Launched less than two years ago, SHOP.CA has become the fastest-growing retail site in Canada and one of the top 10 most-visited, Canadian-owned e-commerce sites. Among the secrets of its success have been an innovative customer loyalty program and a commitment to using social media to generate customer referrals. SHOP.CA has found that visitors referred by their peers convert an amazing 10 times the rate of casual shoppers.
SHOP.CA also makes the shopping experience simple and painless. It offers Canadians one-stop shopping for national and international brands, free shipping, free returns and no cross-border fees. In contrast to date-box retailers, which typically stock 30,000 to 40,000 items, SHOP.CA provides millions of products across 26 categories, and that translates into demanding IT needs.
IBM WebSphere Commerce powers ShOP.CA’s online marketplace, multi-merchant product catalog and rewards program. The retailer also uses IBM Digital Marketing Optimization, including IBM Digital Analytics and IBM LIVEmail, to evaluate how customers behave and interact. That enables them to turn that insight into tailored marketing programs that offer products and offers personalized to customer tastes and preferences.
The IBM solution also tracks visitors’ social referrals and assigns a score to each visitor based on how many referrals are made. The most loyal referrers receive the biggest cash-back rewards for onsite purchases.
In this podcast interview, chief marketing officer Mark Daprato and chief technical officer Gary Black tell how technology is helping the SHOP.CA break away from the pack.
Originally Posted Here: SHOP.CA Rockets to Success on Personalized E-Commerce Experience
