Month: February 2017

O2O is rising and gradually becoming more and more popular in many countries around the world. Perhaps many still don’t really understand what is O2O. Let’s take a look at the situations below,

Have you purchased movie tickets online and redeemed at the cinema?

Have you purchased spa treatment online and enjoyed it at the spa center

These are some of the most common examples of O2O that we often do but do not realize the concept behind is O2O.

Why O2O?

Take Amazon bookstore as an example, the store solves one of the biggest problems with online shopping: discoverability. The solution isn’t derived by stocking an infinite number of books; it’s just the opposite—this bookstore uses data-driven design to increase the likelihood that you will pick up a book that you didn’t know you wanted to read. Perhaps you will be doubtful: Amazon can’t stock as many titles as competing bookstores or even its own online bookstore. Why bother? Everyone knows they can order any title they desire on Amazon and the bookstore has terminals where customers can order a book if the need arises. Instead, Amazon Books only carries highly rated and popular titles culled from Amazon’s online rankings.

 It’s part of a larger push within Amazon to reinvent the way physical retail works that includes the automated Amazon Go convenience store.

This is the power of O2O in which online customers can discover and feel the products in the physical stores and on the other hand, they can make purchases online after they have experienced the products in the brick-and-mortar stores which is often true for repeat purchases.

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What comes into your mind when we mention about “Data”? The word “Big Data” has become common in year 2012 when people start to use it to describe and define the explosion of massive database. “Big Data” is also been defined as the evolutionary and important element of business model development.

The importance of data is now penetrated into every industry and various business functions becoming one of the most importation production element. “Big Data” has being use in physics, biology, environmental ecology and military, financial, communications and other industries for quite some time but only received attention upon the rise of internet and information era. You might be thinking what is it about and how they do it? Well, the evolution begins when there’s massive data mining and application which benefits the business with the increased of productivity and in the same time changing the consumer’s spending behavior. If you notice, many business is now starting to collect consumer’s data and spending patterns in various ways.

Although there are still many companies may not be aware of the explosive growth of data and the implication it brings, the “Big Data” era is rapidly expanding and growing. As time goes on, those business and enterprise will need to be aware of the importance of data and using them effectively and efficiently.

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O2O is defined as Online to Offline. The term was first used by Alex Rampell, CEO and founder of TrialPay in a 2010 TechCrunch article. He wrote: “The key to O2O is that it finds consumers online and brings them into real-world stores. It is a combination of payment model and foot traffic generator for merchants (as well as a ‘discovery’ mechanism for consumers) that creates offline purchases.”

Do you think that growth of e-commerce outpacing the growth of physical stores? Well, the answer is Yes and O2O platform will be the perfect solution under this kind of circumstances.

“Store traffic has also been gradually declining over the years and physical stores struggle to convert shoppers as consumers easily research competitive online and offline offers on mobile devices.”

It is no doubt that online offers are often more attractive than offline offers as retailers do not need to pay rent or any other costs arisen from a physical store. However, the market is demanding for the offline experiences which can’t be replicated by online shopping. The feel of touching the products, trying on the apparels, getting the personalized touched and service from the retailers and many more, it’s the “feel” that is not easily be replaced. This is why retailers can look for some ways to direct online consumers to physical stores. One of the approaches is to engage in an O2O platform or any platform that offers O2O services.

There are many O2O platforms out there but not truly “O2O”. Why I say so? It is because most of the platforms are normal e-commerce platforms which offer online shopping and delivery. The true meaning behind O2O is that it brings online consumers to physical stores. However, e-commerce platforms nowadays mostly provide consumers with online shopping experience but not directing them to the brick and mortar stores. Consumers often make their purchases and payments online then wait for their products to be delivered. They do not need to visit the physical store at all.

It is not difficult to define O2O, simply put this simple equation in mind,

O2O = Order/Purchase Online + In-store pick up

They important point of O2O is that retailers to showcase their products online, consumers to purchase online and then pick up/enjoy the products and services at the physical stores.

Apart from retail sector, O2O could also be applied to outsourcing of workforce. We can easily name one or two that are currently in the market i.e. Upwork and Freelancer. These platforms are true O2O platforms that provide workforce for those who want to hire or vice versa. Even the hottest app in town, Uber is using the O2O concept as consumers order and pay online, then enjoy the service offline.

The concept of O2O can really help those brick and mortar stores to boost their traffic when it is applied wisely.

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QR codes aren’t that common in the U.S. and Europe, but they are everywhere in Japan, China and other parts of Asia. QR code has become the trend and is widely used in different areas. The most frequent usage is in retail as it speeds up the entire payment process, enabling retailers to handle more payments in a given time. With QR code, a transaction can be completed in seconds through scan and pay.

