Online behavior has changed due to COVID-19 and the shifts are likely to stick post-pandemic. Its initial impact on ecommerce is creating many new challenges to online selling and retaining newly acquired customers.
Not to mention that the holidays are getting closer and closer.
I think it’s safe to say that the COVID-19 global pandemic will likely last till the end of the year. So, we need a new approach while we’re getting ready for the holiday season.
Everyone’s thinking differently about COVID-19’s effect on online shopping behavior. One survey found that 40% of Millennials and 41% of Gen Z say they have cut back on spending. Another survey by Engine says that online spending is on the rise, growing 10%-30% across grocery and non-grocery purchases.
The truth is that only some industries (e.g. household goods and groceries) see a significant increase in ecommerce sales.
One thing is sure, there’s a great deal of uncertainty.
At OptiMonk, we feel strongly about helping the Shopify community, so I reached out to 19 Shopify Experts and asked for their tips on how to increase revenue during this climate, what should be your top priorities, and what you should do to stay ahead of the competition.
So, are you ready to learn from the pros? Grab a cup of coffee and dive in!
Adi Bittan, Co-founder & CEO at OwnerListens
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate?
New reality = new problems. What can your product do to fix those new problems? Is there a new or expanded use case that wasn’t relevant pre-pandemic? What can you highlight in your marketing that authentically talks about the new problems you’re solving? For example, our texting app has traditionally been used by stores to provide support, build marketing lists, and send marketing blasts.
New use cases since the pandemic:
- Text to re-order. This is especially for recurring products and for customers too busy to go online (medical workers, parents wfh with kids around)
- Information texts to customers – ‘we’re still in business’, ‘here’s how we’re staying safe/making sure our products are safe’.
- Text to pick up. For stores with brick and mortar presence. To reduce phone sharing and customer contact.
We didn’t have to change our product much to adjust but we did change marketing focus accordingly. Safety matters more, convenience matters more – we started highlighting those value props.
Similarly, some of our customers are doing the same. For example, a bookstore shifting focus to its more activity based books (coloring, riddles, workbooks) to address parents with kids learning from home.
What should be the top priority for Ecommerce Managers now with the Holidays around the corner?
A big risk, especially in the US but everywhere else too, is logistics. Shipping is much less trustworthy when health rules/precautions might change frequently depending on pandemic spread in a certain area. This is on top of potential political issues and the always present weather risk of the season.
I would urge Ecommerce managers to make sure their supply chain and their shipping routes are on solid ground, ideally with backup options in place. I would also set expectations with customers as to potential delays.
Lastly, beef up support resources. Customers are extra stressed out and nervous this season. It’s a stressful year and they’ve already experienced delays in regular times. Naturally, we recommend adding texting to make sure you can handle more load with less time.
What will ecommerce look like at the end of 2021, and more importantly what should businesses be doing to stay ahead of the competition?
Ecommerce growth is here to stay and will continue to boom through 2021 and well after the pandemic is over. Consumers that got used to ordering online will continue to do so, even if they mix in going to a physical store again.
This means lots of opportunities but also more competition as existing brands and new ones pour resources into ecommerce.
For existing merchants, I would focus on differentiation and loyalty. Expect advertising to get more expensive, expect noise in the customer’s feeds to get louder. Spend time to cultivate customers and create a true relationship so that you’re not battling with your dollars for their attention but rather winning it on product, service, and personality.
Is there anything you’d like to add?
Good health and good luck to us all this holiday season!
Adi Piric, CEO at Codeinero Shopify Apps
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate?
We are all currently living in times of uncertainty. As a business owner, your response to this ever-evolving situation can change as you know your industry, target audience, and customers better than anyone.
Here are five revenue-growth strategies to consider:
1. Increase your average order size (via upsells, cross-sells, and quantity discounts).
2. Sell more to existing customers (via remarketing, promotions, loyalty deals).
3. Expand your existing and/or add new product lines.
4. Don’t be afraid to increase prices.
5. Cross-channel marketing.
What should be the top priority for Ecommerce Managers now with the Holidays around the corner?
Everything is suggesting this will be a very different holiday season. The risk of gifts not arriving in time for the holidays and disappointing shoppers is real.
One point of focus worth mentioning would be Post-checkout support: Updates, Delivery, and Shipping. Set the right expectations about delivery speeds, avoid high shipping costs, and give your customers an easy way to track their shipments. The last thing you want is having your customer agents swamped with Where Is My Order (WISMO) inquiries.
