Shopping continues to evolve. To succeed in 2023, brands and marketers need to adapt to the ever-changing, ever-evolving buying behaviors of consumers, especially coming out of the pandemic.
While digital touchpoints are more important than ever, brands should be thinking about the entirety of the purchase journey and how they might be able to make the path to purchase smoother everywhere.
Here are a few e-commerce trends that will impact brands in the year ahead.
1. Social Commerce is Growing
Social media has given rise to social commerce, a growing trend that integrates shopping into our normal social media usage.
Already, nearly 50% of Instagram users leverage the platform for shopping each week. That means brands need to start using tags or hashtags to speak directly to those audiences who are already researching.
Influencer marketing is of course part of the mainstream as well, with countless personalities partnering with brands to help their followers learn about products. Over 70% of US marketers have participated in influencer marketing this year, and that’s only expected to increase.
Live streaming is another way that brands can tell a more robust story around their products. Instagram, Facebook, and Amazon, are just a few of the platforms that have embraced selling via live broadcasts.
The big challenge for brands is targeting the right audience through the right channels. Remember that one size doesn't fit all. Specifically, each channel requires content to be tailored to it’s consumer mindsets:
Facebook: Users are mainly keeping in contact with close friends.
Instagram: Visual content, stories, and influencer advice reign.
Pinterest: It’s all about inspiration.
LinkedIn: Focus is on professional content and contacts.
While each channel has their own focus or use case, note that social media is rapidly evolving. Increasingly, social channels like Facebook and Instagram are supporting e-commerce, and followers are ready to buy!
Social media serves as a place to discover brands, research products, get help and support. And now, it also gives click-to-buy simplicity to users, all built within the platform.
2. Content (Marketing) is King
While attention spans may be dwindling in an increasingly short-form world, the adage that content is king is alive and well.
High-quality content is critical for making consumers feel like they’re in control, empowered with everything they need to make a decision. The trick is to avoid the traditional sales pitch.
The focus of content marketing is about creating helpful, educational materials to inspire purchases. Brands should not only be creating detailed product page information wherever items are sold, but also supporting that content with videos, blog posts, an email newsletter, and social media posts, that are a mix of inspiration and education.
Instead of selling, brands should be positioned more as a thought leader and as a potential source of advice within their broader market niche.
Not only does building content around expertise in your category help to educate potential customers, but it can also attract new customers who are looking for advice but might not be in-market just yet. So ditch the product-focused sales pitch and you’ll start expanding your reach. Sales will follow.
3. Think Omni-channel All the time
The importance of an omni-channel strategy isn’t a new trend, but it is one that will remain relevant for most brands.
While e-commerce and online shopping continues to be the norm, shoppers today demand a seamless and robust experience wherever they may be shopping. The transition between channels should also be easy.
This may include offering ways for customers to browse online and buy in-store. It may include buying online and returning items in-store. Maybe it is also shopping online via retail partners or online via social social commerce.
Wherever or however a customer chooses to shop, the experience must be tied together whenever possible. An example is a hybrid event that gives shoppers a real life look at a product in either an in-person or virtual format. It could also mean experimenting with Augmented Reality (AR), allowing consumers to use their mobile devices to get a sense of scale or fit before they make a purchase.
An omni-channel presence not only leads to more sales overall, but the right experience can make shoppers more comfortable with brands, give confidence in the product they're considering, and help to reduce returns later.
Voice search is another shopping behavior on the rise, providing yet another way for retailers and brands to communicate with shoppers.
All of this means you can’t be too narrow in your focus and all customer devices – across desktop, mobile, and even the smart home – must be considered.
4. Mobile-first, mobile-must
Omni-channel strategies are about supporting all channels. But regardless of plans to buy online or in-store, chances are that our smallest screens are going to play a big role in the journey.
As discussed, it’s important to ramp up inspiration and education content for 2023. As time goes on, it is easy to realize we live in a world with increasingly shorter attention spans — some argue that our attention span is less than 9 seconds, shorter than that of a goldfish!
That’s more reason to keep mobile devices top of mind and optimize visuals for these smaller screens. Desktop visuals should be secondary, as most brands’ desktop web traffic has been on the decline.
Mobile-friendliness, vertical orientation of imagery, and short-form video, should all be in your content mix.
5. Social Proof with Online Reviews
Whether we’re selecting a new dentist or buying consumer electronics, most of us leverage ratings and reviews whenever we shop. While as many 95% of consumers already do this, the shift to e-commerce will only make reviews more impactful in the shopping journey.
There are many ways brands can illustrate their product, including high-quality imagery, video, even AR, but there’s ultimately no way for a consumer to interact with or feel the products they’re browsing online.
Ratings and reviews are key to painting a real-life picture of the product, and help shoppers feel comfortable making a purchase decision. For brands, embracing ratings and reviews also provides transparency which builds trust with customers.
6. Online and In-store Events
Brick-and-mortar stores offer many ways to educate and inspire shoppers. In-store events, such as cooking classes at Sur La Table, are ways physical stores can influence purchases.
With fewer shoppers going in-store for their purchases, it is still important to create unique experiences. In the same way that omni-channel strategies help bridge online and in-store purchasing, virtual or hybrid events are key to delivering that seamless live in-person and online education.
Hybrid events are unique in giving more people the option to attend, including for those looking for an opportunity to interact with products in-store before they buy. Additionally, hybrid events are engaging because shoppers get to choose how they want to experience the event, even if they can’t make it to a physical store. Together, these unique benefits offer huge opportunities for sales.
7. Connecting with Customers
E-commerce, and technology in general, continues to change retail. Today, shoppers benefit from speed (same-day shipping!), convenience (shop from anywhere 24/7), and consistency (access everything you need to make a purchase decision, regardless of retail environment).
However, customer experience is key, and that goes far beyond making a great lifestyle image of the product in-use.
Coming out of the pandemic, we’ve seen shoppers wanting to connect with smaller businesses, or even buy direct from big brands. Moreover, shoppers were happy to pay more to make their purchases away from traditional retailers.
The reason for this is simple – people are increasingly loyal to the retailers and brands that provide both value and minimum friction. Delivering the right experience impresses shoppers. When that happens, customers reward brands with loyalty, and they also spread the word!
