The basic rules of email marketing still apply on mobile, “but we need to be smart in how this translates to a mobile version of an email - fewer characters on a far more personal device”. A third of respondents (33%) said that they use their mobile to screen emails, before reading them later on a desktop, though this does contradict the Knotice stats, which found that in 95% of the cases,  the email open is occurring on only one type of device, which removes one excuse not to optimise for mobile. Data included in an infographic from Return Path shows that 41% of Europeans would either close or delete an email not optimised for mobile. However, stats from our Email Marketing Census 2012 found that with 39% of companies said their mobile email strategy was “non-existent”, and 37% said their strategy was “basic”. Therefore it seems a huge number of brands are wasting a lot of effort and missing out on conversions simply because they haven’t optimised their emails for mobile. The importance of an effective mobile email campaign is further underlined by engagement statistics form Steel’s report. Among those who open emails on a mobile, 42% of respondents have clicked through to a website and 30% claim to have made a purchase from a mobile email. In reality 30% seems quite high, but it does suggest that a significant proportion of consumers are encouraged to make purchase decisions from mobile marketing. Steel recommends the following five steps to improve your mobile email messages: Simplify your emails: reduce the number of categories, sub-headings, links and images. Limit your calls to action and make them obvious: use a small number of obvious call-to-actions, ensuring clickable areas are no bigger than a fingertip (44x44 pixels). Use a clear, methodical hierarchy and keep it short: create a clear headline followed by secondary messaging, and keep it as brief as possible. Use capitals in titles to distinguish text and content areas. Stick to one or two columns of content: if using more than one column, centre the text in each column to maximise the visual space between them and improve legibility. The data in Steel’s report came from a nationally representative survey of 500 respondents.

Multi-screen usage  Stats from our Multi-Screen Marketer report, produced in association with the IAB, show that 65% of the respondents with a tablet in our study said they were likely to be using a second device while watching television. Even most people with only two screens (TV + computer) are more likely to be online while watching than not (52%). Multi-screening can be positive for publishers and advertisers. Those with tablets are significantly more likely (47%) to take an action (voting, purchasing, etc.) in response to what they’re watching than their peers with three screens (37%).  47% of tablet owners have used a mobile device to respond to something on the screen and 28% have downloaded an application that’s related to a show they watch. Chance of using a mobile device to take action from television prompt: Mobile web usage Almost two-thirds of UK smartphone owners (59%) access the mobile internet everyday, according to stats from Google.  85% of UK mobile users seek local information on their smartphone, and 81% take action using the local content. Mobile search has grown 500% in the past two years. Online research and in-store purchases More than a third of Homebase customers research online before going in-store, according to the retailer's Head of Multichannel Andy McWilliams. Reducing online returns rates By using the Shoefitr tool, which helps shoppers to find the best fit for them, US retailer Running Warehouse has reduced fit-related returns by 23%.  The app has enabled Running Warehouse to increase its profit margins by 2.5%.  Previously, around 65% of the retailer returns were due to size related issues, but now 20% of orders come in from customers that have used the app.  Social media and customer service More than a third of UK consumers (36%) have engaged with brands through social media, according to a survey from Fishburn Hedges. 68% of those who have engaged with brands through social media believe that it “allowed them to find their voice”. More than two-thirds (65%) also believe that it is a better way to communicate with companies than call centres. Twitter's mobile users Twitter now has 10m UK users, of which 80% access the site using mobile. This makes the UK Twitter's fourth largest audience behind the US, Brazil and Japan. It has 140m users worldwide.  Tablets One tablet generates as many website visits as four smartphones, according to data from Adobe's Digital Index Report. By the end of Q1 2012 smartphones accounted for 6.1% of site visits compared to 4.3% on tablet (mainly iPad). Within a year of its launch in Q2 2010 the iPad accounted for 1% of total website visits, reaching 4.3% of total visits by the end of 2011. Facebook and customer acquisition More than a third of UK businesses (36%) now use Facebook to attract new customers, according to data from Basekit. This makes it more popular as an advertising tool than local business directories such as Yellow Pages and Thomson, which are used by 27% of the 500 small businesses surveyed. The use of online advertising is now almost as common as print advertising (20% vs. 21%), and Twitter is also quickly gaining popularity (17%). Marketing emails and mobile Research by STEEL finds that 36% of all consumers are already reading marketing emails on a mobile device. This figure rises to 55% for 18-34s.  However, one in four find marketing emails too difficult to read on their mobiles.  The top area of dissatisfaction is too much scrolling (42%), while 29% state that the layout of emails isn't right for their mobile device and 27% feel there is too much content.  Reasons for opening emails on mobile: Shazam and TV ads According to ITV and Shazam, around 50,000 viewers used the Shazam app to tag the Pepsi MAX and Cadbury ads shown during ad breaks in Saturday’s Britain’s Got Talent final. Shazam recently announced a partnership with ITV to provide interactive TV ads. 

