The online platform is continually altering. With the growth of online platforms, eCommerce is advancing. With this advancement of omnichannel retail platforms and marketing, online and traditional retail lines are getting thinner. This is observed clearly for B2C businesses, and they have seen massive shifts in their businesses.
The future of shopping is undoubtedly— eCommerce.
If you are a seller yourself and have been selling stuff on eBay, Amazon, or other such places, you might as well consider setting up your online store. It can ask for a bit of investment, but the right branding strategy can make your brand stand out amongst the rest.
The experts believed that the digital platform would rise in a few years now. However, don’t you think the pandemic already led this change to take place in 2020? Because of the social distancing and quarantine measures, eCommerce growth has increased considerably from 16% to 27% of all U.S. retail sales from Feb to April, as per the sources. The shopping methods of people took a shift in just two months, instead of 10 years.
A few companies were more ready than others. However, now that everyone knows it, it would be highly useful to adapt to the eCommerce approach.
Below are the few ways to evolve your brand for eCommerce in the future.
- Offering More Value
Customers are looking for something more than just price, wherein eCommerce brands are well-known for competitive pricing. What are customers looking for? Yes— Value!
A recent survey conducted by Ipsos says that 2 of 3 people responded their spendings are totally impacted by the way brands respond to Covid-19. Whereas half said, they are willing to ready to spend more for products with quality and safety assurance.
You can deliver that value with the right customer approach. In a survey conducted, 63% of respondents said that customer service is significant when purchasing products online.
By smoothly refreshing the order details and shipping timelines, you can improve their experience.
Problem-solving is another critical opportunity. Platforms with real-time messaging can assist in making transactions smooth and more human. This approach is for the complicated stuff too. Your readiness to process refunds, reship products, and interact with consumers can add value to your brand.
You can build the right image by making donations in non-profit organizations or such institutions. This will display a credible image before customers, and they will know that their purchases will lead to a fraction of goodness, thus building a sense of positivity.
- Plan A Right Strategy for Boomers
Born between 1946-1964, baby boomers are not typically considered to use eCommerce platforms frequently. However, as per YouGov Research, their digital purchases have increased 85% year-over-year. You know the size and average income of this kind of population, which is enormous; therefore, it makes sense to target them.
But it should be noted that as per a study, 78% of customers said they encounter challenges during holiday purchasing on mobile. That means you got to create an appropriate UX strategy to engage them.
The most pressing challenges they face include tiny font size, slow-loading apps or websites, complicated reviewing of the product info, and too many steps to follow. With UX, you can customize a better shopping experience for these baby boomers.
Consistently polling on the various groups that use your app or site, is a good approach to recognizing shopping challenges and making adjustments when required.
- Adapt Agility
A survey from GlobalWebIndex says that 80% of customers said that they had procrastinated their purchases because of the pandemic. You are not in the position to wait for demand to bounce back, you have to boost it. This can be done by tapping in at the right time and leveraging the opportunity.
Agility gets your senior leadership team into a sequence, enabling you to make marketing decisions in real-time. Below are a few positive traits of agile brands:
They utilize learning motives to isolate inconsistency and recognize drivers of success.
When trails succeed, they rapidly funnel budget into regions of opportunity.
They utilize offseason testing to examine and solidify peak-season techniques.
They hire outside experts to go over regions beyond their expertise.
This calculated yet rapidly-moving approach escalates risk tolerance and leads to constant evolution.
- Embrace FOGO
Fogo is an acronym for “Fear of going out.” As per GlobalWebIndex data, only 50% of people worldwide would be willing to shop from the store right now. The upheaval created by the pandemic has led to a fear of going outside and shopping.
There has been a 208% rise in BOPIS compared to 2019 (Buy online, pick up in-store), with more than one third coming from first-time BOPIS shoppers, as per Adobe Analytics. Customers are more okay with contactless shopping.
If you are an enterprise with a vast brick-and-mortar presence, FOGO seems more relevant. Plenty of vendors have successfully applied solutions that minimize face-to-face interaction, like mobile payments, contactless returns, self-checkouts, and better browsing experiences.
Moreover, even if they don’t run their stores, brands well-known for their massive retail presence take this hint to create offerings that can get ordered completely online.
- Niche Market
This is one of the most potent pieces of branding. This means that you have to have a specific audience in mind who the brand makes much more sense. Create your brand persona. Not the entire crowd can be your target market. For instance, you won’t want to market your beauty products to male gender, but female. So it is better to set your target accordingly. It is essential to know your audience and market your brand as required.
Wrapping Up:
If your brand is still trying to establish itself in the crowd, it is wise to consider the eCommerce platform. You have immense opportunities in this region if you do your branding right. Challenges are always going to be there, and especially during these tough times, but these challenges only help you shape your business for the peaceful times. Digitalization is flourishing, and the online market is growing, and you must consider this before making any decision.
Author Bio:
Harnil Oza is CEO of Hyperlink InfoSystem, one of the leading app development companies in New York and India, having a team of the best app developers who deliver the best mobile solutions mainly on Android and iOS platforms. He regularly contributes his knowledge on leading blogging sites.
