In this slideshare, we at Wishpond want to show some of the small stuff Apple does to make its indoctrinated consumers coming back for more. Apple is the global giant in eCommerce. Consumers of Apple products are dedicated, loyal followers, to say the least. You will find them lining up for days to be the first to get a new product, engraving a product to give to a loved one, or even spending hours of a day off in a technology store. Is it a store? Or is it a lifestyle, with its own dogma? And how does a multinational maker of technology devices evoke such an emotional bond with customers? Your ecommerce store may not be the giant that Apple is, but you can learn from the retail details that Apple uses. Full text of article available at: http://corp.wishpond.com/blog/2013/02/04/7-icommerce-tips-learning-from-apple/

1. 7 iCommerce Tips:
Learning From Apple

3. Table of Contents
1 Make your online store easy to navigate
2 Keep choices to a minimum
3 Build relationships with your customers, even online
4 Make sure support is always available and accessible
5 Personalize the shopping experience
6 Segregate your social platforms if you have multiple markets
7 Inform and teach your customers to create loyalty

4. Make your online
1
store easy to navigate

5. Make your online store easy to navigate
● The online store is simple, has the nearly
trademarked white space, and clearly defines
the five major products Apple sells.
● Product headers are easy to see and navigate
through.
● At all times, the “Buy Now” button (in blue) is
available for the prospective buyer.
● The product specs are simply laid out and
easy to touch or click on, as the customer
navigates through the buying process.
● Once in the advanced sales funnel process,
the purchaser is directed to very visual
choices, making the options very clear and
extremely easy to navigate.

6. What can retailers learn from this?
Create a visually pleasing online store and showcase
1
your products with your consumer in mind.
Make your sales funnel easy to start on your site.
2
Create distinct “buy” buttons.
3 Keep your products sorted, with distinct navigation buttons.
If possible, allow for changes along the sales process without
4
causing problems for your customer.

7. Keep choices to a
2
minimum

8. Keep choices to a minimum
● Consumers buy when they have fewer
choices - too many decisions leave the
customer paralyzed in purchasing.
● Apple has hundreds of thousands of products
available through its site, yet it keeps choices
to a minimum.
● Products are sorted neatly into simple header
sections.
● Clicking into one section, leads the consumer
into further easy to see and and easy to
manage choices.
● A consumer is not overwhelmed, making for a
more pleasant shopping experience.
● The buyer is likely to purchase again.

9. What can retailers learn from this?
If you have many products in your store, bundle them
1
in categories.
Show your prospective consumer more choices only
2
as they make their way through the sales funnel.
Let your consumer know you have options, but don't
3
overwhelm them with too much choice all at once.

10. Build relationships with your
3
customers, even online

11. Build relationships with your customers, even online
● At Apple, a core aspect of its retail training is
customer relationships.
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c used d
i sn't fo focuse ● This applies online and offline.
" [S]taff tuff, it's s
s nship ● The eCommerce site is filled with clickable
selling ding relatio visuals - the customer is not obliged to buy,
il e
on bu ing to mak r.”
but is welcome to 'hang out' and play around
with the product.
y te
and tr 's lives bet ● The site offers a clear, distinct phone number
e
peopl for ‘questions’. with happy sales staff
photographed by taglines of “Get answers
before you buy” and “Get support that’s
personal”.
- Ron Johnson, Former Senior
Vice President of Retail ● Additionally, they have an active community
Operations at Apple Inc., in section on the site, where customers can ask
and answer Apple related topics directly with
Harvard Business Review other customers.

12. What can retailers learn from this?
1 Customers online are just as valuable to your bottom
line as customers who walk in to your bricks and
mortar store. Treat them as such.
Create easy options for your customer to reach you
2
for questions, not just sales and support.
3 Create a community for your customers. You can do this in a
forum type outlet, like Apple.
You can also do this through your social media sites, such as
by setting up common hashtags on Twitter, active posts on
Facebook, or unique boards on Pinterest.

13. Make sure support is always
4
available and accessible

14. Make sure support is
always available and
accessible ● Support is extremely accessible, and always
available.
● The online store has distinct visual options for
support on all the major products.
● Each leads to an easy to navigate support
page with notable topics, resources and
contact options.
● Downloadable fixes and updates are at the
ready.
● Manuals and video tutorials are simple to
access.
● Communities are available to garner support
from fellow Apple product users.

15. What can retailers learn from this?
1 Customers online are just as valuable to your bottom
line as customers who walk in to your bricks and
mortar store. Treat them as such.
2 Create various options for customer support.
For example, keep product manuals on your website.
3 If your product is a particularly technical one, but your
consumer is not, make your support team seem friendly.
For example, show faces of your staff on your support page.

16. Personalize the shopping
5
experience

17. Personalize the shopping experience
● Apple is all about being a little bit different,
and having individualized, personal choices.
● Apple knows how to customize a product,
from a variety of accessories for any of your
products, to personal engravings.
● The online store creates a very personal
feeling, with many of the products shown with
human faces, or interesting places.
● The written content on the site is professional,
limited, and colloquial.
● Products like iTunes and Apple TV offer you
your choices, anytime, anywhere, and anyhow
you like it.

18. What can retailers learn from this?
1 Offer customized and personalized options for your
products. For example, offer gift wrapping services
that a customer can choose and personalize.
2 Show your face, or the face of staff or customers (if
they are willing) on your site.
Pay attention to the tone of your written content on
3 your site.
Are you writing to connect with your customer?

19. Multiple Markets?
6 Segregate your social
platforms

20. Multiple Markets?
Segregate your social platforms
● Believe it or not, Apple really doesn't do a lot
in the way of social media.
● When they do, they have multiple, segregated
Facebook and Twitter accounts.
● They use the social sites to promote new
songs, movies, apps, TV, books, educational
material, and podcasts.
● 2 Facebook Pages: iTunes and Apps
● 7 Twitter handles: music, apps, TV, Movie,
iTunesU, Bookstore and Podcasts
● Favorite songs are easily shared by fans to
friends.
● Songs, albums and other products are
streamlined to purchase with a click from
Facebook to iTunes.

21. What can retailers learn from this?
1 With multiple products targeting multiple markets, set
up specific social platforms to interact with your
audience.
2 Promote your products, but keep the lifestyle of your
consumer in mind, and post about related stuff too.
Set up a social store on your Facebook page to make it
3 easy for your fans to purchase your wares, and to
share this with their friends.
4 An easy way to set up a social store is through
Wishpond’s Social Marketing Suite

22. Inform and teach to create
7
customer loyalty

23. Inform and teach to create customer
loyalty
● Teaching your customers about your products
creates loyalty.
● The more informed a consumer is about your
product, the more they feel like they know it
well, and the more they will appreciate it.
● Apple rules in this domain. The site has:
○ A plethora of cleanly designed videos,
and simple how-to’s
○ Detailed specs for every product, with
comparisons to other Apple products
○ Manuals and user guides available for
every device
○ Easy quick start guides
○ Warranty information
● And, if you still need more information,
customer service is available through a clearly
marked 1-800 number on the site, or at your
nearby Apple store.

24. What can retailers learn from this?
1 Educate your customers about your product by having
easily accessible information on your site.
2 Make simple how-to videos about your products. You
can embed these on your online store site, as well as
social sites.
3 Include specifications about your product, so that the
consumer can choose which product is right for them.

25. Thank you for viewing!
Contact us at sales@wishpond.com for a personal social marketing consultation.
wishpond.com
Written by:
Krista Bunskoek
PR & Content Marketing Manager
Wishpond
@wishpond