What will ecommerce look like at the end of 2021, and more importantly what should businesses be doing to stay ahead of the competition?
E-commerce sales have no intention of slowing down. Sales via mobile devices will keep growing too. The volume of social shoppers is increasing quickly.
With the new e-commerce features on Facebook and Instagram, social media is becoming more important in the world of e-commerce. It is wise to keep a strong presence on social media and spend time and resources on building the brand there.
Is there anything you’d like to add?
Smile, breathe and go slowly.
Baskar Agneeswaran, Co-Founder at Vajro
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate?
Ever since the pandemic started, your shoppers have been spending more time online than ever! Check out your store stats and you’ll realize this – most eCommerce stores have been seeing significantly more online sessions in the past few months.
You can do a quite a few things to make sure that you get a good share your buyer’s eyeball time (and eventually more sales):
Customer service – this is the time to go the extra mile and win over your customer! Provide prompt and efficient customer service to make sure your buyer is happy during these testing times – they would value it more than ever!
COVID safe measures – communicate to your buyers on how you ensure contactless delivery and how your products are COVID safe.
Push impulse buying – personalized discounts and live video sale in social media platforms would go a long way in pushing impulse buying.
What should be the top priority for Ecommerce Managers now with the Holidays around the corner?
Before you can say trick-or-treat it will be Christmas and you’ll wonder where Diwali and Thanksgiving went! What I’m trying to say is this – you have got to be prepping for the season’s holidays right now and with your best sales and marketing weapons.
And what’s the hottest in marketing that all your rivals are quarrying and all your customers – current or potential ones – will be availing? Mobile apps! Because the holidays hold great mobile opportunities!
Mobile apps offer features that other channels can’t. That’s what makes this medium excellent, and offers a different angle to reach customers. The primary importance is the immediacy that this medium offers. People are always on their smartphones so it’s the quickest way to reach them. During holidays, things are crazy enough without having to try and find the time to shop and the patience to do it in crowds. The instantaneousness of an app is a boon to these people.
What will ecommerce look like at the end of 2021, and more importantly what should businesses be doing to stay ahead of the competition?
According to Shopify, 78% of traffic and 66% of orders come through mobile devices and this trend has been growing exponentially over the past few quarters.
Mobile commerce (m-commerce), an off-shoot of the e-commerce boom, has drastically improved the prospects of millions of eCommerce businesses through smartphone-enabled purchases. It has a tremendous influence on buyers and is used by marketers to create awareness of their product or service, and popularize the brand image.
Being a pocket-friendly option, it helps improve the overall shopping experience of the consumers and helps businesses stay ahead of the competition.
Dave Bryant, Owner at EcomCrew
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate?
My best advice is to remember that the top line is important but to always remember, revenues are vanity and profits are sanity. Don’t lose focus on the bottom line – it’s the real metric that matters.
What should be the top priority for Ecommerce Managers now with the Holidays around the corner?
Being prepared for logistics delays is critical going into the holidays. This means allowing for increased lead times from suppliers and diversifying your logistics strategy. Don’t rely on just one 3PL, your own warehouse, or Amazon FBA – use more than one or all of them.
What will ecommerce look like at the end of 2021, and more importantly what should businesses be doing to stay ahead of the competition?
Many ecommerce businesses have seen their sales grow enormously during the pandemic. Expect ecommerce sales to come back to earth in 2021.
Dimira Teneva, Content Manager at Metrilo ecommerce analytics platform
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate?
Focus on your existing customers. You already have paid to acquire them and have first-party data on their shopping behavior – use it to drive repeat sales. Customer retention will save your marketing budget. It also makes old customers happy because relevant and timely communication shows respect, that you really want to be of help to them, not just blast sales calls every day.
What should be the top priority for Ecommerce Managers now with the Holidays around the corner?
To work for the long term, not just one-time holiday sales. It’s true people shop for others during this time, but you should create a strategy to make them visit again after the holidays and shop for themselves. Turning holiday shoppers into regulars should be the goal because you are spending so much on this holiday marketing to acquire them. You shouldn’t let this go to waste after one sale.
What will ecommerce look like at the end of 2021, and more importantly what should businesses be doing to stay ahead of the competition?
