E-Commerce Strategies for 2020 and Beyond
- by Alyson Shane
People don’t just buy online anymore; they now do their shopping online, as well.
To stand out on social media, brands need to understand how to create opportunities for discovery and joy.
Think about how you feel when you find a fancy new cheese at the grocery store, or when you see the perfect outfit hanging in a storefront window. That endorphin rush makes us feel good about our purchase, which leads to a better customer experience.
This shift means brands need to focus on the discovery process, creating online shopping experiences that feel unexpected and exciting.
Make sure your e-commerce and marketing goals align
Many companies have their e-commerce and marketing departments working separately, with little collaboration or communication.
On the surface, this makes sense: marketers measure their success by engagement, and track key performance indicators (KPIs) like reach, link clicks, comments, and reshares.
E-commerce teams, on the other hand, care exclusively about the percentage of visitors who buy something.
By combining efforts, these two teams can learn from each other’s KPIs to understand buyer intent and behaviour.
Collaboration between these two teams can also reveal things like:
- Intent to buy. Did they click on the Shoppable post to buy, or to see the rest of the company’s products?
- Most popular content. There is often a difference between the content that’s hottest on social media, and the items that are viewed/purchased most on the e-commerce store.
- Where to funnel the hype. If an item is selling like crazy on the website, then the marketing team can use that information to promote it on social media and keep the hype going.
Tell stories that help customers discover products
Telling stories that feature your products helps your customers picture themselves using them in their day-to-day lives.
Take a set of new dishes, for example. There’s nothing all that glamorous about plates and bowls, right? But if your customer sees them as part of a beautiful tablescape, or being passed across the table at the holidays, it helps them picture themselves using it in similar situations.
Brands that publish interesting and fun content showing how to use their products have an even better chance at creating a lasting connection with their customers.
For example, the company selling plates and dishes could publish recipes or how-tos on the perfect tabletop presentation. This kind of content helps your customers feel empowered and excited - both emotions that are strongly associated with conversion.
Make community part of the discovery process
Creating real, lasting connections with your customers requires creating a community that they can be a part of.
If you run a retail e-commerce store, for example, encourage your customers to share their purchases online, but also on your website.
Having “real world” examples from other customers creates a sense of community, and confidence in your brand.
By encouraging users to share their photos and engage with one another, you can start to craft your e-commerce website as a place to meet other like-minded people, not just to complete a purchase and click away.
The changing shopping experience
Shifting to a “discovery” focused model of inspirational shopping and aligning your marketing and e-commerce teams allows you to combine content and community to create a seamless shopping experience for your customers.
Creating a seamless shopping experience that transitions from social media to the website is essential, but it’s just as important to foster a sense of community among your customers.
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