Executives from Disney Stores and Office Depot shared insights on improving cross-channel engagement during presentations held at the eTail West Conference, February 25-28 in Palm Springs.
During an opening keynote session, Stephanie Pike, VP of E-Commerce for Office Depot, shared details about the importance of investing in web and mobile technologies, and how those investments help drive sales through cross-channel conversion. Office Depot, which recently acquired OfficeMax, views mobile as “a gateway to help retailers focus on what customers need,” according to Pike, “while enabling store associates to assist customers with in-store technology to help them find — and purchase — products across all channels.”
As retailers begin to leverage mobile technologies, they must keep in mind that a web site is more than a series of pages. Rather, it is “a conversation, and retailers need to make the first experience welcoming to guide that conversation interactively,” Pike noted. “A digital presence, in turn, is more than a conversation; it’s a relationship you have with clients any time they wish to engage. And finally, remember that you can hold conversations and have relationships not just with individual consumers, but with other businesses: The next frontier of e-Commerce is B2B.”
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In another keynote presentation, Dr. Tom Leighton, CEO of Akamai Technologies, discussed the challenges of providing frictionless experiences across all devices and channels. Leighton also shared near-term and long-term strategies for helping to ensure rapid response times.
Disney Designs To Rflect A Theme-Park Experience
Also at the conference, Elissa Margolis, VP of E-Commerce and Marketing for Disney Stores, explained how the retailer transformed the in-store experience with an updated design. She also shared customer feedback that described shopping at the stores as “the next best thing to visiting one of its theme parks.”
Key considerations that guided the transformation were:
- Don’t let technology break the spell;
- Convey Disney’s specialty retail premise online;
- Craft a distinctly Disney personality;
- Make it about the guest; and
- Follow a “franchise-first” philosophy that emphasizes storytelling.
Other eTail West announcements previously covered on the Retail TouchPoints web site include:
Zabar’s Selects OrderGroove To Launch New Subscription Commerce Program
Reevoo Partners With MyBuys To Boost E-Commerce Engagement
BareBones WorkWear Boosts Conversion Rates With Fanplayr