Peter Irikovsky, CEO, Exponea, talks about the deep-rooted behavioral shifts that the e-commerce industry is going through. Find out what marketers will need to do to succeed.
COVID-19 has impacted the economy in unprecedented ways. As retail and e-commerce businesses rush to navigate the changes, it’s crucial to focus not only on immediate needs but also on how to deal with the lasting effects. In this series, we’ll dive into a new framework designed to address the more deep-rooted behavioral shifts to help business professionals assess their readiness for what the future holds and how to succeed.
Planning for Forced Digital Transformation
It’s incredibly important to understand and accept that business as we knew it before coronavirus is no longer a reality, and likely won’t be anytime soon — or perhaps ever again. A recent report from Gallup revealed that once government shutdowns are lifted, approximately 80% of Americans intend to wait before resumingOpens a new window their routine, for example, and some European countries that have reopened can already confirm similar behavior. All current evidence suggests that the pandemic will disrupt the daily rhythms of our lives for several months at the very least, and we’ll begin to see exactly how learning from the multiple countries that have started reopening their economies.
There are some obvious changes we can already see or confidently expect, including a general decrease in brick-and-mortar traffic. Retailers know that a lower amount of foot traffic in physical stores has been a trend for some time, but in a post-pandemic economy, consumers are going to be even less likely to venture out, and incredibly cautious when they do. This means that companies that aren’t digitally native will need to make the transition at an even faster rate than expected if they want to make up the difference.
Learn More: The Effect of COVID-19 on Shopper Behavior: A Quick Guide for Online RetailersOpens a new window
One thing to keep in mind is that the influx of customers will include many who’ve never before shopped your brand online. In fact, it’s possible they’d barely shopped online at all until shelter-in-place mandates forced them to do so. While existing customers are forming new habits in the face of a crisis, these newcomers are forming delicate first impressions:
- Love. These customers will continue to shop online long after the pandemic is over. Like. These customers enjoy online shopping, but still intend to do a lot of their shopping in person.
- Dislike. These customers haven’t enjoyed the digital experience at all. They’ll be back to shopping in person as soon as it’s available.
Before the pandemic, it was about providing excellent digital experiences for the targeted customer, the willing customer. Now, it’s about providing excellent digital experiences for a much tougher audience: everyone. Now, success is moving as many consumers into the first and second category as soon as possible.
With everyone shopping online, their choices seemingly endless, customer loyalty is even more important than before. Something like an unwanted product substitution on a grocery order, or a wrong size item shipped out, can be enough to permanently lose a customer. It sounds like a delicate and frightening reality, but the good news is the pendulum can swing the other way. That is to say, once a customer finds a brand they can trust during this extremely challenging and unpredictable time, there’s an opportunity to make them a lifelong advocate.
Learn More: 5 Steps That Will Change How You Think About the Customer JourneyOpens a new window
What’s your Current New Normal Status?
The pandemic has impacted businesses of all types, making a one-size-fits-all solution impossible. How you respond depends on your current standing as a business, and though this status might’ve been obvious pre-pandemic, a new assessment is required in the face of a much broader customer base and a much different looking future.
The New Normal Fundamentals frameworkOpens a new window comprises three key steps:
- Understanding your customers: Behaviors are changing from moment to moment, so fast even AI can’t keep up, so it’s important to be able to have the tools you need to assess where each customer is at any given time
- Understanding your capabilities: You’ll need the ability to execute against the insights you glean from customer behaviors; specifically, the technology that supports omnichannel communications and quick response times
- Taking action: Being clear on and able to move forward with your next steps, as well as the ability to reflect on your results is critical
A comprehensive assessment will help you look at these steps as a whole and place you somewhere on the New Normal E-Commerce Quadrant:
The New Normal Fundamentals assessment plots your ability to discover new customer insights against your omnichannel capabilities and places you in one of the following categories:
- Traditionalist: You’re new to offering online experiences, and perhaps even had no intention of doing so before the shelter-in-place mandate. In this category, your business survival is at risk.
- Theorist: You have plenty of data and insights about your customers, but haven’t been able to execute on these insights across channels. In this category, your performance is at risk.
- Experimentalist: You have the tools needed to execute campaigns across channels, but lack the customer data to effectively inform them.
- New Normal Leader: You have the foundation needed to survive in a post-pandemic landscape, but can always benefit from new ideas or use cases.
Depending on your placement, the New Normal Fundamentals framework offers a step-by-step action plan to move you in the direction of the Leaders quadrant.
Eventually, we’ll overcome the COVID-19 crisis, but many of the changes that have come with it will be permanent. It’s imperative for e-commerce and retail businesses to take steps now, while customers everywhere are forming new habits, to ensure success for years to come.
A worldwide inflection point gives everyone an opportunity to successfully make a drastic change.