During the past ten
years, we’ve all experienced how the Internet has changed shopping for the
average consumer. After all, there is not only Black Friday after Thanksgiving
for price-conscious consumers but also Cyber Monday for shoppers searching for
deals from their desks. And what happened to the computer store in the strip
mall down the street? Retailers now call their on-site stores brick-and-mortar
locations because Web sites are holding their own by bringing in substantial
revenue. In fact, Circuit City brick-and-mortar stores recently closed, but
www.CircuitCity.com is still alive and kicking.
As the Internet and
e-commerce changes the face of shopping, traditional media is adapting to keep
up and stay connected to consumers. Have you ever ordered pizza from your TV or
interacted with a magazine ad online? Maybe you used your cell phone instead of
clipping coupons from the Sunday newspaper. If you haven’t already, you soon
will, as broadcast and print media start becoming more “e-adaptable” to please
consumers and retailers alike.
New Take on TV Dinners
November 2008 was a
monumental month in couch-potato history.
Partnered with TiVo, Domino’s Pizza simplified the ordering process and brought
consumers just a few remote-control clicks away from a hot pizza at their
doorsteps.
TiVo subscribers
now have the option of using their TiVo remotes to order pizza and other items
featured on the Domino’s menu in the Music, Photos, & More section in the
TiVo menu. As a proactive step to further drive sales, viewers are also served
pop-up advertisements when fast-forwarding through Domino’s commercials. The
pop-up asks the viewer if he or she would like to order a pizza, then directs them
to the Domino's TiVo menu. Customers can also track the status of their orders
through the TiVo interface.
Other companies are also tapping in to interactive TV for their e-commerce needs. In March 2009, Fandango.com (owned by Comcast cable provider) launched an application with Dish Network where customers could purchase movie tickets using an interactive onscreen interface with their remote controls.
Where Can I Find That Table?
Have you ever admired a table, couch, or paint color while reading an
article in your favorite magazine, but you couldn’t find any details on the
product pictured?
As a service to both advertisers and consumers alike, Meredith Corporation is using “See It, Find It, Get It” Web sites to showcase editorial and ads from their magazines Traditional Home and Midwest Living. On these sites, you can browse pages in your favorite issue and then roll over the products (e.g., table, couch, faucet) featured in the editorial photos or advertisements to view the names and/or specs of the products. You can either order the product online or view the nearest retail locations where the product can be purchased.
Look below for larger images of the “See It, Find It, Get It” site, or
click the links below to visit the Traditional
Home or Midwest Living’s
sites.
–
http://th.seeitfinditgetit.com/
–
http://mwl.seeitfinditgetit.com/
Traditional Home Editorial Page
Online
Select Image You Want More Info On
Put Down the Scissors! FSIs Go Online
Many of us have
childhood memories of mom in her robe on Sunday morning, cutting coupons out of
the paper. However, the days of printed FSIs (free-standing inserts) may soon
be gone due to up-and-coming paperless coupon companies like Zavers and
CellFire.
Founded in 2006,
Zavers.com provides online manufacturer coupons via its homepage, retailer Web
sites, e-mails, mobile Web sites, and various other online outlets. A
convenient resource for consumers, Zavers also allows manufacturers to
instantly track, measure, and optimize incentives based on performance using
its DIME technology (Digital-Incentive Management Engine).
Also launched in
2006, CellFire is another paperless couponing company, which recently added Tom
Thumb and Randall’s supermarket chains to its retail roster. Similar to Zavers,
CellFire users can save/store online coupons on their grocery stores’ customer
loyalty cards or their cell phones. At checkout, the loyalty cards
automatically apply the coupon savings or users show cashiers the coupons saved
on their phones (which include coupon codes).
