Companies with Great Data-driven Return Processes

In my last blog post, I talked about the bad disjointed sales experience at Verizon. In this post, as a counterbalance, I’m giving Verizon props on how they use tracking data to create a great trade-in experience for its customers.

Using UPS tracking data, they keep their customers informed every step of the way.

First, you get a prepaid UPS shipping label from Verizon. They also email your phone's estimated trade-in value and how long you have to send in the old cell phone.

Then this is where they leverage UPS tracking status data to make it a positive customer experience.

Because they already issued the unique UPS tracking number associated with each trade-in, they know if it has been scanned with an item at a UPS drop-off location.

After a week or so, Verizon knows if you still haven’t shipped your phone and emails you a friendly reminder. ✅

Reminder Email

Then once you drop off your phone at UPS, Verizon emails you when the UPS driver has picked up your phone and it’s on the move. That’s reassuring! ✅

Email confirming phone received by UPS

Then a few days later once it reaches Verizon, you get another email confirming receipt. ✅

Email confirming receipt by Verizon

Finally, once they’ve had a chance to inspect the condition of the phone, they send you an email confirming the trade-in value. ✅

Email with trade-in confirmation

Amazon also does something similar.

Once I drop-off a return package, at say a Whole Foods (owned by Amazon), and it is scanned by the store clerk, Amazon sends an email that they got it...usually before I leave the Whole Foods parking lot! ✅

Drop-off Confirmation Email

But they go one step further by refunding you almost immediately a few minutes after the previous email! ✅

Refund Confirmation Email

At that point, while the refund is conditional on how the item actually looks when they receive it, if they lose the product during shipping, you feel you’re not responsible.

And you’ve got more money to spend on Amazon again way sooner :)

In today's data-driven world, there is no excuse why every ecommerce company does not offer this level of service!

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Why Sharing Varies Across Streaming Accounts

I don't share streaming accounts, but I know people who do, especially Netflix, for years. I started to think about why some services seem to be shared more than others.

Long known for having a lax policy on cracking down sharers, Netflix surprised users in March when some users logged into a shared Netflix account and saw a message that read, “If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching." Though CEO Reed Hastings later downplayed that they were “tightening the screws" on sharers anytime soon and said it was just part of their ongoing tests. While they can easily IP detect where you're logging in from, they don't really police it. One side benefit I love of this is when I travel, some hotel smart TVs now have an easy option to login to your Netflix account and it logs you off automatically when you check out. This is so nice instead of watching random stuff and channel surfing on cable, which seems so outdated today! 

Compare that to my Hulu + Live TV subscription. Hulu is one of the strictest services. Per Hulu, if you use a living room device while connected to a different Wi-Fi network than what you set as your Home network, you’ll get an error message stating you’re not at home — in this case, you'll have the option to update your Home network if needed. You can change your Home network up to four times per year. So this really deters anyone from sharing with others. But this is also a pain for legitimate users like me who would love to watch my Hulu shows while traveling at a hotel. But unlike the convenient Netflix scenario described above, you can't do that with Hulu.

No one I know shares their Amazon Prime Video subscription. This is likely because if they're anything like us, Amazon is our "super" account for all kinds of services tied to our login -- Shopping, Kindle, Echos, Music, Photo (Did you even know Amazon has a great photo backup service!?!). I don't care if the recommended shows algorithm is thrown off from sharing. But as it relates to Shopping, the last thing I want is someone else ordering stuff charged to my Amazon account! I've never had any issues logging on to my Amazon account on multiple devices in various cities. I haven't noticed Amazon Prime Video integrated into hotel entertainment systems, but I think it's a matter of time, given how fast they are growing.

Disney+ is so focused on user growth, as witnessed by their low price point and generous 4 simultaneous logins, they also are very lax on sharing it seems, like Netflix.  Even with their recent price increase, $8/mo is one of the best deals in town, given their huge library of content from Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, and their own Disney studios! Sign up for 1 year and it's less than $7/mo. So who really needs to split such a low fee?!?! This is one streaming service I hope to see at hotel TVs soon. I can sit back and watch anything Star Wars or Marvel anytime from anywhere! =)

Travel tip: Lots of hotels, especially higher-end hotels or those that have updated their TVs, allow you to plug into a HDMI port with a Roku, Chromecast or Fire TV stick. So I pack one with me when I travel now just in case to access my favorite streaming services, except Hulu + Live TV. Some with newer smart TVs even let you Chromecast or send what's on your mobile phone directly to the TV!

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How Can Disney+ Only Be $6.99 per Month?

Hulu announced it will be raising the price of its Hulu + Live TV plan this month by 18% from $54.99/month to $64.99/month. Even with this higher subscription revenue, plus its advertising revenue, it's struggling to be profitable. One can't help but to wonder how the heck can Disney make money on its $6.99/month Disney+ streaming service???

And how can the best deal in town afford to spend so much money to produce theatrical motion picture quality hit shows like The Mandalorian? 

The answer is they do not have to make money on its streaming business because it can be a loss leader. Disney has long made money on its theme parks and product licensing deals based on its characters and movies. 

If you've been holiday shopping, everywhere you look there are "Baby Yoda" and The Mandalorian merchandise in apparel, toys, housewares, bikes, and even Epic Games' Fortnite released an update this past week that features The Mandalorian. 

To see the power of this Disney money-making juggernaut, look what just happened since yesterday with The Mandalorian. 

Lego and Disney released the Razor Crest set #75292 this past summer. It's the main character's signature space ship. At $129.99 MSRP, this is not a cheap toy and has probably sold briskly. 

On yesterday's episode, the Razor Crest was surprisingly destroyed into smithereens by the Empire (sadly it had just been repaired 2 episodes prior)! 

By yesterday afternoon, stores sold out and prices soared on Amazon, eBay and other 3rd party sellers to over $170! If it was a stock, that's a 30%+ price jump! 

