The annual Shop.org Summit attracts executives from traditional retailers who are in charge of the online aspects of their businesses. Early brick-and-mortar retailers were ambivalent about ecommerce in its early days. Now, not only are they firmly committed to it, they are eagerly preparing for the next stage - mobile commerce - and are also trying to engage customers through social networking.
There were 2,600 attendees at last month's summit, up 9 percent from the 2008 event. The organizers asked attendees on the morning of the first day to answer the question, "All things considered, how do you feel about the upcoming holiday season?"
Over 60% said they were optimistic, 27 percent said they were neutral, and 10 percent were pessimistic. Shop.org's Scott Silverman said this was the same level of optimism that existed in 2003 - "admittedly, it's all relative, and expectations are most certainly lower than they were 6 years ago. But, still, for a group of people who have been battling the worst economy in 70 years, this says something about the resilient nature of the digital retail industry and the people who are part of it."
Online sellers are increasingly competing with branded brick-and-mortar retailers, and during his keynote presentation, Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren mentioned the company's two new state-of-the-art direct-to-consumer fulfillment centers in Portland, TN, and Goodyear, AZ, that support Macys.com and Bloomingdales.com. Macy's "Search and Send InStores" service means that a customer who can't find an item in their size or color in the store will be able to have a store sales associate find it for them on Macys.com, which is accessible right at the Point of Sales register.
Mobile Commerce
Macy's CEO revealed the company was launching a iPhone app (Woot.com founder Matt Rutledge also announced a pending iPhone app during the conference).
Meanwhile, eBay CEO John Donahoe revealed in his keynote address the next day that the eBay Mobile app for the iPhone, which launched last year, had been downloaded by 4 million users. He said mobile was eBay's fastest-growing business, with $350 million in GMV coming through the eBay mobile app and growing double digits week-over-week.
Mobile commerce is far more than simple transactions - it's about customer engagement as well. And it's clear that one of the attractions to marketers is the wealth of information that they can obtain through mobile interactions, including precise geographic location. In the exhibit hall, Microsoft was showing off its Microsoft Tag application, which allows consumers to simply aim their camera phone at a Tag and instantly access mobile content, videos, music, contact information, maps, social networks, promotions, and more. See this AuctionBytes Blog post for more information about the Microsoft Tags.
Social Media
When asked about social media, Macy's Lundgren said at first, the company was worried about what customers would say, but learned, "If you get bad reviews, get rid of the product. It's not the customer, it's the product." As for whether he uses Twitter, he said, "I think it's fascinating to watch people who have all this time." (There was laughter from the crowd.) "But I don't," he said. He thinks that if assistants tweet for the boss, the authenticity would be lost, but if it remains authentic, it is interesting.
However, Macy's is embracing social media as well as mobile content, which were the two big themes of the conference. After I interviewed Ztail's Bill Hudak for the Ecommerce Industry Soundbytes podcast, he made an interesting comment, noting that Facebook was not exhibiting at the conference despite the interest in social shopping among attendees.
Last week, Optaros blogged about Facebook Connect Social Shopping, so while Facebook may not have been exhibiting, it's presence was certainly felt, and it's likely that vendors were showing off their own Facebook solutions. (The Optaros video is an interesting demo worth watching.)
Dynamic Video
Sunday Sky had a booth in the exhibit hall where it was showing off what you might call, "smart video." It can automatically generate dynamic video clips on the fly out of existing web content. Sunday Sky can take a retailer's product catalog and create video ads that show pictures, pricing, customer reviews with audio narration, and as the merchant changes pricing, the videos are automatically updated. The demo video at the show was more compelling than those I could find on the website. A very engaging application, though likely out of the price range of most small online sellers.
News and Multimedia Coverage of Shop.org
You can view more coverage of the Shop.org Summit on Shop.org's blog and on AuctionBytes.com, including podcast interviews and video clips of eBay CEO John Donahoe's keynote address.
Shop.org Summit Blog with lots of coverage of the conference (link)
View from traditional retail: what's up with Macy's online? (link to blog post on Shop.org keynote address)
Radical ecommerce business models - Woot.com and Gilt.com (link to blog post on panel session)
Blog post (with video) of eBay CEO John Donahoe's keynote address (link to blog post containing video)
Editorial coverage (with video) of eBay CEO John Donahoe's keynote address (link to AuctionBytes news story containing video)
Podcast interview with Bill Hudak of Ztail on the secondary market and trade-in programs (link to podcast)
Podcast interview with Craig Gillan, Director of Ecommerce at Charlotte Russe, an apparel, footwear and accessory retailer for young women with 500 stores in malls nationwide (link to podcast)
Podcast interview with Jochen Krisch, a German consultant and leading experts on new shopping models, publisher of the ExcitingEcommerce.com blog (link to podcast)
