LRG Software visits Internet World 2007
Friday 4th May 2007
This week, the senior staff at LRG Software visited the biggest Internet marketing exhibition in the UK, Internet World, with the intention of finding out the latest trends and techniques in online trading for our new and existing customers.
We visited many stands from various parts of the industry and attended 9 seminars covering subjects that included web merchandising, building a successful web presence, marketing advice and more. We believe the experience was worthwhile and I would like to share our results of the 2 days we spent at the show.
It was gratifying to see the features and tools of eCommerce server matched or was superior to the competition's eCommerce solutions. Product feeds into other channels, such as Froogle, content rich "guides" and analysis tools are some of the components considered valuable in an online sales engine.
Looking at the user experience, we think eCommerce Server definitely is very easy to use, and the many thousands of orders received from the early deployments would seem to confirm this. From an administration point of view, it was good to see other products in the market working. It would seem that we have one of the better administration panels, although we are still working to make it better still.
Of course the main purpose of attending events like this not to feed our egos, but to find ways in which we can deliver a better product and service to our new and existing customers. And, whilst only fresh back from the show, some of the development that will happen to eCommerce Server over the coming year includes:
More Feeds
The advantages the Froogle, Google, Yahoo & Parcelforce feeds bring to existing sites is amazing. Now we will look at more of these, including MSN, other couriers and an eBay feed. eBay has been reiterated to us at the show as an important part of an organisation's online portfolio, especially in the early days and for commodity goods.
Better Analytics
We already incorporate basic website statistics and have comprehensive logging of user activity as they navigate our shops. The next stage is to put all this data together, to unleash useful information on things like conversion rates etc. This maybe achieved by incorporating a 3rd party product, or could be implemented in-house. We also will work on improving and expanding our graphical sales analysis tools that are already present in eCommerce Server.
Live Chat
We see a potential in using "online operators" on our sites. Giving advice and assistance via a chat window has always seemed a good idea, and case studies at the show have made it clear we must implement this also. E-mail has it's uses, but the delay in emailing back-and-forth does delay the sales process or discourage sales altogether. With a frequently asked questions knowledge base incorporated into the chat back-end, an operator can quickly respond to questions, and possibly hold several chat sessions simultaneously.
Greater Consultancy
As you know, LRG Software does more than sell the software. We give advice and support to make the sites we deploy a success. Using knowledge we have gained from the show, and the contacts we have made, there will be even more value in our consultancy for new and existing customers. After speaking to several companies at the show, there is opportunity to add other marketing and sales channels to our sites' online sales portfolio. These are still being considered and any significant developments will be announced in the future.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please get in touch. It is great working with suppliers and customers and I believe in progressing this product together will benefit us all.