LegoShop.com Sold Out

Razor Crest Price Tracker

Also appearing on The Mandalorian yesterday was Boba Fett, who many believed was killed 27 years ago in Return of the Jedi. Searches for "Boba Fett" immediately shot to #3 on Google Trends yesterday.

Google Trends: Boba Fett #3

And even Boba Fett's Slave I space ship (released over a year ago) experienced an overnight price spike of 33%, rising from $120 to $160. 

Lego Slave I Price Tracker

Not only will Disney and others prosper from the sale of the Razor Crest (and Slave I), but now there is an opportunity for Disney to sell even more Star Wars merchandise when Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni outfit The Mandalorian with a replacement ship that I'm sure is already in the works. 

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Covid-19 Digital Playbook

With shelter-in-place (SIP) and a likely recession due to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, now is the time to double down on digital marketing and sales!

With store closures, many retailers, such as Nike, are reporting Black Friday sales levels and conversion rates! And I've been seeing similar results for my clients.

In fact, in its recent quarterly report, Nike's CEO said it was able to engage its fans via its app and other digital channels while they were quarantined at home, and their free exercise services translated into strong digital sales that helped offset store closures.

Some brands or OEMs who previously had channel conflicts from wholesale/retail partners or their own brick-and-mortar stores suddenly see their direct-to-consumer channel as the only game in town during SIP.

That makes this a critical time to dig into your website and mobile app analytics!

See what part of the site is getting the most traffic, what's selling now that wasn't before, what is the makeup of the customers who are shopping now vs. before, where are users dropping off or hitting UX roadblocks?

For many of my clients, I've seen a spike in mobile web and mobile app traffic especially throughout the day and not just during commute hours. No surprise as people are home due to SIP. Also, historically, lots of office workers shop on their work desktops during the weekdays. It's not uncommon to see high conversions on Mon mornings before lunch as workers tackle their "to do" list after a relaxing weekend. But suddenly they don't have access to those work computers and must go online on their phones. So make sure your site is optimized for mobile, now more than ever!

Re-evaluate all your advertising

Online ad prices, especially banner, native, and video ads, that run on publisher sites are dropping as supply outstrips demand because advertisers have pulled back on spend because of SIP (e.g., travel industry can't really promote bookings), recession fears, and brand safety concerns (i.e., brands don't want their ads to show next to coronavirus content, especially on news sites). However, if you are less brand sensitive or develop a more targeted blacklisting strategy, you can make out like a bandit for your media buys. For example, Facebook CPMs have fallen to their lowest levels in 2 years.

Facebook CPM Falling (Source: Gupta Media)

It's also a good idea to assess the competitive media landscape. You may discover some competitors have pulled back on their paid advertising in search, display, social, video, or mobile apps. Time for you to grab market or mindshare, likely at lower ad prices as mentioned above. For some of my retail clients where Amazon used to compete with them on search, there's been less competition. Not that Amazon doesn't have the money to bid against them, but more likely because Amazon has more than its hands full now from organic traffic with everyone turning to the online retailer during SIP. (More on that below.) So check your Google Auction Insights reports. On the flip side, depending on your industry, you might see quite the opposite competitive pressure and everyone is getting more aggressive to capture as much demand as possible right now. Think about the fiercely competitive online video conferencing space right now where you have Zoom, GoToMeeting, Microsoft Teams, and Webex duking it out.

I expect performance media campaigns to see less budget cuts than branding campaigns.

Also, make sure your ad messaging is on target and appropriate for these times. For example, yesterday morning I heard a local radio ad that asked "Taking your kids to school? Listen to us in the car." Really? Schools have been closed for a month during SIP! Someone at the station clearly sleeping behind the wheel.

Take stock of and promote your most relevant product and service features during these times.

By now, as a consumer, every company has probably sent you an email and driving you to their Covid-19 landing pages to explain how they are reacting to the pandemic and SIP. And most importantly, what special services they are offering during these uncertain times.

So, as a brand, what are you going to promote?

If you have interest-free payment plans or "layaway" plans like Afterpay, it's time to promote that. Amazon features it prominently on higher ticket price items (see below). Some auto companies have rolled out 0% interest, 72-month auto loans even!

Amazon's interest-free payment plan

Right now consumers are very concerned about supporting small businesses who risk going under. For smaller businesses who are reaching out to their community for help, now's a good time to setup and promote online gift cards. Square, which is quite popular with small businesses, has even created a Give & Get Local site to make it easy for local merchants to promote their e-gift cards to consumers. I've seen when merchants promote this in email campaigns, consumers are buying them to keep their favorite businesses afloat, hoping to patronize them later when we get through this. Facebook is also offering small businesses grants.

Offer curbside pickup following social distancing best practices? Promote that. Are your shipping and delivery times still unaffected? If you compete with Amazon, you may have an advantage now against the Prime shipping program as Amazon is swamped with traffic and orders, forcing them to prioritize some items over others. I don't blame them. I was about to buy an item that was eligible for Prime shipping. But at checkout, it said it won't ship for 1-2 months! That's crazy. #abandoncart

Amazon delayed shipping warning

Sports retailer Sports Basement has been sending out emails that promote online events to help customers stay fit, such as live workouts with a trainer via video conference and healthy recipes to try at home (side note: there has been a spike in baking and home cooking with SIP). And of course, discounts for shopping online! Similarly, REI has 6 Ways to Mix Up Your At-Home Workday. Both are great examples of brands staying true to their brand positioning while producing relevant, engaging content for their customers.

Sports Basement workout tip

Also, make sure you are monitoring online chatter using social media tools. How are consumers reacting to your company's response? For many brands, they are dealing with significant customer service complains on social media, online chats on their sites, and of course their call centers. But also use this data to see what's trending? How do you weave your brand into the conversation? The key is to be authentic, empathetic, and not too salesy.

Get the word out!

