Shopper Behavior and DubLi Ecommerce in 2009

With spending money being extremely tight and discounts offered by the big stores simply jaw-dropping just "…to get it out…", many private sellers on the Internet looked at their major income season - Christmas time - with extremely mixed feelings. Clearly, there was just one major factor that counted now: the Price. People would hunt around until they’d find what they wanted for the best deal.

For DubLi Licensees who had hoped to attract Christmas Business - real Ecommerce that is - from the ‘cold market’ for their exquisitly designed DubLi Auctions - Xpress, ZerO and Unique Bid - and with hyper-attractive sample sales from Closed Auctions beating even the sexiest discounts, there came a rough realisation: while they may have beaten their competitors out there on specific items on PRICE … they lost their potential customers on… TIME.

What do we mean by that?

Christmas is a hectic time, it’s a deadline time and once people have found what they want - sometimes in the last minute - they not only want it NOW… they HAVE to get it NOW… as it’s gotta be under the Christmas Tree, or else there’s war!

So they might have discovered that elegant Louis Vuitton Handbag on DubLi Auction Xpress… and even opened an account on DubLi and checked the price… but it was still too high, especially if compared with discounts offered between 50% and 70%… and chances were big that once the price was eventually right Christmas was over… and the year was over… Who right in their mind could take that risk?

So what alternatives were there to get the same product at the right price NOW?

Just go to Google and type in Louis Vuitton Best Buy and see what comes up? For instance straight from Auctiontalklive.com, position 4 as we write. . . or any other keyword for that matter… or Ebay… or Amazone… or TeleBid… etc

 

The point being: if you’ve worked hard enough to bring a potential customer from the cold market to your DubLi Auction website - exactly on the keyword he had typed in and all he wants is to get a good price as announced… and buy it NOW - then the website has to do the rest. It has to draw the customer in, convince, convert, sell.

Simple, Customer-friendly and Fast. Logic enough - yes?

 

DubLi is a young and ambitious Company and has an interest in refining its methods on its declared way to becoming the world’s first global Auction House - basically an Online Shopping Portal based on the Reverse Auction Concept, i.e. prices go down. Excellent concept especially in our current economic climate -and I fear it’s not going to get any lighter this year. People look for the best price and noone has time - so as a DubLi Business Owner and especially on the fast highway of the Internet where everything is just a click away and switching channels has become a mere reflex… you only have one shot… WIN it or LOSE it!

No ‘pioneering’ needed, just realization, adaptation and fire!

 

So what can we expect for Ecommerce 2009 with DubLi ?

Associated Press quoted comScore data - according to Wiki an"… Internet Marketing Research Company that provides marketing data and services to many of the Internet’s largest businesses."

To study Online Behavior, comScore tracks all internet data on its surveyed computers.

Associated Press took one day as an example and reported that more shoppers bought online but spent less:

"The Associated Press

Thursday, December 4, 2008; 4:44 PM

RESTON, Va. — Online spending at U.S. retailers on Monday jumped 15 percent over with the comparable day a year ago to $846 million, comScore said Thursday, as consumers sought out bargains in a tough economy.

The Monday after Thanksgiving was nicknamed "Cyber Monday" by the National Retail Federation to describe the surge in online spending when customers return to work after Thanksgiving and shop from their desks.

Online shopping is popular among consumers who want to compare prices for the best deal, so usage can increase in a tough economy when shoppers are paying more attention to costs.

ComScore said a 22 percent rise in the number of buyers drove the increase, even though the average amount shoppers spent declined 5 percent. ComScore attributed the drop in dollars per buyer to each buyer completing fewer transactions.

ComScore representative Gian Fulgoni said nearly two million more consumers bought items online this year because of "extremely attractive" prices offered by retailers.

"But because of their reduced spending power, it’s also evident that those who did buy were unable or unwilling to spend as much per person as we saw last year," Fulgoni said in a statement.

The most visited retail site was eBay Inc., which recorded nearly 13 million visitors, up 45 percent from last year, followed by Amazon.com Inc. with 9.2 million visitors.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. recorded 6.8 million visitors, and Target Corp. had 4.8 million visitors, up 54 percent from a year ago."

 

Clearly, Online Trading is the way of the Future - and DubLi has positioned itself within the right Trend. Adopting the Reverse Auction Principle to offer great deals if not the BEST PRICE is also the way to go, no doubt.

However, as we discussed further up, if a potential customer is attracted to a DubLi salespage which offers exactly what he typed into the search engine with his Credit Card between his teeth, a sale MUST result. Consumers know what they want and complete fewer transactions… you don’t want your’s to slip away!

 

Let’s look at Amazon.com as a comparison

"SEATTLE — Online retailer Amazon.com Inc. called this holiday season its "best ever," saying Friday that it saw a 17 percent increase in orders on its busiest day — a rare piece of good news in a season that has been far from merry for most retailers, including online businesses.

