Ducking Under the Filter Bubble
By Tamara CaddyGoogle is omnipresent: it knows who we are and where we live. But do we really understand the extent and pervasiveness of its knowledge?
Complex algorithms determine what we see during our internet travels, via searches or newsfeeds. Yet often what we don’t see is just as important to us getting a more complete picture or challenging our ideas.
The Filter Bubble, published in June 2011, draws attention to an artificial bubble being created in which we are sheltered from everything except what the search engines and sites think we should or want to read. Here some eye-raising examples are explained by its author Eli Pariser.
Google’s recent changes to their privacy policy effectively enable the company greater ability to track across channels giving them increased capacity to sell and market their products. Google argues the changes implemented will ultimately improve the product for the user.
The public are becoming more concerned about their rights online. New start-up engine, DuckDuckGo has recently been gaining attention and exponential growth in traffic. They are claiming to have “Way more instant answers. Way less spam and clutter. Real privacy.” They discredit Google with no holds barred attacks here and here whilst aggressively pushing against privacy invasions and the so-called filter bubble.
This could mark the beginning of a new era of anti-tracking software increasingly demanded by users.
The use of personalised data has become the backbone of internet revenue, mainly via advertising, which begs the question of how ‘alternative’ products like these will become commercially viable?
How serious a threat do you think internet tracking is to you? What measures do you take against being tracked or filtered?
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Online a must for Aussie retailers
By Tamara CaddyMoney makes the world go round, but now the internet is dictating how.
Everyone seems to be whispering that Australian retail is dead, blaming savvy online stores which have sprung up overseas at a time when the Aussie Dollar is at record highs.
But now Australian retailers are being encouraged to improve their e-commerce offerings and beat these offshore competitors at their own game.
According to NAB, Australians spent $10.5 billion online in 2011 and the bank expects online sales will continue to skyrocket (growing by 29% each year). While domestic retailers currently hold the lion’s share of the online market, the bulk of Australia’s future online spend is tipped to go to offshore sellers.
There are many reasons behind this phenomenon.
Some of Australia’s largest retailers have been the most apathetic when it comes to e-commerce, failing to invest in new systems and online shopping experiences but instead relying on superior buying power and the country’s geographical isolation.
But their approach isn’t working.
Ruslan Kogan, the 29 year old whiz kid behind Australia’s largest online electronics retailer, Kogan Technologies, enjoyed a sixfold increase in revenue last year while profits at Harvey Norman, David Jones and Myer have slumped by around 20%, the Age reports.
Kogan’s sleek, uncluttered website offers a twelve month Australian warranty, a myriad of secure online payment options and it makes full use of the company’s 112,000 Facebook fans to promote new products and answer queries from customers.
It proves that retailers need a strong online presence which fosters interactivity with customers in order to capitalise on the benefits of social commerce and peer recommendations offered by websites such as Facebook or Pinterest for example.
Sportsgirl shows how to stay relevant in this new trading environment
Sportsgirl is a prime example of a retailer which has managed to open up new sales channels thanks to technological innovation.
The teen-focussed retailer recently started showing quick response (QR) codes on televisions out the front of its Chapel Street store in Melbourne. If a shopper saw a dress they liked it was a simple case of grabbing out their I-phone, scanning it and voila, a purchase could be made.
Prue Thomas, Sportsgirl’s strategic brand manager says the company’s mobile sales channels are growing thanks to a strong presence on Facebook and feedback from online forums on the Sportsgirl website, she told Smart Company.
The success of the QR campaign was followed by a new mobile feature that allows girls to photograph and share images of themselves trying on Sportsgirl clothing, a sort of e-fitting room perfectly suited to the retailer’s client base.
Spending while on the go
It seems the world’s largest tech companies are desperate to develop new payment options or mobile ‘wallets’ that provide easier ways for anyone who has a smart phone or tablet to spend their money.
Google Wallet is developing new mobile apps and online technologies that store your personal credit card details or specific discounts and offers. The information is stored on your phone or on the Cloud for ease of use next time you shop in a bricks-and-mortar store or online, meaning that your mobile device literally becomes your wallet.
PayPal has also expanded its mobile functionality to offer payments in 24 currencies across 190 markets worldwide.
Locally, Australia’s Securepay and eWay are being used by companies of all sizes to grow their online e-tailing presence with payment gateway solutions starting at $350.
As these technologies develop, businesses should evolve their online activities to engage consumers and compliment emerging modes of integration, consumption and engagement.