When you've identified relevant content to share with the community, it's time to put the CRM team and tools to work! Leverage that email database you got! For small businesses using Square, Square is offering Square Marketing, its basic CRM program I previously reviewed, for free right now. Yelp is also offering some of its premium marketing services for free for small businesses. Take advantage of these tools! Most are very easy to use without a huge learning curve.

Of course, take it to social media channels. Remember when just a few weeks ago, the government and consumer privacy advocates wanted to take down Facebook and Big Tech? Now, consumers are spending more time than ever on Facebook and almost every single social network has seen engagement shoot through the roof! When you do post, do some #hashtag research to maximize visibility.

And this goes without saying, but make sure your website can handle increased traffic, especially if you're a retailer and your stores are closed. You might also consider a code freeze like most online retailers normally do Nov-Dec. Don't risk rocking the boat when it's the only sales channel you got right now!

Lock-in long-term behavior changes

Lastly, all this time at home and SIP has forced consumers and businesses to change their behavior, largely favoring online activity, and you should take advantage of making these behaviors long term habits. Just to name a few benefactors -- online video conferencing, online banking/mobile app banking, online grocery delivery, esports, virtual medical professional services like SteadyMD or Talkspace, not to mention multi-channel retailers who have struggled to get in-store shoppers to go online or use their mobile app. Post-SIP, all these industries will benefit from an injection of new users; the key will be to keep as many as they can as paying customers for years to come.

My Covid-19 Digital Playbook:

1. Dig into your web + app analytics data for insights
2. Re-evaluate your media buys and messaging
3. Develop relevant content for Covid-19 behaviors due to SIP and be useful to consumers
4. Be active on social media and email channels
5. Be prepared for how to exploit long-term behavior changes after we get through this to capitalize on your short-term wins

Now I only wish there was a digital solution for haircuts because I need one badly! =( And I don't just mean an AR filter for my video calls or socialpost!

Stay safe and sane out there...

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Can't Blame Amazon Completely for Barnes & Noble's Downfall

As 2 suitors, Elliott Management and Readerlink, possibly fight over Barnes & Noble, the beleaguered bookseller, I can see why the chain is dying and the hard work cut out for its new owner.

The media always blames Amazon.com for B&N's misfortunes. But I found out first-hand that it's also B&N's own doing. In fact, smaller independent bookstores have seen a resurgence, despite B&N's demise.

Recently, I was looking for a Funko Pop gift online and found it at BN.com. Better yet, it was 25% off according to its website. I didn't have time to have it shipped so I went to a nearby store and didn't see the need to buy online and pickup in store because I wanted to see it live first.

At the store, there were 100s of Funko Pops across 4 large display shelves, stacked at least 2 boxes deep! Of all the stores, this B&N had the most Funko Pops I've ever seen. Normally, such a large selection is great. But not today. I tried to ask a worker to help me find the one I wanted, but I had no luck in tracking someone down nearby. I eventually found it myself.

Now all I had to do was pay for it. Easy, right? Sadly, no. B&N makes it really hard to checkout when a customer is ready to actually buy!

First, I couldn't find anyone at either of the 2 Cashier stations. So I walked over to the Customer Service counter and a worker there tries to explain to me that it is "normal" for no one to be at one of the counters because the workers are on the floor. Then why is there a Cashier sign to direct customers to go there and pay if you don't expect a worker to man that station? As for the second counter, she pointed back towards the Cashier counter and said a guy was walking over there now. No apologies at all during this whole exchange and she made me feel like it was my fault for even asking her where is a cashier so I can pay.

So I walk over to the Cashier area, and they had an "Enter Here" sign pointing customers to the far right. But there was no one in line so I thought I'd walk right up to the cashier who saw us coming. He looks at me and nods his head to his left (my right), as if signaling me to follow the sign and queue the long way around to the other end of the cashier counter, only to work my way back down to him...as if B&N ever has long lines or a stampede of customers these days.

When I finally reached the cashier, I told him that the $39.99 price on the box was higher (48% to be exact) than what I saw on their website. I showed him on my mobile phone the price on BN.com (see below).

BN.com product page

BN.com shopping cart - sales price ($26.99)

B&N in-store price on box ($39.99)

He said no problem. He can price match. Great! But wait, there's more! He said he could only match the $29.99 price. But online, as shown above, BN.com had another 10% off with promo code SUNSHINE. So the price before taxes was $26.99.

He said he "had no way of price matching AND applying a discount." Why is that even 2 different things in his mind? If he's going to ring up any price into the register to price match, why not entire the $26.99 amount instead of $29.99?

Frustrated by the whole experience so far, I just accepted the $29.99 price to get out of there. I can't believe how complicated their price match policy was. And it's not like I was asking him to match a COMPETITOR'S offer. This was their own website for crying out loud!

I guess it's not entirely the workers' fault for the horrible in-store experience. When business is dying, I guess B&N is not used to customers actually buying something in their stores!

TIP: If you ever see something on sale on BN.com that you must get that day, you should always buy online and pick up in store, instead of assuming you can easily walk in to buy it!

Ultimately, successful retailers today have to offer consumers a compelling reason to go into a physical store and when consumers show up, retailers have to offer helpful customer service and a consistent omni-channel experience, especially when it comes to price. Is that too much to ask?

#FAIL for Barnes & Noble.

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FIRST PEEK: Amazon 4-Star Store

This week Amazon opened a new 4-Star store (its third one ever) in Berkeley, CA, and I just had to check it out! Readers of my blog know I'm a big Amazon fan =)

The 4-Star store is located on 4th Street, a cute little commercial strip in west Berkeley that includes big retailers, such as Apple Store, Sur la Table, Z Gallerie, as well as local merchants and eateries. The 4-Star store actually replaced a Crate & Barrel Outlet I liked that closed earlier this year.

