Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business. You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy.

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Retailers potentially missing £9bn in e-revenue

The whitepaper also noted how user generated content (UGC) is shaping online retail faster than the retailers themselves, and how s-commerce is "not yet equal to the sum of its parts". According to figures from nToklo's work with retailers and brands, the use of UGC and recommendations could account for up to a 27% uptake in sales.

Recently, IMRG reported that the UK's online retail spend for 2011 was £68.2bn and this online spend is expected to grow by a further 13% in 2012. According to nToklo, half of retailers don't yet offer online recommendations to consumers, so it can be estimated that retailers missed out on an estimated £9bn worth of additional revenue online in 2011 alone.

"The increasing interest in social commerce stems from the natural progression of two trends that have seen tremendous growth in recent years: online shopping and social networking", said Anton Gething, co-founder and product director for nToklo. "However, this research shows that social commerce is yet to become the sum of its parts and many businesses are missing out on a potentially significant additional revenue opportunity. In strained times, this additional revenue could provide a much needed lifeline for British retailers."

The research highlighted that 'social' is important to UK retailers, with over 90% of those surveyed having a presence on Facebook and Twitter. However, only 65% of retailers' sites utilise the integration technology these social platforms can offer, such as Facebook Connect. In fact, three quarters (76%) of the retail sites reviewed also did not have their own social community functions onsite, despite many requiring customers to sign-in to the site in order to make a purchase.

Additional findings from the research include:

• 50% of retailers do not provide customers with recommendations through their website;
• 73% of those sites surveyed do not offer consumers the ability to actively discover or share recommendations through social platforms.

"Presenting users with relevant, timely recommendations has been an understood and valuable part of the traditional retail purchase funnel for a number of years, whether in-store or online. However, with the explosion in social engagement, recommendation content is no longer provided by the retail brand alone and increasingly consumers are seeking out more 'social' user reviews and recommendations," concluded Gething. "Therefore, those retailers in a position to offer a cohesive social experience online will be in a position to take advantage of the potential growth in revenue available to them."

Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business.

You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy. Grab this goldmine of easily adaptable and up-to-date strategies, walk-throughs, trends, technologies, research, suppliers and partners, plus all the supporting arguments you need to build a solid CX strategy.

While most marketers could list maybe a dozen key points for improving their brand's Customer Experience (CX), the researchers and writers at The Marketing Factbook have identified FORTY main 'CX Keys' which will help you drive your customers to new levels of delight, loyalty, advocacy and profitability.

The areas in which customers have direct contact with your organization are perhaps the most obvious places in which CX improvements can be made, and this report addresses all 24 of these 'Direct CX Keys', applicable to offline and online businesses alike.

At the same time there are many other areas that indirectly affect CX (such as the supply chain, policies and processes) in which every business can make simple but far-reaching improvements. This report guides you through the problems and solutions for all 16 of these 'Indirect CX Keys', many of which are often forgotten or under-played even in the best CX strategies.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)