Ecommerce Trends | The Most Effective Ways You Can Capitalise on Changing Consumer Behaviour
As with all trends in consumer behaviour, there is always a level of unpredictability attached; however, the years 2020 and 2021 brought with them much more than usual, which industries did not seem to be prepared for. As it turned out, there was a huge number of retailers who weren’t ready for the changes that came with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Naturally, as high streets closed and shopping moved online, there was a huge boom in E-commerce. Whilst a lot of people were happy to adjust as much as possible during the lockdown, some assumed that consumer spending habits would return to normal once restrictions eased. Now, in retrospect, it is clear just how much our reliance on Ecommerce has become, as a lot of people who adjusted to spending online during lockdown are continuing to do so now.
Though a post-covid retail world is looking to be much different than what we have previously been used to, there is no doubt that the retail sector has survived economic crises before, and it will certainly survive this one. In order to do so; however, adaptation will be necessary.
This article will consider how the spending habits of consumers have been altered as a result of the covid pandemic and what organisations can do to keep on top of and capitalise on these changes.
How Has the Pandemic Changed Consumer Buying Behaviour?
The boost of online sales as a result of the pandemic has been at the forefront of a number of businesses’ minds. You only need to look at the record-shattering year Amazon had to get an idea as to how much more our reliance on online shopping increased throughout covid. The same can be said across the world as one online retailer in China reported its grocery sales increased by a whopping 215% in just a 10-day period. This trend is now reflected in countries from all over the globe.
So, what does this mean for shops? Essentially it means that if a consumer is able to buy online the same product they could also get in a physical store, the former is looking more preferable. It’s clear these patterns are remaining relevant even after lockdown. It makes sense when you think about it, though there is certainly a social element that comes with attending stores, shopping online is without a doubt much easier, so why would people stop doing it?
The New Normal
There was a lot of talk of what the new normal could look like in a post-pandemic Britain. Well, as it turns out, the new normal in terms of retail, comes in the form of online shopping. The importance of adjusting to being able to take care of a customer’s needs online was clear as organisations such as Amazon, thanks to strategic and innovative decisions made prior to the pandemic, saw themselves outperform their rivals monumentally.
With this in mind, what do you need to do in order to adjust in a similar way? Consider the following:
- If you’re not already selling online, start doing it;
- Define your focus as a business by locating what your strengths are;
- Improve your position in the market; and
- Scale up on successful models.
Let’s look at these in a bit more detail.
If You’re Not Already Selling Online, Start Doing It
The move online is inevitable. Sure, it can be tough to determine exactly how much you could make by moving online, or how much your online sales will actually make up, but regardless of whether it’s 50%, 20% or 10%, you have to be there.
Though organisations seem to recognise the importance of moving online, the question they face is how to actually do it. The best way is to make a website and then start promoting it on different channels. If you do not know where to start with this, you may want to enlist the help of global performance marketing agencies, which have experience with promoting businesses online.
Prioritise and Define Focus
Your strengths are what are going to help you when you make the move online so it’s important you identify them beforehand. You should identify what it has that makes you stand out, whether this is price, assortment, speed or simplicity. What is it out of those things that customers can expect from you? Once you know that, focus on it.
Improve Your Position in the Market
After you’re set-up online and you have a focus, it’s time to start strengthening your position in the market. The internet is a very effective means of marketing thanks to the ability to blog (creating SEO content in the process) and also share your business, blogs and products on social media.
Again, this is something that marketing agencies will be able to offer assistance with, as the means by which you use the internet to promote your business will depend on what your business does and who your demographic is. For example, if you are aiming to sell to an older audience, utilising Facebook ads is a good idea, whereas if you have a younger audience you may want to concentrate on other social media sites such as Instagram and Twitter.
You are also in a position to run a blog, which if you use the correct keywords in your content for, will ensure you rank highly on Google.
Scale-Up on Successful Models
A general rule of thumb is that once you stop scaling you are putting your position in the market at risk. There are a variety of retail software solutions that will allow you to continue scaling, which will come in capitalising on what was said above, essentially, using whatever the new trends on social media are and ranking highly on Google for local keywords at first before getting broader and broader.
Conclusion
The unpredictability that came with 2020 and 2021 has led to a huge boom in online shopping. If your business is not online or trying to utilise the internet as a means to generate sales, then it should start doing so. Granted, the abyss of the web is daunting, so you may not know where to start, if that’s the case then you should contact YouYaa who will assist with promoting your business online.
