The fact that lockdowns did not completely halt life and the economy is thanks to online sales. For many industries, it was a lifeline; in others, it accelerated digital transformation. For the e-commerce sector itself, the pandemic was an injection of new solutions. Experts at merce.com have identified seven that will stay with us for longer, including three that are very important for retail company managers.
It is unlikely that after the official end of the pandemic we will still be wearing masks and disinfecting our hands. However, it is already clear that many people will continue to work remotely. The same goes for online sales. Some restaurants that set up home delivery via online platforms as an emergency measure during lockdown are abandoning this often unprofitable option. However, many businesses that invested in their own e-commerce channels are seeing how those several months changed the dynamics of their growth.
Here are 7 phenomena from the world of e-commerce that are no longer niche after the pandemic:
TRENDS FOR BUYERS AND SELLERS
1. Streamlined purchasing paths
As long as online shopping was mainly done by people who had spent years getting used to online store interfaces and were determined to make a purchase, the problem of improving conversion was not so pressing. Naturally, analyses emerged showing that a poorly designed UX at each stage of the purchasing path causes some customers to be lost, but it was only the influx of a new group of shoppers unfamiliar with the internet that showed just how large the scale of these losses could be.
E-commerce managers set about improving their websites, and thanks to this, today it is harder to come across an unintuitive menu, a search engine that finds nothing, or to get stuck with an order at a point where you really do not know what to do next. Growing competition will in time force similar changes on those who are still dragging their feet.
2. More personalisation and loyalty programmes
Before the pandemic, sellers actively encouraged collecting points and discount coupons, but mainly during in-store purchases. In recent months, it turned out that customers expect the shopping experiences they know from physical stores to be available online as well. What is more, they also appreciate it when, online, just as in a physical store, a seller recommends an item that suits them rather than one that happens to be on promotion. Although marketing communication online is mass-scale, it can be far more effective when tailored to different target groups - by gender, age, interests or previous purchasing choices. In post-pandemic e-commerce, it is becoming the norm not only to collect customer data but also to use it to build consistent communication.
- If we ask customers for their name at checkout, we should address them by name later on. Even when they realise this happens automatically, they will appreciate the attention to this small detail. It is worth remembering that personalisation in marketing activities, which has already become something of a standard, is still only the first step. In time, the very content of the store or mobile app should become personalised, so that when customers open it they first see offers related to their recent purchases - notes Marcin Rutkowski, Brand Operations Manager at merce.com.
3. A new approach to marketplaces
The enormous popularity of marketplace sites has convinced manufacturers that they will not be able to attract all customers to their own store, because for some of them online shopping will always begin and end on Allegro or Amazon. That is why brands are striving to reach customers with their offer where online shoppers spend the most time.
Recent months, however, have been a time of strong expansion of marketplaces both in terms of their growing number (retail chains and supermarkets are developing them, sites focused on a specific industry or apps with a single product group are appearing) and their offer. For brands with their own store, this is not always good news - the same product in a marketplace offer may rank better in search engines, and even if available at the same price it may be cheaper for premium users of the site, who receive e.g. free delivery, while profits from sales through this channel are usually lower.
That is why experts advise manufacturers to analyse their marketplace strategy and not try to sell everything everywhere they can. More and more companies are taking a more thoughtful approach to working with marketplaces, for example choosing one key partnership while withdrawing from others during that time.
4. Buying in mobile apps
Shopping in mobile apps
Key online shopping trends for buyers and sellers
In recent years, most visits to online stores already take place via mobile devices, and nearly half of purchases are completed via smartphones and tablets. In younger age groups, but also for products such as clothing, the mobile channel is clearly dominant.
What has clearly strengthened this mobile trend in recent months are shopping apps. For many retail chains, launching their own app during the pandemic was a clear signal that they were not simply waiting out a difficult time but betting on the internet. But apps have more than just an image aspect. Apps that allow stores to send notifications about discounts or issue loyalty coupons are becoming a way of building a fully omnichannel ecosystem.
TRENDS FOR CMOs IN THE RETAIL SECTOR
1. Delivery in the form of curbside pickup
Curbside pickup
During lockdowns, the idea of collecting online purchases on-site at the store had something of a pandemic makeshift about it (especially since sometimes, true to its name, it actually took place from the curb outside the supermarket). It quickly turned out, however, that this model is simply very efficient even without social distancing. According to Digital Commerce research, in the USA nearly half of retail chains already enable collection of online purchases via curbside pickup. This means that a sizable consumer group is emerging for whom this solution is preferred, and a store offering it may be decisive when choosing where to shop.
2. Caring for positive experiences of the "new to the internet"
New customers and their experiences
The aforementioned group of consumers who "discovered" online shopping during the pandemic had their reasons for not noticing it for many years. In common opinion, buying online was considered difficult, risky and too drawn out over time. The first of these drawbacks is neutralised by improving store UX so that it is harder to get lost in them, while the remedy for the other two is having as many payment and delivery options as possible, so that users come across solutions they already know from somewhere and trust.
It is also worth extending a helping hand to new customers by launching a hotline or chat, and placing a visible encouragement in the store to use these services in case of doubt. Such an investment can pay off quickly, because according to a report by Sygnifyd, unlike "bargain hunters", new customers simply want to do normal shopping and spend on average 163 per cent more than the standard customer before the pandemic.
3. Reaching end customers directly
Direct-to-customer sales
Working with wholesalers and nationwide retail chains can be convenient, especially for manufacturers specialising in a narrow assortment and operating in a niche industry. Quite a few of them until recently treated their online store more like a business card than an actual sales channel. The pandemic showed that when physical retail is fully closed, an e-store remains an effective way for a manufacturing company to conduct sales.
In such a model, however, sales are usually no longer made to wholesalers or intermediaries, but directly to customers. This requires shifting thinking from B2B to B2C and directing the message not to sales representatives, but to the people who will actually use the product being sold.
- Even before the pandemic, for one of our clients, a manufacturer of chimneys and ventilation systems, we prepared a functional B2B platform that significantly streamlined the placing of orders by its contractors. Later we struck while the iron was hot and also launched a "regular" store, where anyone can place orders, which was a novelty for this company. It quickly turned out that direct sales have enormous potential, and on top of that they give company managers a much richer picture of the market than they had when they mainly dealt with wholesalers. Many sellers had a similar experience thanks to the pandemic, so we can expect that more and more manufacturers will want to go their own way - forecasts Marcin Rutkowski from merce.com
Summary
The article discusses seven e-commerce trends that the pandemic has cemented permanently. These include, among others, simplifying purchasing paths (UX), the development of personalisation and loyalty programmes, a strategic approach to marketplaces and shopping in mobile apps. For retail brands, curbside pickup, serving new customers less familiar with the internet and developing direct sales (D2C), often requiring a shift from a B2B to a B2C model, are becoming key.
Experts at merce.com emphasise that many manufacturers have become convinced of the potential of their own e-store as a real sales channel, and not just a business card. For example, new customers acquired during the pandemic spend on average 163 per cent more than the standard customer before it, which makes investments in serving this group particularly worthwhile.
