The retail industry has changed dramatically over the past decade, thanks to the popularity of the internet, emerging technologies and the way consumers shop. In fact, 81% of retail shoppers conduct online research before buying. Every year brings new trends that will revolutionize the industry and challenge the marketers.
Your key objective as a retailer is experimenting with marketing strategies for your business in order to adapt to new technologies and consumer preferences as well as maximize sales during key shopping days such as Black Friday. According to Adobe Analytics, $6.22 billion was spent online by the end of Black Friday in 2018, which is an increase of 23.6% year over year.
Shopping is no longer just about buying, but about giving your customers an experience they’ll never forget. Personalisation, Omnichannel experiences, Visual AI – these are some of the many examples of
Deliver a personalised experience
According to The Guardian, by 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. Gathering data such as purchase history and analysing consumer behaviour is essential to understanding who your customer are and what they want to see on your website.
Delivering a more personalized and individual experience is a real game changer in the retail industry nowadays, from product recommendations based on browsing and purchasing
Many brands try to offer carefully tailored content for each customer which has been proven to uplift conversion rates by 93%. What are you still waiting for?
Make Shipping Faster
Order in the morning and receive it in a couple of hours? Same day or next day delivery as introduced by ecommerce gurus such as Amazon or ASOS is something not only appreciated but expected by many consumers these days. In fact, 72% of shoppers revealed they would actually shop more and spend more if same day delivery was available.
Brands continue looking for ways to differentiate from the competition and reducing the time that customers wait for delivery of a purchased item is something that every ecommerce business should aspire to, in order to survive in the crowded market.
Optimize for Omnichannel
Focusing on providing excellent service across sales channels is something you should pay attention to while creating your retail marketing strategy this year. The rise of multi-channel experiences has been marketed by seamless transitions from mobile to desktop or mobile to brick-and-mortar any variation in between.
The study involving 46,000 shoppers shows that 73% of them used multiple channels to do their shopping. What is more, Millennials prefer to buy products they discover on Instagram and Snapchat, that is why integration across channels is so important nowadays.
In order to provide excellent customer experience and keep the consumers engaged from the first impression to the ending point of sale, it is worth experimenting between channels.
Offer Subscription Services
Subscription ecommerce has seen a significant expansion in the past few years, with 15% of online consumers signing up for subscription services in 2017. Users are constantly searching for new experiences and services that deliver new benefits along with personalised offers.
From the brand perspective, bundled items shipped together means less shipping costs and higher order values. From a consumer perspective, the pain of choosing what to get is eliminated, and is replaced by the anticipation of getting something new and interesting from a brand they like.
This trend is predicted to keep growing in the upcoming year.
Experiment with AI
You should be fully familiar with Artificial Intelligence by now, which is transforming the world of eCommerce and creating new exciting opportunities for retailers. What are the current AI trends that are worth consider?
AI product merchandising which is a way of delivering personalised content for your customers. AI
AI for customer service
It is predicted that 85% of customer interactions will be handled without the need of a human agent by 2020. AI-based programs such as chatbots use machine learning to “talk” with users by residing on websites or applications at all times of the day. Chatbots are able to provide 24/7 support to the customers who need assistance, all without human presence.
Visual Search
This powered by image recognition technology can match data points on any picture and get an exact or near-exact match. Translating this to consumers, this opens up a brand new discovery and search tool that uses images as the input. For instance, Google Images has a “Search by image” function that allows
Voice Search
Voiced based ecommerce lets consumers simply press a button on their smartphones and ask one of the many digital assistants like Siri or Bigsby for whatever they want, including products. Without the need to type to search, it has become a game changer for ecommerce brands who now have to overhaul their digital strategies. The main consideration is knowing how consumers search when they talk and preparing the list of accurate keywords for your content.
Let’s Take a Second Look
Following this simple guide, based on retail industry trends of 2019, should help you shape your marketing strategy for your ecommerce business and understand the importance of retail marketing. Being fully prepared for new trends and adapting to evolving technology can have a positive impact on your business. Remember to:
- Deliver Personalized Experience.
- Make Shipping Faster.
- Optimise for Omnichannel.
- Offer Subscription Services.
- Experiment with AI.
Good luck!
Contributor: Karolina is a content writer for Appnova, a creative digital agency based in London that specialises in luxury brands. She loves to write content based on current ecommerce, social media and marketing trends and provide insight into customer care, fashion and the beauty sector.
