I am grateful for the opportunity this week to have been immersed deep into conversations, presentations, workshops, introspection and plenty more on ecommerce and retail of all shapes, sizes and types at the SHOPTALK conference in Las Vegas this week.
This conference is the best ecommerce / retail business conference this year in thew world. I know because I did it last year and that is how good it was. SHOPTALK 2016 resulted in two tangible business changes in my businesses, changes that have helped us connect with new shoppers, raise brand awareness and evolve to more current models.
I am here with six colleagues from Tower Systems and newsXpress, and more than 5,000 other retail and ecommerce practitioners. Each of us in our group has different takeaways as well as group wide, whole of business, takeaways.
Inspirational, exciting and terrifying are words that describe the experience of SHOPTALK.
We have heard from the best of the best and those who want to disrupt those best businesses with fresh and engaged online and retail models that turn tradition on its head.
I appreciate that it can feel like this is a world away from the retail Newsagency where everyday challenges are the most important thing to you right now. The reality, however, is that this world of online is taking more shopper attention every day and you will probably not know the extent to which this is happening right now and will happen in the near term.
SHOPTALK has been excellent in helping us understand where these unseen online competitors are playing and strategies they are using to attract our current shoppers.
For a bunch of reasons I am not going to share specific information here as it is an advantage being here, attending the sessions and networking with so many innovative large and small retailers. Another reason is that with a conference such as this the most valuable insights take time to evolve into actionable items.
I do have one point to make though and that is: having an online shopping strategy is key for this is the most important and valuable way to find new shoppers and, of course, new customers are gold in this world.
Ignoring being online in multiple engaged ways is not an option for any retail business today large or small.
While one word I used was terrifying to describe what I have learned at SHOPTALK, the reality is that is a massive motivator … it is exciting.
The changes in retail today are at a faster and larger pace than in recent decades. This certainly is a time of extraordinary shift. And that is outside the changes and tectonic shifts occurring in the newsagency channel.
What is happening is happening. It is real. It will affect you. And, businesses of any size and in any location can be part of it.
“…. the most important and valuable way to find new shoppers and, of course, new customers are gold in this world.”
it is widely agreed that new customer acquisition cost is five more times more expensive than existing customer retention.
The pursuit of new customers is important but not at the cost of existing ones.
Cuddles you’ve clipped the quote too short. Here it is:
I do have one point to make though and that is: having an online shopping strategy is key for this is the most important and valuable way to find new shoppers and, of course, new customers are gold in this world.
So, I am saying that online is vital to finding new customers. In the case of 85% of newsagents chasing new customers online would not be done at the cost of existing customers. The two are not connected.
On the comment about new customer acquisition cost, sure in the old world it was five times the cost. No more.
Fair enough I accept that I should have included the full quote.
Some interesting figures about CAC here….
http://www.invespcro.com/blog/customer-acquisition-retention/