The traditional view of online transactions is anchored on the idea that online stores are first and foremost a venue for transactions, which, by and large, tend to be tightly structured interactions involving the buyer and the retailer. Within this interaction, the retailer’s key job is to provide customers with the information they need to purchase–such as pricing, product descriptions and orderly merchandising–and to deliver all within the context of a superior customer experience. However, the way customers are seeking and processing this information is beginning to change, and that’s expected to have a big impact on tomorrow’s online experience.
Innovation that matters
Moosejaw Mountaineering reaches
new heights of customer engagement
through social commerce.
Overview
? Business Challenge To thrive in the highly competitive market for outdoor adventure gear, Moosejaw Mountaineering needed to create a customer experience that would engage a customer community whose appetite for extreme sports is matched by a hunger for commu- nication and collaboration.? Solution Based in Madison Heights, Michigan, Moosejaw Mountaineering, Inc. is one of the nation's leading outdoor-adventure retailers. With seven retail locations employing 250 in Michigan and Chicago, the Moosejaw sought to make its site company's online retail, Moosejaw.com, was rated a top 50 Web site according to Internet Retailer.the go-to destination for young, hip high school and college students ? Key Benefits Online commerce has changed a and for hard-core outdoor enthusi- . Increased revenue from an lot in the decade since it entered asts by embedding rich community expected increase in conversion into the cultural mainstream. Driven features into its online commerce rate (based on an initial increase by relentlessly rising customer experience, thus becoming one of to 50 percent) expectations, sites have become the first outdoor-adventure retail- . Expected increase in customer loy- easier to use, merchandising has ers to make multichannel "social alty and word-of-mouth expansion improved and, to put it simply, com-commerce" the cornerstone of its through a more engaging and col- panies have gotten better at online growth strategy. laborative online retail experience commerce because they've come . Ability to deliver seamless to understand its many nuances. messaging, programs and In spite of these changes, however, customer experience across the essential character of online all channels retail-namely, the extension of tradi-. Expected increase in customer tional retail practices to the Internet satisfaction through richer, more channel-has remained largely informative pre-purchase support unchanged. So, too, have some basic (e.g., customer ratings) and long-held assumptions about the way consumers buy and what they are looking for from an online retailer. Enriching the retail experience with the power of social networking
The traditional view of online transactions is anchored on the idea that online Business Bene?ts stores are first and foremost a venue for transactions, which, by and large, tend . Increased revenue from an expected to be tightly structured interactions involving the buyer and the retailer. Within increase in conversion rate (based on this interaction, the retailer's key job is to provide customers with the information an initial increase to 50 percent) they need to purchase-such as pricing, product descriptions and orderly . Expected increase in customer loyalty merchandising-and to deliver all within the context of a superior customer and word-of-mouth expansion through a more engaging and collaborative experience. However, the way customers are seeking and processing this infor-online retail experience mation is beginning to change, and that's expected to have a big impact on . Ability to deliver seamless messaging, tomorrow's online experience.programs and customer experience across all channels The biggest reason is the sweeping impact of Web 2.0, a term that describes . Expected increase in customer a paradigm shift in the way people use the Internet to interact with each other- satisfaction through richer, more and with information. The key earmark of Web 2.0 is the exploding popularity informative pre-purchase support of user generated content, examples of which range from blogs, wikis and (e.g., customer ratings) discussion groups to YouTube and MySpace. What each has in common is a . Stronger brand through a more decidedly "bottom-up," approach to generating and sharing information that's consistent multi-channel experience heavy on collaboration and light on hierarchical structures. So how does this impact online retail? The answer, in large measure, lies in demographics and changing expectations.
Community meets commerceWhen the younger consumers driving the Web 2.0 wave want to buy online, they'd prefer the same kind of collaborative, bottom-up information exchange in their shopping experience. This, in effect, resets the goals and parameters that retailers have to cons... [download for more]
