Ecommerce, with its abundant options in products and the convenience it offers customers has almost become the default way to shop. The pandemic and the lockdown, forced people to look at online stores as the option to offer them contactless delivery of products for their daily needs. This has led to the growth of the ecommerce industry by 34% Year over Year (YoY) in just the first 2 months (January and February) of 2021.
The consistent and increased use of online stores has made customers “ecommerce connoisseurs”. They now expect excellent and personalized digital customer experience across all channels and all devices. In fact 40% of customers tried new brands and bought products from new retailers. This shows that customers are willing to move to a new brand as more products are just a click away.
For retailers who are willing to invest in their customer experience, this is a great opportunity to go up on top. 84% of customers are willing to spend more money with brands that provide them with a great ecommerce experience. According to research from Adobe and Econsultancy, businesses that are customer experience leaders were three times more likely than mainstream organizations to have “significantly outpaced” their sectors during 2020.
Our ebook on what consumers want in an online shopping experience. In this blog we are going to see excerpts from the ebook.
Mobile Shopping
One area that has grown a lot over the years is mobile shopping. Mobile devices allow customers to shop leisurely from anywhere and do extensive research on a product before buying. This convenience has made smartphones on track to contribute 50% of online spend by September 2022.
Although there is a lot of mobile traffic on online stores, retailers continue to report lower conversion rates. This could be an effect of complicated, multi-step forms and a checkout process designed for desktop users.
One fast solution to improve mobile purchase is Progressive Web Apps (PWA). It is a website designed for a mobile first approach and hence text fits perfectly on mobile screens and forms and carts are easy to use.
Payment Options
Many people experienced financial difficulties due to the pandemic and lockdown. A lot of ecommerce service providers have started providing “Buy Now Pay Later” (BNPL) payment options. This flexible payment option has become widely popular resulting in 215% increase in YoY usage in the first two months of 2021. Orders placed using BNPL are 18% larger than orders placed with other payment methods. This leads to an increase in Average Order Value (AOV) for the retailer.
Curbside Pickup
Curbside pickup became popular in 2020 and customers appreciate the additional convenience. As of August 2020, 43.7% of the 245 retailers with stores ranked in the Digital Commerce 360 Top 500 offered curbside pickup, a sharp increase from 6.9% at the end of 2019.
Adobe’s research suggests that 30% of online shoppers prefer curbside pickup to delivery. This trend is because a large number of customers are working from home and prefer to run short errands during the day.
In 2021, this change in behavior resulted in consumers spending an extra $1.2 billion during work hours. Hence retailers should make Buy Online Pickup In Store (BOPIS) easily available and even strive to make it better.
Personalized Experience
Today’s consumers are looking for a personalized shopping experience. In fact 70% of customers say that they get frustrated when they have to repeat themselves multiple times when interacting with a brand. Lack of personalization makes 64% of consumers “feel like a ticket number” when they ask for help. Retailers need to realize that one size fits all approach will not work anymore.
To satisfy consumers, retailers need to bring a personal touch in every interaction – from email outreach to digital commerce to in-store shopping. This can include personalized content, product recommendations, and special offers.
Augmented Reality
Even before the pandemic, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) was getting popular among consumers. Already, more than one-quarter of US adults have used these technologies and of those who have, nearly half use them at least weekly. In fact, consumers are coming to expect AR experiences like virtual makeup counters, fitting rooms, and showrooms—and starting to judge brands that don’t provide them.
Due to the pandemic AR and VR have taken center stage, leading to the rise of virtual pop-up stores, virtual fitting rooms that “bring” you clothes based on your preferences, and social shopping experiences in virtual environments.
Final Words
The great experience a customer has on your online store will translate to higher conversions and loyalty. With the high competition in the retail industry customers will move onto other brands if they have an unsatisfied experience. Retailers need to adapt to the needs of the customers.
You can read in detail in Our ebook on how you can bring change to your websites and improve customer experience. We have also added our experience on how we were able to increase the online orders for our customer by 105%.
