Canadian Retail Shines at the 2013 Canada Post eCommerce Innovation Awards Dinner & Gala

On Wednesday night, Canada Post hosted the second annual Ecommerce Innovation Awards Dinner & Gala in Toronto. The event saw Gemini award winner James Duthie and his witty banter return to the ceremony for a second straight year.

This year's edition of the Ecommerce Innovation awards just about doubled the size of the inaugural Award show of 2012, with more than 600 ecommerce and retail enthusiasts attending the event. While the growth is significant, what truly stood out was the increase in attendee engagement. It was clear this event was heavily anticipated and slotted on many calendars months in advance.

Just as Canada Post went bigger with the 2013 Awards, so did OrderDynamics®. We were proud to be a Platinum sponsor of the 2013 Canada Post Ecommerce Innovation Awards and to associate ourselves with retail excellence in Canada. OrderDynamics President, Michael Turcsanyi, even presented the award for the Most Innovative Retailer category (a list of award winners can be found below). 

OrderDynamics President Michael Turcsanyi presenting the award for Most Innovative Retailer

The atmosphere throughout the night was electric and inspiring. Themes of innovation and out-of-the-box thinking repeatedly surfaced too. In many ways this event stood as a reflection of the Canadian retail industry and the evolution it has undergone in recent years. Nowhere was that more apparent than with Canada Post themselves. The long-time mail delivery company now calls itself a "parcel delivery company" and is completely entrenched into the ecommerce and omni-channel world – and subsequent omni-channel fulfillment expectations – we're all living in today.

The evolution doesn’t end there, though. Nimble and relatively new web-only retailers (like Jewlr and Snakes and Lattes) and longstanding national brick-and-mortar retailers (like Lowes and Hudson’s Bay) are increasingly participating in high profile events like this. We are no longer seeing the same few names as in years past – Canadian retailers of all sizes clearly recognize the importance of ecommerce and are giving it the focus it rightfully deserves.

Tanbir Grover and Martin Priest of Lowe's Canada accepting the Best Multi-Channel Retailer Award

Canada has long been seen as an ecommerce straggler, but the 2013 Award nominees suggest something different: while there is a lot of work to be done within Canada to meet the high expectations of Canadian shoppers, the gap is closing at a considerable pace. Ecommerce in Canada has quietly shifted to the forefront of retail strategies and we’re witnessing the integration and alignment of web and other retail channels.

It will be interesting to see how Canadian brick and mortar retailers respond to the growing surge of web-only retailers entering the Canadian market (both Canadian and US-based e-retailers who see Canada as a strategic opportunity). Recent data from Forrester Research and Canada Post suggest Canadian consumers prefer shopping in and/or using retail stores as part of their shopping experience. We expect Canadian retailers to continue building a tighter cross-channel experience to leverage its stores, staff, inventory and more through omni-channel strategies. See what web-only retailers do to steer around this preference will be fascinating.

OrderDynamics' Steven Berkovitz with Glenn Burton of Neatfreak and David McPherson of Henry's Camera

Finally, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention the Awards show itself. It was a first-class event through and through. The event appropriately put the spotlight on cutting edge Canadian retailers who are pushing the retailing envelope in order to better service its customers. The amount of quality nominees and efforts that were on display suggest only great things are to come for this industry and ultimately for Canadian consumers. Hats off to Canada Post, all of the nominees and of course, the award winners on a fantastic evening and event! And speaking of award winners, here they are:

OrderDynamics' Michael Turcsanyi, Kevin Butler and Steven Berkovitz

Consumer Champion Award (fan voted)
Nail Polish Canada

Most Innovative Retailer (small), Presented by OrderDynamics
Ten Tree International

Most Innovative Retailer (large)
Jewlr

Best Multi-Channel Retailer (small)

Snakes and Lattes

Best Multi-Channel Retailer (large)

Lowes Canada

Best E-Tailer (small)
Build.ca

Best E-Tailer (large)
Well.ca

The 2013 Canada Post eCommerce Innovation Awards Winners

Eclipse Stores Moves into Omni-Channel Commerce with OrderDynamics

OrderDynamics® would like to congratulate Eclipse Stores on the launch of their first online store and move into omni-channel commerce with the OrderDynamics On-Demand eCommerce Platform and Order Management Solutions.  The rapidly-growing women’s apparel brand operates 68 stores in Canada, and is able to expand its business beyond store logistics to create a truly national brand.