Amazon customers ordered more than 6.3 million items on Dec. 15, compared with roughly 5.4 million on its peak day last year, the company said. It shipped more than 5.6 million products on its best day, a 44 percent rise over 2007, when it shipped about 3.9 million on its busiest day. The company did not provide dollar figures and wouldn’t say whether the average value of orders had changed, and the jumps it reported Friday are in line with increases Amazon has seen since it started releasing the figures in 2002.

Amazon’s best-sellers included the Nintendo Wii game console, Samsung’s 52-inch LCD HDTV and Apple Inc.’s iPod touch.

Analysts agreed Amazon’s report was good news for the online shopping giant, but they were divided over whether the results indicate strength in online commerce in general.

Forrester Research analyst Sucharita Mulpuru said Amazon’s experience shows the current economy is favoring discount retailers, both online and offline.

"The Amazon story doesn’t surprise me because Amazon has always traditionally been a leader on price, and they’re one of the first places consumers go when they’re looking for things online," Mulpuru said. "In many ways they’re like the Wal-Mart of the online world."

Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst Scott Devitt said online retailers’ sales tend to grow much faster than those of brick-and-mortar retailers, but he said that difference narrowed this year. That’s in part because shoppers tend to go to stores for necessities and online for discretionary purchases, he said. And in an economic downturn, consumers focus on their most-needed purchases and cut back on more frivolous items."

 

Customers Shop for the Best Value for Money Online

Ebay, Amazon, Wal-Mart etc… DubLi is certainly observing these trendsetters for Customers who Shop for the Best Value for Money Online - while finding, adapting and refining its own ‘edge’ with the intention to grab a large market share over time - and this is not done through the ‘warm market’ - meaning existing DubLi Business Associates using their DubLi Credits - but through aggressive Attraction Marketing and Conversion on the DubLi Ecommerce platform, in other words Consumers from the virtual world flooding the DubLi Online Shopping Portal looking for the best deal NOW.

And they’ve gotta know about its existence . . . and credibility.

It took Ebay 12 years to become the giant in Ecommerce per se… so it’s still very early days for DubLi. It’s important to observe, measure and discuss what might hinder a faster evolution and deliver constructive criticism, especially if based on Internet Marketing data and results achieved. DubLi has an open ear for honest and well-meant contributions and according to latest News there will be … "exciting new technologies offered soon that will allow DubLi to expand more quickly and at the same time make it simpler for customers to utilize the site."

What counts most is to give Consumers what they Want

DubLi Business Associate from the USA, Michael Davis, has shared his thoughts as to how DubLi positions itself in the market place in view of the 9 Trends for Business in 2009 as developed by Brandstrategy. You are invited to comment - share your thoughts!

 

DubLi Ecommerce and Nine trends for Business in 2009

 

Consultancy Brand Keys has put forward nine "major trends" for 2009.

1.

Price Matters if you’re a commodity with financial pressures and a lack of confidence in the economy, consumers will continue to be very, very conservative in their spending. An on-going psychographic trend is that no matter how much consumers earn and no matter how much discretionary income they have available, they still want to be perceived as "wise shoppers."

In 2009, that title is bound to be more of an economic imperative than one having to do with fiscal self-image. This will be especially true given current economic indicators, all exacerbated by a decreased lack of trust in - and increased suspicions about - established financial and retail institutions. The precipitous decline in the economy will feed the ongoing trend of brands being unable to provide meaningful differentiation or resonating values, except, of course, those of low, lower, and lowest prices.

MC commenting:

DubLi will continue to add and offer name brand products at the lowest prices and the opportunity through the auctions to get these products at massive discounts.

2.

Differentiation, meaning and added-values matter more. Marketers will need to fight desperately with their research departments and advertising agencies to ensure that insights can be identified and communications configured so that their brands actually stand for something significant in the mind of the consumer.

Awareness as a meaningful market force has long been obsolete, and differentiation will be critical for success, i.e., sales and profitability. Those who primarily rely on "flavor of the month" promotional tactics will quickly find that they are creating a lasting perception among their consumer base that only price (or price cuts) differentiates their products from the competition. Do that often enough and your product and service will move away from being a "brand" and will come to be regarded as a "category placeholder" and nothing more.

MC commenting:

DubLi through its Associate base and social networking advertising will continue to build the brand DubLi for value added consumers.

3.

Engagement is not a fad. It is the brand objective. It has already been proved that real engagement correlates with positive consumer behavior. Engagement should be defined by consumer response: it is the outcome of any marketing or media initiative that substantively improves a brand’s equity (the degree to which a brand is seen to meet - or to exceed - consumers’ expectations for the category in which it competes). Marketers will realize that attaining real brand engagement is impossible if they continue to try to measure it using out-dated attitudinal models. Marketers will come to accept that there are four engagement methods including Platform (TV; online), Context (Program; webpage), Message (Ad or Communication), and Experience (Store/Event).

