Boosting Ecommerce Success: Key takeaways from NES Midsummer 2024

This July, we were back with our annual NES Midsummer events in New York and London, celebrating our Nordic heritage and fostering connections with online brands and ecommerce partners alike! This year’s festivities included several engaging panel discussions that delved into the intricacies of customer experience, CLTV, unified commerce, and scaling businesses internationally. Here’s a roundup of some of the best bits!

NES Midsummer Stockholm

In Stockholm, we opened our first panel, ‘Mastering the Customer Experience to Power Conversions & CLTV’ which welcomed our client, Scorett, alongside ecommerce experts from our partners MAPP and Endless Gain.

Vidar Tirén, Ecommerce Manager at Scorett, a Swedish footwear brand, shared their approach to measuring CLTV across both physical stores and online. Vidar emphasized the importance of understanding acquisition costs and balancing new and returning traffic. They also highlighted the significant role of their loyalty club in driving engagement and in-store traffic, with loyalty club members exhibiting higher engagement and conversion rates compared to standard shoppers.

We then heard from Alexandros Drosinos, Pre-sales Consultant at Mapp, who provided data on how various channels typically drive traffic for merchants, and emphasized the importance of a multi-channel approach and personalizing customer experiences based on individual preferences:

• Email Marketing: 20-25%
• Social Media: 10-15%
• Paid Search and Display Ads: 10-20%
• Organic Search: 15-20%
• Direct Traffic: 20-30%
• Affiliate Marketing: 5-10%

Emelie Jansson, Senior Account Manager, Nosto chimed in by discussing how a merchant’s search experience directly impacts CLTV, highlighting that search users typically exhibit high intent, leading to higher CLTV compared to non-search users. She stressed the need to optimize search functionality to capture this valuable traffic.

The panelists also shared insights from various testing scenarios with clients, focusing on search-related tests that improved conversion rates (CR) and CLTV. Garret Cunningham, Director of Global Optimization at Endless Gain shared several examples where brands had seen significant impacts, such as a UK client whose Product Detail Page (PDP) redesign led to a 14% increase in conversion rate, resulting in approximately £20M additional revenue annually. They emphasized the importance of continual experimentation and learning from tests that did not perform as expected.

Our second panel in Stockholm explored the topic of ‘Beyond Borders: Scaling Internationally & Localizing the Customer Experience’. This panel featured experts from Panagora, Shopify, and other leading organizations discussing the complexities of international expansion and localization. Key takeaways included:

Panelists stressed the importance of immersing oneself in local cultures and markets to better empathize with customers. This involves adapting marketing strategies and logistical operations to meet regional preferences and demands.

One recurring theme was the value of maintaining a streamlined tech stack. Leveraging robust platforms like Shopify Plus, and integrating those with essential tools such as Klaviyo for email marketing, allows businesses to operate efficiently and scale effectively without overcomplicating their systems.

The discussion highlighted the financial challenges of international expansion, emphasizing the need for strategic financial management and partnerships to ensure sustainable growth. They noted the significance of managing cash flow, understanding the cost of entering new markets and securing appropriate financing.

To get a taste of what the NES Midsummer event was like, check out our Stockholm highlights video:

NES Midsummer NYC

In New York, we welcomed an array of partners and ecommerce brands at Brooklyn Winery where they enjoyed music, food, and drinks. Of course, we also hosted panel discussions filled with interesting conversations.

Luckily for those who couldn’t attend, we recorded NYC panels for you to watch in your own time! These sessions covered:

Unlocking Unified Commerce to Streamline Growth & Deliver Seamless Shopping Experiences

This panel explored strategies for integrating various sales channels to create a cohesive and streamlined shopping experience for customers, ultimately driving growth and customer satisfaction. Participants included:

• Allyssa Kaiser, Vice President, DTC + Performance Marketing at NEST New York
• Megan Maquera, Director of E-Commerce at ASSOULINE
• Tony Tirri, Head of Agency Partnerships at Nosto
• Mac King, Co-founder & CRO at Domaine
• Carla Wright, Senior Enterprise Architect at Shopify

Mastering the Customer Experience to Power Conversions & CLTV

Building on the discussions from Stockholm, this panel delved deeper into tactics for optimizing customer experience to enhance conversion rates and maximize CLTV. This panel featured:

• Shannon McTeague, Senior Director of Ecommerce at Jenny Bird
• Chloe Pascal, Head of Global Marketing at Nosto
• Jake Cohen, VP of Shopify at Klaviyo
• Jamie Burkes, Manager of Customer Success at Nosto
• Jon Knott, Director, Ecosystem Partnerships at Tapcart

We love hosting Midsummer, from the thought-leading panels to seeing our customers face-to-face and connecting with new brands, this event showcases the collaborative spirit and innovative thinking that drive the ecommerce industry forward. 

We look forward to continuing these conversations and fostering even more connections at future NES Midsummer events.

If you’d like to join us for an NES event, keep an eye out on our event calendar for upcoming opportunities here.