As any with investment, you can’t go in blind: tech innovations must be as targeted and relevant to your market as any other business initiative, meaning a digital and online strategy must be carefully constructed.
For more advice on online strategy, contact us.
Further reading on the topic in these publications:
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New Google technology gets in your face
By Tamara CaddySince the concept preview of Project Glass was released last week it has been the talk of the tech-town.
If you don’t know what I’m referring to, Google has unveiled a prototype that if successful, could change the way we view life – through augmented reality glasses.
A short video takes the POV of a person wearing the glasses. He uses voice activation, snaps photos, checks the weather, gets directions, replies to messages and takes a video call. The futuristic device uses a small screen to transmit information, an eye-tracking mechanism to interact with data and spoken commands to control the interface.
Data connection, motion sensors and GPS all seem to be part of the product. It may leverage a smart phone’s Wi-Fi connection to provide access to storage (for photos) and the cloud. The glasses appear to be built with Android, with similar functions to Android smart phone and tablets integrated with Google services (funny that).
The preview was intended as a sneak-peak to highlight the most useful features of the device which is still in its prototype stage. Analysts expect the wide-scale release of the glasses will take place later in the year. Google is hungry for feedback, which is hardly surprising given the tech giant cut its teeth on data-centric tools, rather than designing devices.
Wearable technology such as the Google glasses is already stirring debate in the tech world. Two schools of thought are emerging split between the futurist enthusiasts and the resistant naysayers.
The question is, will such devices that layer digital information over real life augment or diminish reality?
The Enthusiasts say:
• It’s like all my Star Trek/ Minority Report / Terminator / [insert B-grade Sci-Fi film]-dreams come true.
• I hate the inconvenience of having to scrounge around handbags or pockets to snap a picture or check a map.
• It’s the next logical step in the mobilisation of devices. It will progress and improve the augmented reality that already exists via the likes of applications such as Yelp.
• I won’t have to interact with devices any more. Navigation will be easier than ever. This will enhance my life, as I can concentrate on the important stuff.
• Imagine the possibilities, like how this could transform lessons or instructional videos.
• This is a game changer, I’ll be able to share my world whenever I would like.
• Further along in product development, they will create killer apps, features and functions, purposely designed for the glasses and perfectly suited for the task.
• I can catch up on everything that I need to as I am walking to work, rather than trying to hold a phone while crossing the road.
• We all interact so much with Google products anyway, why not take it to the next level?
• If they get the details right and allow customisation of features, we can have a tool that works for us, right in front us at all times.
• If they improve the stylishness of the design – a la Apple – or make it more invisible it’ll look better. The potential for customisation will be huge. Think how cool Gaga glasses will be!
The Naysayers say:
• I don’t want any more data collected about me than it already is – this is the beginning of the Big Brother dystopia envisaged by George Orwell in Nineteen Eighty-Four.
• It is too much. I don’t want such a pervasive technology. I can think for myself.
• Constant pop-ups are annoying enough let alone (literally) in my face. I don’t want people just popping up – I need some ability to ‘screen’ who I talk with and when.
• I am already overloaded with notifications but at least with smart phones I can choose when to ignore it.
• It looks ridiculous, the design is meant to be inoffensive but it looks dorky even on the models.
• I’d rather use my phone than look like a crazy person walking around muttering commands – voice activation rarely work well for me.
• I am not up for the inevitable ‘ads in your eyeballs’ that will follow. Advertisers will be licking their lips at the new level of targeted promotion available based on location and all sorts of other saved data.
An amusing Naysayer argument was posted by Tom Scott, it parodies banging into people and the pitfalls of learning to use such a device. And you thought pressing the wrong button was bad?
The verdict:
Whatever your opinion, if Google can get the technology up and running properly, people will want to try it and other brands will try to get a piece of the action by creating their own.
As desired, Project Glass has no doubt got plenty of feedback from this crowdsourcing exercise; now let’s see what they do with it.
Read moreThe case for responsive design
By Tamara CaddyWill your web presence truly adapt to all the devices and browsers that might be thrown at it?
Responsive design seems to be the concept of the moment. It’s on the coffee-stained lips of designers and developers worldwide but what does it mean and more importantly what does it mean for businesses looking to build a website?
You know what it’s like to look at a site on your mobile and get annoyed when it does not work properly or optimise for your device? Responsive design is about building a website to recognise and adapt its form according to the device that you are viewing it with including: mobile, PC, tablet, video game or whatever inventors cook up next. It refers designing online usability using the medium’s inherent flexibility and intelligence that print or broadcasting doesn’t necessarily have. It is predicted that in the next few years, mobile browsing will outweigh desktop surfing, so when building a site you need to think hard about this. There’s touch and keypads to consider, think about operating systems from Android, CSL or iPhone to Windows versus Mac, there’s everything from 26”screens down to barely-there mobiles, even video game-driven browsers. Yep, there are more browsers, more devices, more input systems, more users, more user types. More, more, more!
Sometimes you might find that because you have specific needs for mobile, for example, the solution may be to tailor content separately. It may seem logical to create separate strategies and content versions (such as one for iPhone, one for PC) yet as responsive design guru, Ethan Marcotte, asks, “can we really continue to commit to supporting each new user agent with its own bespoke experience?” Designing and compartmentalising as separate different requirements in a rapidly-proliferating environment is no longer pragmatic. Building and maintaining multiple versions and apps gets costly and unmanageable.
Marcotte explains: “we can design for an optimal viewing experience, but embed standards-based technologies into our designs to make them not only more flexible, but more adaptive to the media that renders them”.
For example, through creating conditions (known as media queries) developers issues in the layout can be corrected – responsively – as it scales beyond its initial, ideal resolution eliminating the need to target a specific version of a browser.
At Design Industries we believe in being platform neutral to stay relevant and making design adaptive. The framework needs to ensure prime functionality and good looks whatever the application. A pared back, minimal aesthetic is one way to create a responsive design but not the only route.
How then do you future-proof your website design? We suggest that you make sure that:
Flexibility and adaptability are prioritised.
Your site adapts easily to portrait and landscape orientations.
That no assumptions as to the browser’s width or height are made.
Your design supports changes in resolution or viewport size.
Text breaks are logical and suit your design mantra; user flow must always be protected
Size changes accommodate text wrapping, typesetting eligibility
Elements are shown or hidden where appropriate to aid easy navigation.
Target area where links appear are adapted according to the screen.
Has the capacity to adapt to change as it happens.
When images grow they don’t become unwieldy, cumbersome or pixelated.
Wireframes and sitemaps are created to adjust accordingly for each; a stagnate version will not allow you to clearly map out the whole process.
Consider starting from a ‘mobile first’ perspective as it is then easier to create for a worse case pixel scenario and work upwards.
Adapt sites to look and feel like they were meant to run on the version in use –people don’t want to feel like they are getting second best.
Proceed with caution: unlike fixed width design, you lose control over line length legibility, flow and placement of page items. Having a responsive layout can mean losing control over visually guiding users through the content.
Design Industries knows how to leverage the latest responsive design technologies, including HTML5, CSS3, media queries and an intelligent modular design tailored to your businesses’ specific web requirements.
Contact us if you would like help building a web presence that adapts to your users and their devices.
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Stabbing in the dark and not finding the prize?
By Tamara Caddy
You need hard figures for real insights into who, how and why is using your website. Use analytics to measure and optimise web traffic and effectiveness.
The “build it and they will come” mantra is fine for Kevin Costner but in the fierce environment of online operations it is fool hardy not to have strategy (informed by data) behind your web presence.
Understanding the source and the behaviour of your users will help you get the best out of your website, generate more leads and hopefully help you fulfil your online objectives.
Web statistics have long been used to track where visitors are coming from (geographically and online) what language they speak, how often they visit and what browsers they use. There’s a barrage of software available, although, in its new 2012 incarnation, Google Analytics includes information for web strategists to use as part of their arsenal including ‘real time’ data.
SEVEN WAYS TO HARNESS WEB ANALYTICS
Track user behaviour by measuring pages per visit; average time on site; bounce rates. Create events to track such as enquires, conversions, downloads, how many scrolled all the way to the end. See what parts of the site are attracting the most users, getting them to stay, such as landing pages or campaigns. This allows you to adapt the site and content strategically rather than on an ad-hoc basis
Goal flow allows you to evaluate a conversion funnel and identify processes that aren’t working or that are too fiddly for most users to bother with.
View top keywords and search terms to spot trends based on different criteria that you select – including visits, bounce rates and pages per visit.
The ability to monitor the average page load time you can make sure your site is running smoothly as delays result in lower conversions.
Examining mobile web analytics enables you to cater your site according to what devices, smart phones and tablets people are using. This is a crucial consideration when building your web’s functionality and useability.
Gauge users’ level of social engagement with your site by tracking what content and pages inspired social action: such as shares, retweeting and likes. We recommend plugins such as Sharethis and AddThis sharing plugins to boost traffic and for which Google Analytics is a complimentary tool.