Amazon 4-Star Store, Berkeley

If you haven't heard of 4-Star stores, it's different than Amazon Go cashierless stores. 4-Star stores are manned by real people and you can check out at a normal register counter. They appear targeted towards consumers who don't want to wait for delivery, have security concerns with packages left at their doorsteps, or just want to physically see and touch a product, so they prefer to buy from a physical store.

Also, as the name implies, all the items are rated 4 stars or higher, as well as items that are new or trending based on what Amazon's website knows about shopping patterns in the surrounding area. A store employee told me inventory will constantly change based on local preferences and sales data. Yay, BIG data!!!

The store stocks hundreds, maybe 1000s, of products, ranging from books, toys & games, kitchen appliances and gadgets, home goods, consumer electronics, and of course, Amazon-branded Echo, Kindle, and Fire TV devices.

Inside Amazon 4-Star Store, Berkeley

I liked a section called Amazon Launchpad that featured products from start-ups. I actually saw the Rocketbook I bought for a friend's gift last year here.

Amazon Launchpad section

I have mixed feelings about the store layout. While it was semi-organized by department with big signage, such as "Devices and Electronics" and "Home and Kitchen," there was also lots of random stuff on tables in the middle of the store. While this created a sense of discovery, much like what has made discount stores like TJ Maxx or Ross popular, at times it felt cluttered and overwhelming.

I was really impressed by the dynamic price tags or "shelf talkers". It makes sense these are dynamic because an item's price and ratings are update regularly and I presume Amazon has to reuse these tags from the revolving inventory of items stocked in the store. The price tags are very easy to read and appear to be based on the same e-ink technology from their Kindle reader.

Dynamic Price Tag (a.k.a. "Shelf Talker")

The price tag often has 2 prices: a "regular" price and a lower price for Amazon Prime members. I was told non-Prime customers can sign up for a free 30-day trial and instantly receive the Prime price in-store.

I thought the bar codes on the left side of the price tags would allow me to scan the bar code with my Amazon mobile app to learn more about the product online, such as product details and actual reviews. But it didn't work when I tried it on a few items. So I don't think that is the intent of these bar codes, but IT SHOULD BE!

As you might expect, you can drop off Amazon returns here for free. But just know that you still have to initiate the return process online first and pick this location as a drop-off location. You can't just walk in like a traditional retail store with your receipt and expect them to process it for you in-store.

It would be cool if the Amazon site or app could check the 4-Star store's inventory and allow for store pickup if it knew I was near this store.  This would be similar to how traditional brick-and-mortar stores, such as Best Buy, Target, and Barnes & Noble, let you order online and pickup at a local store. But when I tried to do this from my Amazon app, it did not even show the new 4-Star store as a location for pickup (see below). Even if it was listed, it's not actually the same customer experience as these traditional retailers who are actually picking the product off the shelf in a specific store by searching its inventory management system. Amazon still says it will be available for pickup at your chosen pickup location in a few days, which makes me think it's still being shipped from its nearby warehouse. So much for instant gratification.

Where is the Amazon 4-Star Store on 4th Street in its App?

Overall, I liked the 4-Star store and can see myself coming back during the holidays for gift ideas because I like how it's curated. Or if I need to pop in for some cable or Amazon Essentials product. And I do like touching and feeling some products before buying. It's convenient especially for playing with the consumer electronics, which aren't just on display, but are actually connected so you can really test them out.

Happy Shopping!!!

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Life Without Ad-supported Products and Services

Got privacy concerns? In a recent study, 63% of U.S. adults (nearly 2 out of 3 people) said they would be unwilling to give a company access to their personal data for targeted advertising in exchange for a free service. Shockingly unbelievable! Despite all the recent consumer and political fallout about consumer privacy and ad targeting, what would life really be like without advertising-supported products and services?

Let's think about that, shall we? Starting with the 800-pound gorilla...

Google Search: You could probably still use this, but without behavioral targeting and tracking, paid search ads may seem less relevant because it'll be like going back in time 10 years when results were largely based on keywords and bids from the auction model. You may think you're mostly interested in organic search results and probably don't care about the paid listings. But don't expect Google to continue investing in indexing organic results if it can't pay its employees! Here are some alternative private search engines to Google.

YouTube: Google paid a lot of money for YouTube ($1.65 billion) and they have spent years trying to monetize it. Only recently, thanks to the growth of mobile and video advertising, does this acquisition appear to be paying off. YouTube has struggled for years to get consumers to pay for a subscription. Without advertising, YouTube would essentially be gone. There is really no alternative to this platform. Even Vevo realized this recently and announced the shut down of its consumer branded sites to focus on its YouTube channels!

Google Maps: This is the most popular mapping and GPS/driving direction service.  Google has tried to sell ads based on location and behavioral targeting. Other online maps also rely on ads. So if you want to avoid ads 100%, you will need to buy a Garmin or a similar device that makes its money from hardware sales, not advertising.

Gmail: You might think Gmail is ok as Google claims it no longer scans emails to serve ads. But it is still scanning emails in the name of personalization. For example, Google knows when your next flight is leaving, and whether or not it has been delayed, based on emails you get from airlines and travel booking sites. Also Gmail has an ad product, although you may never notice the ads if you have your settings set to not display Promotions. But Gmail ads do offer advertisers lots of targeting options. Where do you suppose Google gets those signals from??? Lastly, I feel Gmail is a Trojan horse play for Google to incentivize users to create a login (and stay logged in for checking email constantly) and user profile, which in turn can be used for your login across all Google products in order to track you with more precision across the web and across devices to serve better ads within its ecosystem. If you don't want an ad-based "free" webmail service, you may have to start using your ISP's "free" email address that came with your broadband service (e.g., Comcast, AT&T). The trade-off though is the switching cost is high if you ever want to leave your Internet service provider because you will have to tell all your friends they need to email you at a new email address. That happened to me years ago when I switched from Mindspring to Gmail.

