10 Feb 2023
The eCommerce Trends that Caught our Eyes – eTail East Boston 2022
The Novatize team had the privilege of attending eTail™ 2022 this August in Boston. This is a major event attended by top retail and eCommerce companies such as Lowe’s, Staples, GNC, Saks OFF 5TH and many others. Here are the topics and key eCommerce trends that were discussed at the event:
1. The eCommerce industry and First-Party Data:
In digital marketing, first-party data refers to customers’ data collected by a business across its own channels, including its website, apps, physical stores and online sales channels. This data is generally more accurate and reliable than second- or third-party data because it comes directly from the business itself.
Even two years after IOS.14, access to consumer data remains a key issue for eCommerce businesses . As Web marketing experts expect the death of the traditional cookie in the next 2 years, businesses are making every effort to offer as much personalization as possible to their customers.
2. Digital loyalty programs
Loyalty programs are a great way for companies to build customer loyalty and encourage frequent purchases. Digital loyalty programs allow companies to track customers’ purchases and offer them rewards based on their order history.
In order to acquire as much data as possible on their consumers, companies are increasingly relying on loyalty programs and even on annual subscriptions such as Amazon Prime or Costco. This tactic allows companies to have direct access to their customers’ or prospects’ consumption data rather than depending on third-party cookies. Ultimately, we want to foster customer loyalty by better understanding what product they want and when they want it.
3. Gamification
Gamification is a technique that consists of integrating game elements into a non-game context to improve the user experience and/or increase performance. Gamification is the use of principles from video games to encourage certain behaviors in Internet users. In fact, by making tasks more playful, we encourage users to take more pleasure and spend more time on them.
It is a concept often used by big brands in their marketing’s actions. The trend is spreading more and more to the online sales market as customers are seeking more unique experiences . For example, some e-merchants can transform an email offering a discount into an email offering a virtual scratch-off coupon to get a discount or add a progress bar to the cart to encourage customers to spend more to get free shipping or a gift.
4. The MACH architecture
MACH (Microservices based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS and Headless) architecture is a modern architecture for web and mobile applications. It is based on the use of microservices, RESTful APIs, cloud hosting and continuous integration. It is a trend that is increasingly discussed in eCommerce. MACH Architecture is a technology concept proposing to support a composable eCommerce in which each component is pluggable, scalable, replaceable and can be continuously improved through agile development to meet changing business needs. This concept may sound complex, but it’s nothing new in the world of web development. The idea is to use different applications to have the best possible solution for each step of your online business (CMS, Checkout, search, CRM, etc.). The result? A personalized customer experience with the best possible performance. But beware, this is not for everyone in terms of investment and technical complexity.
5. The Future of eCommerce is TikTok
TikTok is a social media app that allows its users to create and share short, fun and creative videos. The app was launched in 2016 by ByteDance, a Chinese social media company. In eCommerce, it’s the new gold mine of acquisition: 47% of Generation Z in the U.S. uses TikTok before Google to do their research. The challenge is to adapt your content creation to the platform’s codes, but the potential is there and growing. Again, it’s not for every business and you need to be aware of the nature of your audience and what form of messaging to focus on before jumping in.
6. Personalization via email marketing
Email marketing is a direct marketing communication technique used to promote products or services to a target audience via email. It is one of the most popular forms of online marketing because it is relatively inexpensive and can reach a large audience.
To be successful in email marketing in 2022, the focus must be on personalization. Everyone is fighting for the attention of the same consumers, so it is essential to offer a tailored experience to your customers to earn their click. Generic emails are outdated and useless, we need to adapt our strategy and make specific stunts to the behaviors of our subscribers. Companies like Klaviyo, allow eCommerce companies to easily implement personalized experiences and efficient email flows.
7. Omnichannel Commerce Strategy
Retail businesses have been among the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. As stores closed and online shopping increased, many businesses were forced out of business. Now that stores are back on their feet, many businesses are revisiting their retail strategy, but everyone seems to agree that a physical store is an asset that can be a valuable part of their strategy if used properly. Successful retailers are adopting an omnichannel commerce strategy by integrating online and offline sales channels that allows retailers to offer a consistent and seamless experience to customers regardless of the channel used
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