Steve Madden mobile revenue exceeds $1M in 2010: exec
A Steve Madden executive said that the footwear retailer made more than $1 million in mobile sales in 2010 with an average order price of $89.
During an hour-long TRUSTe-sponsored Mobile Commerce Daily webinar, Steve Madden presented best-practice tips for retailers to leverage the mobile channel. The webinar panel, which also included speakers from InsightExpress and TRUSTe, was moderated by Mobile Commerce Daily’s Dan Butcher.
“Mobile is not easy,” said Andrew Koven, president of ecommerce and customer experience at Steve Madden, New York. “You don’t wake up in the middle of the night and have this together.
“Retailers should look at their assets, look at their resources and work with the things that represent their strengths,” he said. “We feel that our stores are significant to help collect customer information.
“Really, what it gets down to is information.”
Loyalty is key
For Steve Madden, building a loyalty program is key.
Mr. Koven said that the company is creating incentives for consumers by asking them to join its mobile club at the point-of-sale with a special one-time offer.
It is important to leverage point-of-sale in-store because there are thousands of consumers in line each day that can be reached with a simple call-to-action, per Mr. Koven.
Once consumers sign-up for the mobile club, Steve Madden begins to grown its mobile database by testing ways to deliver incentives such as special offers, sweepstakes and contests across multiple channels.
“A key learning is to define what is going to get that consumer excited and engaged to do business and then pull that information based on the customer’s interest,” Mr. Koven said.
“Take some time to think strategically and leverage your retail assets,” he said.
Engage customers
The company is looking at different ways to engage its consumers.
Recently Steve Madden featured an in-store style assistant that helped shoppers find the right shoes, while at the same time reducing returns.
Consumers who liked a specific shoe could text the keyword CARYSSA to the short code 91919 to find out how to best wear that specific style.
Additionally, Steve Madden rolled out a mobile marketing campaign that was based on its favorite things.
Customers were encouraged to text the keyword FAVES to the short code 91919 to follow instructions on how they can win their favorite shoes and accessories.
A total of 5,950 customers participated in the campaign and 2,051 joined via SMS.
In addition, Mr. Koven said that its mobile site lets consumers see if a product is in stock at a nearby store and links to directions and a phone number for that particular location.
The company saw that 5.4 percent of visitors use the find-in-store feature.
“We’re very satisfied and we think that this year will be better than last year,” Mr. Koven said. “Mobile is an opportunity to get closer to consumers and to expand with customers.”
What they did right
According to Joy Luizzo, Washington-based senior director at InsightExpress, retailers and brands used mobile effectively during the 2010 holidays.
Ms. Luizzo said that in 2010, the calls to action and messages were stronger than in the past years – with more tap-to-expand, mobile video and integrations with content.
“There were a lot of retailers that were doing good things,” Ms. Luizzo said. “The mobile campaigns that I saw were reflective in TV, online and print – it was actually really new for this year.
“The standards and the guidelines that we put on ourselves as consumers really are showing that they’re working and we’re doing a good job,” she said. “The messages and creative information is getting richer.”
Ms. Luizzo said that it is important to keep the same consistent message and capture the attention of consumers in the mobile space because they have a short attention span.
“There’s certain things that we understand about the consumer,” Ms. Luizzo said. “The media consumption is fragmented.
“You need to be able to reach them wherever they are, instead of where you want them to be,” she said. “Consumers are starting to shift their behavior.
“Everything they need is in the palm of their hand.”
Mobile presence
Janet Jaiswal, mobile product manager and director of enterprise at TRUSTe, San Francisco, said that as more consumers turn to their smartphone for shopping needs, retailers who do not have a mobile-optimized site will lose the opportunity to reach to its customers.
“EBay is an example of a top retailer whose investment in retail has paid off,” Ms. Jaiswal said. “They made it convenient for users to buy – they simplified it by making the task that a consumer wants to accomplish intuitive.
“Think about how powerful it is to have a user on their mobile phone,” she said.
According to Ms. Jaiswal, the biggest thing that TRUSTe has seen is that companies have invested to create a mobile-optimized site or application.
“We’re going to see further integration and access to content, as well as using location plus advertising,” Ms. Jaiswal said.
“What you want to make sure is that the benefits and value exchange that you’re offering to the users needs to be taken – you want to ask them for permission to use their location,” she said.
Final Take
Rimma Kats is editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York