Plus: How Signet Jewelers Uses Digital And Physical Commerce To Appeal To Gen Z, Big Podcast Deals Are Back, Mobile Devices Become Preferred Shopping Tools
A generation ago, when a person wanted to find a veterinarian, an ice cream shop or a storage unit provider close by, they opened the Yellow Pages. All of the listings there were local, and it was easy to see every business of that type in the area.
While ever-connected smartphones take away the reliance on a big yellow book for information, it can be much harder to find accurate information about the right kinds of businesses that are actually in the area today. A simple search can return information about businesses hundreds of miles away in other states, or skip information about a local business altogether. And if a business doesn’t engage with customers on social media or review sites, potential customers may get the wrong impression about it—including that the business is closed.
Localized digital marketing represents a $54.1 billion opportunity, according to digital multi-location marketing provider SOCi, and capitalizing on it is no longer as easy as contacting the local phone book publisher. SOCi noted that many businesses are missing out: the average brand doesn’t appear in three out of four local sources, ignores half of its online reviews and leaves 90% of customer questions and engagements unanswered. SOCi released its annual Local Visibility Index 2024 first to Forbes today, which looks at how well businesses across the U.S. use digital marketing opportunities to meet local customers. The index looked at nearly 3,000 companies with more than 50 locations, analyzing them on more than 100 metrics.
“In today’s competitive landscape, failing to engage effectively on a local level can hinder growth and limit potential,” said SOCi Director of Market Insights Damian Rollison.
The most visible brand in the index is Veterinary Emergency Group, followed by The Joint Chiropractic, Trek Bicycle, Painting with a Twist and Big Frog Custom T-Shirts. These are large businesses, but not necessarily household names. Some of those household names—including Target, Chick-fil-A and Walgreens—aren’t even in the top 100.
SOCi found that many businesses are only doing part of the digital engagement they should. Most have claimed and completed local profiles on Google, but not necessarily Facebook or Yelp. Fewer than half of Google reviews get responses from businesses. And engagement between businesses and customers on social media platforms like Facebook is still low. In a world where customers let their fingers do the scrolling to find local business, it’s imperative to make sure that they’re given ample reasons to stop and look at your listing.
Consumers of all ages have changed their shopping habits thanks to the pandemic and technology. Signet Jewelers—parent company of Kay Jewelers, Zales and Jared—has doubled down on a hybrid digital and in-store strategy to capture shoppers, especially those in Gen Z. Forbes summer intern Tavon Thomasson talked to Signet Chief Digital Officer Rebecca Wooters about the company’s approach. An excerpt from their conversation is later in this newsletter.
Streaming companies are back to paying big bucks for exclusive podcasting deals. This week, Amazon’s Wondery struck a reported $100 million deal with NFL player brothers Jason and Travis Kelce for exclusive advertising and sales rights to their show New Heights for the next three years. The deal goes into effect this month, and gives Wondery exclusive rights to all audio and video episodes, including its back catalog, as well as creating and selling merchandise and putting together international adaptations. The brothers launched the podcast in 2022, and it quickly became the most popular sports podcast on Spotify.
That isn’t the only recent huge podcast deal. Last week, Alex Cooper, the host of Call Her Daddy, struck a multi-year deal with SiriusXM, which goes into effect next year. Exact terms of the deal were not made public, but numerous reports suggest it is more than $100 million. Cooper’s sex-positive podcast is the second most popular on Spotify, only behind The Joe Rogan Experience.
Podcasts are becoming a more popular form of entertainment for Americans, especially young ones. According to Edson Research, 47% of people older than 12 listened to a podcast in the last month, up 12% year-over-year. And about a third have listened to a podcast in the last week, a 10% year-over-year increase. Wondery CEO Jen Sargent told the Hollywood Reporter that their strategy is to work with shows with established audiences and recognizable hosts, then grow their reach and brand with a “360-approach” of everything that Amazon can offer. With these deals, the podcasts will be ad-free to subscribers, but available with ads to everyone else.
