Our Co-Founder and Head of Strategic Alliances Niall O'Gorman recently joined Jeannette Potts Isobar Switzerland for a webinar on Re-Imagining the eCommerce Landscape Post Covid-19. During the webinar they discussed and gave insights on the digital transformation of the retail landscape. In this the first of a two-part blog we examine the insights from the discussion on the re-imagined customer journey post-COVID-19 the importance of understanding your customer and how to avoid competitive distractions.
The modern customer is in complete control as it is the customer's choice when and how they engage with your brand. Success is now about creating an enjoyable customer experience rather than linear transactions. Brands are building relationships and they are spending time to learn who their customers are and what motivates them. Cultivating relationships with customers is important not only for customer loyalty but also because it will eventually lead to a higher number of conversions as well as higher average basket value.
In order to do this brands need to understand who their customers are and target them at the right time with the right message. Brands need to double down on the platforms and ways in which consumers are engaging to build relationships and drive conversions. However this alone is not enough to drive the conversions. Brands also need to have an up-to-date digital shelf with the right information about their product stock and prices. Along with this it's important for brands to have cohesive messaging across platforms vs disjointed messaging to make it easier for customers to purchase your brand's products.
Once the purchase intent is there and the consumer has decided on the product they want to purchase it then becomes imperative to avoid competitive distraction. In addition it's imperative to mitigate the risk of the customer getting lost or giving up the purchase altogether.
The brand's objective is to drive the customer to the exact SKU variant on the retailer of their choices such as Amazon or Walmart. It is also critical to pass the baton from the brand over to the retailers. When brands send that lead over it's not just a lead that lands in a vacuum but you also send over the intelligence needed to sell as well as cross sell. This data can include what products the consumer looked at how long did it look at it for what colours and variants did the customer browse etc. This data goes over to the retailer. The retailer can then respond to the customer and activate their on-site search targeting cross-selling recommendations to encourage them to convert but also try to add products to their basket.
Understanding what your customers want is key to providing a positive experience and lead to basket conversions. Further it can also help with better targeting the recommendations and in driving impulse purchases. For example if someone was looking at Philadelphia cream cheese but landed at buying Oreos one can also present them with recipes for cheesecakes. This will also feature those items in addition with other products needed to make that.
ChannelSight has a team of experts that can help you understand your customers needs better and implement solutions that can help your eCommerce strategy. Contact us today to book a demo with our team of experts.