Personalise areas such as dashboards so your users can quickly access the statistics that relate to their area of responsibility. Or create separate areas for different campaigns or target groups.
Our advice is to employ analytics to put strategy, backed up by figures, behind your site and to ensure it is functioning at its optimum and designed for your business’ needs.
Want help building your website and powering analytics to get the best results?
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Look east for eCommerce: some inspiration from China
By Tamara CaddyYou may have heard it first from Julia – this is the Asian Century…
Undeniably, Asia is ripping shreads off the failing economies in the US and Europe. Economic giant China is storming ahead – now it no longer just manufactures our tech products (like iphones) but has their own growing, ferocious demand for smart phones and tablets. While the fastest growing technology brands in Asia are streaking ahead, western companies are also reaping the benefit of the ‘red’ dollar.
China now delivers Apple the most revenue after the U.S and this continues to grow. When the iphone was launched in China in 2009 – it was then just two percent of Apple’s revenue – now it (and Hong Kong and Taiwan) are 12 per cent of Apple’s full-year revenue for 2011. This was hard to grasp in 2009 when it was launched in China as you can tell by the reactions on Gigaom at the time.
Chinese-made and owned brands like Huawei being sold for a fifth of the price of Apple phones combined with the bans on wi-fi made the success of the iphone seem unlikely – yet the rapidly growing middle class is changing this…rapidly.
As a flow-on effect, online stores are now increasingly being accessed through mobile and the Chinese average spend increasing. Australian eCommerce sites should take a leaf out of the book of the Chinese eCommerce site, Yihaodian. Boasting 120,000 goods for sale, same-day delivery in many areas and sophisticated digital customer relationship management tools. Astoundingly, it posted a three-year growth rate of 19,218%.
Or China’s Jiaxing Mbaobao Technology is one of the leading designers and distributors of bags. They take the business seriously with a research centre in Venice, a presence in Tokyo and are expanding to English-language sites targeting North America. The company, which has a three-year growth rate of 6,228%, has embraced the buzz concepts of “fast fashion”, “fast marketing” and “fast logistics” and serves over a million customers.
The growth in online sales has come despite the great firewall of China, which saw the closure of 1.3 million websites last year. In a country with such a mammoth population and so many operators trying to make a yuan, serious savvy is required.
Chinese citizens spend an average of 2.7 hours online per day — second to only the Japanese and as the country continues to open up – the floodgates are also opening to savvy eMarketers which boast a local and overseas presence. The Australian wine industry is just one growing area where satisfying the Chinese appetite for Aussie reds is a perfect eCommerce platform. With such a high proportion of our exports dependant on the Chinese market (25 per cent), there is no reason that Australia’s online commerce players shouldn’t get a hearty slice of the China-pie.
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Will you ‘socialise’ your online store?
By Tamara Caddy
Online purchasing is growing while Aussies have a more ferocious appetite for social networking than most of the world.
So it makes sense that there’s infinite plugins and extensions to help e-commerce shack up with social networks. Get it right and your social media output can be used to add value to your online store continuing the conversation and building relationships and loyalty – way beyond single transactions.
Our preferred e-commerce solution, Magento, can easily be integrated with Twitter feeds and Facebook fanpages using Magento default APIs. Similarly e-Newsletter sign-up options include features that allow recipients to share the newsletter invite across social channels.
Beyond share or like buttons, social commerce can be built across communities through all sorts of user engagement platforms, reviews, mobile apps, newsfeeds, coupons, discount and deals.
Social referrals can aid the purchasing process by spreading the word amongst shoppers’ friends and offering rewards and incentives to do so.
“Peer referrals allows consumers to gauge the product relative to their personal preferences,” explains SocialTwist CEO Vijay Pullar. ”A key trend brands can leverage is that friends know what other friends like and they know what their other friends are looking for,” said Pullar.
There’s seemingly no end to the plugins and extensions that can be integrated with your Magento online store, here‘s a handful:
ShareThis, Socialable Allows users to share specific sites, pages or products and distribute information via Facebook, Bebo, Twitter and tell friends.
Beetailer, Storeya, Facebook Store App Integrates some or all of products from your Magento store into social networks and fanpages.
Curebit, Social Twist Get your customers to refer their friends via Twitter, Facebook or email, with useful tracking features
Groupon, Zizio Social Deals Launch social deals campaigns and coupons offering rebates for referrals for your customers to tell their friends. This is a flooded category of social commerce to be weary of but it can occasionally still be appropriate for certain markets.
Facebook Referrals, Open Graph and Comments Allowing your customers to invite people and get automatic discounts, share what they ‘want’ and ‘own’ or leave comments your webstore’s product page by logging into their Facebook accounts.