Android Phones: Know that Android-based phone you have from Samsung, LG, or Motorola? While the operating system was free to phone manufacturers, Google uses Android as yet another Trojan horse to get mobile users to use its popular ads-based mobile apps, such as those described above, that are pre-loaded on the phones to protect its dominant advertising position in desktop and mobile devices. One alternative is to get an iPhone.

...And then there's Facebook

Facebook: By now, we all know how Facebook collects tons of data about users without their knowledge in order to provide incredibly powerful targeting capabilities for advertisers. As a digital marketer, I can attest to how precise and effective their ad products are. But as a consumer, you won’t easily find another social network where all your friends are.

Instagram: Thinking about leaving Facebook to Instagram like a teenager? Not so fast, Instagram has largely adopted the same ad platform as Facebook.

WhatsApp: How about WhatsApp? The founders built the app based on privacy concerns and started out charging 99 cents a year. When you have over 1 billion users, that's not a bad revenue model. Unless of course someone (i.e.. Mark Zuckerberg) paid you $22 billion for the company 😉 If you haven't heard, the founders of WhatsApp have fought Facebook executives for a while to keep ads off WhatsApp and are leaving Facebook over this philosophical difference. And it seems ads are coming soon to WhatsApp.

All other social networks, like Snapchat, are also ad-based. So there's no alternative service at scale really. Perhaps this will lead to a renaissance when people will actually call people on the phone again or meet friends face-to-face.

Other popular ad-based services

Yelp: Who doesn't love Yelp for recommendations? The company has ads, but it has limited targeting abilities, mainly based on a user's keyword search and location. So you can decide if that creeps you out. Also, Yelp has been building out other revenue streams targeted at businesses, like request-a-quote, that is not ad-based.

News sites: Most are ad-supported, but many don't make enough money to offset their declining print revenue. Savvy papers with loyal followers, such as WSJ and NY Times, charge a subscription and some have tested micropayments per article. But if you don't like ads, your selection of news sites is quite limited.

Mobile games: Many casual mobile games are still ad-supported. Part of the reason I think that's the case is because ad platforms have made it easy for developers to integrate ad units within their game for monetization. Many don't want to charge a fee for each download, thinking it will negatively impact app adoption. (True!) Some have found success with a freemium model, like Fortnite. But selling virtual goods does require developers to work harder to figure the "hook" to get users to pay and to develop a store in the app to sell these virtual goods.

TV: TV shows are still largely ad-based. TV started that way and some could argue there is a sea change. Netflix has built a very successful subscription model with original content and zero ads. But most video on demand or over the top (OTT) TV streaming services are currently testing a hybrid model that includes a "modest" monthly subscription fee and targeted video ads. Think Hulu, Sling TV, Directv Now, and YouTube TV.

Not all hope is lost

Not to be all doom and gloom if you don't want to use ad-supported products, as there are a few companies that still offer products and services not based on advertising.

Amazon/Amazon Prime: If you're not one of the 100 million people on Amazon Prime, you should be! This paid subscription gets you so many benefits, that I can't even list them all. Go read it here for yourself. That being said, Amazon has been slowly developing a burgeoning advertising business on its site because most people start product searches on Amazon rather than Google. As this becomes a growing revenue source for them, how long before Amazon engages in behavioral targeting for advertising, much like how it has successfully mined customer browsing and purchasing data on its site for its recommendation engine and tested ad-supported, discounted Kindles?

Apple: Apple is the poster child for anti-ad-supported products, even if its legion of app developers depend on ads for monetization. Not a week goes by these days that CEO Tim Cook is not poking a stick at Facebook and its lack of consumer privacy practices. But Apple is a highly-profitable hardware and services company, not an advertising company like Google and Facebook. So product sales and subscriptions will dominate for a long, long time!

Microsoft: Many of us interact with Microsoft via its Windows and Office products. As such, it's primarily a B2B company and makes a ton of money from charging businesses and home users for subscriptions to Office and operating system licenses to computer manufacturers. And their Azure cloud computing business is growing like gangbusters that is also subscription-based. It sells some Xboxes to consumers at retail and also generates subscriptions from online gaming. It does have the Bing search engine and an ad business. But for the vast majority of consumer's interactions with Microsoft products and services, they're not really ad-supported.

Netflix: Unlike the OTT TV streaming services mentioned above, Netflix has scoffed at an advertising revenue model and is focused on subscriptions. If their stock price is any indication, they are doing just fine without ads!

Spotify: Spotify and other music streaming businesses all seem to have landed on a $10/mo subscription model. Some like Pandora still have an ad-supported "free" option. There is also talk of Spotify developing an ad business.


So there you have it. Can you 2/3 of Americans out there really live without these ad-supported services? And how much can your wallet take to keep paying for existing subscription-based services, like Amazon Prime, Netflix, Spotify, Hulu, etc.? The dollars add up quickly, don't they?!?

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Google vs. Amazon Battle for Search

eMarketer just released its latest forecast for the smart speaker market in the US. It shows Amazon Echo's share has fallen slightly to 67%, due mainly from gains from Google, who sat at 30%.

Source: eMarketer, April 2018

Wait! Where have I seen this 2/3 vs 1/3 pattern before? Ahh, yes, the desktop/mobile search engine market.

Source: Statistica, Jan 2018

Google has held about 2/3 of the total US search query volume on desktop and mobile for a while. And Bing/Yahoo! (or Bing/Oath I should say) has held on to about 1/3...more or less.

Google is obviously not happy to have the tables turned in the smart speaker space, especially as voice search is the next frontier for the Search category! So they are making aggressive moves for its Google Home product, including a successful launch of its affordable Home Mini.

Amazon is not kicking back either though. They keep adding more Skills each week to Alexa and striking more hardware vendor partnerships to embed Alexa.

Amazon is also attacking Google on its own turf -- Search Advertising. According to a recent Forrester report, consumers are 2.5 times more likely to research products for purchase from Amazon than any other source, including Google.

Amazon's ad business is also growing to take advantage of these Amazon search queries. In its recent fourth-quarter earnings, Amazon reported that “Other” revenue, which includes advertising, increased to $1.7 billion, representing 60% growth YoY. This will continue to grow and compete with Google's popular Product Listing Ads.

So, while there's lots of talk about the Google-Facebook duopoly, don't count Amazon out just yet!

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Voice-Activated Assistants Face-off

With the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S8, Samsung unveiled Bixby, it's new voice-activated assistant. Since my February 2013 blog post on vocal SEO, a lot has changed as "AI" and "voice assistants" have taken off, largely thanks to Amazon's Echo. It's hard to imagine Alexa wasn't even around back then. So let's see how the top tech company's latest assistants stack up. Unlike my 2013 challenge, this contest will be judged solely on the assistant's AUDIO responses and not what is displayed on-screen. So let's go...

Question: What is the weather in San Francisco tomorrow?

SIRI
"Ok, here's the weather for San Francisco tomorrow" and she displayed the 7 day forecast on-screen (but we're not counting on-screen results)

GOOGLE
"Tomorrow's forecast for San Francisco is 66 degrees and partly cloudy"

ALEXA
"Tomorrow in San Francisco, California, you'll see intermittent clouds and can expect a high of 68 and a low of 60"

BIXBY
"Wednesday we''ll have some sunshine with a few clouds" 

ADVANTAGE: Alexa because it provided useful information audibly without requiring me to look at the screen, even though it couldn't show me a multi-day forecast (which is ok since I didn't ask for that). Google was a close second.


To see if any of these assistants can offer an opinion, I tested these...

Q: Should I watch Spiderman: Homecoming?

SIRI

"Sorry, I can't play movies"

GOOGLE
"Reviews scored 8 out of 10 on IMDB"

ALEXA
"Sorry, I'm not sure about that"

BIXBY
"Here is some information about Spiderman: Homecoming" and then it showed a Google description of the movie

ADVANTAGE: Google. While not providing an official recommendation, it did tell me what the average review score was.




Q: Who do you think is going to win the A's vs. Royals game?

SIRI
"The Athletics play the Royals on Monday at 7:05PM"

GOOGLE
No audio response and was just a regular Google search results page for my query translated to text.

ALEXA
"I can't see the future"

BIXBY
"Ok, here is what I found on the web" and then showed me search results

ADVANTAGE: Siri was the only one that provided any relevant info on the game. So I guess she wins this round.




Q: What is a good Japanese restaurant in New York? 

SIRI
"OK, here's what I found" and then it showed me 15 results on-screen.

GOOGLE
No audio response and was just a regular Google search results page for my query translated to text.

ALEXA
"Here are a few of the top rated Japanese restaurants around New York" and then she proceeded to read out 4 of them out loud to me

BIXBY
"Here is what I found on the web" and returned a bunch of results on-screen.

Advantage: Alexa for providing a full audio response with a few top selections.




Then I wanted to see if any of these assistants had a sense of humor...

Q: Are you a robot?

SIRI
"Let's just say I am made of silicon, memory, and the courage of my convictions"

GOOGLE
No response and it just did a Google web search

ALEXA
"I like to imagine myself a bit like an aurora borealis. A surge of charged multi-colored photons dancing through the atmosphere. But mostly though I am just Alexa"

BIXBY
Bixby returned different responses when asked a few times:
"I'm not a big fan of labels"
"I'm more complex than that"
"This is getting personal"

ADVANTAGE: Bixby for having multiple responses. And I have no idea what Alexa was talking about!




Q: How much wood could a woodchuck chuck?

SIRI
"42. That can't be right"
"I suppose it depends on whether you are talking about African or European woodchucks"
"Just because it could doesn't mean it would"
Siri offered different witty answers when asked multiple times. But these were actually the same from my 2013 test.

GOOGLE
"According to Quora, according to a Cornell publication, the answer is approximately 700 pounds"

ALEXA

"A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood"

BIXBY
"Not sure, but it sounds like one industrious woodchuck"

ADVANTAGE: Siri, even though her answers didn't evolve in 4 years. They're still funny. All but Google actually had some fun with this canned question.



Ok, for the final round, a RAP BATTLE...Props for PhoneBuff for this video:

ADVANTAGE: Bixby and Alexa. Both had great raps. (Note: PhoneBuff added background music to all the raps to make the video more engaging than the actual raps with no beats, except Bixby which actually has its own background music in its rap.)


Overall, voice assistants have evolved a lot in 4 years! And no clear winner emerged in my mind. The exciting thing is we consumers are the winners as this technology continues to improve.

Which virtual assistant do you like?

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Is Amazon Getting Too Aggressive With Speedy Shipping?

We've all heard about Amazon's ambitions to leverage drones for faster and cheaper package delivery. But while that may be 1-2 years away, I've recently noticed Amazon really pushing same day delivery to Prime members.

Here's what happened to me recently. I was browsing on my Amazon app at 7:30am one morning. I was just researching something and wasn't really planning to buy it during this session. However, as I was reading the reviews on one product I was considering, I saw a note: Buy in the next 1 hour 39 minutes and get it the same day by 9pm. And it would be free as I am a Prime member. Wow, I couldn't believe it! So I bought it and was cautiously optimistic.

From a supply chain management perspective, I was so intrigued by how Amazon could be so confident they could pull this off. First, I thought they must look at my default shipping address, checking to see the nearest warehouse the item I was looking at would come from. Then, quickly check to see if there are planned deliveries near my house from that warehouse. Lastly, if all this works out, they see I'm a Prime member and this special shipping over is served up.

All this has to happen in seconds because I saw the same day shipping offer when I initially pulled up that product page. So, that means it takes lightning fast back-end logic to make this user experience sooooooo seamless, like magic!

