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Ever-changing digital landscape: What e-commerce retailers need to know
Joe Harris, partner and chief revenue officer at Wheroware, shares the top five elements in e-commerce retailers need to know and explains why retailers must focus wholly on the customer.
February 3, 2020 by Joe Harris — Chief Revenue Officer, Whereoware
Keeping up with all the emerging trends and technology in the e-commerce world is no easy feat. AI, machine learning, chatbots, micro feedback... a lot of e-commerce managers tell me they're not sure where or how they should invest their time and resources. My advice is simple: focus wholly on your customer. Today's consumers want engaging and memorable brand experiences; how can your e-commerce help your brand meet those expectations? If we consider all investments through that lens, below are the five most important things e-commerce managers need to know.
Not all communications go through a website
For a long time the e-commerce side of the house was treated as a separate entity from the rest of the business, sometimes acting in ways that competed with the merchandising and sales strategies of other channels. But that's not how consumers experience your brand. They use your site for multiple purposes: making purchases, learning about their options, and choosing what's right for them.
Your e-commerce site needs to serve all their needs. It's an informational resource that understands the customer and can leverage that insight to provide relevant information. Often it needs to pick up where other channels — social media, pay-per-click, tradeshows, billboards — leave off. In other words, what does this consumer already know about your brand? What will they want to do next, and how can you meet that expectation?
Customers don't think of your e-commerce site as a separate entity from a brick-and-mortar retail outlet or your social media profiles. To them, your brand is your brand. They may begin their purchase journey in your e-commerce site, but for one reason or another, opt to buy it somewhere else or via another channel. And that's ok. From a customer experience standpoint, your website needs to support the goal that drove the customer's visit at that point in time, whether that's to place an order or gather information.
People buy experiences, not just things
Consumers live in a world where hundreds — if not thousands — of websites offer the same products. In many sectors, homogeneity is a fact of life, so unless you sell a product line that is wholly unique to the market, you can't rely on products alone to capture the customer's attention. Experience matters, which is why so many direct-to-consumer brands are so successful. Take Equal Parts, a new cooking brand website that seeks to do more than sell pots and chef knives; it's goal is to help busy people slow down and spend more quality time with family and friends through home cooking. Customers can text a chef whenever they need urgent advice!
Your homepage is the gateway to your brand, and it will drive your customers buying journey. Good descriptions, great imagery and videos are essential, but they may not be enough to stand out from all the other sites selling the same product. Does your brand voice come through on every page? Is it contributing to a great experience?
Customize the experience
Customers make snap decisions as to whether an e-commerce site is relevant to them. Although that may take some effort on your part, customization delivers rich rewards. According to Epsilon, 80% of consumers say they're likely to do business with a company if it offers a personalized experience, and 90% say they find personalization appealing.
The best and easy ways to customize the e-commerce experience is by content and product recommendations, which you can collect from every interaction across every touch point, whether that's online, in social media, or in store. If a customer likes a particular product on Facebook, highlight that product on his or her next visit to your site.
Personas can help you scale customization. For instance, you can create separate personas for first-time visitors, customers who've shopped in the past but hasn't visited in a while, and for your diehard fans. And the personas should drive your messaging strategy. For instance, ask first-time visitors to answer a few simple questions so that the site can guide them to the most relevant pages.
AI and machine learning are important factors right now
I realize AI is overhyped at the moment, promising fantastical capabilities, but when it comes to e-commerce, the benefits are very real. When consumers browse a site, they want to see product recommendations based on their online behavior and overall historic profile, and product recommendation engines that are powered by machine learning can do just that.
We work with B2B companies where just 10 to 15% of the sales they get from their customers come from their e-commerce site, and yet their websites, by necessity, reflect 100% of their sales in terms of content and product recommendations. You might not know why an established customer arrives on your site, but you need to know his or entire history to provide a bespoke experience.
There are several tools that do a good job of marrying content and recommendations on the market. We use Episerver, which is a CMS and commerce platform that allows you to leverage all of your content, from your general product information to your product catalog. We also use the marketing platform acoustic, which lets retailers and brands collect personalized data on users and ensure a consistent experience across all channels and devices.
It's a mobile first world
The mobile phone is still the customer's ever-present device, and as 5G rolls out, it just may become the exclusive device for many customers. Most people already read their email on their phones, and if they're interested in a product highlighted in a message or newsletter, they'll tap on the link right then and there. As a retailer, it's important to optimize the entire customer experience for a mobile phone. Your email content, call to action, and web experience must be mobile friendly.
This is an honest estimate of what you need to think about now. This time next year it may very well change, thanks to that ever-changing digital landscape. But change is good, right?
For 18-plus years, Joe Harris has led Whereoware in selling, managing, and delivering B2B and B2C websites, data-enriched marketing programs, and mobile solutions.
