Trends in eCommerce - Omnichannel Strategies for eCommerce

In the digital world of today, customers are not only found in one channel. It would be right to say that people search the internet, visit stores, look at social media and expect anything they do with your brand to remain seamless. This is omnichannel world and it calls for a new type of business; an omnichannel business.

1. Mobile Shopping: The eCommerce on the go

Mobile commerce is gaining ground and for the right reasons. Mobile commerce also referred to as M-commerce sales are expected to reach $4.5 trillion and make up close to 70% of retail e-commerce sales in 2024 and reports estimate that the number of global smartphone users will continue to grow rapidly and hit 7.49 billion by 2025. 

Mobile commerce offers consumer access to brands at any moment in the day and anywhere they are. They bring the following to eCommerce: 

• User-friendly mobile apps: this allows smooth navigation, search, and even checkout with one-click purchasing options.
• Seamless omnichannel experiences: When brands create seamless interactions between online and physical stores for things like click-and-collect, store product information as well as loyalty programs.
• Personalized recommendations: using localization data and purchase history to recommend relevant products as well as offers.
• Social media integration: allows discovery and buying on social media platforms.
• Fast and secure payments: Mobile wallets and one-click payment options streamline the checkout process.
• Location-based marketing: sending deals or promotions according to a user’s geographical location.

Why should mobile commerce be on your radar?

With more than 70% of global e-commerce traffic now comes from mobile devices and mobile shoppers having higher conversion rates and higher average basket value, mobile commerce is the future of eCommerce. Convenience and instant gratification are also key drivers of mobile purchases and by embracing mobile eCommerce, businesses can reach:

• A wider audience – Tap into the vast population of mobile users
• Increased sales and conversions– It will be easy to win over customers who find it convenient to shop via mobiles
• Building customer loyalty- Enhance seamless personalized experience in shopping
• Staying ahead – Adaptation to changing retail landscape

What is the future of mobile commerce?

Mobile e-commerce will continue evolving with the advancement of technology: 

• Augmented reality (AR) experiences; virtually trying on clothes or visualizing furniture in your home.
• Voice commerce; Shop through voice commands leading to increased convenience.
• Hyper-personalization; AI-powered recommendations and offers tailored to individual preferences

The Key Takeaway? Mobile shopping is not a fad, it is the future of retail. By adopting mobile eCommerce and its innovative features, businesses can open up new growth opportunities and deliver a winning shopping experience for the modern consumer.

2.Voice Shopping: Talk and Get What You Want

The adoption of voice shopping is essential to remain current and serve a changing customer landscape. The following are some key steps you can take to fully integrate voice into your marketing efforts: 

1. Optimize your product listings for voice search

• Use long-tail keywords: Since people talk differently from the way they write, it would be best to focus on words or phrases that they would naturally use in order to find out what you are selling.
• Highlight main features and benefits: Briefly explain why your product stands out among others.
• Structured listings: The items on your list should be organized systematically so that voice assistants can easily discern the hierarchy of information contained in them.

2. Invest in voice search optimization tools

Some tools help identify areas that need improvement based on best practices of voice search when it comes to evaluating listings.

• Google Search Console
• Moz Local
• Alexa Skills Kit
• Yext
• SEMrush

3. Enable voice ordering on your website

• Think about integrating with Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa so that you can have speech activated purchases directly from your site.

4. Create engaging audio content

• Develop product descriptions and promotions specifically for these channels focusing on storytelling and emotional connection.
• Experiment with audio ads and paid placements on voice platforms

5. Partner with influencers and reviewers

• Join forces with influencers who employ this vocal technique during their reviews thus promoting the products naturally.
• Encourage customer reviews through audio formats which add social proof and trustworthiness

6. Embrace omnichannel experiences

• See that your efforts in voice shopping integrate well within the overall strategy for omnichannel marketing so as to allow for seamless interaction between different touchpoints.
• Ensure you use a Voice Assistant for Customer Support & FAQs

7. Track and Analyze Your Successes

• Monitor key metrics as traffic through voice searches, conversion rates, customer sentiment regularly so as to refine one’s approach and gauge how effective their efforts towards implementing a good voice search strategy are.

By adopting these approaches you can put your e-commerce business on a course for success in the growing voice shopping industry while providing delightful shopping experiences for customers. Bear in mind that it is a continuous process hence continuous learning and adaptation is key to success here.

3. Omnichannel Experience: Shopping Unrestricted

Today's customers have power. So there’s a choice and they demand convenience, consistency, and personalization. eCommerce needs to meet these expectations and offer omnichannel experiences to meet customers where they are. 

It’s not just shopping anymore; it’s an adventure without borders. Whether you’re scrolling through a website or tapping on a mobile app or wandering through a brick-and-mortar store as well as from platform to platform where it knows about which ones we prefer for our personal shopper who will remember what we have been buying in the past.

The omnichannel experience makes shopping not just convenient but also delightfully intuitive. No more repeating yourself to different sales assistants or re-entering the same information on different devices. Everything is synchronized in perfect harmony.

• Improved customer satisfaction: Happier customers lead to repeat purchases/recommendations for brands.
• Increased sales: Omnichannel strategies break down siloes, enabling customers to opt for the right channels for conversion.
• Building brand loyalty: Trust remains intact when there’s consistency throughout various channels hence the emotional connection with your brand.

These are the key elements of successful omnichannel business

• Customer-focused approach: Understand your target audience journey and supply them with what they want at every point of contact.
• Data driven decision making: Use data to personalize experiences, monitor channel performance or improve strategies accordingly.
• Integrated systems: Remove barriers between marketing, service departments or sales thus allowing them see one customer from every departmental angle.
• Uniform branding: have a consistent voice and identity all over your different channels you use for promotion purposes.

Examples of brands with successful Omnichannel strategies

Singapore Airlines - Living up to its reputation as the world's best airline, Singapore Airlines makes traveling even more enjoyable with its omnichannel approach and mobile app integrations. Watch the video below and prepare to be wowed. 

Sephora - Sephora is not a stranger to using technology to its favor and it is with no surprise that their omnichannel strategy is always taken as an example and case study. Their mobile app is a customers' favorite with things like virtual try-ons but omnichannel for Sephora also means transforming retail into an exceptional experience. 

Disney - Disney is probably the father of Omnichannel. Today we can experience Disney across so many channels and places but the original thinking from the 1950 synergy map is still alive; and that is how business need to think about creating comprehensive, interconnected experiences for their customers.

The omnichannel world is here to stay. To benefit from the increased loyalty, sales and satisfaction, take advantage of this by developing a business that is built with an empowered customer.