1.  Can you COPE? COPE, as in Create Once Publish Everywhere. Originally this phrase was simply a sell for clever publishing software. It’s now become shorthand for planning and creating content that can be published and re-used across many platforms, ideally cutting the cost of creation, production and (especially) translation and localisation. Lately we’ve heard it bandied about a lot in editorial meetings. Obviously if you are going to publish the same content (or elements of the same content) across many platforms, you’ll need to indulge in some pretty sophisticated content planning work first. If your company operates in a series of content silos, with one team ‘doing email’ and another responsible for ‘social’, you’ll struggle to get this off the ground. But if you can join your internal content owners up to develop a truly inclusive content strategy, then COPE may well prove efficient for you. On a practical level, for written content, this will usually mean coming up with highly adaptive modular copy formats that everyone signs off on and subscribes to. Cue stakeholder pistols at dawn…  2. Post-Panda SEO for peanuts? You can’t stuff your content with keywords any more. So what now? Those whose businesses stand or fall on their search results are out there trying to source content that will both keep customers engaged and satisfy a Google algorithm that rewards content quality. But how much are they willing to invest in it really? As far as we can see, the SEO copywriting market has polarised. While we can report a recent large influx of clients prepared to invest in quality copywriting, along with the editorial planning, format work and quality control that requires, we also notice a proliferation of extremely low-cost content providers. There will always be people prepared to churn out repurposed gobbledegook for buttons (£6.50 for 700 words, anyone?) and also those who insist that software could “seriously, like, replace Shakespeare”. But the truth is that anyone who is prepared to write you an on-brand, optimised, customer-facing, usable piece of content, mapped to your business objectives, legally compliant, sub-edited and proofread for a fiver, is either living in a country where that’s a day’s wages, living off a trust fund or has repurposed it from someone else’s work. Really good content costs. Sorry. 3. Micro-content fixes The rise of the copy nudge. The double-dip has forced companies to focus even more on the bottom line. So what content gives the greatest return on investment? Last year we started suggesting that budget-strapped content owners identified quick copy fixes with high ROI. After all, if your conversions increase as a result of your emails, then why not focus on a more compelling email sign-up, or on messages which dissuade customers from unsubscribing? Re-working a key call to action, a button, or split-testing the benefits on a product page is quick to do, requires minimal design input and can produce instant results. The king of all quick copy fixes is the online form. We have case studies showing up to a 35% increase in conversions from fixing the reassurance and instructional text in transactional areas. So maybe instead of that big ambitious content migration, you should simply ‘sweat the small stuff’ instead? 4.  Mobile, tablet and yet more mobile Making content mobile and tablet friendly is definitely what’s keeping content owners up at night. Last year, Jakob Nielsen revealed that content is twice as hard to understand on a mobile device. "When reading from an iPhone-sized screen, comprehension scores for complex web content were 48% of desktop monitor scores," he reported. So what is the answer? In short: write short, clear sentences. What’s the problem? This is very hard to do well, especially when summarising the terms and conditions of a home contents insurance policy. And what about tablet? While we’re still in learning mode as to what works best, certain content issues are already pretty clear. Overly-long lists and menus, information ‘too small to tap’ and serving up splash screens are all out. It appears you do need a distinct content approach for tablet after all… 5. Govern or be damned "Quality is doing it right when no one is looking," said Henry Ford. Unfortunately, all the best editorial set-ups rely on lots of people looking. Looking, editing, checking, and then looking again in fact. While most content teams weren’t initially set up with anything like this kind of QA process in place, we are seeing a rise in demand for content training and guidelines which support governance and help benchmark content quality. For many clients this is ensuring that (a) best-practice samples and execution guidelines exist for each content typeand (b) someone is making sure they actually get followed. For others, this means regular content auditing followed up by training and mentoring. It’s fantastic to finally see the old-school rigour of print publishing being embraced by the digital world. Better content should come of it. 6. Content ideas brainstorm boom The trend to embrace content marketing as a discipline in itself continues apace. But this is primarily an editorial endeavour. And great editorial depends on an ongoing flow of high-quality ideas. When the ideas run out, it’s all over. As original ideas can be hard to find (especially for the more complex B2B brands), the ability to brainstorm clever content ideas, formats and executions has become powerful content-marketing currency. What marketers are after is ‘ideas with legs’, workable series of content that can be replicated week after week without flagging. Content mapped to customer needs and interests that is truly useful, usable and builds long-tail relationships. In his post-Panda blog post  Google fellow Amit Singhal advises content owners to avoid ‘mass produced’ content that is ‘shallow in nature’, and to strive for high-quality ‘original content’. He urges us to produce articles full of ‘interesting information that is beyond obvious’ and remove low-quality content from our websites. And this is the biggest content trend of all: the culling of poor-quality content is finally beginning to happen. And we can’t wait to see the results...  

There has been a great deal of attention and research directed at the multi-screen recently, and with good reason. 65% of the respondents with a tablet in our study said they were likely to be using a second device while watching television...and that number goes up for those 18-44 years old. Even most people with only two screens (TV + computer) are more likely to be online while watching than not (52%). The Multi-Screen Marketer explores some of the effects of these behaviors, and tries to lay out an approach for publishers and advertisers. How does the distraction of the second screen affect attention?  When someone has another device at the ready, their attention can shift from the screen the moment they lose interest. Whether it's a commercial break or just a break in the action, they're off and mentally running. Studies have already shown that commercial blocks invite the heaviest multi-screen behavior. We wanted to measure how this could impact advertiser recall. Respondents were asked to identify their favorite television program, and then asked if they could identify specific advertisers associated with it. We expected that the less people fit the mold of the multi-tasker, the more they would recall, but that's not what we found. Overall, 46% of survey takers were able to identify between one and three advertisers. Surprisingly, four screened respondents (TV, computer, smartphone and tablet) were more likely (53%) than those with only two screens (42%). Again, younger tablet owners did even better...61% could recall at least one advertiser. Of course, this doesn't capture some very important pieces of information; we don't know anything about messaging recall or sentiment. You can be sure that studies will fill in these gaps. Does the type of content (TV program) correlate with multi-screen behaviors? Television programs aren't all the same, even if it feels that way when you've got a remote in your hand. Respondents were asked to identify their preferred program types (procedurals, sports, reality, etc.) and given three randomly chosen questions about their behaviors from a total of six possible questions (to avoid overload). Three of the behaviors were "commercial" - related to online shopping, product searches, etc., while the others related to general online surfing and searching for media-related information. Findings are broken down in detail within the report but one of the highlights was discovering that independent drama (Mad Men, Breaking Bad, etc.) is a hotbed for both commerce and non-commerce related second screen behaviors. People are somewhat more likely to shop for products they've seen during the program (show + commercials) and to do things like connect on social networks, than during any other program type. At the other end of the spectrum are procedural dramas. Where are we headed? Connected TV is already here, but few people have bought them so far, and those that have often aren't using them to their full potential. We asked respondents to describe television of the future and the televisions of the future, and to gauge the impact of these expected changes. At the top of the list is the ability to watch anything, anywhere, anywhen. Not surprising and unlikely to be fulfilled any time soon, because of the basic business models of the primary players. The second highest priority is for a television that listens and more importantly, does what we tell it. Voice recognition scored well, as people acknowledge that between multiple remotes, hundreds of channels and piles of accessories, it can be complicated to find or record the content we want.  Other top priorities center around the multi-screen experience. People expect to be able to watch programming on any device, and then move it simply from one device to another as they travel. Naturally, we gravitate to the best available device, but often that is the most available device. Watching a film on a smartphone is sub-optimal, unless you're on a subway, in which case it's sublime. Other Findings The Multi-Screen Marketer looks at a number of other topics including how social is really a private activity, how multi-screeners use online information during the purchase process and how TV viewing is shared among devices. Thanks to the sponsorship of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the report is available to all Econsultancy members, bronze and higher.

