Ecommerce for Holiday Season – What Your Shopping Apps Should Focus on?
Hustling and bustling we all go,
This holiday season record a closing like a pro!
Have you not planned for the holiday gifts already? Still deciding and musing over the possible sales and offers that may pop up as holidays near?
Don’t fret, because the e-commerce industry is neck to neck in the struggle to end with the highest possible profits, and for that, they are ready to rope in customers in whatever way feasible.
The above line summarizes the whole purpose that the e-commerce industry is vying each other for!
The driving trends for the E-commerce industry this holiday season!
You cannot in any way deny the fact that the holiday season is the busiest for the shoppers and the ones selling. But there is a need to understand the kind of trends that need to be adopted for registering the profits; you cannot blindly create strategies.
The need to understand the consumer pattern and psyche is the crux of being successful. From the past year's analysis, the possible models and patterns that can be observed and utilized for the benefit of the business are as follows:
Creating experience around the product
Today, brands that are doing well locally and internationally are the ones that work to create an experience around their brands. The need to connect with the consumer is ever-growing.
The conversion of a window-shopper into a buyer is usually based on the kind of one-to-one interaction that the consumer has had or is having with the brand.
A new trend that is gaining popularity is the concept of pop-up stores. The Pop-up stores have different brands, selling a variety of assorted products set up, temporary stalls that help them connect with the consumer. The gauge of understanding if the interaction has been successful is the number of consumers converting!
Be smart with online/offline connectivity
With technology aiding every aspect of life, businesses are probably the ones benefitting the most. There were times when it was next to impossible to differentiate the source from where the customer was coming from.
Today with the concept of BOPIS (But online and pick in-store) and BORIS (Buy online and return in-store), customers are getting more personalized and hassle-free services.
Hit the bull's eye with consumer targeting!
Last year the online purchases were recorded at $123 billion, and offline shopping has been recorded at $874 billion.
The combined figures total at roughly $1 trillion. The whole of one size fits all is obsolete! You need to customize and personalize the user experience so that each customer feels impossible to.
People trust people - get reviews!
The first thing people look for when purchasing a product or availing a service is reviews. People look for the user experience of past consumers and then make their decisions accordingly.
A business with more positive reviews is highly likely to get higher traffic than the business that has better quality but fewer reviews. A whopping 91% look for reviews when they are making the purchase, so you now know the area that needs efforts.
The focus of shopping apps should be on….
When hiring an app developer for your shopping app, you should make sure that you are making the right decision. You need a developer that has the current market insight and is up to date with all the recent trends.
Apps need to be user-friendly and provide a much quicker and comfortable experience than physical shopping or desktop experience. The apps need to be fluid in usage and should not be loaded with heavy graphics that can hinder downloading and disturb landing page experience.
Harness the power of discounts to grab new customers
Getting new customers is quite tricky, and therefore, the businesses should focus on strategies that help gain new customers.
Promotions like promo codes and discount offers can help you gain customers. Introducing online offers can also help grab attention of consumers who want to avoid the holiday rush.
Offer more accessible consumer financing options
This might sound tad complicated, but it can help you get more customers. When your app allows customers to select and opt for payment plans, it helps them in the long run with their finances.
The holiday seasons are a significant constraint on the pockets, and secure financing plans help as the consumer can buy today and pay later. This doesn't affect your bottom line in any way because apps like PayPal allow you to have the money upfront.
Make personalized marketing your strategy
Remember how, in the old days, we all preferred to go to stores that had a sales assistant who remembered how we wanted our groceries and what our preferences were.
The apps should be built focusing on the data from the consumer. This way the customer will be seeing ads and offers that are on products that they usually purchase or are likely to buy.
Connect at all fronts
Consumers today are far more impatient and therefore connecting with them at all levels like email marketing, chatbots, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram chats help the customer make better decisions.
The lack of response from the business could be damaging as it could end up losing a customer over to your competitor.
Optimize the mobile app
The mobile users are growing, and hence people today prefer to shop from the comfort of their couches. The need to focus on apps that are friendly on all mobile devices should be our first concern. This helps in increasing connectivity and allows users to shop comfortably.
Free shipping should be the main selling point
When consumers visit a brick and mortar store, they know that they will not be paying for the shipping. But if you charge for shipping when buying online, the customers will assume that they end up paying more.
This will discourage them from an online shopping experience. The best way to balance this out would be to offer free shipping at a certain threshold amount.
The consumers work in a way that they will end up buying products to meet that threshold so that they can enjoy free shipping.
Apps and Consumers!
Today, we see many businesses offering “app download” when we visit their website and even they offer discount vouchers or promo codes on downloading. These are the businesses who are playing right and ensuring that they do not lose their customers to competitors.
A mobile experience exudes comfort and provides ease that we all are looking for in our daily lives. Hence the businesses providing it are the top players in their games.
To make sure you make the most of these upcoming holidays, make the right decision of increasing accessibility of your products and treating your consumers to early holiday surprises and gifts.
Final Word
This holiday season, make sure you are armored with all the latest news from the e-commerce world and have studied your consumers’ right! This will help you market and advertise in the right direction without wasting resources on unfruitful channels.
A proper strategy focused on creating personalized user experience will work a long way and help you reach the highest precipice of profit and celebrate with the sparkling champagne.
