Research Archives -

So the team and I at OpenMinds Resources recently put together our findings we conducted on the local eCommerce scene into an infographic and discovered a number of stuff that did surprise a bunch of us.

We found that guys tend to make online purchases more than the fairer gender, payment via cash on delivery out weighs bank transfers and exclusive deals doesn’t necessarily command an immediate purchase (despite us Malaysians being quite crazy over bargains). You can read about the findings here or directly from the infographic below (click for larger image):

Where do we go from here?

If your business is situated in Malaysia or are facing a similar market outlook, here are 5 points to consider to turn these findings to your advantage:

#1: Offer credit card checkout options

This may seem obvious but most small sized online retailers do not offer such options to their customers for various reasons including high transaction fees and technical complexities.

What you may want to explore is to utilize a credible payment gateway such as PayPal, iPay88 or MOL Pay in Malaysia as setting them up aren’t difficult at all. As for the high transaction fees, I’d rather not lose out on the 58%.

#2: Consider meetups to drive sales

The biggest disadvantage of an online store to the customers is the inability to physically see and feel the product. Having that said, a no obligation meetup to showcase your products may not be a bad idea though costly to you at first.

What you want to achieve here is to boost your credibility. I recently made online purchase of a shirt myself and I was pleasantly surprise that the retailer was more than happy to provide an exchange of size at no additional cost should it not fit me.

#3: Be detailed when providing product info

Instead of putting all your effort in writing a sales pitch for your product, try to be descriptive. Saying your product can change the world in a click and how awesome and limited they are won’t cut it. Instead, say HOW it can change the world and in what way will it function will do a whole lot better.

Of course, the price has to be clear too. Nothing annoys a customer off more than having an unclear pricing mechanism.

#4: Consider REAL product reviews

One of the reasons why sites such as Amazon.com and TripAdvisor.com are loved by many is because of its reviews. Real, honest reviews by fellow customers.

I know this sounds like a risk to many retailers but it works. Not only you’re able to obtain real feedback from your customers, you’re getting them to do the selling for you!

BlackMilk Clothing turns real reviews up a notch by encouraging customers to submit a photo of themselves in the dresses they sell. This not only shows other customers how that dress may look like on them, but not also have a user-generated pool of photos. Brilliant!

#5: Create exclusive offers… and gain from it!

Group deals are still pretty big over here in Malaysia and that’s great for us consumers. The problem is that retailers tend to rely on these deals as a means to drive sales and eventually find that these deals are not sustainable, which is true.

Don’t just create an offer and throw it off the street. Ask yourself, how can you maximize it to your benefit? Could it be a good opportunity to grow subscribers? To amass reviews or feedback? To get them to bring their family and friends along?

Check out: How to manage a group deal for a small business

What are some other observations you’re able to gather from this research? Would love to hear from you!

Social media is no longer something mysterious to businesses and the number of businesses integrating and accepting social media as part of their branding and marketing efforts are increasing as time passes. The question is – how many of them are successful in doing so? Business and social media experts generally agree that social media works when it is done right – through understanding your target audience, actively engaging and to be human when interacting.

The Problem

Having that said, why do businesses still find it difficult to integrate social media into marketing strategies? With so many businesses all around the world hopping unto different social media platforms fighting for attention from the consumers, how can organizations today engage the target audience effectively?

With these questions in mind, I decided to write a research paper and to propose a Social Media Integration Framework to assist organizations (brands) when integrating a social media strategy. The research is split into two different parts where Part 1 is merely the preliminary stages of the framework (i.e. planning and design); while Part 2 will be an in-depth research upon the actual implementation / execution of the planned social media strategy.

Here’s the proposed Social Media Integration Framework:

The framework is basically a walkthrough of different phases for organizations that are looking at integrating social media that spans from identifying the objectives to the actual launch. It is meant to be a guide for marketers / decision makers on how to go about integrating social media to better their chances in being successful by ensuring the strategy produced covers the important aspects.

To test the importance of having a clearly defined social media strategy, this research compared three (3) different organizations of similar criterias:
1. from the FMCG industry;
2. have an existing social media presence quantified by a minimum of 45,000 Facebook fans and minimum page views of 500,000 – 1,000,000 monthly
3. have their social media goals derived from not more than 1% of existing traffic
4. looking to increase fan base, page views and engagement with their target audience

These organizations utilized different social media strategies where:
Company A – had no specific social media plan / strategy with a simple microsite
Company B – had a specific target audience with a product based microsite with Facebook sharing
Company C – had a specific target audience, Facebook contest microsite with sharing and online banners
Note that Company A has no social media strategy in place where Company B and C has a social media strategy derived from a process that resembles the proposed framework

The Findings

From the findings above, it is seen that Company A struggled to meet their goals while Company B and C surpassed them. As seen in Company C, a well planned strategy and by being relevant to the target audience can in turn generate a larger response and level of participation. This may very well indicate that consumers are likely to participate with a brand should it be relevant to them.

This can be done by first identifying the objective(s) of brand in integrating social media, identifying the target audience and the relevant channel(s) before even attempting on putting together a strategy as illustrated in the diagram above.

What’s Next?

This preliminary research only indicates the importance of having a well defined social media strategy in today’s businesses to maximize the level of participation with your target audience. Part 2 of the research will be looking at Part 2 of the model, the relationship between the content and the audience and an introduction to methods of monitoring social media efforts.

It will take a while before Part 2 of the research is done so hang in there!

If you’re interested in this research and would like to receive a copy of the research paper, simply leave your details below and I’ll personally drop you an email with it! On top of that, you’ll be informed when Part 2 is ready :)

Note: the academic research paper entitled “Social Media Integration Framework in the Creation of Brand Strategy: Preliminary Stage” is written by Jan Wong & Albert Quek and was presented at the Global Communications Conference 2011, expected to be published in 2012.

Category Archives: Research

A Look Into Malaysia’s eCommerce Scene in 2012