They must be: Authentically mobile. Simple to understand. Easy to action. By adhering to these rules, services cater to the consumer need for mobile activities that fill the “interstices” in our days. Some of the businesses doing best in mobile are those that started off filling the gaps – YouTube, Facebook, Path and also Twitter. Daisley said businesses need to seize the opportunity in the interstices and “think about how you can harness the gap”. He highlighted Angry Birds - which recently achieved 1bn downloads - as a service that succeeded by being inherently mobile. Twitter also published impressive mobile stats this week – 80% of its 10m active UK users access their account through mobile. The focus on 140 characters also fits the second rule of being simple to understand. Daisley said the average email takes two days to be opened, whereas SMS messages are opened in four minutes. While email used to be much quicker than old ‘snail mail’, you’re now better off posting a letter than sending someone an email. Marketers need to take this into account with mobile marketing, as short interactions are more effective. People look at their phones 150 times a day - once every 6.5 minutes. It’s about fast, easy interactions. Daisley said this focus on short engagement had inspired Twitter’s ad strategy. Promoted Tweets achieve engagement levels of 1%-3%, compared to an industry average 0.05% CTR for display ads. He highlighted a Promoted Tweet campaign run by Lynx, which achieved engagement levels of 6%. However it should be noted that an engagement on Twitter refers to when someone “retweets, replies to, clicks or favourites your Promoted Tweet.” Therefore, there are more opportunities for engagement than on a simple CTR measurement.

Make your returns policy easy to understand Whether they are checking before purchase, or finding out how to return an item they've just received, the policy should be clear and easy to understand.  Compare and contrast these two returns pages. The first, from Sports Direct, seems designed to deter returns and contains lots of scary language about legal obligations: Lovehoney, on the other hand, explains its policy clearly: Make your returns policy easy to see The returns policy is often a link in the footer, which is fine to a certain extent as people will expect to see it there.  However, the returns policy can influence a purchase decision, particularly in cases where customers aren't 100% certain about a product.  Therefore, a prominent link to the returns policy on product pages can offer customers reassurance that they can return an item easily if they find it's not right for them, and push them towards the purchase.    Don't charge for returns Of course, there are costs involved if you allow free returns, but these costs need to be weighed against the extra conversions it brings, and the potential boost to retention rates.  I bought a £40 lampshade from one retailer a year ago, and had to pay a hefty £10 return fee when I found it didn't fit. I appreciate the retailer has costs to cover, but this charge put me off looking for another on that site, and would make me think twice about ordering from them again.  Also, as Zappos has found, people who regularly return items can be some of your best customers. It says that clients buying its most expensive shoes have a 50% return rate.  According to Craig Adkins of Zappos: Our best customers have the highest returns rates,but they are also the ones that spend the most money with us and are our most profitable customers. Zappos' modus operandi is not to give its purchasers the cheapest footwear on the block, but to give them the best service: hence, a 365-day returns policy, and free two-way shipping. Include clear returns instructions in packaging This is about not annoying customers too much. I get the sense with some retailers that they think making returns harder will reduce overall rates, and help increase profits.  If this is the case, it's short-sighted thinking. It simply means that customers will get so annoyed that they are unlikely to shop with you again. Even worse, they may tell their friends about it, online and offline.  Make it easy for customers. Provide clear instructions and even include a returns envelope to make sure no mistakes are made with the address.  If you offer free returns, shout about it Offering free returns is great, but you should, as with free delivery, shout about it so that customers know about this when they buy: Help shoppers with great product images and video One reason for returned goods is that customers haven't been able to get a decent idea of the product before they place the order. Thus, when it arrives, and isn't as expected, it has to go back.  