Greg Anderson, e-commerce manager at Motorcycle Superstore, an online retailer of motorcycle accessories, talks to DMNews about how his company’s improved online sales recommendations
Q What Internet marketing challenge was the Motorcycle Superstore facing?
A We knew that customers wanted recommendations. The challenge was partnering with the best company to make that happen. We were doing our own recommendations on [our web] site, and we wanted something tailored to the individual, as opposed to the inhouse ones we were doing.
Q Where did you see improvement after changing your online recommendations formula?
A We basically benchmarked the effectiveness of the recommendations against our in-house recommendations and we saw a solid increase in customer conversions, average order size and units per transaction after working with RichRelevance. Primarily, it was our apparel section that had the highest spikes in conversion. Once customers get into a particular part of the site, it’s easier to target them with something they are looking for.
Q How specifically are you aligning the recommendation platform with products you sell?
A What is nice about the console is we can promote certain product lines or manufacturers that are very heavy in stock or for a variety of reasons, then match them up with the e-mails we are sending out and the specials or promotions we are doing on site to make sure they mesh online. We also launched RichRelevance’s Richmail in our promotional e-mails and we are now just seeing the results of that.
Q How do you measure your results?
A We have web analytics. We have their reports, but we use our own internal reports as well. We have key metrics to look at: conversions, average order size, average units per order.
Q What were the results?
A We’ve seen a 9.3% lift in average order value, and a 22% increase in units per order. We have seen a positive increase in conversions but we don’t report specifics on that.
Q What do you have planned next?
A We’re looking at the mobile space, as well as international, and we’re making sure RichRelevance has channels for us when we get into those. With mobile, it‘s tough to say the exact date, but we’d like it live before the holiday season starts