Later that day at 4:24pm, Amazon informed me the item was shipped and would arrive by 9pm. I was getting excited.  But 9pm came and went, and nothing. At 10pm, I was notified about a delay. But it wasn't just a one day delay. Instead it gave me a range of 1-3 days! What? That's worse than if I stuck with regular 2-day Prime shipping in my original order! How can Amazon have such imprecision for shipping, given the advanced logistics they are known for?

What's worse in this case was it actually came after the usual 2-day Prime shipping! And once it was delayed, Amazon no longer provided up to the minute tracking as if the package was in some unknown limbo. It just said if you don't get it in 4 days, come back for more options. What a horrible user experience!

One consolation prize came out of this at least. As a Prime member, I contacted Amazon about this delay in guaranteed delivery and I got an extra month added to my Prime Membership, roughly an $8 value.

But I ask: Is Amazon setting the bar too high for itself with such aggressive shipping promises?

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Post-Christmas Online Shopping Reflections: Amazon vs. Google

With Christmas and another holiday shopping season behind us, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the online holiday shopping experience this year.

No surprise, online shopping spend continued to increase this year. Latest estimates suggest anywhere from 14 to 16% YoY change per Bloomberg.

Like 39% of online shoppers (Source: Forrester), I start my shopping research on Amazon.com. This is because the site is so easy to use, their production selection feels bottomless, there's tons of product reviews, their personal recommendations based on behavioral analysis are insightful, and last but not least...I'm a Prime member.

Meanwhile, Google only has 11% share. But it wasn't always this way. According to Forrester, in 2009, 24% of shoppers started on search engines like Google and 18% started on Amazon.

I still do some Google searches for a few reasons: when looking for a local store option to see or touch the product first or because I need it right away. But this season I have also used it more to try to find deals from big retailers not on Amazon. For example, for consumer electronics or gadgets, I like to see if BestBuy.com or Frys,com has any special promotions. And Google gives me a quick way to do a cursory price check on many sites at once. But I have found that sometimes Google is not reliable because you may not see the latest product deals if the merchant's product feed to Google is not current or many retailers are running site-wide promos (e.g., Save 20% on entire order) that would not be reflected in any single product search. And the product details on Google is not as rich, even with their recent enhancements.

Google Product Details Listing

That being said, increasingly I find the number of Amazon Marketplace merchants seems to be growing a lot more. So if Amazon doesn't have it, one of these partner merchants do. Sure, large competitors like Best Buy, Target, or Wal Mart won't be on Amazon. But here's why I like the option to search among Amazon Marketplace merchants that has contributed to me using Google less for shopping:

• I feel like Amazon has vetted these merchants but also it provides seller ratings for me to decide as well.
• Unlike going to a merchant site directly that may have a sub-optimal shopping experience, Marketplace sellers' product listings conform to Amazon's shopping experience -- product details page follows Amazon's template, there's customer reviews from Amazon's large customer base, and I feel my online payment is more secure going through Amazon than a merchant I may not know
• In many cases, Amazon helps fulfill these 3rd-party merchant orders and qualifies them for Prime shipping too
• If anything goes wrong or I need to return the product, it's comforting to know I can work through Amazon and not a merchant I have not heard of before

But one lesson I learned after my disastrous Amazon #FAIL experience last holiday season was to stop buying online by the 19th to ensure all my gifts arrived on time. And they did!

And Google is certainly not standing still and ceding online retail to Amazon any time soon. Google Product Listing Ads (PLA) are very popular among retailers and make a ton of cash for Google. And the WSJ reports Google is working on a "Buy" button to keep shoppers on its site longer similar to Amazon's "One Click" button and not even click through to merchant sites. Also, Google is trying to stitch together an express shipping program like ShopRunner to better compete against Amazon Prime's shipping service.

With Google getting more aggressive, it won't be long now until Amazon starts accusing Google of manipulating its natural search results that make Google's product listings more prominent and negatively impact Amazon's rankings...much like how the travel industry and other review sites have complained to regulators.

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Amazon Changes Brand Strategy With Release of New Tablets

This week, Amazon rolled out a bunch of new Amazon Fire tablets, along with a new Kindle e-reader.

This includes the launch or updates of:

• Fire 6" tablet
• Fire 7" tablet
• Fire HDX 8.9" tablet
• Fire HD Kids Edition
• Kindle Voyager e-reader

I'm not going to review the products. Instead, what was not really highlighted in these product announcements was how Amazon has changed its brand strategy for its tablets because of all the other recently-launched devices.

The new Amazon tablets no longer include the "Kindle" sub-brand before "Fire". They are now just called Amazon Fire tablets. But when the first Amazon tablet came out at the end of 2011, it was launched as the Amazon Kindle Fire. (I was a proud owner of one.) At the time, that made sense because the Kindle e-reader was wildly successful and had great brand equity as an Amazon hardware. By launching the Fire with the Kindle sub-brand, it was an easy way to communicate to consumers that this was the same great e-reader you have come to love and expect from Amazon, but now you have an Android-based tablet too!

That worked well for the Kindle Fire tablets for a few years until Amazon started expanding its consumer electronics devices, and e-readers became viewed as "old school" single-function devices.

So, the "Kindle" brand must evolve too. It has morphed from just an e-reader device brand to really a reading platform. By that I mean, there's the Kindle hardware, but there's also the software, which is the Kindle app that can be downloaded on almost any mobile device or tablet on all the major O/S's. And the integration between the Kindle app across all the devices one may own is amazing, being able to continue a book you're reading as you switch from one device to another! The Kindle app has also popped up as a suggested reader now when I download attachments from my emails on my Samsung Galaxy S phone. And so "Kindle" is really a great brand to associate to reading anything on anything!

Sure, there's still the low-tech, no-longer-growing aspect of this category. (But they're still taking the Nook to the cleaners by the way!) And that's a big reason why you don't want to hitch the "Kindle" brand to Amazon's other faster-growing, sexier products. 

Enter "Fire" 

The "Fire" sub-brand, which was introduced with the original Kindle Fire, has come a long way in 3 years. Along with many iterations of Kindle Fire tablets, 2 new high-profile Amazon Fire products were released this year.

