#mitxecs - holiday wrap-up: the evolution of a content-driven commerce business

HOLIDAY WRAP-UP: THE EVOLUTION OF A CONTENT-DRIVEN COMMERCE BUSINESS

Charlie Cole@CharlieColeCEOThe LineCharlie@theline.comwww.linkedin.com/in/charliecole

Who are you?

• EVP, Fashion + Retail: Assembled Brands

– Acting CEO of two investments

• Previously: VP, E-Commerce

– Schiff Nutrition

– Lucky Brand

What is The Line?• Lifestyle site targeted

at women

• Offline, non-ground floor retail store support

• AOV > $500

• No promotions (thus far)

Holiday Challenges

• Offline, non-ground floor retail store support

• AOV > $500

• No promotions (thus far)

• (Yes, these are the exact same bullets that describe who we are on the previous slide)

What motivates a shopper during the holidays?

• Be different

• Be efficient

• Be thoughtful, personal

• Be on time

How thinking like The Line can help you during the holidays

• Differentiate not on price

– Exclusive products

– Events

– Content

– Relationships

PRODUCTS

Exclusive Products

Exclusive Products

Exclusive Products

Exclusive Products

EVENTS

Events

CONTENT

Content

• What are people expecting from you?

• How can you delight them?

And what should you expect, look for in the holidays?

• How do you analyze a time with naturally different buying habits?

– Also applicable to:

• Promotional periods

• New arrivals

Dashboards

Dashboards

Dashboards

More detail: Conversion Funnel

• At what point in a customer’s journey are they transacting?

• Should you be thinking about your communication strategy for the holidays… in August?

Example: Last Click vs. First Click Interaction

• Google Analytics -> Conversions -> Attribution

MCF Channel Grouping Last Click # Transactions First Click # of Transactions

Direct 26085 17985

Other Paid Marketing 18175 21445

Organic Search 16105 18815

Paid Search 4250 5035

Referral 4210 5450

Social Network 655 760

Example: Top Conversion Paths

• Google Analytics -> Conversions -> Multi-Channel Funnels -> Path Length

Path Length in Interactions % of Total

1 21.13%

2 14.35%

3 10.67%

4 6.18%

5 5.28%

6 3.61%

7 2.37%

8 2.05%

9 1.29%

10 0.82%

11 1.32%

12+ 30.93%

Executive Summary

• Differentiate on more than price (or reap the margin consequences next year)

• Think beyond a day-by-day strategy, or even a Q4 only strategy

• Understand your limitations on your business based on real traffic + real inventory