Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0172 Approaches to Social Media

AdAge has a very good little article on social media, mostly because of the amusing pieces captured throughout by way of warning.

http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/play-safe-social/295919/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

2) Don't use a hashtag. Not only can it be misappropriated, like #McDStories, but some can be misread. The best version of this was when Susan Boyle's album was promoted using #susanalbumparty, which turned into an inadvertent nod to the Saturday Night Live sketches of Sean Connery misreading Jeopardy categories. Just avoid hashtags altogether.

I'd say the title of the article gets it right.  If you want to 'play it safe' in social media you should follow the guidelines as written in the article.  However, no use of hashtags for example is not going to get you too far in social media.  Consider this article to be fair warning should you choose to do other than merely playing it safe.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Dekkers Davidson of MCX at Money 20/20

Slowly making the rounds is an interview the CEO of MCX held at Money 20/20:

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/mcx-s-dekkers-davidson-on-currentc-mobile-payments-_p6~512xRuK3CyaJkqKyBQ.html

Worth taking the 6 minutes or so to view.

Happy Viewing!

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0171 Apple WatchKit Information

While this certainly qualifies as technobabble for most readers the write-up at ArsTechnica on the software for the Apple Watch is very interesting reading for the geeks out there.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/11/apple-releases-watchkit-developer-tools-alongside-first-ios-8-2-beta/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

According to Apple's WatchKit page, Apple Watch apps are actually divided up into two parts. One is "a WatchKit Extension" that actually runs on your iPhone, and the other is "a set of user interface resources that are installed on Apple Watch." The iPhone's more powerful SoC will actually be executing the code, and you interact with that code through the UI on the watch's screen.

So you won't download any Apple Watch apps, rather you'll download an app for your phone and it will interact with your Watch.  Most of the processing will happen on the phone as well through the 'always on' connection.  Sounds like the Apple Watch could be a battery drain for your iPhone.

Hmmm.

Going to be interesting next year when this thing is released.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0170 A/B Testing Science

The folks over at eConsultancy have just wrapped a very good 3 part series on split testing, or A/B testing.

What is A/B testing?  How about WikiPedia to help?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A/B_testing

Here is the definition listed there:

As the name implies, two versions (A and B) are compared, which are identical except for one variation that might affect a user's behavior. Version A might be the currently used version (control), while Version B is modified in some respect (treatment). For instance, on an e-commerce website the purchase funnel is typically a good candidate for A/B testing, as even marginal improvements in drop-off rates can represent a significant gain in sales. Significant improvements can sometimes be seen through testing elements like copy text, layouts, images and colors,[1] but not always.

First up is the introductory article:

https://econsultancy.com/blog/65672-using-data-science-with-a-b-tests-sample-sizing

Secondly is Chi-Squared testing:

https://econsultancy.com/blog/65711-using-data-science-with-a-b-tests-chi-squared-testing

The third and final wraps up the set:

https://econsultancy.com/blog/65755-using-data-science-with-a-b-tests-bayesian-analysis

Very good reading over all, especially if your understanding of statistics could be improved.

Happy Reading

J.W. Gant

Domino's Wearable Devices Capability

This is the first news report I can recall of a major retailer using a wearable device as part of its services offering.  I expect this will be merely the beginning.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/dominos-serves-up-easy-order-tracking-with-wearables-integration

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Domino’s is allowing customers to easily track orders from the time they are taken to the point of delivery by integrating its Domino’s Tracker application with the Pebble smartwatch.

While the Domino’s Tracker was initially introduced seven years ago, this marks the first time that it is available on any smartwatch device. Customers can receive alerts when their pizza is baking, out for delivery with a driver and being delivered to their homes.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Reading of the Day - Entry 0169 Beacon Implementation Potholes

Advertising Age has an excellent read on Beacons/iBeacons and this author's expectation of failure by a majority of merchants.

http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/beacon-programs-fail/295843/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Businesses of all kinds -- from worldwide department stores to neighborhood shopping districts, international airports to baseball fields -- are adopting beacons at a pretty incredible pace. From all-door rollouts to smaller test pilots, companies are very bullish on beacons. As they should be. The devices offer a way to connect with consumers unlike ever before in-store, when it's relevant to their immediate location. To personally welcome individuals as they arrive. To disseminate important or motivating content. To gather unique insights into on-premise customer behavior. And the beacons themselves are available at such a low cost that adding multiple devices to hundreds of stores is not out of the question.

But, as with most shiny objects, beacons will be abused. In fact, I predict that three out of every four beacon programs will fail in 2015.

We are seeing a lot of experimentation with this new tool.  I'm certain we'll see a lot of failures and that is a good thing.  Try, fail, and try again.  Sounds like a recipe for eventual differentiation.  The laggards will take years to catch up once the leaders figure this out.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Macy's and Target Omnichannel in the News

Two days in a row for Macy's.  Then again, they displaying a ton of activity over there in this space.

The CFO at Macy's made news by stating their recent efforts in omnichannel provide a differentiating capability for the retailer:

http://multichannelmerchant.com/news/macys-sees-omnichannel-day-offerings-competitive-advantage-13112014/

Here is a snippet from that piece:

In its third quarter earnings call this week, Macy’s Chief Financial Officer Karen Hoguet told analysts the company’s retail network gives it an advantage in the ever-more-crowded same-day delivery sweepstakes, as well as in omnichannel fulfillment.

“I think our store footprint gives us a huge advantage, given where the Macy stores are located and the technology that we have built and have in place to utilize our stores to fulfill internet orders,” Hoguet said on the call.

Target has made another acquisition and this one points directly to an in-store personalization strategy by Target.

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/target-ramps-up-in-store-personalization-on-mobile

Here is a snippet from that piece:

In a reflection of the growing importance of mobile-powered in-store shopping experiences, Target has acquired Powered Analytics, a startup that focuses on personalizing in-store shopping through mobile technology, location data and predictive analytics.

The Pittsburgh, PA-based Powered Analytics offers a platform called Fabric that promises to bring an Amazon-like shopping experience into physical stores.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant