Matthew Curry

Site search and merchandising: seven key takeaways from Digital Cream

Last week at the Emirates Stadium in London, Econsultancy's Digital Cream event invited client-side Marketers to learn from their peers across a breadth of topics, from Customer Experience, Conversion Rate Optimisation to Social Media Monitoring.

I was pleased to moderate the Site Search & Merchandising roundtable, sponsored by SLI Systems. The roundtable was in the form of three in-depth peer-led discussions regarding the issues most faced by marketers regarding site search.

Attending the roundtables were a mix of companies, most importantly, not just those with a traditional e-commerce arm.

This meant that the conversation had to be abstracted to cover several different types of content; not just product, but Guides & Help, Technical Specifications and Entertainment & Video.

However, what these companies had in common was the concept of using content to aid conversion. Several attendees from content-driven & entertainment sites had complex attribution models to link conversion back to the content viewed.

by Matthew Curry 22 March 2012 10:26am 2 comments

Why is this so hard? Google, Facebook and adult retailing

My day-to-day marketing activities are somewhat different from yours. Instead of optimising campaigns and formulating strategy, with every day comes a new onslaught of ad disapproval, a rumour of a change in policy, a decline from an ad network or long email conversation with a boilerplate-spouting representative.

In this article I'll give you an insight into the surprisingly not-salacious world of Adult Retailing in relation to the internet's biggest players: Google and Facebook.

by Matthew Curry 23 March 2011 12:35pm 28 comments

The five suppliers you should avoid like the plague

Bemoaning clients is a popular past time for agencies. The client is stupid, doesn't know what they want and aren't willing to pay for it. Sometimes this moaning is warranted, a lot of the time it's definitely not.

As a client, hiring and then sustaining the relationship with the right supplier is much more difficult than is appreciated.

Following on from five clients you should avoid like the plague, here are five suppliers to look out for...

by Matthew Curry 21 January 2011 12:48pm 29 comments

My Google Analytics Christmas wishlist

Many of us use Google Analytics as our day-to-day analysis and reporting tool, it's provided enterprise level analytics to everyone, and turned a legion of website owners into quasi-statisticians.

However, it's not without its flaws and weaknesses. As I've been a Good Boy this year, here are the ten things I'd love to have from Google Analytics for Christmas.

by Matthew Curry 14 December 2010 11:10am 22 comments

What your mother never taught you about Multivariate Testing

Multivariate tests, whilst marvellous things, are becoming "quick and dirty". The ease of deployment, WYSIWYG variant creation, and on-demand "live" results means that these supposedly scientific tests are being created, executed and reported on in a fashion at odds with their scientific underpinnings.

In this post, I'll try to go through what makes MVT a scientific methodology, the pitfalls of quick testing, and how to get the best out of your tests.

by Matthew Curry 20 October 2010 14:30pm 5 comments

What is the future for luxury e-commerce?

Why does the experience of luxury e-commerce never quite live up to it’s promise?

After some big-name e-commerce launches, we’ve yet to properly deliver a luxury e-commerce experience, so what can differentiate a luxury e-commerce site from any other?

What separates a luxury e-commerce store from an e-commerce store selling luxury goods?

by Matthew Curry 02 June 2010 11:39am 16 comments

E-commerce strategists: what do they do?

So, say your agency offers you the services of an E-commerce Strategist – sounds like spending money to be told the obvious: “Matty says having a new website will make us richer and improve our sex life”, no?

by Matthew Curry 10 May 2010 10:57am 2 comments

E-commerce strategy: that's not your business!

What do you sell? I mean really, what is it that you actually sell? Why do people visit your website, or even buy your product? What do you offer that compels them to do this?

In a world of substitutes and alternates, we have to learn to better understand what drives our customers. Understand this and you understand how to make your site more effective.

by Matthew Curry 28 April 2010 11:00am 6 comments

Four ways to help your Helpdesk (and your users too!)

If you’ve read the Selfridges Site Review, you’ll know that during testing, I came across a quite a severe bug. This bug displayed a confusing error message at the checkout when I was trying to place my order, but also charged my card at the same time. What fun.

Inspired by this, I've written about four simple & easy to implement ways to reduce onsite errors, whilst making your Helpdesk staff's job a bit easier.

by Matthew Curry 26 April 2010 11:01am 1 comment

Selfridges: site review

Selfridges.com Homepage On Monday, after a year of industry rumours and hushed gossip, luxury retailer Selfridges launched their full commerce offering, having previously only sold sundries such as hampers online.