How to measure Offline Sales Which Triggered Online?

One of my friends asked me how to measure conversions where a buyer does a research online and finally end-up buying the product offline at a retail store nearby. This is a very tricky issue which most of the etailers are finding it difficult to measure. I think there is no accurate method to measure such conversions.

Here are few tactics that can give rough figures and analysis can be done to frame the objectives and strategies for future campaigns when you know the numbers of offline and online purchases.

1. Give an option to order online and pick-up offline.
2. Provide a 'store locator page near you', beside the product details or price. If the prospect buyer clicks it then you can roughly measure this.
3. In continuation to #2 provide a feature to send the offline store address to be sent to the prospect via SMS or email.
4. If a visitor spends more time on the website and leaves without purchase - usually interested buyers spend more time on the site. We can assume that such visitors are prospects and can be contacted through email for further queries (if he/she is logged in).
5. Have promo code on the website which can be used for online purchase or offline at particular stores.
6. If sales at offline store(s) spike during the time you have an online campaign for the product, then you can make the assumption.

This way you will know how many buyers are moving out of online purchase to a retail store and thus, can help you in framing the strategies. Let me know if I have missed anything.

Related post: Google Analytics To Track Telephone and Live Chat Leads

Will Online Entertainment Industry Survive?

The emergence of MP3 and MP4 has shattered the business of music industry. Still the film industry is not touching the business it has to in the online market. Many P2P sites come-up and internet savvy folks want to download the audios and/or movies over to their desktop or iPod. I guess making the DVD rentals online has also not yielded much business online. I guess folks really do not want to carry the CD or DVD. They rather prefer a digital format which can be carried in their devices; more so can be easily transferred.

In the report, The State of Music Online: Ten Years After Napster, the Pew Internet Project traces the evolution of online music, and the changes that have been forced on musicians and the recording industry.

This is a period of innovation and survival for this online entertainment market. The popularity of social media networks may hamper the online sales of music. But, can these entertainment companies fight this out? I am just guessing good strategies to come out from these business guys. May be use of biometrics to listen or see these files? May be a tie-up with the ISP to have a cap on sharing such files? Do you have any ideas?

Avoid Credit Card Thefts – Skimmers On Prowl

The most prominent places where you can lose the credit card information to these skimmers is when you want to give your credit card to pay your bill like hotel or food bills. The modus-operandi is, when you flash your debit or credit for your purchases, and if the shop keeper wants to steal the credit card or debit card info, he/she will just swipe your card on a small electronic device called skimmer. This device will copy all the information that is available in the magnetic strip of your card. And it is easy for the thief to make a duplicate card. Using this duplicate card now the thief is ready to make offline and online purchases – in case the thief notes the CVV no. as well.

The prominent places which have been categorized as notorious for such skimming are mostly the south-west countries like Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Hong Kong to name a few. You will be lured by attractive tour packages, amazing deals for the shopping festivals and go for a shopping spree without knowing how much risk you have it here to flash your credit card. Other places where this can happen are gas stations, restaurants, pubs where the cards are flashed and taken away from you to swipe for the transaction.

It is impossible to stop such kinds of thefts but, it is always better to take our own precautions. Few tips which can be followed to save you from such theft –

1. Memorize the CVV no. and erase it from the back side of the card. You can erase the CVV no. or blacken it out with a permanent marker. This way you can be spared by online thefts.
2. Activate mobile alert or email alerts for the transactions made from your card if it exceeds certain threshold amount.
3. If at all you have flashed the card in the above named countries and you doubt that you card has been copied, then immediately block the card and request for a new card.

Do let me know if there are any more tips or precautions need to be taken care for. It would be helpful to everyone.

Source: Deccan Chronicle

SMBs To Increase Online Presence

To cash on more with the tight budgets and limited resources they have, many SMBs are planning to increase their presence online to increase the business in the prevaling tough economic times. According to a poll of US marketers by Bredin Business Information, the primary challenge of SMBs is to fund new projects, growing business with limited resources and increasing awareness.Moreover, 2009 is the year in which SMBs would like to have more online activities thus making them more focused to target the niche audience. I say, not only SMBs, even large and enterprise business will try to concentrate more on online activities as this provides them with niche target audience, define success metrics and accurate ROI which are very important criterias for a successful marketing campaigns during these tough times.

Source: eMarketer.com and Bredin Business Information.