Retailers can address this issue on product pages, by ensuring that customers get as much visual information as possible.  Simply Group found that using 360 views and instructional videos of its ski products not only increased conversions, but also reduced returns rates, as customers were able to see exactly how each product worked.  Provide detailed product information As above, if customers are armed with all the information they need, they are less likely to return items. So, for items like computers, sites should be clear about the specs, as well as the accessories and leads which are required.  Combining this detail with excellent imagery and video can reduce the need for returns.  User reviews Of course, user reviews are great for boosting sales, but they can also help to reduce returns rates.  They can allow customers to avoid potential issues with products, or to find the product that is best suited to its intended use.  Kiddicare is a great example of this. It gets plenty of detail from it user reviews, such as pros and cons, the type of person using it, and best uses.  Here, in a search for car seats for babies, customers can use feedback to find the best car seat for newborns, for everyday use, for grandparents, and so on:  Fitting tools and virtual wardrobes  This is something that has been adopted by fashion sites, as they attempt to get around the fact that customers cannot try before they buy.  One such example, the Shoefitr app, helped an online footwear retailer to reduce fit-related returns by 23%. Others are variable in quality, but anything which can help customers to find the right fit, or to find outfits that match has the potential to reduce returns.  It's not just fashion either, MyDeco's 3D room planner tool helps shoppers to try out room looks before buying furniture:  Offer free home trials Glasses Direct offers shoppers the option of a free home trial. Customers can select up to four pairs of glasses and try them on at home before making a selection.  This neatly gets around one of the major problems of buying glasses online, and the fact that Glasses Direct trusts the customer enough to send frames out creates a great first impression.  Don't quibble over returns Customers will return items for spurious reasons, or will call something a fault when in fact they have broken it.  If a particular customer does this again and again, this can be dealt with on an individual basis, but it's best not to be too strict when customers are returning items.  If retailers do drag their heels on returns, it can be infuriating. I once returned a stairgate which didn't fit to Toys R Us. The member of staff initially refused to accept the return since the box had been opened, and then begrudgingly offered a refund of one third of its value.  As a result, none of my kids' Christmas and birthday presents are bought in that store, and the company has lost sales far greater than the value of that item.  Again, Lovehoney is a great example of this. All manner of returned items, which may or may not have been used, are refunded without question. Many have to be thrown away, for obvious reasons.  It takes the view, that for long term customer retention, it's better not to argue with customers over this.  Ask for feedback when customers return products This is simple, but makes sense. A quick question or two on the return slip can help retailers to uncover problems or trends in returns and enable them to address these issues.   Provide multichannel returns If you're a multichannel retailer, allowing people to return items bought online to local stores is a must.  This is often due to the separation of web and offline channels, and there are organisational issues which many brands are now dealing with.  I've had this experience in the past with Orange, as my father was unable to return a faulty phone ordered online to his local store.  It seems that, while competitors like O2 allow multichannel returns, Orange has yet to change this policy, instead insisting that returns requests are routed through its telesales team. This is a mistake in my book.  For the brand refusing the return, it's a missed opportunity to educate customers about a complex product, or to upsell or cross-sell while the customer is in the store.  Snow Valley's 2011 Online Returns Report found that just half of the mulitchannel retailers it studied allowed in store returns for online purchases.  Customers appreciate the flexibility and convenience of multichannel returns, and will be far more likely to shop with such a retailer in future.  Keep customers informed Let them know when you've received the returned item, and when the refund is being processed.  This will save customers from chasing this information through your customer services team, and they will appreciate the effort. 

