Southern Fried eCommerce Episode #30 Recap

Southern Fried eCommerce Podcast Episode 30 Recap

Hey y’all, and welcome back to episode 30 of Southern Fried eCommerce from EYStudios. We’re kicking off this podcast episode with cohost Emily Faulkner informing us of her big 30th episode plans (and by that, we mean her birthday). Her options currently include a cruise, ghost tours in New Orleans, or a very VIP experience to see My Chemical Romance. Our other cohost Jay Brimberry informs Emily that he will be in New Orleans that weekend and then promptly makes fun of her for liking My Chemical Romance. Jay clearly didn’t go through an emo phase on Myspace like everyone else did. 

With no decision made on party plans, Jay introduces us to our special guest Manager of Strategic Alliances for Avalara, Tom Arehart. He joins the discussion of music for a while after sheepishly admitting he has never heard any My Chemical Romance songs. He does say he’ll be adding it to his playlist though and recommends that that’s the option that Emily takes for her birthday adventure as she seems to be the most excited about it. 

Jay asks about everyone’s weekend plans before we jump into the meat of the episode. Tom will be coaching two different little league baseball games back to back on Saturday for his two sons. Emily will be playing dungeons and dragons, yet again. While Jay is running far, far away from the office to Panama City Beach for a week of vacation with the family. 

Jay then jumps into his traditional series of questions for our guests:

  • What’s your least favorite business jargon?
    A recent one for me is when discussing goals people say, “what are the big rocks?” Referencing the big goals as “big rocks” and filling in the cracks with “little rocks.”
    Another one is “let’s double-click into that” when people want to discuss something further.
  • Are you a gamer? If so, what are you playing?
    I’m not a gamer anymore. I had a bit of a gaming binge in college but not so much anymore. I’m old I guess. I’ve never really gotten into online gaming or having a group of friends that game together. Some of my buddies do but I just never have.
  • Out of all of the emerging technologies out there right now, which one excites you the most? (Doesn’t have to be eCommerce related)
    Autonomous vehicles. Tesla and other cars with autopilot-like functions. I have a background in insurance so my mind goes to things like if there’s an accident, who is at fault? There are a lot of questions that aren’t easily answered.
  • Are you reading anything right now? If so, what?
    My buddy loaned me Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. My buddy is former military and this book was written by two former Navy SEALs.
  • Have you seen the wonderful 80s masterpiece Willow?
    I have but I don’t remember it all that well. It’s not one of those 80s movies that I can recite word for word to this day like Top Gun.

With that disappointing answer, Jay goes off to cry while Tom tells us a little bit more about Avalara:

Avalara has a full suite of tax compliance solutions. We help merchants automate their entire end-to-end sales tax compliance. And what does sales tax compliance mean? It means we’re really solving all the problems from helping pay the right amount of taxes, filing returns, managing their tax documents, registering their businesses in states so that they’re fully compliant, and then a bunch of backend solutions that can help them solve their tax problems.

We do this through our thousands of integrations across multiple financial software platforms, ERP systems, eCommerce platforms, point of sale, and the list goes on and on. Basically anywhere you’re transacting, Avalara can plug in and help make sure that your company has the most accurate sales tax and that you’re filing in a compliant fashion. I like to say that the big bad taxman is the big bad wolf and one day he’s going to come huffing and puffing. And when he does, do you want your house to be made out of straw or sticks, or do you want your house made of bricks?

Where I sit within Avalara is I run a team of strategic alliance managers that work with our awesome partners in the eCommerce ecosystem and billing platform space. So I get to talk about eCommerce a lot, basically every single day, and I really enjoy it.

Jay then says that he really enjoys that Avalara really humanizes taxes when typically even the word “taxes” can cause people to groan or shut down completely. Tom agrees and says that he really enjoys the “fun” aspects of learning about taxes because Avalara really solves a head-scratching problem of different tax laws in every state in the U.S. He mentions for instance, in Indiana a KitKat bar is not taxable but a Snickers bar is. Why? Because a KitKat bar has a cookie element that includes flour and it’s therefore classified as a grocery item and not candy. “I learn something new about sales tax every day,” he says. 

New From EYStudios

After our chat about Avalara, we jumped into what’s been happening at EYStudios. Here are some recent blog posts from our eCommerce experts:

This month is Omnichannel Month at EYStudios and in addition to a whole host of informative content being posted throughout the month we’ll also be hosting a webinar on May 24th at 1 p.m. called, “Make it Make Sense: eCommerce Omnichannel – Strategically Sell Your Products Via Multiple Channels.”

Ulta’s Reward Program Powers New Retail Media Network

The first article we dove into during this episode is from RetailDive, Ulta unveils media network powered by data from 37M rewards members. The article discusses Ulta’s recent launch of a retail media network targeting advertisers and marketers in the eCommerce beauty industry. Ulta is utilizing the data they’ve collected from their 37 million rewards program members to power this new network, UB Media. UB Media can tap into this rewards data to inform campaigns spanning display, video, social media, and influencer marketing, along with on-site sponsored product placements on Ulta-owned properties. The article also mentions that there is evidence competitor Sephora is launching its own similar retail network in the future. 

Jay starts the discussion by asking how many rewards programs Tom is a part of to which he responds: probably too many to count. He says he’s a sucker for the deals that come along with them. Jay agrees and says a free birthday cupcake is the key to his consumer heart. Emily also has an abundance of reward memberships including an Ulta and Sephora membership.

Emily points out that the beauty reward memberships are the best in her opinion. She says they really have it down to a science when it comes to sending her emails exactly when she needs to restock on a makeup item. Emily says she’s excited about this new platform because she thinks the makeup industry does this type of marketing “the right way.” I.e. it’s always products she wants to buy or was going to buy anyway and they properly utilize her spending and buying habits to provide well-curated content. She hopes more verticals go this route with the data they have.

Jay agrees and says that some people might be negative about this type of article and say things like “just another company collecting data on me” but Jay says “collect the data on me!” He wants more curated content if possible. He says he’s not a “shill for big brother” but if Kroger wants to know what kind of spaghetti sauce he likes, so they can give him a coupon for that brand of spaghetti sauce, he’s all for it. Jay recommends all businesses big and small get a loyalty program of some sort going because when set up correctly it’s only going to be a benefit.

Tom also agrees and says that the main thing that jumps to mind for him is how Ulta can utilize this data to really bring other brands into the fold, that data, he says, is priceless. He mentions how you could leverage this number with influencers to really increase the use of the new platform. He also points out that loyalty programs as a whole are a great way to initiate action from your customers whether that’s encouraging them to enter reviews, upload a picture of the product, respond to a survey, etc. 

Aiming Web Design At The Right Generation

The next article we discussed is from Practical eCommerce and delves more into eCommerce philosophy rather than a news article, Web Design for Everyone Pleases No One. In short, the article delves into different generational tastes when it comes to web design with the idea that you should tailor your website to your target demographic’s taste. 

According to the article, the following are things to consider about each generation: 

Baby Boomers — 

  • Driven by brand loyalty
  • Appreciate larger fonts with good contrast
  • Aversion to deep browsing to find a product
  • Value easy click-to-call access
  • Give importance to above-the-fold

Gen X — 

  • Live by the WIIFM rule (What’s In It For Me)
  • Prefer straight talk and facts
  • Dislike buzzwords and jargon
  • Use email as their top communication tool
  • Value straightforward, pragmatic designs

Millennials — 

  • Expect the same experience on mobile as on desktop
  • Love free shipping, rewards, and special offers
  • Appreciate stories, emotional scenarios, and experiences
  • Depend heavily on the opinions of friends and colleagues
  • Prefer text messaging and social media for communication

Gen Z — 

  • Are socially responsible and expect brands to be the same
  • Want products delivered quickly and with real-time notifications
  • Spend significant time researching a product before purchasing
  • Prefer the convenience of online shopping and efficiency over price
  • Respond well to two-way, interactive marketing

Jay and Tom, as Gen Xers, agree with their generation’s assessment with Jay reiterating he prefers to “get in and get out” when shopping online. Emily, as a millennial, also agrees with the traits of her generation but notes she’s probably an outlier when it comes to preferring shopping on a desktop rather than on a phone. Everyone agrees though that the Gen Z description was rather harsh but, perhaps…accurate. Tom points out that this is the generation that grew up along with Amazon and a lot of the things that they expect from their online experience stem from having that option their whole lives i.e the delivery notifications, quick shipping, etc. 

Google Says Personalize, Apple Says It Doesn’t Matter

The third and final article of the episode comes from eMarketer, As Google offers more personalized advertising, Apple suggests that in some cases, personalization doesn’t matter. This article delves into two distinct approaches to advertising from web giants Google and Apple. Google has begun offering a new tool called My Ad Center that will allow users to only see the kind of ads they want to see. Meanwhile, Apple argues that consumers would prefer to sacrifice a more personalized experience in order to not be tracked. They cite that 78% of iOS App Store users turned off customized ads on their smartphones. 

Emily disagrees with Apple and says those statistics are not relevant to this type of advertising. Of course, people don’t want to be tracked, she says, but allowing consumers to choose their ad preferences is a completely different subject. Jay agrees and says that he would love to block the pimple popping ads that come up on his social media that make him want to throw up. He says he’ll try and click out of a gross ad and currently the only option is “I don’t want to see ads at all.” He also points out that as a parent he would love to be able to control the ads that come across his children’s computers as they get older and use the internet more.

Tom says that in instances like these he’s inclined to put on his “tinfoil hat” so to speak and think about why Apple is coming at it from this direction. He believes it probably has something to do with wanting to promote the idea to advertisers of “it doesn’t matter” if users’ ad personalization is turned on or off. Emily agrees and says that with situations like this it’s important to analyze why these companies are coming at this from two different directions. She also finds the idea of being able to screen your kid’s content extremely important while also allowing consumers to really have an active role in what they’re seeing on their screens. 

With that, we say goodbye for now. We thank you for joining us for another fun-filled episode of Southern Fried eCommerce and we hope that you’ll join us next week for some more eCommerce news. Thanks again to our special guest Tom Arehart from Avalara.

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