The new EclipseStores.com builds on the original site by now offering a full catalog of Eclipse merchandise. Utilizing OrderDynamics dynamic Product Merchandising applications, Eclipse offers customers the Shop This Outfit tool, which allows them to leverage product recommendations to create their perfect look. Additionally, shoppers can compile a Wish List of desired items and email to a friend, which is ideal for the upcoming holiday shopping season.

Eclipse Stores' Shop This Outfit Feature

Eclipse’s online store also leverages OrderDynamics retail Order Management Solution to provide their customers with the most convenient fulfillment options.  Using OrderDynamics distributed inventory-based Shipping Centre Module, Eclipse fulfills many online orders from local stores where possible, in addition to their distribution warehouse, which helps to minimize shipping costs for customers while also letting shoppers in cities where Eclipse does not currently have store locations to experience the Eclipse brand.  OrderDynamics Canada Post Integration also enables Eclipse to provide customers with the flexibility of having their online order shipped to their home or at a Canada Post location of their choice.

Eclipse' Check Store Stock tool

Also leveraging the Omni-Channel retail capabilities of the OrderDynamics Platform, Eclipse is able to provide a seamless cross-channel shopping experience. Each product page is synched with OrderDynamics’ Inventory Management System which supports the Check In-store Stock tool, allowing customers to quickly find nearby locations with their favourite items. Eclipse goes a step further with their Google Maps-Integrated Store Locator Module, which lists all locations according to a customer-specified distance from their postal code.

Eclipse's Google Maps-Integrated Store Locator Module

 The new EclipseStores.com is a great example of a leading omni-channel retailer, providing exceptional customer service both on- and offline.

OrderDynamics to Present Most Innovative Retailer Award at the 2013 Canada Post eCommerce Innovation Awards

September 9, 2013, Toronto, ON - OrderDynamics®, Canada’s leading On-Demand eCommerce and Order Management Solutions Provider, today announced their sponsorship of the Second Annual Canada Post eCommerce Innovation Awards Dinner and Gala, to take place September 25, 2013 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto.

The Canada Post eCommerce Innovation Awards seek to recognize and honour Canadian retailers who leverage leading technologies to create bold, innovative eCommerce strategies that are reshaping the Canadian retail landscape. This year, OrderDynamics will be proudly presenting the Most Innovative Retailer Award , which reveres retailers who exhibit ingenuity in utilizing the technologies available in their eCommerce solution to provide customers with a unique and dynamic online shopping experience. The event will also recognize large and small businesses in the Best Multi-Channel Retailer and Best E-Tailer Categories, as well Consumer Champion Award based on Canadian consumer votes.

“eCommerce adoption in Canada has really taken off in the last year, and consumers are increasingly turning to eCommerce to make more informed decisions and to make shopping more convenient. The Canada Post eCommerce Innovation Awards is a great way to recognize and reward those retailers who are innovating the way they serve customers and ultimately drive quality experiences,” said Michael Turcsanyi, President at OrderDynamics, and presenter of the Most Innovative Retailer Award. “We are honoured to present the Most Innovative Retailer Award and put the spotlight on leading Canadian retailers and encourage growth in Canadian online retail”.

Nominees for the Canada Post eCommerceInnovation Awards are based on applications submitted on behalf of retailers acknowledging their novel and ground-breaking use of their technology toolset. Canada Post will then select a list of finalists to be recognized during the Awards Dinner and Gala before presenting the Awards in each category. 

View our recap of the 2013 Canada Post eCommerce Innovation Awards Dinner and Gala here.