Ecommerce is becoming the default way of shopping and customers will have endless choices. To stay ahead, brands should hold on to their existing customers, build a meaningful bond with them and retain them for as long as possible. When you’re competing with hundreds of other brands, acquisition is not as important as retention. The real winners will be those who manage to drive repeat sales and build a community of loyal fans for their brand.
Is there anything you’d like to add?
People are growing weary of all the tricks we marketers use to make them buy. In the end, listening or rather seeing how they shop and answering their needs and wants might be the best marketing approach. Truly personalized, relevant approach that makes them feel valued.
Felix Suellwold, Head of Partnerships at PushOwl
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate?
Consumers are uncertain and are hesitant to trust brands easily. It’s important to focus on building a relationship with your shoppers and communicating with them frequently, not just about your promotions and products but also with tips and advice that will add value to their lives. By focusing on relationship-building, you can increase the LTV of your customers and build loyalty.
What should be the top priority for Ecommerce Managers now with the Holidays around the corner?
Test new channels for your marketing along with different messaging to understand what performs best. By trying new channels, you can create opportunities for yourself to capture one-time store visitors and new audiences that wouldn’t have subscribed otherwise. For instance, brands that started using web push notifications have seen a monthly subscriber growth 2x larger than traditional channels like email.
What will ecommerce look like at the end of 2021, and more importantly what should businesses be doing to stay ahead of the competition?
Shoppers have taken their impulse shopping online, more so now with the restrictions with shopping in-store. Merchants can drive these spur-of-the-moment shopping needs with relevant and contextual messaging that is instantly sent to these shoppers. We love how brands are using web push to highlight specific products or sales on their store and capturing their subscribers’ interest instantly.
Is there anything you’d like to add?
Working in eCommerce is a joy. We love how the industry has been able to adapt on the fly, creating new solutions for changing shopping needs. It’s amazing to see how brands have been able to take their business online and be supported by thousands of industry experts in their mission to do so.
Fiona Stevens, Head of Marketing at LoyalyLion
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate?
The best piece of advice I could give an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate, is to focus on encouraging existing customers to act as advocates. Recent consumer research from LoyaltyLion has shown that 41% have been more likely to leave a review during the past six months than previously, and 54% have been more likely to tell friends about good experiences.
This presents a great opportunity to incentivize loyal customers to recommend your brand and products to others. Referred customers are more likely to convert, and have a higher lifetime value than customers acquired through other channels, which means that your existing customers could make an extremely cost-effective acquisition channel.
What should be the top priority for Ecommerce Managers now with the Holidays around the corner?
48% of consumers surveyed by LoyaltyLion said that they will prioritize shopping with brands they know and trust this peak period, and 51% will prioritize shopping with brands they have points/rewards with.
Ecommerce Managers should focus on re-engaging their existing and most valuable customers ahead of time, reminding customers what’s different and special about their brand, alerting them to any outstanding rewards or benefits they have available, and encouraging shoppers to create accounts before the sales start so that they can engage them more effectively in the lead up to and during the event.
It’s more cost-effective to re-engage customers that already know your brand and have trusted you enough to make a purchase previously, than to acquire entirely new customers, so re-engagement is of paramount importance as the holidays approach.
What will ecommerce look like at the end of 2021, and more importantly what should businesses be doing to stay ahead of the competition?
One of the key changes we’ve seen in ecommerce in 2020 that will continue to evolve far into 2021, is the increase in conscious consumerism. More and more, consumers want to shop with brands that share their values and beliefs – 44% of consumers say that they shopped more with brands that align with their personal values in the past six months.
As such, to stay ahead of the competition, ecommerce businesses need to ensure that they are making their values and beliefs very explicit within their marketing, for example, allowing customers to earn loyalty points for recycling packaging, or offering rewards in the form of charitable donations. Brands that show their customers that they care about the same things will retain their customers and build longer-lasting relationships and communities.
Katerina Bojkov, Co-founder at EmbedSocial
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate?
E-commerce Managers must focus on building strong relationships with their customers, focus more on solving their problems, and bring value.
A true direct to consumer brand can build a viral loop of returning loyal customers, helping them grow even during a crisis and in the long run.
Incorporate a direct to consumer approach in every interaction with your customers and obsess with customer support in every process in your value chain.
What should be the top priority for Ecommerce Managers now with the Holidays around the corner?
Figure out your acquisition funnel.
It means that you will need to identify the right value proposition for your niche audience, discover where the purchase intent happens, and double down your marketing activities to make this process work as an autopilot.
