Page 52 - AVN August 2016

by BRADYJANSEN
Turned On(line)
Online retailers use technology to stay on top of trends
Jeff Dillon knows there are advantages that
brick-and-mortar stores will always have over
their online retail counterparts: customers can
look at the products in person, touch them, ask
a store associate questions and have instant access to
their purchases.
“How we try to close this gap is have as much
product info on the site as possible about the
products, like multiple pictures and detailed
descriptions,” says the vice president of business
development and marketing at eLine.com and
consultant for Gamelink.com, adding that fast
shipping, good customer service and a good return
policy helps customers’ confidence in that they won’t
be stuck with a product they aren’t satisfied with.
“The online retail experience offers customers
more choices than ever before. Our catalog is
constantly growing—we add roughly 200 to 300
products a week. As the adult market grows,
more companies are getting into the business,
and established companies are diversifying their
offerings. Many of the traditional video companies
are now offering sex toys, penis pills and lingerie to
capture more customers,” Dillon says.
“Our biggest advantage over brick and mortar
is that we collect a ton of data on our users and
we can dynamically merchandise the site based on
user preferences. This data also allows us to market
more effectively to the user. We know if that user
is a toy customer and movie customer, what type
of content they like, etc. And we present the users
with products that they are interested in through our
various marketing channels and up-sells.”
Dillon notes that improvements in technology
allow them to use one-to-one marketing instead
of a one-size-fits-all approach. Gamelink can make
intelligent recommendations based on a number of
different data-collection points, and can do targeted
email marketing. When it adds a product to its catalog, it can message the appropriate users who will be
interested in that product.
Erik Schut, managing director for TLA Entertainment Group, says the more advanced technology becomes,
the better for consumers. “It certainly helps to determine faster what’s selling, what motivates people, what
turns them on, what they love, what they hate. But it also helps in communicating with customers better. In
this ‘now-now-now’ of today’s world, patience doesn’t go as far as it used to—and still should—so that direct
contact is key. Social media has changed everything, in ways both good and bad. Anonymous trolls often have a
field day. But any retailer who’s not on some type of social media platform and not interacting with their client
base or customers is doomed to fail.”
He adds that when it comes to the online retail experience, customers are also seeing a stable, reliable
source. “With so many new sites and aggregators popping up on a daily basis, maintaining the customer’s
loyalty needs to always be tops on any retailer’s mind. With more and more people going mobile, companies
need to stay nimble and evolve at a quicker rate than they might have in the past.”
SugarInstant also relies on technology to optimize the experience on both ends.
“Technology today has allowed us to create a smart recommendation system,” says Natasha Valiente,
business development.
“Eighty percent of users make selections based off of recommendations. Because of this, each individual
customer is offered personalized and relevant recommendations based on the aggregate of all consumer data.
This allows for a better user experience, and shortens the time between landing and conversion,”
But she notes that the DVD market continues to face a big challenge. “We quickly noticed that consumers
What the industry needs to do is go back
to basics—finding the niche that you’re really
good at and running with it. And the best
advice that seems to be heeded less
and less: Make good content.
—Erik Schut, managing director,
TLA Entertainment Group
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