OrderDynamics Monthly Google Updates Report - August 2013

Throughout August, the various Google Platforms introduced new features and tools to help to enhance and simplify  creating, implementing and measuring both organic and paid search campaigns.

Google Search

Google Search remained relatively quiet in August, as has been seen over the last few months. On August 6, Google announced an addition to the Rich Snippets markup: In-Depth Search Snippets. The new Snippet aims to help users identify reference articles that provide detailed information on a subject rather than a quick answer by presenting the publisher name and logo within search results. For example, an article published by OrderDynamics would have “OrderDynamics Corporation” appended to its search result, along with a logo thumbnail. Google stated that this Snippet is currently only resonating on Google.com for English – which saw a 3% search rank fluctuation upon launch - and will gradually phase into other versions of Google.

There was a speculated algorithm update in late August, however feedback from SEO specialists is inconsistent . Google did not confirm or deny any such update.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics announced new reporting tools in August that seek to enable more automated reporting.  The Real Time API, launched in beta on August 1, acts as an extension to the traditional Real Time analytics tool, allowing users to not only view current traffic in real time, but to also query the tool to report on specific pages and URLs to better understand customer behaviour.

On August 19, Google introduced Google Tag Manager for Mobile Apps. The Tag Manager for Mobile Apps is implemented the same way as the desktop version, and enables developers to push updates to the app, configure changes, and insert tracking tags that will resonate to already downloaded versions of the app in addition to newer versions.  

August 20 saw the first update to the Attribution Model Comparison Tool that was launched in June. The Data Driven Attribution tool – available in Google Analytics Premium – is a more automated version of the Attribution Model Comparison Tool, wherein algorithms based on a user’s specific goals measure the differences between various conversion paths and their respective conversion probability. Google then applies values to highly weighted touchpoints in the conversion path so that users can optimize these areas to increase potential conversions.

Google Adwords

Google Adwords saw heavy updates throughout August, especially in the early part of the month. The updates are convenience-based, refining the number of steps and accounts needed to acquire certain campaign metrics and information. On August 2, the Adwords blog reported that 3 Adwords tools – Contextual Targeting tool, Placement tool, and Google Ad Planner – had been consolidated into one platform called the Google Display Planner.  A few days later, Google Adwords announced that advertisers could now compare ad performance week-to-week, similar to how weekly traffic comparisons can be viewed in Google Analytics. Comparisons can be viewed by clicking the ‘+’ sign now present above the ‘Clicks’ column in Adwords reports.  

On August 8, Adwords launched an improved Adwords for Video tool, that acts like a wizard to take advertisers through a campaign creation workflow, ensuring all the necessary steps are taken to create an effective video ad campaign. The same day, the Google Adwords integration into the Google Maps App was also announced. This can be implemented using the Location Extensions tool, and shows local business information for areas being viewed in the Google Maps App.

Later in the month, the Paid and Organic Search Report was introduced, which allows advertisers to compare how their organic and paid listings show up in search results according to specific queries. This tool is beneficial as many advertisers struggle to understand whether to allocate more resources to paid or organic search, as well as how either initiative affects the other. The report identifies keywords that a business ranks for organically, but does not currently pay for so that they may decide to, as well as measure changes in paid and organic search ranking that may result from website updates as opposed to specific SEO or SEM initiatives.

On August 26, Adwords implemented very useful cross-account tools to remedy the issue of a single conversion being reported as many if the conversion path touched multiple ads from different campaigns. Cross-Account Conversion Tracking utilizes a single tag to monitor conversions across all campaigns/accounts so they are not double-counted, while the Cross-Account Search Funnels shows the specific conversion path for each purchase.

Google also phased out their Google Adwords Keyword Tool in August, transitioning to the Google Adwords Keyword Planner. As with the old Keyword Tool, the new Keyword Planner generates keyword recommendations for specific URLs with their respective average monthly searches and level of competition, but also provides information on average cost per click and ad impression share. The additional features help to optimize keyword bids by providing a visual estimate of potential ad costs depending on the keyword used.