Some ideas in this acquisition channel might be: enhancing Instagram presence, partnering with other brands for cross-selling or awareness activities.
What will ecommerce look like at the end of 2021, and more importantly what should businesses be doing to stay ahead of the competition?
Ecommerce is on a path to continue to grow, and eventually, by the end of 2021, it will suppress the physical retail revenues for most direct to consumer industries. In order to get ahead of the competition, eCommerce Managers must focus on becoming brands and not just selling machines.
It means that one of the most important metrics will be the LTV or customer lifetime value. And to achieve high LTV, companies will need to transform into brands and not just focus on sales.
In the long run, having to acquire 1 returning customer is much cheaper than acquiring new and always new customers.
Kathleen Garvin, Managing Editor at Shogun
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate?
It comes down to the basics: Offer a good product and provide great service.
With lockdowns and decreased store hours, more consumers will be shopping online — and via mobile. Make sure your online store (images, product descriptions, etc.) is mobile-optimized. Also, make sure checkout is as seamless as possible so people don’t get frustrated and tempted to bounce.
For instance, 28% of shoppers will abandon their cart if a store tries to force them to create an account. Don’t look so far ahead into retaining a customer that you lose them before that first sale.
Also, if you can swing it financially, offer free or reduced shipping, even if it’s only for a limited time.
What should be the top priority for Ecommerce Managers now with the Holidays around the corner?
Making sure your online store experience is top-notch, from your site speed to your product images to your checkout process.
With a possible one-two punch of COVID-19 and flu season on the horizon, you can expect consumers to lean harder into ecommerce over in-person shopping. You’ll want to make buying online an efficient experience and inspire confidence in their decision to purchase from you. For example, make sure your website is secure and you offer multiple payment options.
What will ecommerce look like at the end of 2021, and more importantly what should businesses be doing to stay ahead of the competition?
2020 has taught us to expect the unexpected. While I think more people will return to brick and mortar this time next year, ecommerce — especially mobile ecommerce — will remain strong.
To echo my previous points, online stores should continue to improve their site speed and overall web experience to keep shoppers engaged and increase conversions. Growing and maintaining a community of loyal consumers will also be essential to staying ahead of your competition.
If you haven’t already, start building these relationships now so you’ll stay top of mind next holiday season and beyond.
Lisa Popovici, Co-founder & COO at Cartloop
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate?
I believe eCommerce Managers should focus on building customer relationships, retention & experience first and build out from there. Now more than ever, shoppers have real questions – and 1-way communication channels simply can’t answer them. When you bring the human touch to a customer’s shopping journey, you are not only building closer relationships with them but also reaching your ultimate goal: increasing revenue.
What should be the top priority for Ecommerce Managers now with the Holidays around the corner?
Get creative. That means leverage video, TikTok, create out of the box giveaways or challenges. All kinds of unique, creative ways. Don’t just focus on external marketing channels like paid ads and email marketing. Those alone are not enough – and us, as consumers, don’t really trust paid ads. Create a holistic marketing strategy so all of your marketing channels are interconnected so that you’re in constant contact with your audience/customers.
What will ecommerce look like at the end of 2021, and more importantly what should businesses be doing to stay ahead of the competition?
Everyone from retail and brick and mortar stores is going online and smaller brands might be experiencing a harder time. That’s why they need to plan ahead, stay creative, and leverage their own channels. These days it’s all about the competitive landscape and how your marketing strategy comes to life in your owned and earned channels.
Owned (email marketing, SMS marketing, social media, content marketing) and earned (when other people are talking about you – PR, influencers) channels never work individually. Pull them together under one umbrella and focus on building a community of supporters and brand ambassadors to ensure staying ahead of the competition.
Is there anything you’d like to add?
Another thing that businesses should be aware of is customer feedback and insights. By adopting conversational SMS marketing merchants can unlock customer feedback and insights in order to improve their businesses. Most text marketing adopters focus on one-off messages and the results are not encouraging – similar to emails that go unresponded or worse, end up in your Spam folder.
With conversational SMS you can create opportunities for your customers to start a conversation, engage with you, tell you what they like/dislike about your brand straightforward and, most importantly, allow them to see the human side of their favorite brand.
Nicholas Wiktorczyk, CEO at Spently
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate?