India’s Paytm adopted QR-code services in October 2015. The service is used by more than 5 million merchants. This makes 65% of the Paytm transactions are made through QR-code payments. The usage of QR-code has touched skies after the demonetization period which took place in November 2016. Merchants of different industries subscribed to Paytm as it provides the e-wallet service that is extremely convenient. They no longer need to look for small change to their customers. Every transaction is just scan and pay any desired amounts. Now, even the roadside booksellers and stall that sells eggs adopt the QR code payment system. Paytm is expecting to cross half a billion accounts by 2020.

QR code can be used not only in-store but online. Have you ever come across QR codes when you shop online? I bet you have. It’s a very regular marketing strategy that most of the online shops are using nowadays. Some will put the QR codes on their websites to drive customers to download their mobile application for more convenient shopping on any mobile devices.

Some of the ways retailers use QR codes are to prompt new products, offer coupons, compare prices in other stores and allow direct online shopping. Not only a marketing tool but enhances customer service too. Some QR codes scanners are linked to the store inventory and can actually tell you the quantity, size and colour currently in stock of the product scanned. Every time you scan a product it is stored in your phones internal memory and in you QR app history. This allows the QR code app to recommend certain stores and products relating to your scanned history. If a particular style is scanned multiple times by the same consumer, most retails stores offer suggestions or recommendations related to that product.

Apart from that, QR codes are also being used for linking to videos, contact information, job support and social media. These are merely part of the applications of QR codes. There are still more to come in the near future. While we’ve yet to see any QR codes on tombstones, they can be used to check in at the funeral (much like Foursquare) and notify the family who was in attendance.  Currently, most of the older generation doesn’t exactly know what they are, but once they are told about how the QR codes work, they will be amazed.  Want to know more between the linkage of QR code and O2O? How these tools can help your business?

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The most common e-commerce business models are B2B (Business to Business), B2C (Business to Consumer) and C2C (Consumer to Consumer). For instance, B2B refers to online trading whereas B2C refers to online shopping and C2C refers to online auction. Apart from that, a new business model has been developed due to the rapid growth of the internet and it is called O2O.

It is essential to integrate these 3 types of O2O strategies into a shop’s marketing plan. Placing QR codes at significant locations in the shop enable users to scan and become online users easily. A B2C platform can be built online or a third-party e-commerce platform can be added. Apart from those platforms, various marketing activities need to be carried out online through community and online events to attract users to spend offline.

Want to know more of how O2O model fits into your business? Engage us today!

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Mobile commerce is the main direction of the future development and mobile applications are the new trend in the development of e-commerce. E-commerce application has the advantages of low cost, accurate marketing orientation and personalized service. It is very suitable for SMEs and quickly becoming bigger and stronger by using the “corner beyond” business strategy. The rapid development of mobile phone users can bring enormous business opportunities for SMEs. It will lead a large number of SMEs to the era of mobile commerce, to seize the commanding heights of e-commerce and the unlimited business opportunities. In the hustle bustle life, the online platform has helped the busy people to use time more efficiently. However, most consumer have less confidence with online purchases are they are unable to touch, feel and experience the product. Also, most of the eCommerce platform has little or no physical store which “TRUST” is one of the concern for consumer.

O2O, or Online to Offline, is a new business model combining online shopping and front line transactions. A business adopting an O2O (Online to Offline) model usually provides information, services and booking discounts and pushes its messages to Internet users, who in return will become the customers of the particular offline business partners. The business model is particularly suitable for consumer goods and services, such as food and beverage, fitness, movies and beauty salon.

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O2O (Online-to-Offline) is the latest trend in the e-commerce world. Many businesses especially those in China and India adopt O2O concept.

Perhaps, you will be asking, “What is O2O?”.

Let us clear your doubts for you. A very simple example is to purchase movie tickets online. You go to the cinema’s website or mobile app and search for the movie you want to watch. Then, you click in to select your seats, your popcorn sets and purchase your tickets. The system will send you a QR code of your purchase stating the seat number and time of the movie. Now you are at the entrance of the cinema, you will need to show the QR code to redeem your popcorn set and enter the cinema hall using the same QR code. The entire flow from selecting movie, making payment to entering the cinema to watch the movie is considered as an O2O concept in which you are directed from online (purchase movie tickets) to offline (enjoy the movie at the merchant’s cinema).

In brief, O2O is a business model that enables consumers to purchase from the online world and then enjoy the products or services offline at the brick-and-mortar stores.

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