Previously, around 65% of the retailer returns were due to size related issues, but now 20% of orders come in from customers that have used the app.  According to Running Warehouse CEO Joe Rubio:  Anything that improves the shopping experience for the customer is a huge bonus. Shoefitr increases the confidence customers have in ordering a product correctly, thus making the buying decision easier. It also has helped decrease our return rate which positively affects our bottom line. The Shoefitr app uses a database of internal shoe measurements, acquired using 3D imaging technology, which allow it to compare the size and shape of a shoe a shopper is currently wearing, to one she wants to buy. The app is embedded into Running Warehouse's product pages:  It then asks shoppers to enter details about their current running shoe, so the app can compare the fit: The results the recommend the best size, and the customer can then see more detail about the fit, and compare it with other sizes: Buying shoes and clothes online can never quite match the in-store experience, and one of the main issues with this is that it can be hard to gauge the fit and feel of products.  According to stats, the average returns rate for online fashion retailers ranges from 17% to 25%. For Zappos, with an easy returns policy it's 25%. One of the major factors is sizing.  There is plenty retailers can do to minimise the problem, such as offering detailed images, videos and information which allow shoppers to form a better picture of the fit.  Online 'fitting room' tools are one way to do this, such as the one used by sojeans, though they aren't always successful. 

The cookie misnomer Everyone is talking about the run-up to May 26, when the ePrivacy Directive will begin being enforced by the Information Commissioner in the UK. The attention paid has been impressive, and we know that significant companies are taking critical steps behind the scenes. But we need to flag a problem.   Somehow, the term ‘cookie’ has crept into the conversation like an insidious little worm, eating its way into headlines, distracting the market and potentially sending well-intended companies sprinting in the wrong direction during this critical last stretch.  To be clear, we’re talking about compliance with the amended e-Privacy Directive. The portion of the Directive that applies to cookies is in fact written much more broadly and requires consent for non-essential tracking, regardless of whether or not a cookie is involved. Yet we hear the Directive referred to as the ‘Cookie Directive,’ and the ‘Cookie Law.’ Companies have sprung up selling ‘Cookie Solutions,’ and providing ‘Cookie Audits.’ We have fantastic new ‘Cookie Policies’ and detailed breakdowns of the functions of each cookie.   All of this is helpful in as much as it moves the ball incrementally forward. The danger is that our choice of words can end up putting horse blinders on our approach to compliance.  Cookies, tags and trackers As a lens through which to view tracking activity on your own site, a focus on cookies, to the exclusion of other technologies, is both incomplete and exhausting.   Tags are the central tracking element, not cookies. Many companies track the consumer using an alternative technology, like a flash object. In addition, an emerging class of trackers are beginning to use technologies like device fingerprinting.   These companies use tags, but do not leave behind any tracking object on the computer and as a result are typically invisible to web scanning technologies. Because of these gaps, a ‘Cookie Audit’ will frequently miss as much as 40% of tracking activity, a clearly unsustainable result for companies that wish to comply with the law. A complete dump of all cookies set on a site can also quickly become overwhelming. One company can set one cookie or 12, there is no pattern. And a large organisation with a portfolio of domains, or any company with an ad supported site, can easily have 100 or more trackers, each setting one to 12 cookies.   500 or more cookies are not at all uncommon. Further, it is often impossible to distinguish the specific purpose of individual cookies, with their cryptic names and randomised values. We’re talking about a massive undertaking, and for what benefit? You need to understand who is on your site, and what they are doing with data. Not the particular differences between these two cookies (and yes, they are real): a)name: __utmc, value: 46026228 b)name: __utmb, value: 46026228.1.10.1330142291 It can be very helpful to know which cookies are being set, but the cookies should not be the focal point of your analysis, or you will spend hundreds of hours diving down rat holes with questionable returns.   Instead, you need to up level your assessment to the companies that are tracking the user. Each company has distinct attributes relevant to your assessment, including: The categories of information they collect. Their business model. Data retention policy. Whether or not they have a properly functioning opt-out. Whether or not they engage in online behavioural advertising. The types of tracking technologies they are using, including tags, cookies, and flash objects. Whether or not ALL of their tracking activities can be considered ‘strictly necessary’ under the Directive. All of this information should be rolled together into a clear position on whether or not each company requires consent. You can do this yourself, or you can work with a company like Evidon, but whoever you use, be sure you don’t find yourself lost in a maze of cookies.  