Take advantage of your highest opened emails… Your store notification emails (order confirmations, shipping confirmations, customer welcome emails, abandoned checkout emails, and more) are often missed opportunities to offer an elevated customer experience and drive repeat sales.
What should be the top priority for Ecommerce Managers now with the Holidays around the corner?
Turning one time shoppers into repeat customers.
What will ecommerce look like at the end of 2021, and more importantly what should businesses be doing to stay ahead of the competition?
The trend of moving online will only continue and shoppers will continue to turn to online first. One way to stay ahead of your competition is to provide your customers with a rich on brand customer experience from the moment they land on your site, right through to their inbox, and with the package they receive. Repeat customers are what help separate successful brands from the pack.
Peep Laja, CEO at CXL
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate?
Data shows that copy is 2x as influential as design in why visitors convert. Focus on improving the copy on your product pages and other key landing pages. Copy is how you can stand out from the noise. Conduct copy testing (e.g. by using Copytesting.com) to learn how your audience perceives your copy, what they don’t get, what remains unclear, what turns them off, and what arguments land with them.
What should be the top priority for Ecommerce Managers now with the Holidays around the corner?
Focus on improving your conversion rate, so when you get that holiday traffic spike, you’ll be ready.
What will ecommerce look like at the end of 2021, and more importantly what should businesses be doing to stay ahead of the competition?
Work hard to be different from the competition, and stand out from the sea of sameness. Your brand and messaging are the easiest ways to achieve that. Brand building takes time, but you can improve your messaging right now.
Raul Galera, Partner Manager at ReferralCandy
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate?
My main recommendation is always to make sure that you’re creating a connection with your clients beyond your products. Your customers need to understand what you stand for as a brand so they can feel represented by your values.
Down the line, creating a community around your brand is going to help not only in terms of recurring purchases from these happy clients, but it’s also going to help you generate word of mouth around your brand; which is the most cost-effective marketing channel currently available to any merchant.
What should be the top priority for Ecommerce Managers now with the Holidays around the corner?
You’re about to acquire a lot of new customers — make sure that they’re not going to forget about you as soon as they leave the checkout. You need to have a post-purchase plan implemented to keep these new customers engaged with your brand and turn that engagement into future purchases and referrals.
What will ecommerce look like at the end of 2021, and more importantly what should businesses be doing to stay ahead of the competition?
Considering that in 2020 we’ve reached the level of ecommerce penetration that was expected for 2025, anything can happen at this point. If I had to make a prediction, ecommerce is going to establish itself as the “new normal” in the shopping world, with more consumers relying on ecommerce for regular, everyday purchases.
More than ever, it’s crucial for merchants to build a community around their brands. Learn what’s the one thing that all your customers have in common and create a space where they can connect and interact with each other and your brand (without turning it into a promotional channel).
Romas Juskevicius, CEO at Sixads
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate?
As an Ecommerce Manager, you should radically focus on the quality of your customer journey. As so many businesses suddenly moved to online and each of them is one click away from you the only way to win in this climate is to serve your customers better than the rest. And I mean all of it starting with your ad copy and going as far as your transactional emails.
What should be the top priority for Ecommerce Managers now with the Holidays around the corner?
There is no doubt this Holiday season will be way different than it was ever before. Many people will be shopping online just because there is no offline alternative. Therefore I strongly believe this season Ecommerce Managers should focus on lead generation more than they ever did. Opportunity is huge. And if served well, customers you will capture during this holiday will continue sticking with your brand the next year when life will be getting back to it’s normal.
What will ecommerce look like at the end of 2021, and more importantly what should businesses be doing to stay ahead of the competition?
As the COVID vaccine is around the corner (hopefully) we should expect life will be coming back on its usual tracks. Shoppers will spend more time offline than today, thus we as
Ecommerce people should think already today of why should our shoppers choose online over offline experiences? Wider selection? Better prices? Reduced friction in your return policies? Gifts and free samples? All of it should be tested now while people are shopping online more because they have to rather than they really want to.
Salil Panikkavveettil, Co-Founder at AdNabu
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate?
Focus on basics. The climate has led to confusion for everyone. Many companies have reduced their marketing spends significantly. More and more people are searching for things online compared to a year back. Investing in the right keywords now would be ideal as there are reduced competition and increased demand.
What should be the top priority for Ecommerce Managers now with the Holidays around the corner?
Although overall spending is reduced in most markets, online spending has increased. I expect a higher demand for online goods especially related to gifts during this holiday season. This is good news for most online retailers.
