more choice in ways of payment, succeeding with YouTube and Pinterest advertising, and gaining rewarding newsletter subscribers using presale actions, a.o.
Keeping an Eye Out for the Trend
I eavesdropped on Lyn Quanjel’s keynote on ‘ Social Media Trends & Developments 2020’ and eagerly sat in the much-awaited presentation ‘ The Dynamic Storefront’ by Jons Janssens, Chief Innovation Officer at Ace & Tate.
The Social Media Trends & Developments 2020 presentation focused on the growing personalisation occurring, from messaging to chatbots, and the rising of TikTok, a new video-based social media platform, currently ideal for Chinese audiences in their 20s but steadily growing.
Merging the Physical with the Digital in Retail
Interestingly, Jons Janssens from Ace & Tate presented the brand’s marketing and retail strategy in which the physical and digital worlds are made seamless and contribute to a flawless brand experience. In Ace & Tate’s universe, every phase in the design, every step of the customer journey is organised to be easy for the customer and to allow for a 24/7 shopping experience. Two game-changing pieces of advice that came from this presentation included making sure you always own the API of your website and ensuring that you build a headless commerce architecture, thus enabling you to speed up experimentation. Janssens encourages everyone to organise their teams around the customer journey. Therefore, instead of a Retail Manager, you should employ a Check-out Manager.
Becoming Data-Driven
Bas Karsemeijer and Ilse Lankhorst, both data scientists at Hema, showcased ‘ How Hema is Becoming a Data-Driven Retailer ‘. Its management and financial department wants to know things like, how did the weather impact the sales on a certain day? This way, shops can predict the items they need to have in stock under certain weather conditions. From the client’s data, infinite data and analyses can be taken on. By buying, let’s say, pasta the customer is most likely to also buy tomato sauce and parmesan cheese. Certain products function as clusters. So, by digging into the data, the store can make the right product offer available and become more efficient.
It seems the biggest challenge for the data department is how other departments may be overwhelmed and not be able to implement new processes around the results from the analysed data. To circumvent this frustration, since analyses can be endless, the data department will only investigate and provide data when the requester clearly explains how the data will be implemented. But paradoxically, how can you foresee the impact of the data and how it will be used, when you haven’t analysed it yet and don’t know the results?
Toward an Individual Shopping Experience
Last but not least, I listened to Martin van Kranenburg’s keynote speech on ‘ The Success of Conversion is in the Brain ‘.
This energetic presentation was all about the necessity to optimise everything for mobile. This involves ensuring that you have clear copy design and structure on your website, and you make it a personalised, individual experience.
I left the keynote with several takeaways. First, write persuasive and clear copy and make sure to address fast readers by using bullet points, and slow readers by using compact text. Secondly, always remember to use design that prioritizes and directs the eye to the most important information. Third, always write and produce with your end-consumer in mind. Not only should marketers write everything in the you-form, they should also experience the pain of the client by going through the mobile experience himself. The marketer can put oneself in the consumer’s shoes by adopting a mobile Monday, and by working and ordering on the website on a mobile device.
It was an immensely interesting day full of learning. As packed as the presentation rooms were, I was certainly not the only one having such an experience. Whitepapers can be downloaded here. As one of the few events dedicated to e-commerce in the Netherlands, and one that is completely free for visitors, Webwinkel Vakdagen is a fantastic place to network, learn and leave energized for your marketing year ahead. There is lots of growth potential in this area, too.
To read more of Liliana Rodrigues’ content, check out WordPress, Medium and Thrive Global.
Liliana Rodrigues is a global PR & Marketing professional at international design studio Marcel Wanders.* As a passionate communication strategist and influencer, she regularly writes about brands, art and design.
*Originally published at http://lilianarodrigues.wordpress.com on February 4, 2020.
