Last week I attended Shop.org's 2010 Summit in Dallas Texas. Shop.org is the dedicated division of the National Retail Federation that focuses specifically on online retail and e-commerce. There were over 3000 in attendance. The hot topics include mobile marketing, social marketing and local marketing. Topics that were still of interest based on the attendance in the breakout sessions included, search engine optimization, email, search marketing and target marketing.
It's obvious that while attendees were still interested in the innovative, they still seek the knowledge of the basics and how to get them right. E-commerce is moving ahead yet it seems many are still struggling with the basics of marketing online and seek the formula of success that will help them to get it right.
The conference offered free seminars in their Big Idea sessions held in the Expo Hall. These sessions were informative, but not for those seeking more meat, but of course that's what the full conference passes are for.
I enjoyed keynotes by Glen Senks, CEO of Urban Outfitter and Collen C Barrett from Southwest Airlines. The most valuable and informative keynote came from Mitch Joel, Author of Six Pixels of Separation. Other keynotes by Scott Savitz, CEO of ShoeBuy and leaders of Groupon and Facebook were entertaining and informative, but lacked the takeaways that I would have liked to have seen.
Five takeaways that I walked away with include:
- While mobile will have a major influence on e-commerce, it will be an absolute game changer for the bricks and mortar shopping experience, as shoppers use mobile technologies in the store. - Glen Senks, CEO of Urban Outfitters
- "Rethink what it means to be a connected consumer." - Mitch Joel on trends in social commerce.
- New School Marketing = power channels, relationships, automation, and integration via Cross Channel Optimization Breakout Session.
- "Hire for attitude, train for skills." - Colleen Barrett, President Emeritus, Southwest Airlines.
- A "like" on Facebook is permission - permission to have a conversation - Mike Murphy, VP of Global Sales for Facebook.
The main thing is to never forget who you are serving, know your customers. Ask questions, do research and try new promotions. Don't be afraid to step out of the usual, just be willing to monitor and gauge the response. Be willing to adopt the innovative, but don't lose knowledge of the basics such as email, search and target marketing. While, I didn't walk away with an epiphany moment I did walk away knowing that I'm on track with what I'm doing, the key is integration in your marketing. Are you on track?