Notes and Thoughts on Grocery 2.0

Widgets are growing in popularity and everyone is talking about them, but what are they and how can your business benefit?

What are they?
Widgets pull content or services from some other place on the Web, and put it into a users personal page, it is a mechanism for portable content, commerce, community and transactions. This allows users to save time by receiving their favorite content, information, and services directly on their social networking pages and desktops. Think of it like a mini web site but with only the content they are interested in.

Widgets can be categorized as Web widgets, Desktop widgets and Mobile widgets because they can be embedded in a web page, desktop background, or a mobile phone.

Why should I care?
According to comScore, in November 2007, nearly 148 million U.S. Internet users viewed widgets, representing 81 percent of the total audience. MySpace.com widgets had the widest audience, reaching more than 57 million Internet users, while Slide.com ranked second with 39.2 million viewers. Google.com has the sixth widest widget-viewing audience with more than 19 million viewers. And it’s growing.

Businesses are viewing widgets less as frivolous gadgets, and more as business tools to boost traffic, ad revenue and sales on their sites.

How can I use widgets?
Think about what you want to accomplish, is it branding, is conversion or commerce? Now think about your website and what actions you want your users to do and how to lead them down that path. Do you have new content they may be interested in or sale items that they can buy from your site? If you do, then you can use that content to put in a widget.

Rebecca

Often times when I talk to folks about online grocery shopping, I get one common response, “But I like choosing my own fruit and vegetables and my own meats.” Fresh foods are important to consumers. But whom better to find the best items than a store employee – a person who knows how to find the best products in all departments?

Online grocery shopping is a great way to increase your customer loyalty. We train your in store employees not only how to use the systems and technology we offer. We provide them the training that makes them your customers, “Personal Shopper.”

From calling the customer with questions to ensure each order is perfect, to providing personal service. MyWebGrocer will connect your store to customers while training your personal shoppers how to build loyalty by keeping it personal.

Dave

What is it? Social Networking is a structure of links between nodes(ie often people) that can be browsed or searched like a map to help you understand the respective relationships connecting these nodes/people together. LinkedIn, FaceBook, and MySpace are some popular examples.

Here is a good overview video from CommonCraft on Social Networking.

Why is Social Networking important in the Grocery industry?

We all want to understand, engage, and retain our customers better. Consumers increasingly are spending more time on social networking sites and less time using traditional media. A recent UK study found, “This gain in popularity(of Social Networking sites) comes from the expense of other activities and media. The main activities showing a decline in time spent…, watching broadcast television (-12%), reading print (books are -10%, magazines are -8%, newspapers are -7%), visiting other web sites, and playing games. Among teens, the decline is even more pronounced with -32% less time spent on homework/work, -21% less time spent on TV, and -14% less time spent reading books.”

Ok, so I understand that some of my grocery customers and many of my younger customers use social networking sites but how do I engage them?
Here are three things that you can do tomorrow to engage your grocery consumer in the social networking space.

Many marketers overlook the internet when planning where to devote their branding budget. For years, the major players in each industry spent billions on traditional media. The goal of advertising was ultimately sales, yes, but to be one of the best known and most beloved brands meant lasting success. Consider Nike, Apple and Coca-Cola. Now the formula for brand success has changed. Today, one of the best branding tools available to marketers is also one of the most accessible, most measureable and cost-effective.

“The Internet gives advertisers the opportunity to build “mind share” more effectively, by targeting the right context at the right time, ensuring their messages are relevant to the people they are trying to reach,” Gopi Kallayil of Google’s AdSense marketing team says. “Advertising networks have proven very effective in building brand awareness and generating demand. In addition, the internet gives marketers more precise, measureable accountability for their ad spending than does traditional media.”

You too can harness the power of the internet for brand awareness and increase consumer engagement, recall and action. Here are some easy, cost-effective ideas on how to increase your brand’s online presence.

1. Integrated content – Consumers are both savvy and selfish. You need to motivate consumers to interact with your brand. One of the easiest ways to do this is through targeted, integrated content that meets your consumer’s needs and promotes your brand message. Place your advertising in relevant places where your consumers seek out content.

2. Blogging – Blogging allows you to communicate your brand message in a more personal voice. Allowing consumers to see the people behind a brand creates a comfort level and familiarity that other media can’t.

3. Sponsorship Opportunities – Using banner ads and text links exclusively to sponsor entire categories, sub domains or online communities is ideal to reach a target niche explicitly and implicitly. Your message resonates with consumers while they are engaging with the site as well as long after they leave their computer.

4. Donating prizes – Online promotions allow marketers to inform consumers about the products that they offer while establishing a positive brand relationship based on the consumer’s desire to win.
   

Branding is all about creating relationships. Why not utilize online advertising to reach consumers where they are comfortable, active and interested?

Rachel