Tracking activity and the consumer When it comes to the consumer, again, cookies should not be the focus.  It makes no sense to inform them of just the tracking activity that uses cookies.   Disclosures that leap directly into a breakdown of each cookie are replacing a problem created by legal geeks (privacy policies) with a problem created by real geeks (technical explanations of hundreds of cookies).   The inability of most people to comprehend the dense legal language in a privacy policy is one of top reasons we’re in this mess today, but at least privacy policies are written in English. You must engage the consumer in a dialogue about tracking that is happening on your site to comply with the law and that dialogue must be specific, but there is no reason to leap directly to the logical extreme. Again, they need to know who is tracking them on your site and what they are doing with data. Your priority should be experimenting with interfaces that simplify the presentation of this information as much as possible, rather than running a microscope over the particulars of each cookie.   When discussing cookies, be sure to provide context. Include the company behind each cookie, with links to more information about that company’s practices. In the EU, our clients will be deploying consent solutions that make it clear to the consumer that tracking is taking place, using visual tools like the orange bar and Cookie Consent button on the bottom of the page below. Step 1: Consumer visits site and reads about the tracking taking place as well as their options. Step 2: If the consumer clicks on the Cookie Consent button, they will have access to a breakdown of the categories of tracking activity, including Essential, Analytics and Customisation, and Advertising.   They can withdraw consent for the latter two categories of tracking, as they are subject to the Directive, or they can click an arrow to read more about the tracking in each category. Step 3: If they click an arrow, they will see a list of the companies tracking them in each category along with the purpose of their tracking and can withdraw consent from individual companies. When taken together, these tools allow a company to have comfort that they have acquired the implied consent of the consumer. With all of this said, I want to be clear about the importance that cookies play as a part of your compliance game plan for the ePrivacy Directive. But do yourself a favour and strike any reference to the ‘Cookie Law.’  I still haven’t seen a copy of that law.

How can retailers be making better use of mobile in-store? You need to look at how mobile can be included in the entire customer journey, as there’s more to making a purchase than just handing over the cash. If you look at the whole decision process from the initial research, through to browsing products and finally making the purchase, mobile is the perfect medium for retailers to engage with their customers through the whole journey. They can also have more of an influence on the customer's experience and behaviour. For example, prior to buying something retailers can target consumers with specific offers to encourage the purchase. So rather than just sending out blanket offers through a deals site, you can reach the people you want to target because you know they are in-store at the time. NFC comes into this, as consumers could tap their phone on a reader to access more product information or find out what’s in stock. But then the store also finds out that you are there and can offer 10% off if you buy it today. So do you see NFC as more than just a payment tool? If you offer a one-tap system at the point of purchase you can offer users much more than just payment options. That one chip can manage the shop’s loyalty scheme, include any vouchers the customer has downloaded, or even notify the shopper of any other offers or products they might be interested in. It can also be used to help understand consumer behaviour between offline and online channels.  Most consumers will go online and also visit a store at some point during the purchase journey, and mobile can help to marry up those contact points. It’s still a difficult process, but mobile makes it slightly easier if we get to the point where people are searching for product information and making payments using the same device. A recent survey found that 60% of British consumers would avoid making a payment using a mobile. How can retailers overcome consumer opposition to the technology? It’s really all about education. Once you know the facts, you realise that a mobile is safer than a plastic card but consumers aren’t generally aware of that. I still read about concerns around contactless cards in press articles, which underlines the point that we need more education around the subject. People need to realise that they are not liable if they fall victim to fraud, it’s down to the banks, but we also need to demonstrate how safe it is. Credit card providers, such as Visa, have been pushing for the adoption of NFC recently. What are the motivations behind this drive to get rid of bankcards? Data