Last week, I attended Shop.org’s annual summit in Vegas. The vibe—online is still growing and more important—it is playing a larger part in the retail world. Having attended shop.org for the past five years, I felt a subtle shift in how the e-commerce groups are now getting a larger voice within their corporations—and many have a voice in shaping overall strategy.

The value of the online channel is being realized as an extender and catalyst for the entire customer experience. Retailers such as Borders, Gap and L.L. Bean are improving their cross channel customer experience by leveraging the online channel.

For some retail organizations (aside from the pure-play brands, of course), e-commerce is front and center and yet for others, it is still a business off to the side. For those, the challenge remains of transitioning e-commerce to one of the cornerstones of the enterprise. One of my favorite suggestions from the conference is that the head of e-commerce must report to the CEO.

This year, I moved from a participant to both participant and contributor. Resource Interactive was invited to host the Executive Afternoon session. Our preparation included three proprietary research studies. We synthesized our findings along with industry statistics and trends to share our perspective on how the online channel is the brand's growth driver.

So, how is the online channel contributing to the future of retail? Kelly Mooney, our President & CXO, hosted the Executive Afternoon session and shared 5 key takeaways, which should have heads of e-commerce as well as CEO’s and retail executives thinking and acting differently.

1. Expand the role of the web to be a strategic growth lever.

The web is the fastest-growing channel and is responsible for disproportionate retail growth. The web accounts for approximately 7% of total sales and is expected to grow to 11% in 2012. However, it will represent approximately 43% of total sales growth. Additionally, the online channel as a contribution factor will influence up to 50% of total sales (both online & offline). Think of it this way: online will influence more offline sales than it will contribute direct sales.

2. Create relevant and integrated cross-channel experiences.

The web uniquely catalyzes cross-channel shopping. The online channel is different than its counterparts as it can strengthen, extend or change the customer’s experience across other touch points. It can be the starting point (inspiration or research) within the customers’ purchase journey. It can also be the ending point (transactions, customer service). It can also include all the touch points that may be consulted in between—the inter-experience if you will. The online channel is a sales channel, a marketing channel—and a customer experience channel.

3. Map your customers’ purchase journeys to support their needs.

The web has begun to rival stores for driving purchase decisions. In our August 2008 survey, we found that retail stores and online were nearly equally important in helping customers make a decision on what home electronics products to purchase. Despite the category’s online maturity, it revealed that there is importance equality across these two channels.

4. Reallocate marketing dollars to activities with proven effectiveness and ROI.

Consumers’ diverse activities and time spent online is outpacing Internet advertising spend. It’s no surprise that customers are time and channel shifting. Digital Millenials will also throw a curveball into the mix because they have a higher rate of consuming multiple forms of media simultaneously. GM, the nation’s third largest advertiser, is shifting $3 billion from traditional advertising to online advertising over the next 3 years. As important as the shift or re-allocation of some budget to online is ensuring that it is spent properly. Please don’t invest it all in email and paid search because they have the strongest ROI. If your customers are social web-empowered customers, bookmark a reasonable amount for testing and learning with emerging media.

5. Prioritize and test branded micro-experiences that have high appeal for select customer segments.

Appealing yet still emerging features can unlock new, differentiated growth potential. In a parallel path or even after you implement the basics of the online customer experience, focus on your customers—their behaviors, needs and motivations. Make their experience more efficient and enjoyable by creating appropriate micro-experiences that serve their need at a given point of time. If you think about your own online experiences, how often do you complete an “entire experience” in one sitting and within just one channel? If you’re on the go (as most of us are), you start and stop all the time—you have subconsciously mashed up shopping experiences with entertainment experiences, carrying expectations from one brand to the next. With your brand hat on, remember that and create the finite experience so that it can help move the customer appropriately through their defined journey.

To view our presentation and white paper, please visit our site: http://www.resource.com/onlinedrivesgrowth

Keep in mind as you’re negotiating your marketing budgets that customer experience is marketing. Customer experience is everything. It is the key for both acquisition and retention across channels.

Tagged as: new consumer journey, retail

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