Key takeaways from #AppCommerce 2018

On the 26th June we hosted our 2nd annual #AppCommerce event for those interested in the rapidly evolving world of omnichannel retail and the integral roles that apps can play.

We saw a fantastic and even bigger turnout than #appcommerce 2017, at our local rooftop event space in the Ace Hotel Shoreditch, at the heart of the UK’s technology hub. Following last year’s feedback we brought a day full of Q&A sessions, knowledge sharing and networking to the who’s who of retail, experts from the industry and an impressive array of brands.

#AppCommerce 2019 is going to be bigger and better than ever before!

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Our CCO & Co-founder Mike Hann kicked off the day and introduced us to our first speaker of the day

Making app commerce bigger than ecommerce

Our CEO & Co-founder Oyvind Henriksen set the tone for the day by giving us insight into how app commerce is rapidly growing, how the Poq platform now sees 2.5 million monthly active users on our platform and the impact apps have on our lives. Oyvind went on to discuss the app commerce engagement model which explains that apps can skip the traditional sales funnel entirely by engaging the customer across multiple touch-points and devices.

Life after app launch

Our COO & Co-founder Michael Langguth sat down with Jonathan Wall, Chief Digital Officer at Missguided and Non-Executive director at Yours Clothing for a Q&A. Jonathan shared with us the change he has seen in online retail over the duration of his career and the prominence that apps now play in our lives. Jonathan acknowledged that some boards may show resistance to the notion of an app at first but app plays a crucial role in maximising customer experience. Jonathan went on to recommend that mobile web should be used for acquiring new customers and apps work best to engage customers and provide the full brand experience.

“Use the mobile web as your customer acquisition channel & your app as your retention channel … Apps are proven to drive more revenue per user” @poqcommerce #appcommerce

— Simon Lilly (@simonlilly) June 27, 2018

@jonathanwall today at #appcommerce 2018 “I’m a passionate believer that mobile web is where you first acquire and get your customer. Mobile app is about engaging and retaining the customer”. #agreed #mobilecommerce #appcommerce @poqcommerce

— BusyVeevee (@VivianePara) June 26, 2018

Driving app success in the new retail landscape

This panel discussion brought together Ben Perkins, Clients & Markets Director, Consumer & Industrial Products at Deloitte, Ian Jindal, Editor in Chief of Internet Retailing and Andrea Trocino, Director of Technology at ASOS to discuss the challenges retailers are facing today and how to overcome them.

• Ian expressed the importance of loyalty not being confused with repetitive purchases, and that those who are loyal form a relationship with a retailer that goes beyond the purchase.
• Andrea added that app reviews provide a great indication of user happiness and loyalty and you must get the fundamentals of app commerce right before adding features that grow engagement.
• Ben explained the importance of features that solve customer problems (and these vary per retailer) will ultimately be the ones to drive conversion.

Great panel at #appcommerce. @andics hitting home the importance of innovation on mobile, personalization and customer experience. #visualsearch is the future. @fashwell_com makes it happen. pic.twitter.com/Z3lbn4kYkr

— Caitlin Crawford (@cait_crawford) June 26, 2018

Visual Search: Empowering app commerce

Matthias Dantone, CEO & Co-founder of Fashwell, a partner of Poq, demonstrated how visual search technology can solve the problems caused by word-based searches. He explained how most of our time spent on mobile is consuming visual content and this should be reflected in the way we search too. Matthias also shared some insights into the algorithms used to create such a dynamic way of searching and shed some light on how most users actually use screenshot images in visual search.

FASHWELL’s @DantoneMatthias speaking about the need for and the benefits of #VisualSearch #tech at the @poqcommerce #appcommerce conference in #London 💎 pic.twitter.com/wgoiMrU9mA

— Fashwell (@fashwell_com) June 26, 2018

How to create a customer-centric roadmap

Our Head of Product, Balint Szeplaki shared with us his knowledge of KANO analysis and how it should be implemented to shape a successful roadmap for your app. Building on the themes talked about earlier in the day, Balint explained how not every feature is created equal in the eyes of the user.

• Those that are expected can be considered as must-haves, and the absence of them causes pain, but the presence of them only provokes a neutral response.
• Features that users don’t expect which add to their overall app experience have a positive impact as long as the must-have features are nailed first.
• Ultimately, removing pain points in the shopping experience is more important than adding delight.

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Mobile in retail: Understanding consumer trends

Cornelia Calugar-Pop, TMT Insights Manager at Deloitte shared with us some insights from the Deloitte Global Mobile Consumer Survey, May-June 2017. They found that unsurprisingly millennials were the largest adopters of smartphones. However, super users in the 55+ years age category actually showed very similar behaviour to millennials and argues that there is a gap in the mobile commerce market that no retailers have successfully targeted yet.

The changing retail landscape: Understanding evolving customer needs

Poq COO, Michael took to the stage with Susanne Given, Chairman at Made.com, to discuss how to get through to boards and the impact of personalisation on the retail sector.

• Millennials will become the dominant age group in the coming years and retailers need to get their houses in order to accommodate for the way they shop.

Fireside chat with Andy Harding

Our CCO & Co-founder Mike Hann sat down to chat with Andy Harding, CEO of Alamy.
On deciding whether to build technologies in-house, Andy who was previously CCO at House of Fraser and Mothercare, argues that building retail technology from scratch only makes sense when you have a really innovative idea you need to keep secret. Alternatively, Software as a Service (SaaS) technologies enable you to build on the investments in research and development that they have made.

Zalando App: From market follower to market leader

Wrapping up the day Kristina Walcker-Mayer, Product Manager of Mobile apps at Zalando offered us some insight into how their team of 2,000 developers worked to rebirth their app in 2016 to become market leaders in retail apps. A focus on personalisation and convenience are the main drivers for the technology that they produce. Raising the standard of mobile and app commerce.

A big thank you to everyone who joined us on the day, what a great chance to knowledge share and network. We’re proud to be a facilitator! We’ll see you at #AppCommerce 2019 for more great thought leadership and to get you thinking about your app commerce journey!

Keep up to date with the events we’ll be attending and hosting: