Blog

Ecommerce Methods Utilized by 2020’s Most Slicing-Edge Manufacturers

What is Experience Marketing? | DigitalMarketer

E-commerce has been around for a while – so
An online shop is now tablestakes. Brands are looking for at the beginning of 2020
for ways to differentiate and grow their customer base while
also fights increasing competition and the cost of customer acquisition.

The traditional “game book” of e-commerce growth
is as important as ever:

  • Brands still need a channel strategy. Are you going to market first or are you considering a direct-to-consumer approach?
  • Brands still need a way to connect with their customers – however they can. Email and social media marketing continue to be important.
  • More and more people are shopping online. Digital transformation is increasingly infiltrating all facets of retail – from B2C to B2B to B2B2C.
  • Customers continue to expect more from their check-out and ordering process. 1- and 2-day shipping is now the norm.

But outside of this proven one
Strategies are other ways that innovative sellers – especially new ones
Brands and direct-to-consumer retailers are successful.

Checkout improvements: one-click,
Payment gateways and more

If there is one thing we know online
Consumers want things to be simple.

The online retail revolution opened the
Locks for consumers – and now more buyers than ever are buying online.

With this increase in traffic comes however
an increase in competition. Online retailers must reach their sales goals.
and one factor that often inhibits the sale of items is the number of people
put the items in their shopping cart and then never complete the purchase.

Car demolition is an increasing trend
a significant problem, retailers have found a way to reduce the amount of
Problems a consumer must have to complete a purchase.

One way to do this is to use
Personalization and customization so that your website recognizes a repeat
Customers and fills out their details in advance – either by signing up
the website or by entering their phone number or other identifying information.

Another way to improve retailers
The user experience of a website is to allow customers to buy products
Use the preferred payment method that goes beyond credit or debit cards.
Now retailers have the option to choose a number of payment methods
from Gen Z favorites Apple Pay to Venmo, PayPal, GooglePay and
More.

Sustainability: From procurement to fulfillment
and beyond

Unfortunately, in 2019 and 2020, some of the best-known retail brands died: Forever21, Kohls, and H & M, to name a few.

They all had one thing in common: they were fast fashion brands. These garments are known to quickly create different styles from synthetic materials to "spot trends". They weren't built to last.

Fast fashion has a serious impact on the environment. About 85% of textile waste in the United States ends up in landfills or is incinerated. Due to the nature of the materials, they do not expire.

The concept of unsustainability extends to more industries than just fashion – planned obsolescence (construction products with the intention of changing them seasonally or time-wise) has existed since the Great Depression and is now recognizable in cars and iPhones we buy.

Consumers are becoming wise in this regard and they are
now demand that brands act more sustainably. Brands react
by becoming more sustainable in different areas.

Fulfillment is the obvious first choice for
every sustainability-oriented brand. Control companies around the world
Announcements about changes in packaging – either by opting for packaging
Option that uses less plastic or is committed to being complete
plastic-free in the future.

Many brands also do more
sustainable decisions within your product production by choosing textiles or
other materials that are fair trade, biological or otherwise less harmful to the environment
Planet.

And another harbinger under the radar of
Sustainability is part of a company's internal operations – through incentives
Employees for carpooling or using recyclable / composting materials in cafeterias.

Meet customers where they are:
SMS, email and chatbots

Gone are the days when you picked up a phone
talk to a customer.

In today's ever-changing, increasingly digital environment, customers expect brands to connect with them in the most convenient way for buyers. This means via SMS, chatbots on site or via conventional emails.

The emerging technologies that can be integrated into e-commerce platforms support this communication. Now retailers on the most popular platforms like BigCommerce can easily work with a partner solution to easily add additional communication channels to their storefront.

These services can support more than just customer service. Some brands are beginning to use SMS (cautiously) as a marketing channel to alert text subscribers to new product launches, promotions, and more.

One thing is certain: As communication methods between colleagues evolve, we also have to change the way brands talk to customers.

Partner-first strategies:
Benefit from mutual customers

An increasing number of brands are starting to
recognize that it is difficult to build a community from scratch.

You have to create a product and generate enthusiasm
Find and market the areas where your users are located in the area
in an effective way.

More and more brands are finding success through
Partnership with other retailers for joint marketing.

These partnerships can take many different forms
To form:

  1. A discounted package of 2 products,
  2. A simple marketing message exchange or even
  3. A brand new product developed jointly by the two brands.

Ecommerce strategies from partnerships with working with ice cream
In mid-2019, Jenis Ice Cream worked with artist Tyler the Creator to create a limited edition ice cream.

Regardless of the type of partnership we will
We will definitely see more of these types of activations as we approach 2020.

Building a community:
Newsletters, slack channels and more

Brands are always on the lookout for the new, modern version of "A Day in the Shopping Center" – where buyers can collect new brands, chat, learn and discover.

In every industry, from cars to fashion to
Baby accessories are niche groups of consumers who share insights
(and promo codes), review products, and have real conversations.

An opportunity for brands to gain loyal customers who return to repeat purchases? Build a community where you can interact with your product and other customers long after you buy it.

One brand that does this well is Revelry. In addition to disrupting the wedding industry by changing the way brides and bridesmaids buy dresses, they have also had great success by creating a Facebook group where customers share information about body types and sizes , Make notes on the different colors and – of course – share the last photos of your big day. This is also an effective way for the Revelry brand to receive some user-generated content (UGC) for use in advertisements and other media.

From bricks to clicks: Brick-and-Mortar
Shops and pop-ups

Despite the innovations in online communities
Marketing channels and more, some brands recognize the value in
personal interactions with (and between) consumers.

There are a few ways that brands can be activated
Customers personally, and they range from high costs (opening a standalone
save) to low-cost (personal partnerships and activations).

The best known example of a successful stationary strategy is that of Casper. They started out as a direct-to-consumer mattress manufacturer that only operates online. After raising $ 239.7 million, the brand announced in 2018 that it would add 200 retail locations over the next few years.

They also piloted The Dreamery, where customers can pay for a 45-minute nap in a Casper bed.

But not all shop windows have to be 200 or more
striking. An easy way for smaller brands to use personal sales is
via a popup or a marketplace – a popup can also be a good way to assess this
whether your product fits into a certain market or subway area or not.

The CBD skin care brand Lab to Beauty piloted a pop-up model for the first time in late 2018 by selling products in Barneys New York for three days during the holiday season. Due to the success of the popup, Lab to Beauty now has permanent inventory at several Barney locations.

Conclusion

A logical step for a retailer's e-commerce growth is to test different marketing and channel strategies. Ultimately, consumer demands will continue to change over time. So it's best to try to achieve this speed by testing new approaches.

Whether you have the resources to test on one
Weekly cadence or a quarterly switch is more your pace, make sure you have one
the time to fully qualify and review every new approach.

Another tip… If you see a brand doing something innovative and different, contact them and ask them how they measure the results. They may be interested in talking to you, or at least telling you what technology they're using.