Moosejaw Bites Into mCommerce
Hip and happening outdoor gear and clothing retailer Moosejaw Mountaineering (#297 on Internet Retailer’s top 500 of 2006) is blazing new trails in mobile marketing. Recognizing its key demographic spends more time texting than talking or emailing, Moosejaw joined forces with mobile marketing firm Messagebuzz Inc, and introduced “Moosejaw Texting.”
With the intention of making their customers’ day “fun,” Moosejaw allows customers to subscribe to the Deal of the Day or the quirky Daily Remark texts. Apparently the company had no idea how successful the “Moosejaw Texting” strategy would be. For example, this message achieved a jaw-dropping response rate of 66%:
“Text me back with rock, paper or scissors. I already know what I’m throwing and if you beat me I’ll add 100 Moosejaw Points to your account now.”
Fun, quick (the longest message would be 8 characters) and a bit of playful generosity. Everybody in the customer loyalty program who replied to the text message got the points, even if you didn’t pick the correct “paper” option. Another promo asked their text-list to message back with their least favorite flick and rewarded them with 20% off coupons. Humor + Discounts = Customer-Engagement-Marketing-Genius. Throw in a little customer service to the mix: the texting goes both ways — customers can text product or order questions or just random messages to THEJAW.
Moosejaw runs six stores in Michigan and Illinois, and six web properties: Moosejaw.com, MoosejawRewards.com, TheJaw.com, AdventureWatches.com, ThaLowdown.com and CampMoosejaw.com. The m-store can be accessed at www.moosejaw.mobi.
HOW DO YOU GET M-TAILING?
Moosejaw uses Seattle-based mPoria’s GoMobile! m-commerce platform. When customers place an order by phone, it’s processed just like an online order and payment processing is handled by Paypal Mobile Checkout. Retailers and etailers can subscribe to GoMobile for a monthly flat fee based on SKUs with three tiers: $69.99, $99.99 or $149.99. mPoria also runs a shopping portal that charges 5-20% per sale. Even if you don’t have a mobile presence, you can choose your site colors and upload a logo and mPoria will get you up and running for a modest set-up fee of $99.
You gotta check out the live demo, super fun, even if a search for Lionel Ritchie yields no results.
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Wait so does moosejaw allow you to text or is sort of like a mobile coupon or updater. i dont know if peekamo has anything like this but if it catches on theres gonna be a lot of spammers trying to copy what they do.
Hi Mikey,
You can text back to Moosejaw with customer service questions or in response to MJ’s promos and contests.
Because it’s opt-in and it’s easy to opt-out, spamming is not necessarily a huge problem. It would be if companies were buying into marketing lists, which is certainly going to be a hesitation for consumers, and requires that retailers have a very clear privacy policy on how they handle customer information.
But even opt in programs can become spam if you over-deploy your marketing messages. It’s signal vs. noise - if you text market about low-value things, you’ll get tuned out or people will remove themselves. If you focus on only killer promos and messages/news items, then you’ll be less likely to incur backlash or be considered spamming.
FYI - the MessageBuzz link incorrectly links to megabuzz.com. Great post though.
@ Adam, thanks for the heads up, corrected now.
Great article. Tell me Linda why is it that the big boys have not adopted these ideas? Is it because Moose Jaw has an advantage they miss or is it because they’re too big to adapt quick enough?
I think the big-boyz are either unaware they can do this (or how), are waiting to see how other companies do it successfully before investing time in it, or their market would never catch on.
Moosejaw’s lucky it’s got the young savvy target market that can figure out the whole text thing. LOL
I guess you are right. But I can think of 20 old school giant retailers that target the same demographic as Moose Jaw and still don’t do any of this.
Just one more reason why those big retailers should be reading our blogs, Rishi ;)