What eCommerce Brands Need to Do for the Holidays
As the world continues to navigate the COVID-19 crisis, how businesses utilize their eCommerce platforms to satisfy consumers will determine how successful their Christmas shopping season will be. While it is still hard to imagine what the holidays will look like, one thing is for sure: If brands aren’t focused on their digital sales platform, they’ll be left behind.
The results of a recent CMO Survey, produced by Deloitte, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, show that online sales have grown 43% between February and May 2020, accounting for 19.3% of all sales (and a whopping 26.1% of sales at companies with fewer than 500 employees). The necessity of doing business online has clearly made consumers significantly more open to digital offerings and experiences.
Here are a few key ways eCommerce brands can start implementing a plan for the future.
Understand the Customer
As eCommerce continues to shift in response to consumer needs during the pandemic, gaining traction has never been more important. Customer loyalty appears to be increasing — when the customer finds an eCommerce brand they like, they stick with it. Earning customer loyalty is about continually meeting and raising that bar.
It’s imperative for brands to develop strategies to nurture a direct connection with customers through their eCommerce platform if they hope to compete with major competitors like Amazon.
Constant analysis of behavioral data is a vital strategy to forecast where and how to drive loyalty.
Businesses should start by analyzing their user experience online. This includes analytics that shows what their customers are looking for, how efficiently they are finding it, why they are leaving the site, how often they are returning to the site, where they are clicking on the site, and more.
Once brands understand what is working and what isn’t, they need to develop a hyper-practical checklist of support items that they can dive into within specific time frames to create short-term and long-term goals for their eCommerce platform.
For example, how do they handle a quick UX design assessment and shop flow redesign to result in a reduction in cart abandonment before the holidays? There’s still time between now and Christmas to improve CRO and ensure that holiday sales are as strong as possible.
Implement Live Online Chat
Online chat is proven to enhance the eCommerce experience and drive sales, notably when it comes to purchases of $1,500 or more. When the customer has a question, they expect the answer immediately. If they can’t find the answer, they are likely to abandon their purchase and move on. Purchase decisions are made in seconds — one quick answer about the shipping cost can become a deal-maker for your customer.
A great live chat app allows brands to see valuable sales information, such as pages that the visitor was browsing, time spent on the page, the history of chats with this visitor, or their email address. With this information, brands can provide personalized real-time help and remarkable customer experience.
Live chat delivers the benefits of human interaction and in-store customer service and adds a personalized touch to online shopping. If the customer feels prioritized and confident during their shopping experience, they are likely to spend more. The right online chat platform can generate a 30% increase in the average ticket price.
Optimize Search Functionality
Strong search functionality on an eCommerce platform shortens the customer journey to checkout and provides faster ROI for businesses. Understanding customers and designing the best search implementation around their needs improves the overall user experience and increases customer satisfaction.
During the holiday season, customers often come to a site with a product in mind. The faster businesses can help them find it, the higher the chance of a sale. Plus, a well-implemented search solution and discovery process can provide immediate profits through larger average order prices and increased conversions.
The search solution needs to understand the way the shoppers think, their affinity to a brand or a category, and their shopping behavior in order to correctly predict what they are most likely to buy.
Increase Site Performance and Speed
eCommerce brands also need to make sure their site is optimized for increased holiday traffic. Brands should analyze the site’s speed before the holidays and ensure that the performance is top-notch. If the site is slow, consumers who are in a hurry will quickly leave to go somewhere else.
Make sure your website is responsive and optimized for use on different devices, whether it be on a mobile device, tablet, or desktop. Speed up your website wherever possible and make sure it is user-friendly.
Offer a Buy Online Pick-up In-Store Option
If brick-and-mortar stores don’t have a Buy Online Pick-Up in Store option, that should be a major focus. BOPIS integrates online and in-person shopping experiences and offers consumers more options to meet their needs. Consumers are able to shop online and decide whether the items are worth the shipping time and costs or whether to pick up those items in-store within a reasonable window of time.
The variety of human touchpoints that BOPIS offers increases customer satisfaction, meets immediate shopping needs, creates upsell opportunities in-store and online, and offers easier returns than through shipping. Additionally, BOPIS is yet another way businesses can analyze trends and generate customer purchase-history data in order to decide which products are popular during which time frames.
Be Flexible
This holiday season is going to be unique. If brands are going to keep up with the fast-changing climate and survive the holiday season, they will need to focus on strategies that deliver freedom, personalization, and flexibility to the customer.
When it comes to eCommerce platforms, businesses need to analyze data and closely examine what’s wrong, what isn’t, and how improvements can position them for success for the rest of 2020 and beyond.