Bowling, Boredom and the Battle For Retail Attention 🎳

Last weekend, I dropped my son off at a laser tag, bowling, and video games party at Chermside Shopping Centre. I lingered long enough to see if I'd be one of the cool dads invited to join. When that didn’t happen, I sulked off with the task of entertaining myself by shopping—for all of three hours. I was done in 30 minutes.

Yes, it was mid-October. Every retailer was keeping their pre-BFCM powder drier than a creative strategist at a Christmas party. There was nothing interesting in sight.

But what struck me even more was the lack of engagement from every retail team I encountered.

“Can I help you with anything today?”

“Just browsing, thanks,” came my canned response, despite feeling clueless and uninspired. It usually followed with me touching a garment to feign interest, executing a quick heel swivel, and moving on to the next.

It reminded me how easily we fall into patterns in ecommerce.

I’m pretty sure Nobel Prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman wasn't thinking about ecommerce when he said "the more surprising an experience, the stronger the memory," but he might as well have been.

Most retailers have regular conversion or promotional messages which are served up without much thought. What if we mixed things up a bit?

- “Free Shipping over $100” could become “Shipping’s On Us.”

- “Subscribe & Save” could transform into “Unlock Lifetime Discounts.”

- “Refer a Friend” might be reframed as “Reward Your Friends.”

- “Guaranteed Delivery” levels up with “On Time or It's On Us.”

- “Hassle-Free Returns” turns into “No More Post-Purchase Regret.”

- “New Arrivals” comes to life with “Just Dropped. Will Sell Out.”

- “Final Sale” becomes “Please Get This Shit Out Of Our Warehouse.”

You get the idea. Most of the time, well-known and understood terms will do the job for customers in action mode. However, if your key messages are becoming the online wallpaper equivalent of “Can I help you with something today?”, it’s time to mix them up.

Have a play with some of the language that’s been there on your key propositions—I bet you’ll catch the eye of your version of sulky dads looking to kill some time and spend some money.

Cheers,
Bushy

ECOMMERCE NEWS

💻 Hands-free computing is finally here
Sure, GPT’s are cool but what if we didn’t even have to write the commands? This week Anthropic (makers of Claude AI) released “computer use” for public beta via their API. Rather than take commands, it can take over a user’s computer to do operational tasks such as write and send emails, fill out forms and populate databases. In the future, no doubt it will be able to answer customer enquiries, populate product pages and create email flows. It’s still experimental at this stage but I give it 12 months max before being everywhere.

♻️ Still Holding Onto Your Circular Fashion Dreams?
The circular economy might’ve hit a few bumps this year, but if you've got a sustainable business idea, this could be your big moment. eBay and the Australian Fashion Council are offering a slice of $200K in funding to Aussie fashion innovators who are pushing circularity forward. On top of that, there’s up to $300K available in additional funding for those who really impress. Entries close 15th Nov.

🌟 Let’s give the TikTok stars more attention
It’s the Logies, but for creators who actually make money—the 2024 TikTok Awards nominees have dropped. Particularly noteworthy: the TikTok Business of the Year category, celebrating the businesses that made waves, built communities, and raked in sales through the platform. This year’s finalists are way too young for my liking: Fayt The Label, Brooki Bakehouse, Jaz Hand Made, Chebbo’s Burgers & Kalade. Check out their accounts for a bit of TikTok inspo.

💎 Arcade AI: Where Your Jewellery Dreams Come True
Last month, Arcade AI launched a marketplace where “Dreamers” can use in-built generative AI tools to create their ideal piece of personalised jewellery. This design is then shared with the marketplace’s “Makers” who turn the image into a real piece with a price tag. Dreamers can also make commission off others buying their design. Arcade has raised $17m USD and is backed by the likes of Aston Kutcher, Karlie Kloss and Reid Hoffman. Imagine if Arcade Dreamers met Temu factories…

👗 Model Customers Take Over
When UK fashion retailer, White Stuff, introduced their new Petite collection, they put out a call for their customers to model the range. They received 1,400 applications in 24 hours. Their homepage is truly engaging with the faces and stories of their customers threaded throughout. With models like Wendy, you just need to know more. A great way to break down the barriers between retailers and customers.

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Nathan Bush is an independent Australian ecommerce transformation consultant, with expertise in marketing, technology, and team leadership. If you're looking for fresh ideas, facing key decisions, or implementing significant investments, I'd love to work with you. Learn more and get in touch.