What will ecommerce look like at the end of 2021, and more importantly what should businesses be doing to stay ahead of the competition?
We are definitely going to see an irreversible change in the buying pattern of customers. The challenge and opportunity for online businesses would be how to bring experiences that customers loved in offline retail to online. Businesses who will manage that better than their competition would be the real winners.
Steve Chou, Founder at Bumblebee Linens & MyWifeQuitHerJob.com
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate?
The best piece of advice that I would give to increase revenue during this climate would be to focus on selling more to your existing customers and leveraging your owned marketing channels. This means putting more effort towards email marketing, SMS, Facebook Messenger and your own website. Basically, any platform that you own and fully control should receive the most attention.
What should be the top priority for Ecommerce Managers now with the Holidays around the corner?
Because brick and mortar stores are still largely crippled due to COVID-19, the shipping and warehousing infrastructure will be stretched to its limits over the holidays. As a result, if you are selling on Amazon, make sure that you send your inventory well before the deadline. In addition, you should also find a backup 3PL as a contingency plan in case Amazon or your existing warehouse gets overloaded.
What will ecommerce look like at the end of 2021, and more importantly what should businesses be doing to stay ahead of the competition?
Ecommerce is projected to grow 25% year over year and the effects of Covid-19 will continue to linger for another 1-2 years. As a result, your store should focus on products that don’t involve travel, events and large gatherings. As mentioned earlier, your owned marketing channels should always be your focus. Repeat business is the lifeblood of any ecommerce business. By focusing your attention on retention, you’ll lay a strong foundation for growth in the coming years.
Timur Khudaiberdiev, Marketing Specialist at Growave
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate?
While acquiring new customers, don’t forget to maintain relations with your current shoppers and loyal customers. It helps you increase the purchase frequency, customer value, and revenue from repeat customers. I noticed the overall revenue increased as well while analyzing Shopify stores who maintained relations with their loyal customers.
How to create a good atmosphere with your loyal customers? It is not always to send promotional emails, but to just know how they are doing, send appreciation email, and incentivize the VIP customers with additional perks. If one time shoppers noticed the potential extra benefit that Shop can bring them, they will do more to achieve it. Therefore, more engagement and more revenue.
What should be the top priority for Ecommerce Managers now with the Holidays around the corner?
Top priority is to prepare everything as early as possible and make sure your store is stable and fast. Testing apps and themes should be done 2-3 months prior to the Holidays. Since it might take 2-3 attempts to find the best solution you are looking for. And you need some more time to check how the selected solution performs and fulfills your needs.
After your store is set, keep an eye on the stability of your shop, you can’t lose the customer just because he couldn’t add a product to the cart. Last, but not least is to maintain and improve store speed, especially on mobile. Optimize it as much as you can or find the developer who will do it for you. If your shop loads fast on mobile, you are good to go to the Holiday season.
What will ecommerce look like at the end of 2021, and more importantly what should businesses be doing to stay ahead of the competition?
Keep an eye on your successful competitors, find out what marketing strategies they are using from their newsletters and check how they treat their website visitors. From there, you will learn how to warm up your lead before offering something to your shopper.
eCommerce won’t be evolving much, since 2020 is the time when businesses who never thought to go online are here now. One thing I can assure you is that more and more businesses will go online and even big brands will enter the market as well. From here you need to understand that the competition will be enormous.
Viktoria Philbrick, Content Writer at SMSBump
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate?
Go mobile. With this ecom-boom we are witnessing, more and more brands are looking to conquer new territories to cope with the changing consumer behaviours. Shopping patterns are also changing, and that means shifting your brand’s priorities to match. Mobile shopping has seen a great surge so adopting a mobile-first strategy and using the right tools to communicate with customers and market your products, is essential.
Mobile commerce and the related technologies will allow your brand to maintain a much more conversational relationship with customers, providing them with all the information they want and seek, at their fingertips.
What should be the top priority for Ecommerce Managers now with the Holidays around the corner?
The upcoming holiday season is without a doubt the most hectic one out of the whole year, but jam-packed with opportunities for businesses to boost profits and end the year on a high note.
However, more opportunities mean more responsibilities for your brand towards customers. Whether it is inventory availability, smooth shopping experience or proactive after-sales communication – it’s an important aspect to take care of, well before we even enter the quarter.