is one of the key benefits. The more you know about your customers, the better they can be targeted with adverts and offers, so the merchants and advertisers get a better ROI. Take vouchers sites for example. All these sites that offer coupons and money back, it’s difficult to tie that back to the customer who redeems it, but something done through a mobile is unique to that handset, so you know who is using the voucher, their location and the time of day. By accessing this sort of data it gives the retailer much better control over the marketing budget. But it’s not simply the data they collect on consumers – it’s also the data they can provide to their customers. NFC has the potential to benefit customers as much as merchants. Mobile clearly has benefits to retailers, so why don’t more offer free Wi-Fi in-stores? I think there was an initial knee-jerk reaction early on where retailers were worried that consumers would go into their stores to try the clothes on then buy the online. So for a while there was a certain fear around providing Wi-Fi, but now they realise that Wi-Fi and 3G are a fact of life. Retailers will do better to offer their customers a more enjoyable experience, which has a knock on effect on their brand and on sales. It’s interesting to note that consumer demand is driving the change, so retailers like John Lewis have reacted to that to offer free Wi-Fi. There are a number of different mobile payment options on the market currently. Who do you think will be the eventual winner? I think the industry will mature with a number of providers, but then we will see some standardisation occur. There will always be space for multiple payment models - cash isn’t going away anytime soon. And most of them realise that they will have to be fairly open and able to work with other providers. MasterCard’s new e-wallet works with other cards – you can’t silo the product, as people will always have more than one card in their wallet Who does responsibility for moving the industry forward sit with? Is it handset manufacturers or payment suppliers? It’s an interesting debate, but there’s probably no one area within the eco-system where overall responsibility sits. Innovation is needed from all parties, whether it be the handset technology itself or the financial products behind them. It’s going to take a collective effort, and we will probably see innovation from areas we don’t even know about at the moment. After all, who saw Square coming a few years ago?

Homepage Mobile sites need to be simple to navigate, and Majestic has initially done a good job of stripping out unnecessary options. The search function is prominently positioned at the top of the page, as is a store locator which offers both geo-location or postcode search. These are both useful options for mobile users and it makes sense to make them easy to find.                        Furthermore, while there are quite a few product categories, it doesn’t feel too cluttered, and the options match the desktop site so regular customers will be familiar with the navigation. Navigation Each category on the homepage has a dropdown menu that reveals further product options. The process is very smooth, although in some categories it does feel as if you are given too many choices. Mobile sites need to be simple and Majestic could probably have stripped a few options out. That said, it still feels quite slick and is relatively easy to find the products you are looking for. Product pages The product pages are well laid out with a large product image prominently displayed. It also includes pricing information, access to customer reviews and ratings, and social media buttons in case you are inclined to share your purchase with friends. There is also comprehensive information about the wine, such as its origin, taste, body and even whether it is cork or screw top.                        The one minor issue is that you need to navigate away from the page to access delivery information, which could have been provided in a dropdown menu on the product page. Checkout This is where the site loses points, as you are forced to register before you can order your goods. Typing in all your personal details is a fiddly process on a mobile and is likely to put some customers off completing a purchase. It is fine to offer the option of creating an account, but it shouldn’t be compulsory on mobile sites. Another issue is with the delivery method. If you choose home delivery then it tells you it will deliver it from your local store, which in my case is Clapham. However if you then select ‘Collect in store’ it doesn’t automatically assume I would want to pick it up from Clapham, and instead you have to scroll down a massive list of stores. This is only a minor point, but seems a fairly obvious way of making the process easier.                         Conclusion Majestic Wines has produced a decent mobile site that is easy to navigate, although there are a few points that let it down. There are a few too many options in the drop-down menus on the homepage, but it could be that these will be reduced after Majestic has evaluated user data. Furthermore, the checkout process is too long and may harm the conversion rate. But that said, it still provides a useful tool for Majestic’s customers and keeps them one step ahead of the competition.