NetSuite Adds Social Media and SEM Functions

NetSuite Inc., a vendor of cloud computing business software suites, has announced a new version of its eCommerce cloud platform that incorporates new social media and search engine marketing (SEM) capabilities, tightly integrating them with its end-to-end eCommerce business management suite to bring together applications for eCommerce, customer relationship marketing (CRM), and finance/accounting.

Advertisers looking to optimize their ROI from search engine marketing will be heartened by NetSuite’s unique closed-loop approach to campaign management. New, scriptable checkout capabilities ensure that merchants can support a limitless range of custom processes as a purchase is committed. And because the new platform offers unparalleled open access to third-party developers, NetSuite can offer an "ecosystem" of specialized sales, marketing, merchandising and payment capabilities.

NetSuite claims to be the only fully-integrated cloud computing platform which can directly correlate content from blogs, forums, product reviews, gift registries, and live chat with complete customer activity and purchase history, and tie that information directly to a complete CRM system and product database, making NetSuite a truly actionable social commerce platform. Capabilities provided by NetSuite partners such as PowerReviews, Fluid, LivePerson, and MyRegistry enable companies to market, sell, and support customers based not just on purchase history, but the complete social trail left by that customer.

"Companies merchandise better when they understand thoroughly how their customers are responding to their purchases." says NetSuite. For example, a customer’s positive review of one product can be used to personalize the eCommerce experience for that customer, leading to the recommendation of a similar product. The wisdom of the crowd can also be considered in aggregate. Merchants can analyze trends in forum, blog, and comment discussions about needs, wants, and preferences, and recalibrate marketing campaigns and inventory to match customer demand.

Search engine marketing is the single most important eCommerce expenditure, yet for most businesses, it is also the most opaque. NetSuite, in conjunction with development partners KENSHOO and myDIALS, merges the art and science of search engine marketing in an end-to-end solution that enhances ROI by providing complete visibility into every step of the marketing process, and by tailoring campaigns to tangible business goals.

Closed-loop marketing and actual profitability measurements track true lifetime ROI of every marketing campaign. With NetSuite, each campaign is tied in real-time to the revenue generated and the cost of the goods sold, providing true profitability analysis. Campaigns are also tied to lifetime revenue, as each shopper’s purchase history is tracked seamlessly across all sales channels.

Goal-Driven SEM

Also important is the introduction of goal-driven search engine marketing campaigns. After defining targets, such as visitor generation, revenue, or product sales, the NetSuite eCommerce platform, working with KENSHOO technology, can automatically realign keywords and change spending patterns in order to reach those goals. MyDIALS provides direct feeds of Google AdWords campaign success to the NetSuite dashboard, enabling managers and executives to evaluate the profitability of campaigns in real time.

Because NetSuite is both powerful and easy to customize, workflow and business logic can be carefully tailored to match back-office requirements and customer experience goals. Nowhere is this more critical than at checkout — the consummation of the transaction. NetSuite’s scriptable checkout enables merchants to define rules and procedures to determine promotions, discounts, inventory selection, complex global taxation rules, and more. Shipments can be quickly allocated to the right warehouse to meet cost or service considerations based on each shopper’s address or other key order characteristics.

SuiteFlow, NetSuite’s integrated workflow management solution, empowers merchants to quickly create point-and-click rules-based workflows that automate, streamline, and improve common business processes, without pricey IT support. Merchants can automate their workflow based on business logic to trigger fraud reviews, speed up fulfillment processes, and set up purchasing rules.