But there’s only one objective: Brand Engagement.

MC commenting:

Again through the Associates and strategic advertising, DubLi will continue to  build the brand.

4.

Media planning will be more innovative, touch-point focused, and two-way Planners will still classify media touch-points as "above-the-line," "below-the-line" and "new," but planning will be based on some critical considerations:

Which touch-point will best reinforce brand values?

Where will the brand + media equation yield real engagement?

Effectiveness will result only where the plan is seamless, believable, personalized, and authentic. Media planning innovation and technological innovation will become one and the same.

Mobile devices are becoming an increasingly important touch-point for consumers and 2009 will be a starting point for migration from desktop to laptop to blacktop. Location-aware software for phones should inspire the mobile medium, so expect promotional coupons to show up along with IMs and look for greater granularity in measuring marketing ROI. Marketing dollars transitioning to online isn’t new, but social networks will also become more engaged in engagement to help marketers more effectively deliver messages and determine return on their efforts.

MC commenting:

DubLi will begin a "branding" strategy through social networking sites in 2009. Even more exciting will be the mobile application for DubLi to access auctions, shop, etc. right from your cell phone.

5.

How green is my brand?  Simply playing in the environmental awareness arena will not be an option in 2009, and brands will have to find ways of positioning their offerings in ways that meaningfully support a sustainable future. But as the number of companies trying to co-opt the environmental movement for their products and services grows, so too will the number of skeptical consumers. Most consumers have heard these promises before and will begin to demand evidence and authenticity. Measuring that authenticity and the degree to which the brand is perceived by the consumer to really be green will become more necessary than in the past. Possessing such measures will provide insights and strategic direction that will aid in brand differentiation, the creation of added value, increased consumer engagement, and, the ultimate bottom line, profitability.

MC commenting:

Green is a debate that will continue as energy efficiency or clean and the two do not always work together. This is a debate for another time.

6.

Brands will need to identify - and leverage - new values Happily, loyalty and engagement metrics identify trends and values that will be more important to consumers many months before they are blips on traditional research radar screens.

Looking at the 60 categories and nearly 500 brands measured in the Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, the average percent-of-contribution that "customization" makes to product and service engagement, adoption, and loyalty, is currently 18%. That’s nearly five times what the value was when first measured in 1997.

Watch for "customisation" - the newest of the loyalty values to insert itself into virtually every product and service category - to be something marketers will be paying great attention.

MC commenting:

Again brand recognition as the shopping portal that simply provides the best value.

7.

Behavior will finally beat attitude. More marketers will come to realize that "to know you" is not necessarily "to buy you" (or, for that matter, even to like you). Brands will need to recognize - and address - real behavioral metrics. Corporations will use the identification of behavioral consumer segments to synergistically reinforce brand values, brand and corporate positioning efforts, communications, and media planning to make the marketing function more effective and efficient.

MC commenting:

DubLi will continue to enhance the personal marketing company tailored to the individual’s buying patterns and send emails targeting those patterns.

8.

Consumer expectations will continue to grow. Brands are barely keeping up with consumer expectations. Every day consumers adopt and devour the latest technologies and innovations, and hunger for more.

In 2009, expect smart marketers to identify and capitalize on unmet expectations via newly identified values (like customisation), using more and more high-tech systems. This approach will help them differentiate brands from competitors, and brand-consonant touch-points (like mobile marketing) will play a major role in meeting and managing consumer expectations.

MC commenting:

Again what we are today we will not be tomorrow and the technology that will simplify and expand DubLi will astonish you shortly.

9.

Make life simple for your brand and your customer. The poet-marketer H. D. Thoreau foretold the coming of 2009’s ninth and final trend: "Simplify. Simplify."

Consumers are searching for and demanding simplification. In some categories this is showing up strong, such as cell-phone plans, search engines and laundry detergent. Who has not looked at switching cellular carriers and bemoaned the task of comparing one complicated plan to another?

Simplification is also showing up as a driver in online travel sites for itinerary planning. Yet as the competition has heated up brands still continue to compete on price, and not what will engender positive consumer behavior - simplification.

MC commenting:

DubLi will be going through major "renovations" throughout 2009 that will make it simpler for the consumer to utilize the auction / shopping portal as well as many enhancements to the DubLi Network site to better share and manage your DubLi business."

 

DubLi Ecommerce in 2009

SIMPLIFICATION… that’s all that’s needed and once ‘Best Price’ meets ‘Save Time Get It NOW’ - we have the ideal combination and a sure Winner for anyone wanting to build Business Online with all the Work From Home advantages.

 

Let’s look forward to the DubLi Goals 2009 !

 

The Dublicator