Shopalize Purchase Sharing Widget After purchase, customers can share their purchases or offers with friends in social platforms.
Tailor your social strategy to your market, capabilities and objectives as running consumables out the door at bargain prices needs a different approach to a premium product looking to create brand longevity and a loyal fan base.
While Facebook and Twitter will give you wide reach, more niche and specialised social platforms are being used by brands to supplement their broader social strategy.
These communities geared to a specific interest may give you a more targeted reach. For example, sharing photos of your clothing range and inspirational images via Instagram may help gain the attention of fashionistas or you may establish credibility with foodies by posting info on Foodspotting. These niche audiences may be the trendsetters within your category of commerce.
We recommend staggering the implementation of your social elements unless you have internal resources in place or the budget to outsource its management. Social needs to be monitored carefully and providing rapid response times or risk alienating users.
Our advice: get your store working, then plan and implement one or two social extensions or plugins at a time.
Access their effectiveness and reach through services such as Facebook Insights and Google Analytics, which includes analysis of your site and e-sales across multiples channels including social.
Socialising your online store will be an evolving process as technologies and communities change, yet it is a necessary and worthwhile investment in today’s e-commerce mediascape.
Need an expert at Magento integrations including in social extensions and plugins?
Design Industries offer tailored web solutions. Click here for more info about Magento e-commerce integrations or contact us.
Read moreZendesk and JIRA link arms and tighten grip on bugs
By Tamara Caddy
The marriage between JIRA, the Mortein of bug tracking, and Zendesk, the Help Desk superhero, has been given a revamp. The update ensures that their forces combined are bugs’ worst nightmare.
Zendesk recently posted on their blog “managing feature requests, bug reports and other suggestions alongside scheduled updates can be difficult.”Ah-ha, indeed, combating bugs and tracking multiple projects – often using multiple business tools – often doesn’t go smoothly. Yep, don’t we know it.
The revamped, two-way integration means JIRA and Zendesk users – support staff and backend team – can collaborate on customer support requests associated with issues – like pesky bugs – by sharing tickets. With ease they can edit, update or resolve a ticket easily between helpdesk and issue-tracking applications. It avoids losing data between help desk and development teams and minimises miscommunication associated with sharing between platforms. In short, it gets both teams on the same page.
Zendesk said “we’ve beefed up our integration [with JIRA] to make the experience seamless, allowing agents and developers to volley support tickets back and forth like McEnroe and Borg (at a non-competitive charity exhibition match.).”
The customer gets fast, consistent support as all comments and progress are tracked in both systems. Of course, resolving problems faster means happier customers.
The handiest tools in the web-support-shed working in alignment can only be a good thing.
Read the Zendesk blog here or get more product info here.
Design Industries can help you integrate your Zendesk Help Desk Support system. For more information how click here or contact us.
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Would you ignore nine million potential customers?
By Tamara CaddyAccording to recent figures from ABS the number of Aussies that subscribe to the internet via their mobiles continues to climb –now at 9.7 million – over 40% of Australia’s population. Globally, 43% of facebook users log on via mobile. You can’t escape it – developing mobile interfaces are now more important than ever to your web presence. If you don’t act strategically you’ll alienate the lion’s share of Australians. Obviously… but how should you develop your mobile webpage?
Be platform agnostic, instead of joinin one brand’s cult: develop mobile adoptions that’ll work on any platform. Otherwise, unless you only want to target customers with an iPhone, you’ll have to build individually for Apple, Android, Windows and whichever O/S which come out – ballooning your expenditure.
Good looks and functionality must work alongside each other. When you get these two right your online mobile enterprise activities can flourish. Get it wrong and you’ll sabotage your customer base and repeat business.
Case in point: I recently tried to use an (outdated) Nokia to get onto the Qantas site to change a flight and with a lot of fiddling I could view my bookings but not change them on this mobile version. After wrangling to no avail, I was left a frustrated flyer rather than a frequent one.
Eight tips for developing mobile web:
Functionality, functionality, functionality.
Make your mobile web fully functional regardless of application.
Keep it quick and simple for users.
Forget fussy graphics.
The site needs to adapt its content depending on the capabilities of (or lack of) the device receiving it.
Sacrifice showing off for user convenience: such as bandwidth compression.
Make online payments easy and streamlined.
Use analytics and monitoring to make sure your mobile web remains strategic.
Like any web presence, link it to your CRM reporting.
Contact DI for your tailored web solutions including for mobile web
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