Day one of eTail2010, in Palm Springs California, covered in-depth two critical areas of retailers’ marketing success: search and email.

These two areas are number one and number two respectively in importance to a retailer and their ROI in digital marketing. Both were covered with a full day of workshops, panel discussions and presentations. As US retailers continue to refine their strategies in these areas, the message was to “tune and prune”.

The Search stream covered in-depth paid search, organic search, search feeds, attribution, ROI, strategies, technology and new innovations. Presentations were given by eBay, Gap Inc. and Drugstore.com. Highlights included insights into strategies for new innovations from search engines; such as personalised search, real-time search and product search. The importance of optimising your product feeds, integrating SEM and SEO strategies and reporting; and properly attributing further forward than the last click were illustrated with real case studies and figures.

The Email and Personalisation stream continued to highlight the value of this channel for any retail marketer and the payoff for offering personalised, relevant messages to your customers. Key presentations from the very successful eBags and Dell were complemented by a series of focused round-table discussions with key vendors and retailer partners. This was an opportunity for retailers to discuss individual issues and ask key questions. The key outtakes of the day were consistency of data, case studies and research. Best-practice email and personalisation techniques were clearly communicated along with meaningful hints, tips and strategies on how to achieve it.

Paul Marshall

Surviving and Thriving in Today’s Retail Climate was the theme for eTail 2009, the largest and longest-running online marketing and commerce conference for retailers. Held in Phoenix, Arizona and in its 10^th year, eTail 2009 delivered three and a half days of key learnings, case studies, research and technology. I was lucky to attend.

Amidst the difficulties facing retailers in the US, online marketing and online commerce have emerged as two channels that continue to perform strongly. Online commerce remains a strong growing sales channel for retailers, providing an exception to other channels. Online marketing offers retailers the opportunity to better understand their customers and in turn provides a cost effective tool to communicate with these customers.

So why do we care about retail technologies and trends from the US? Well, because they are in many ways a prediction of the future for Australian retailers. Certainly the American shopper is very similar to the Australian shopper in regard to their online behaviour. The difference is that Australian retailers are many years behind the US in their marketing and commerce strategies to meet this evolved consumer. And this is where the opportunity lies. Over the past ten years US retailers have made many mistakes in their digital marketing and commerce strategies and technologies have since matured. Learning what works and what does not, and adopting mature technologies and proven strategies with real ROIs is an enormous opportunity for Australian retailers.

eTail 2009 covered the following key themes:

· The power of cross-channel (marketing and commerce). The conference was more about cross-channel retailing than multi-channel retailing. The difference is that a customer should have a unified view of your brand and not a channel specific version of it. The benefits of a unified strategy leveraging the benefits of all channels were well illustrated by many success stories and real returns.

· Understanding your customer. Smart retailers have moved well beyond segmentation and profiling data, even beyond behavioural data, to gain a better understanding of their customers. Understanding intent and context are now a reality with a new third contributor to the customer uber data set.

· ROI. There was an intense focus on continuing to deliver real and attractive returns through the digital channel. There was a great deal of information offered around strategies, technology, programs and processes that had proven to further increase ROI across both marketing and sales.

· Marketing tools. The conference had good coverage of all possible digital tools and strategies. This included search, email, display, affiliates, mobile and more.

· Commerce strategies. There was a big focus on how to better cater for a customer who is on your site rather than focusing on attracting a new customer. Traffic to a site is easy; engagement and conversion were the key topics.

· User generated content (UGC) and social media. There is no denying the increasing power and influence the social consumer has online, not only over their own decision- making and purchasing, but also over others, thousands of others. This was explored from all angles in the context of how can retailers utilise this reality to make more sales.

· Technology. The conference had an associated exhibition, which showcased a large number of technology vendors and service organisations. Here we found the people, companies and technologies that can help provide all of the above.

The presentations, case studies and key learnings at the conference came from some of the world’s leading retailers and suppliers, including eBay, JCPenney, Home Depot, Coca Cola, Sears, Borders and Lego (did you know they are the world’s largest manufacturer of tyres…itty bitty ones though).

Overall the mood was upbeat, with an understanding that digital media as both a marketing and commerce channel presents all retailers with a real opportunity for positive returns, despite the economic climate.

The content and context of the conference was applicable for retailers from around the world. While I found some New Zealand retailers in attendance, I don’t believe there were any Australian retailers in attendance, which is a sign of the times, or a sign of the times to come.

Salmat will be running a series of Webinars over the next six-months focussing on many of the trends and case studies from eTail but bringing a very Australian flavour to it. Look out for information at www.salmatdigitalforce.com.au