Is Myer your store?

Hello! fellow bloggers and readers, This week I have been tasked with looking at a retail store of my choice and analyzing how my chosen store/organisation has used social technologies to better their store and their interactions with customers. I have chosen Myer as my retail organisation and I will be looking into two specific functions from Mckinsy's Report, These being Marketing and Sales and Customer Service.

To Begin lets take a look at who Myer is as an organisation and what it is they do. Myer is a mid-range to upscale Australian department store chain, one of if not the largest Australian Retailer, merchandising a broad range of products including women's, men's and children's clothing, footwear and accessories; cosmetics and fragrance; home wares; electrical; furniture and bedding; toys; books and stationery; food and confectionery; and travel goods. So in terms of diversity and range Myer's definitely has an advantage. Myer have also integrated some of the biggest social media applications into their organisation such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook even Instagram. 

Myer's main online identity and source of sales is their website. They have a very polished website with easy to use UI(user interfaces), and simple layouts so that anyone can access and use the website. However in saying this, nearly every major retail store or organisation has a website by now so, what makes Myers different. Myer have integrated multiple forms of social technologies which have significantly increased customer satisfaction, connectivity and sales. Myer has on their website a link to their corporate blog. This blog is similar to many other corporate blogs however the twist is Myer has found a way to promote products as well as help customers choose what they want and give helpful tips on what it is they want. For example, for every category of products they sell they have a separate blog section e.g men's clothing will have a separate blog and home ware will have a separate blog. Whats so clever about it is, the way Myer have set up the blog makes it look like they are simply having a conversation with their readers saying "oh look, here is the newest item of clothing from Myer" however in reality they are actually marketing and promoting their products while still conversing with the customers in a friendly way. 

For example, In the men's clothing section if I were to click on a specific clothing line post I liked, in that post they would write about the new line of clothing and have many images of models wearing them, but, they would also leave suggestions for readers who are interested in the product as to what to wear with the specific item and where to wear it. This does not only apply for clothing, in the home ware section might put up a post about a new range of pillow overs, so they advertise these and show how they can look and the price and what not, however they also provide tips to customers about how they can redesign or redecorate their homes, what they can use instead of the specific pillow cases they originally promoted, and much more. So basically they are helping themselves by helping their customers, by giving useful and usable tips and guides, and letting the customers ask questions through the blog and communicating with them. This is an obvious sign of two levers from the Mckinsy report, levers 5 and 8, using social technology for marketing communication/interaction and providing customer care via social technologies. 

Myer have gone a step further to give that final push into using and integrating Enterprise 2.0 social technologies and systems. Myer has also developed an app for IOS an Andriod users. This app basically is a mobile version of the store however it has one added feature, there is a membership system integrated into Myer called Myer one. This is a system where if a customer is a Myer one member and they buy something from Myer they get points added onto their Myer one account, and then after a certain number of points have been allocated the customer can use a benefit whether that be a 20 dollar gift card or a free item with a specific product depends on how many point the customer has. This app provides the customer with incentive to become a member by offering special deals and extra point allocations for doing specific things like searching for new items or saving an item to a wish list. This gives the customers some extra interest and an actual reason to join the membership. This is a clear display of levers 4 and again 5, deriving customer insights and marketing communication/interaction. 

To conclude I ask this, What is the best app produced by a retail organisation that you use now or used to use?