When people shop online nowadays, they’re often doing it without a keyboard. Research from Adobe Analytics indicates that shopping on mobile devices will surpass computers this holiday season, and mobile will only continue to grow, writes Forbes senior contributor Joan Verdon. Last month, people spent $280.4 billion using just mobile devices—47.7% of all e-commerce, and 10.2% more than the same time a year ago. Mobile is already the dominant format of some online shopping. Most online grocery shoppers have used mobile since April 2021. Last month, 77% of online personal care shopping and 60.8% of online apparel buying was done on mobile. However, people tend to buy less on a small screen. Basket sizes for mobile shoppers tend to be 32% smaller than those using a computer.
While the pandemic changed retail in general, Gen Z has also prompted retailers to offer new ways—both through digital shopping and physical stores—to shop. Signet Jewelers, parent company of jewelry retailers including Kay Jewelers, Zales and Jared, has been revamping its strategy and reaping the rewards. Summer intern Tavon Thomasson talked to Signet Chief Digital Officer Rebecca Wooters about their “connected commerce” strategy, as well as how jewelry shopping is evolving. This conversation has been edited for length, continuity and clarity.
How did the pandemic influence the way customers interact and purchase jewelry, both online and in stores?
Rebecca Wooters: At first, we initially had store closures, so managers were working from home, communicating with customers through platforms like FaceTime. Eventually, we built a platform where you could message with your customers or you could have virtual appointments, creating what we call “connected commerce.” This fluid connection between channels highlighted that very few customers operate in just one channel—they actually don’t make decisions that way.
Now our customers do a lot of online research, with some completing their purchases online, but most use a combination of multiple experiences across different channels and that leads them to their purchase. Messaging, virtual appointments and online appointment scheduling, all of these things are utilized in ways that we just never saw before the pandemic, and that hasn’t gone away. In fact, if anything, we use it more than ever.
How does Signet use customer data to personalize the shopping experience, and what future innovations do you foresee in this area?
We capture a significant amount of data on our customers, tracking their fluid movements and online activity. By analyzing this data—not just at a group level, but down to the individual customer—we can offer personalized recommendations. Our store consultants can access information about what a customer has been browsing online—whether it’s bracelets, gold chains, or something else—so that when they do go into the store, it’s not a start-from-scratch conversation. Instead, they can say, “Hey, I noticed you were shopping for some bracelets, or I noticed you put some earrings in your wishlist. Do you want to look at that in person?” This approach creates a much more organic and seamless shopping experience and so that really helps.
We’ve also done quite a bit just to understand our different types of customer, like our younger Gen Z or Millennial customers and how they prefer to shop. Younger customers are often looking for a seamless shopping experience. They are highly engaged online and are comfortable completing their entire purchase online, appreciating conveniences like one-click checkout. However, if they want to book an appointment, they are much more likely to do so online before visiting the store. In fact, Gen Z and Millennials book online appointments at twice the rate of older generations.
For Gen Z, a trip to the mall isn’t just about making a purchase. It’s about the experience. They often go to the mall to hang out with friends, shop and make it a dining experience, so attracting them into the store requires offering an experience.
How do you craft a tailored experience for Gen Z and Millennials, especially from a digital marketing perspective?
We’ve had some really interesting interactions with Gen Z, and nailing the brand’s first impression is absolutely critical. We’ve implemented a few strategies that are really resonating with this group. One of the key elements is social content, which is something we know this younger audience heavily relies on when making decisions. However, we also know it has to be authentic. There’s a fine line between influencer-driven content and what this demographic considers genuinely relatable. They want to see high-quality content, but it needs to come from someone who looks and acts like them. So, we do a lot to think about more of a creator community rather than relying on a celebrity or an influencer.
The other piece that we’ve launched recently is a digital storefront. This is a virtual storefront created by our jewelry consultants, allowing customers to buy directly from online style boards. We initially started this with our virtual consultants that were online, and have now expanded it to all 10,000 of our jewelry consultants across all of our stores. What’s amazing is they’re able to combine social outreach with these personalized storefronts. Consultants can create content for groups of customers or tailor a page just for an individual.
You can get that page through either social, text or email. If you see something you like, you can purchase it right there off of that storefront. It’s one of our fastest-growing areas, attracting not only new customers—about 36% of digital storefront sales are from new customers—but also a younger, digitally savvy audience. This platform offers a customized shopping experience where a stylist or consultant provides personalized recommendations and ideas and … you don’t have to navigate through a website. You can just say, I’ve got my person. They’re helping me, and I can get a text from the storefront. I can make my purchase all right there on my phone, super easy.
