Posted by Coronavirus disease has affected the way businesses are done. Many had to pause their processes, and countless were forced to close. The only industry that saw consistent growth amid the global pandemic is ecommerce.
The way ecommerce flourished during the virus outbreak and lockdown, seems like it is already for whatever situation may come. However, as the time and priority of customers change, the industry will also be impelled to consider some transformations.
The fact that online shopping will get bigger and bigger with time cannot be denied. But, ecommerce businesses will need to adopt their strategies with the changing behavior of the consumer and scenarios trending within the market.
The global ecommerce sale will continue to surge, and if you envision your business to join the momentum (or to follow the path to recovery if you were unable to mark an impact during the crisis), you will need to watch out for these trends that are going to pave the way for the future of ecommerce –
1. Marketplaces Are Going To Adopt Too.
With customers, their attractors and the factors that attract them will also change. In the new normal, where contactless transactions have become a prerequisite, marketplaces will go for changes to regain the attention and trust of their old customers. For this, you may have to fight a battle to shed your margins or to provide free and faster doorstep delivery to your customers.
It is, in fact, one of the biggest challenges for an ecommerce business to keep their customers interested, especially when stats suggest that 75% of customers do not buy from the same shop again.
So, it will be imperative for businesses to implement focused strategies that bring customers back and help in retention. The solutions: broaden your presence. Be present on different marketplaces to gain the attention of customers from multiple dimensions.
You can list your products on top marketplaces in your industry. You could also try to build your marketplace, where you will have control over the data of the visitors and consumers.
2. B2B ECommerce Will Also Surge.
If you haven’t set up your ecommerce website for your clients yet, this is the time. The pandemic has brought a sea change in the buying patterns as well. Customers had no option but to buy online, and they kind of liked it because of conveniences and reasonable prices.
People now order many different things they need, apart from fashion, gadgets, and appliances. The sales of furniture, automobile parts, large home appliances, and groceries have reached new heights. Interestingly, retailers are also looking for stocks (in bulk) for stores or showroom.
You can leverage this trend to attract customers (which you can now call your clients); for this, you will need to restructure your product pricing and make a few alterations on your website.
3. Video Ads on Social Media –
After the attack of the Chinese virus, when people were forced to stay home, we saw a massive rise in the consumption of videos on social networks and OTT.
Video in the present scenario is the most effective way to market your brands. You can create high-quality, meaningful video ads for your products, and post them on your social network timeline. You could also show your video through ads on different social networks. This will increase your brand’s visibility, engagement, and chances of sales by manifolds.
Though, your video should simply explain why your customers should buy your product, without a direct marketing approach. You wouldn’t want to act like an aggressive marketer here.
One more improvement to your video marketing efforts: partner with an industry influencer. It will skyrocket your engagement and with that, your sales. Apparently, it is quite a challenge for marketers to create compelling videos consistently. But, this is an easy battle for influencers.
Just find small and micro influencers within your industry, and join hands to create videos that perform.
4. Rise of Mobile Shopping –
The number of people using mobile phones is rising with each passing year. But, why do people use mobile phones? To talk, for video calls, to socialize, to watch videos, to get information for their queries, and above all, to shop for products and services they need.
By the end of 2021, sales carried out from mobile devices are expected to increase by 15% to 73% of overall ecommerce sales. Experts believe the sales will experience growth in the year 2022 as well.
If you still haven’t optimized your ecommerce store for mobile, you should kick it in as soon as possible.
Let’s talk about iCustomLabel, a website that offers customized stickers, labels, and other custom designed creative online. They moved to a mobile-friendly website. Since then, they have seen a huge 67% surge in their website traffic and over 30% sales growth from mobile.
5. Better Personalization –
The key to ecommerce success lies in personalization. The more personalized a customer feels with your brand, the better.
You have to make your customers feel special and valued. Without that, no ecommerce store will be able to gain their trust.
In the cutthroat market of today, customers want their offers to be tailored for their unique requirements. Personalized messaging, like chats and emails, increases customer engagement by 72%.
In ecommerce, there are several other ways you can personalize experience for your customers.
Image source – Bloomreach
Here is a simple example: if a customer purchases a phone from your ecommerce store, you can recommend mobile cases, flip covers, and screen guards suitable for his/her phone. If you sell insurance, then you can offer them plans designed for their mobile phone and needs.
Customers love these efforts, and trends suggest that they convert.
You can include artificial intelligence and machine learning based tools in your CRM to capture the behavior, buying patterns, and needs of your customers. These tools are able to send personalized recommendations and offers to your customers. You can send them special offers for their special days like birthdays and customer anniversary using your AI-enabled CRM.
If the customer searches for a product on your website, you could send them a list of offers related to that product. Similarly, if a customer dislikes or hides a recommendation, it would be a blunder to show that product again. Customize your website so the customer sees what he/she actually wants to see, engage with, and buy.
Bottom Line –
The use of analytics will flourish in 2022. To better prepare for the future, you will need to analyze the sales metrics, consumer data, and performance of your brands and categories, and every other data available at your disposal.
Evaluate, weave, and implement strategies learning from those valuable insights. Don’t forget to fine-tune your strategies, if they don’t work to your expectations.
About the Author:
Birbahadur Singh Kathayat is an Entrepreneur, internet marketer and Co-founder of Lbswebsoft, a digital marketing company, and has 13 years in digital Marketing experience and helping some of the biggest companies build their brands and keep their reputation while increasing sales in the process.
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