Hello bloggers!

This week I’m going to talk about another marketing trend, called “Social Gifting”. Marketing experts are saying that this is the next big thing in e-commerce since Groupon and Living Social.  

But I’m pretty sure that there aren’t many people who already know this marketing trend. Honestly I never heard of it either. I think everyone already received a “spam” mail of a site like Groupon, to inform you about a discount (on a hotel offer for instance). But while websites like SheDeals and Groupon are offering discounts, Social Gifting Apps like “Wrapp” and “Karma” are enabling you to use a social network ( for instance: Facebook) to share virtual gift cards.

A couple of years ago, it wasn’t easy to give a present to a family member or a friend who lives far away from you. The sending process took a lot of time, because you had to buy a gift, packing it, go to the post office and finally DHL or FedEx had to deliver the package to the recipient.

The internet and online webshops created a new way of giving presents, it even made it a lot easier. Webshops are offering an enormous range of gift options. People can choose a delivery with a normal “brown box’ packaging or a luxurious “white glove” packaging.

 Giving presents online isn’t totally new, but the way how people give presents by using the internet is changing. Social media causes this evolution. Without “Social gifting”, the sender must know information about the recipient for instance: the shipping address, personal information like an e-mail address/ phone number… . Some of this information isn’t easy to obtain, unless you ask the recipient for this information. But then it isn’t really a surprise anymore.

To obtain personal information of the recipient, companies are using information published on social networks like Facebook. Facebook has announced that they’ll launch a social gifting service, not only for digital goods (online gift cards) but also physical goods.

There are several reasons why it might be a big success for Facebook, for instance: the fact that gift cards are very popular, consumers always spend more than the value of the gift card….

Thanks for reading my blog, and I’d like to entertain you next week, with another marketing trend.

Thomas

Hello bloggers!

Today I’ll talk about another marketing trend, called “LEAP commerce”. What is LEAP commerce? Well, Leap commerce is an application founded by some successful entrepreneurs and former employees of Facebook. The App has created a new way of mobile shopping, because people can shop in a virtual mal.

LEAP created partnerships with major retailers like Wal-Mart, Amazon…, which results in a product range of more than 110 million products.  So you don’t have to browse to a webshop, but you can just order and pay something on your Smartphone.

Another advantage is the fact that this App is more personalized. First of all, when you’re downloading the App on your Smartphone, users can identify what kind of shopper they are. An algorithm processes the personal information and suggests relevant products based on several factors. For instance: products based on personal style, price, brand preferences and location.

When you’re consulting the product catalog, you’ll see that the social layer is very important. Because products liked by your friends (on a social network) are on top of the list. There is also a possibility to share a product on Facebook for instance.

One of the biggest disadvantages of online webshops is the fact that you have to go from one website to another. With LEAP you can buy products of several websites in one transaction. But when you buy products of different suppliers they’ll still ship the products separately.

The word LEAP means: Loyalty, Engagement, Analytics and Payment. LEAP provides products of several suppliers, incorporates social media and enables dialogue. There are also several paying methods, for instance: Visa, PayPal, MasterCard…

Right now, LEAP is available on iOS and Android Smartphones.

Check out the video : http://vimeo.com/37543009 


I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my blog! See you next week, with another marketing trend.

Thomas


 

Hello bloggers!

This week I’m going to talk about another marketing trend, called QR-coding. I’m pretty convinced that many people already saw a “Quick Response Code”. You can see these codes on billboards (for instance: at the bus stop), but even on magazines and the packaging of certain products. 

Many brands are making use of  this tool to promote their brand or product, but also to inform the consumers about the specifications of a product.

On the advertisements, marketers only give information such as a brand name, a product name, a picture and a QR-code. The reason why marketers only give a small amount of information is to make consumers curious about their products. Marketing experts are convinced that a QR-code is an example of “ a call for action”.  Because of the small amount of information, the consumers are curious and they want to know more about the product. For instance: Where can I buy this dress? How much does it costs? Nearest store? …

The big advantage of working with QR-codes is that consumers will not get an information overload, because only the core-message is mentioned on the advertising tools.

Another big advantage is that QR-coding creates more traffic on the website of the brand or product. So the chance that people are watching the whole product range is much bigger than a normal advertisement.  

I’m a marketer, so it would be strange if I didn’t knew QR-coding. But still, I’m convinced that there are people who don’t really know the meaning of QR-codes or how to use it. That’s why it’s important that a brand communicates QR-coding to their consumers. It might be a possibility to mention a discount on the advertisement, so people will be more prepared to scan the QR.   

The QR-code is linked to the website of the brand, product or service. Everyone can scan the QR-codes, the only thing you need is a Smartphone with a specific App. (For instance: Apple created “Quick scan”).   

I’ve done some research and apparently there is an App where you can mention your allergies. So, when you’re scanning the QR-code of a certain product and there is an ingredient that your are allergic to, the App is warning you. Which is an amazing tool!

Thanks for reading my blog, and I’d like to entertain you next week, with another marketing trend.

Thomas