Canadian Retailer - The Technology & e-Commerce Issue - 37

CONTENT
IS KING

How retail innovators are using online content-
and content marketing-to grow their businesses
and improve the customer experience
BY JESSE DONALDSON

FIRST, the bad news: for retailers looking to expand their online presence, a
few nice photos and some product copy won't cut it anymore. It's no secret
that today's retail world is faster and more connected than ever before; in
2016, Canadians spent a combined total of $26.6 billion online, a number
that is projected to grow to more than $40 billion by 2018. Merchants, be they
small, medium, or large, have been forced to up their e-commerce game in a
big way, conducting ongoing two-way communication with consumers who
are savvier than ever before. Far from being simple e-commerce platforms,
today's websites are expected to be equal parts online store, point-of-sale,
advertisement, newsfeed, and customer service centre.
The good news is, opportunities abound.
In fact, through the innovative use of online content, today's forward-thinking retailers have the tools to increase customer engagement and conversion,
while simultaneously building brand identity. Known amongst the pros as
content marketing, it has the potential to transform
what were once simple e-commerce platforms into in- "YOU WANT TO BUILD
tegrated digital communities of engaged consumers. CONTENT THAT'S
"Content is king," notes Samantha Rupert, Social CREATING A SENSE OF
Media Team Lead with Volusion. a Texas-based com- COMMUNITY. CONTENT
pany that helps businesses create and grow their e- THAT ENGAGES THAT
commerce sites. "And a lot of times, when people start
COMMUNITY-LOCALLY
creating e-commerce websites, they'll just put their
products up, and that's it. But having an online store AND GLOBALLY."
- JEREMY BENOIT
isn't an 'If-you-build-it-they-will-come'-type situation.
Volusion
You need to have SEO-savvy content-title tags, H1 tags, metadescription-and also, proper categories and product descriptions. You need to
have that all in place so that search engines can crawl your site, understand it,
and push you toward relevant searches."
"You want to build content that's creating a sense of community," adds
Jeremy Benoit, Volusion's Senior Product Manager. "Content that engages
that community-locally and globally."
Content can be virtually anything, Rupert notes-from product info and
ads, to more shareable things like videos, blog posts, digital promotions, or
user-submitted photos. And while she stresses that proper content-building
takes time and strategy, the payoff is more than worth it.
"SEO is a long-term process," she explains. "It can take three to six months
to see anything. Sometimes longer. But having that content there, filling out
each page of your site, it's the backbone to help boost your presence online.
It will boost your presence on Google or Bing searches. Every bit of content
is super important."

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THE TECHNOLOGY & E-COMMERCE ISSUE

| CANADIAN RETAILER | 37

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - The Technology & e-Commerce Issue