A new survey reveals ecommerce’s next big thing: content commerce. Companies are losing untapped business opportunities from consumers being directed away from online content.
Consumers love to spend time on digital content such as online magazines, apps, videos, live streams, and blogs. In their journey of content engagement, they enjoy discovering products and brands. A new Swedish study presented by the tech company Spotin, shows the enormous sales opportunity that companies are losing from consumers at the peak of their engagement. This is because the current consumer journey directs them outside the content page if they want to make purchases. The survey shows that more than every second person (53 %) has been wanting to purchase but didn’t due to link redirection.
Today’s existing affiliate solutions and advertising in digital content are based on links. This means that consumers need to be redirected to other sites if they want more information or buy the product they have become interested in. The survey highlights that every third person (34 %) finds it annoying to be sent away to a different site for seeking more product information or purchasing. In fact, more than every second person (53 %) has dropped their intent to purchase something because of this reason. Furthermore, 54 % would prefer to get product information and purchase possibilities at the point of discovery.
“The industry will miss an enormous business opportunity sitting on the lap of interested customers. The results of the survey are not surprising, as we have seen an increased interest in our solution, both from selling parties and from content creators.”
Kristoffer Karlsson, CEO at Spotin.
Currently, publishers and content creators use advertising and paywalls as a revenue alternative, which according to many readers/visitors affects the experience negatively. The survey shows that a clear majority (58%) of readers would prefer if publishers would receive shared profit when a product is sold via their content, instead of using advertising and paywalls. Between the ages of 18 and 29, as many as 65 % of readers believe that this would have been a better solution. Besides publishers missing the monetary opportunity, they are also losing out on today’s system by having to send their visitors away via links and thus risk losing them.
The survey also highlights that 53% of consumers expect that within the next five years be able to learn more about the products/brands and make purchases while staying on their favourite content page or app. This will build a clutter-free and smooth digital shopping experience.
“Consumers today are used to the constant availability of free updated content. Almost everyone has access to a smartphone/tablet regardless of target group and market. Today’s online customers expect access to everything. So, increased availability of products and services where it is seen as an added value for the user is a natural step in the development. Content commerce aims to solve that by making products available directly in digital content, without directing the consumer to another site,” Kristoffer Karlsson concludes.