The Amazon Fire TV introduced in April as a TV streaming device. With all the content Amazon has made available on its tablets, this was a natural extension in the battle for consumers in the living room. They face a host of competitors, including Apple, Google, Roku, and others. 

 

Then in July, Amazon finally took the covers off its much-rumored Fire phone. The high-tech smartphone has some unique features such as its Dynamic Perspective feature, X-Ray find feature, Firefly, and the extension of its Mayday service from its tablets to the phone. The reviews were mixed on this smartphone, especially given its price tag.

Taken together, Amazon's tablets, streaming TV device, and smartphone all make sense under the "Fire" sub-brand (sans "Kindle"). The "Fire" sub-brand can now be extended from just a tablet association to more of a high-tech, cool and sexy, multimedia entertainment devices association. The last thing you want to do is associate all this advanced technology in growth markets to an "e-reader and then some" brand!

So, I say bravo to Amazon's marketing team for making this brand transition at this juncture.

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What Amazon Can Learn from its Epic Christmas #FAIL

It all started with a gift I had ordered on Amazon on Friday, December 20th. Normally, this late in the game, I would buy something offline; but as I was reading a review on a gift idea on Amazon, I was surprised to learn Amazon GUARANTEED DELIVERY by December 24th still. (Famous last words!) So I ended up buying it on Amazon since I was a Prime member and 2-day shipping was free.

The next day I got my usual "your order has shipped" email, once again GUARANTEEING DELIVERY for Tues, Dec 24th.

Then Dec 24th 8pm arrived and still no package. So I logged into Amazon and tracked the package. I was surprised to learn it would be delayed due to the local carrier and it was now estimating delivery for Thursday Dec 26 by 8pm. I was extremely disappointed that the gift would not arrive in time for Christmas! And surprised Amazon could let this happen. At this point, there wasn't much I could do but wait and break the sad news to a little girl.

On Dec 26th, I learned that my case was not an isolated incident with Amazon. The front page of the Wall Street Journal featured an article on how UPS and retailers, such as Amazon and Kohl's, had botched up delivery of LOTS of Christmas presents at the 11th hour and were offering disappointed customers cash rebates. It wasn't until 9pm that night, when my gift still didn't arrive, that I called Amazon to find out what was going on. When I got a customer service rep on the phone, she told me my package was going to come tomorrow, Friday, Dec 27th by 8pm. I asked what confidence did she have in that estimate when the date had changed twice already. She said if it's not there by Sat, give them a call again. That wasn't a very reassuring answer. I told her I was disappointed that my gift had not arrived on Tuesday, as GUARANTEED. She said sorry and offered to send me a second package and if my first one arrived, I could just return it. That didn't make sense to me since I would then need to waste more time returning an item to Amazon and not likely to get here sooner than my first. It was clear she was working off a call center script and didn't fully grasp the situation here.

These customer interactions are really important moments of truth for companies. A brand is truly tested in such times. It's when business as usual can turn into a PR crisis or a when loyal customer feels valued. And I never fully understood why companies, such as Amazon, outsource such critical functions.

I asked her if she knew I was a Prime member. She did. I asked her if she knew how much I spent on Amazon this year. She didn't. So I told her. Despite spending more than the average Amazon Prime member, all she could say was sorry again. I was really surprised she basically had no resolution or offer that was no different than before I called. After a few more exchanges, she put me on hold and came back on to offer me a 1 month extension on my Prime membership. Wow, I can actually have the privilege to pay Amazon my $79 (full price still) a month later? At best, that may be worth less than $7 prorated. But, really it seemed like zero value since it was not like Amazon was giving me any tangible economic benefit like a cash coupon or promo code. I was insulted at this point and asked to speak to a supervisor. She asked why, which I think made me more upset. Most reps know that it's best to respect the customer's wishes and transfer the call. So I told her that I did not feel like Amazon valued me as a customer. She finally agreed to transfer me.

The supervisor of course said sorry. I told him my situation and how I didn't feel like a valued customer, stating again my Christmas disappointment and how much I spent on Amazon. After more back and forth, he offered me $15 credit on my account, stating this was the best he could do. Really? Because the WSJ article stated Amazon was offering customers $20 gift cards. It wasn't the $5 delta that made me mad, but the fact that I didn't feel like I was being acknowledged as a high value customer. And this offer made me feel like below average. I accepted the offer begrudgingly, realizing this was no longer worth my time and effort.

This experience has made me rethink my relationship with Amazon. Amazon can learn from this gigantic #amazonfail that lit up the Twittersphere.

1. Don't guarantee delivery so close to Christmas. Amazon was a bit overconfident in its logistics and carrier partners. For consumers, don't trust online retailers that promise delivery by the 24th when it's less than a week away. Shop at a local merchant instead. (For you brick-and-mortar retailers with in-store pickup and sophisticated inventory tracking systems, you should exploit this hole in Amazon's armor!)

2. Amazon needs a differentiated user experience based on the value of a customer. Given how data driven Amazon is, this is a no-brainer. A high value customer should have a different and better experience than low value customers. For example, high-value customers should have a prioritized escalation process with a special toll-free number, perhaps with on-shore reps who are fully empowered to do what it takes to ensure these top buyers remain loyal. Best-in-class retailers and financial services firms have been doing this for years! I helped eBay with this years ago. It really should not be a one-size-fits-all experience. (I'm talking about more than using data mining to recommend products on one's Amazon home page.)

3. Email or text alerts as soon as Amazon knows your package will be delayed. Why does Amazon only allow you to sign up for an alert when a package is delivered? Amazon obviously has this tracking info in real-time from its carrier partners. While no one likes to receive such bad news, it's better for companies to proactively communicate with customers to properly manage expectations. Airlines do this with flight alerts when they know flights are delayed. I never fly without setting such alerts any more.

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