Andrew Salmon at Kelkoo: A changing e-commerce space and how brands deal with it?

The very nature of how consumers interact with brands is changing rapidly within the e-commerce space, agencies are increasingly on the lookout for partners such as Kelkoo that understand how to cut through the chaos and put the consumer first. Andrew Salmon, advisor at Kelkoo, tells us more in this interview.

Andrew Salmon and Cutting edge solutions for Agencies

Andrew Salmon is a British businessman and entrepreneur, most famous for his involvement as the CEO of the innovative energy supplier price-comparison web service, uSwitch.com. He currently works for Kelkoo.com, one of the leading shopping comparison sites in the world.

What are sophisticated e-commerce clients now requiring from their agencies to deliver cutting edge solutions?

I think there’s a couple of things here, but I feel that the key answer is it’s a bit of a moveable feast. I will say that the one key underlying factor is that clients want agency partners who understand their business, not just the most effective way to invest the media dollars or achieve some sort of visibility, they want agency partners who really understand how a business makes money.

Partners who are able to speak the language of range management and price hierarchy for example, this is such an important part of how clients are organising themselves. I’m not saying that we would be going about and advising clients on their pricing strategy, but it’s crucial to understand how these decisions drive consumer-facing communication.

Andrew Salmon thinks Agencies need to be putting experts on the business, that have the understanding and drive to utilise and effectively deploy their tools to deliver growth.

What key advancements do you see coming in the near future within the e-commerce marketplace?

I think that the real big development we will see is visual. The way that we currently navigate the web is incredibly visual and I feel that this will go to the next level. The visual representation of products, such as image based shopping or whether that means Instagram becomes a shopping-orientated platform, I think that image is going to shape the next breakthrough iteration.

The other aspect that I feel will be really important is the further integration of online and offline. I think that businesses that are able to genuinely join up experience across online and offline, working with each other, can deliver a truly integrated and dynamic approach. No business can afford to get that wrong.

Who’s doing that well in this space?

I think a company that does this incredibly well is Waitrose. Grocery is a tough area to innovate in, but I think what Waitrose offer is remarkable. They have been able to deploy technology to solve issues, such as their ‘pick your own offers’, meaning that consumers can choose products on which they are rewarded with a consistent discount is almost a new spin on ‘subscribe and save’ in my view.

I think that the way that they deploy technology in store to make this happen, which is subsequently reflected on your online My Waitrose account is wonderful. Waitrose is a company that seems to getting it right.

To read more about Andrew Salmon and Kelkoo visit his other blog at http://andrewsalmon.co.uk.