Not only is it important, but with the rising number of online businesses, shoppers are gaining more and more freedom to move between brands, having an abundance of options to choose from.
But you can’t really stop any of that. What you have the power to do is try and recover sales and reactivate customers.
To always stay on top of things, make sure to automate some of your marketing. Enabling automations that will run the show silently in your store background ensures you won’t miss an opportunity to make additional sales and establish meaningful relationships with your customers, even when you are not looking.
Since automations are trigger-based, you can activate them in advance and know that come the big sales days, you will be able to cater to every shopper individually and maximize sales. So start now if you haven’t yet!
What will ecommerce look like at the end of 2021, and more importantly what should businesses be doing to stay ahead of the competition?
Despite everything going on around the globe, 2020 presented (and still presents) the online world of commerce with a great opportunity. Consumers changed the way they shop, relying mostly on online stores to stock on everything, from groceries to tech items, even furniture. And this shift led to a natural spike in ecommerce shops, which means one thing: competition is even more severe now and brands need to make sure they treat their customers in a highly personalized way, giving them the ultimate shopping experience.
2020 buyers look more and more for those “special” experiences and individual treatment. As online shopping is evolving daily and aiming to give customers all the perks that usually only come with B&M shopping, it becomes essential for eCommerce stores to create their offers based on the individual traits of their customers.
On the flipside, with the way technology has developed and continues to develop towards AI-driven software and related technologies such as RPA, machine learning etc., brands now have the unique opportunity to learn about what customers want at the moment straight from them, without having to “guess” based on their past actions.
With that in mind, personalization in 2021 will go way beyond simply using your customer’s first name to maintain closeness. In recent times, marketers have been talking more and more about hyper-personalized and targeted shopping experiences, and this is what is going to lead the way come the new year.
What’s more, personalization and one-on-one experiences will promote the rapid evolution of what we refer to as “conversational commerce”, or using messaging platforms to engage with customers, aiming to mimic human-to-human interactions.
Increasingly, consumers are opting for the immediacy of communicating through channels like SMS, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp etc. to find and select products and services, and to complete the payment process, all without having to call, email, or even visit a brand’s website. Everything is happening within the messaging app.
And that’s where forward-thinking businesses should meet their audience in 2021.
Yoni Elbaz, Co-Founder & CEO at Loox
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an Ecommerce Manager to increase revenue during this climate?
During this unparalleled shopping season, many shoppers will likely be relieved that they won’t need to physically fight crowds to grab the best deals. However, this does not mean that consumers won’t long for other aspects of the in-store experience. This coincides with the reality that COVID-19 has accelerated the evolution of the shopping experience: calling for the creation of viable, digital in-store alternatives.
Some major brands will be leveraging AR and VR to try to “mirror” the in-store experience; an innovative, strategic step, yet not something that is accessible for the standard online store. For most online stores, the key to increasing revenue during this unique shopping season will be to tap into UGC, in the form of photo and video reviews. These reviews capitalize on one of the strongest forms of social proof, require zero ad spend, and help customers get a true sense of your products and brand.
What should be the top priority for Ecommerce Managers now with the Holidays around the corner?
“Banner blindness” is going to be at an all-time high this holiday season, with thousands upon thousands of stores competing for online visibility on the top social platforms. One of your best tactics for cutting through the noise is via UGC in the form of user-shared product reviews. When customers share their own reviews of your products, without even having to “lift a finger” you can increase brand discovery, boost trust, and drive sales directly via social media. This is not the future of seamless content marketing- it’s the present.
What will ecommerce look like at the end of 2021, and more importantly what should businesses be doing to stay ahead of the competition?
There is even more change in store for the retail industry. Customers have already started to become more comfortable with digital, low-touch point experiences- and that’s just the start. Retailers need to adapt to the online realm fast and equip themselves with an arsenal of plug and play tools to build a seamless online customer experience.
I highly recommend that you constantly consult with experts in the industry and see which tools other leaders in their vertical are leveraging. By equipping yourself and your team with the right tech from the onset, you can focus more energy on building an unforgettable marketing and product UX, that will pay itself back in increased customer loyalty and word of mouth.
Conclusion
Kudos to you if you’ve read this far! This means you now have many new tricks to increase revenue during this climate. We hope that you found this article useful, and you’ll be able to use most of the tips and tricks you read today.
Let us know which advice was your favorite! I look forward to reading your comments 🙂
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