Kellogg’s preps its first-ever mobile virtual store

Kellogg’s is to launch its first-ever mobile virtual store to identify new sales opportunities after hailing the “better than expected” response to an ecommerce platform trial.

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Kellogg’s is looking to expand its ecommerce offering to mobile in a bid to grow digital revenues.

The service will debut later this year for the Special K range ahead of versions for other Kellogg’s brands such as Crunchy Nut. It will function in the same way as Special K’s existing virtual store, whereby users can add any of the featured products to their next online shop with their preferred retailer without leaving the portal.

The cereal maker says more than 20,000 customers have “actively engaged” with the platform since its launch last October and just under 3 per cent go on to add a product to their basket. Average dwell time on the site was over 3 minutes during this period with the company seeing a direct correlation with the length of time spent and its use of online video.

Kellogg’s digital manager Leanda Falcon told Marketing Week the results are “encouraging” since the brand has not “put any real advertising spend”. She adds the business is initially using the online platform, developed in partnership with online ecommerce platform Dotter, to garner insights on online purchasing behaviour. The information will then be used to develop new ecommerce opportunities for all Kellogg’s brands in the coming years.

“The ecommerce activity we’re developing at the moment is about giving our consumers choice in how they interact with us”, says Falcon. “Online grocery sales are set to double in the next five years and we want to be able to capitalise on this by setting up a framework across all digital channels for our customers now.”

The flurry of activity is part of a wider move from the business to grow online sales. It has already launched virtual stores for some of its other brands and introduced a similar initiative with Tesco and MySupermarket. Additionally, it is currently using online shopping tool Slingshot to let customers add items to online baskets at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Ocado directly from its Facebook page.

FMCG companies Kleenex, Diageo and GSK have all recently launched their own direct selling sites as they look to glean insight and add value to their digital offering.

Key statistics from the Special K virtual store trial

  1. On Facebook, over 50 per cent of people who reach the landing page of the Special K store demonstrate a level of purchase intent by selecting a retailer to enter it an browse products.
  2. From online media, it is 21 per cent.
  3. For consumers who do not add products to their online basket, a voucher is offered (50p off in-store). 5 per cent of consumers who are offered the voucher enter their contact details to receive.
  4. Shoppers who enter the store are on average likely to look at 3 or more products before leaving.

Source Dotter.

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