The evolution of ecommerce websites

If your business is online retail, this certainly should be the season to be jolly as the average UK household spends 29% more in December than any other month of the year. Here, we look at how you can make sure your systems are working hard to attract those extra sales while consumers are spending more, and share our top tips to keep your business flying high throughout the rest of the year.

Why ecommerce is the future of retail

The COVID-19 lockdowns saw high street stores forced to close their doors, driving an unprecedented number of consumers online for the first time. As bricks and mortar shops returned to normal trading habits this year, some predicted that the growth which had seen the ecommerce market double in size would falter and begin to contract as shoppers took to the streets again. However, data suggests that this is not the case. Consumer habits continue to lean towards online shopping, with some estimates predicting that up to 95% of all purchases will be made online by 2040. So how can you ensure that your ecommerce business is the first stop for customers?

Go omnichannel

One of the major mistakes businesses make when planning to push their brand omnichannel is failing to understand how this differs from a simple multichannel offering. Multichannel ecommerce makes products available across various channels, such as web, mobile, and social, but it does not inherently provide joined up user journeys across these channels. For example: users may find that they cannot use their preferred payment method when ordering on the mobile store, even though they were able to use this method on the desktop website during their last visit. Differences between stock items and stock levels can also cause frustration, as well as returns processes functioning differently depending on which channel is used to access the store. In some instances customers will also find that they need to re-register their account and / or login details in order to complete a purchase on a channel they haven't used before, which is highly likely to result in them abandoning the transaction before completing the checkout process. A true omnichannel approach will provide seamless journeys for users, enabling them to (for example) browse for stock on their desktop, add items to their cart later on their mobile, then check out using an app, all as part of the same jounrney. This level of convenience also provides multiple touchpoints for customers, immersing them in your brand and making them more likely to encounter your marketing materials several times a day.

Sustainable shopping

From sourcing ethically-produced materials, to offering flexible, more ecologically aware shipping options, 50% of customers said they would be happy to pay more for goods and services from a business that can evidence its commitment to a greener future, with 80% saying that a brand's commitment to sustainability was a vital consideration for them when choosing who to buy from. Common business areas that can be improved to promote more sustainable practices include packaging materials, shipping methods, and sourcing of materials. Before making any changes though, you need to assess how your business is currently handling these, and other practices that could impact your greenhouse emissions. Use the data you have at your disposal to gain insights into your current performances, then plan how you can improve upon these.

Making changes for a greener future may be as simple as switching suppliers for your packaging or manufacturing materials, but you must also consider the impact this has on your processes. Invoice formats, payment terms, lead times, and more are all likely to change when you change your processes and the people involved in them. Making sure your systems are ready to handle these changes, and are resilient to any unforeseen issues that could arise, is critical to ensuring business continuity.

Data privacy and security

The further we head towards truly personalised online shopping experiences for customers, the more data we need to facilitate these experiences. This has become a cause of growing concern among consumers who are worried about the amount of data some businesses are collecting, their methods of collection, and who they are sharing this data with. Beyond concerns about invasions of privacy, customers are also worried that their personal details could fall into the hands of criminals who may seek to exploit this information for fraudulent purposes.

While this may seem like an obstacle to providing tailored shopping experiences, it actually presents an opportunity to businesses that are willing to offer complete transparency over the type of the data they are collecting, the methods of collection, the reasons for collection, and how the data will be stored, used, and shared. Giving customers options beyond email opt-ins and other regulatory requirements for businesses puts them back in control and will give them more confidence that you will handle the data they choose to give you responsibly and respectfully. Up to 25% of lost ecommerce sales are due to carts being abandoned at check out when the customer is prompted to create an account. This means that giving them the option to check out as a guest could boost your sales by a quarter, resulting in a healthier revenue figures for your business, and a more satisfied and trusting customer base.

To help allay fears about the security of the data they are sharing, make sure you are using secure servers with the best, most up-to-date processes to safeguard against data leaks, theft, and corruption. An expert cybersecurity partner will be able to help you source the right systems and configure them following best practices. Once you're happy that the data you collect is as secure as possible, make sure this information is transparent and easily accessible to customers on your site.

Payment processing

Reducing the number of carts abandoned at checkout is a simple way to increase sales. To achieve this though, you first need to understand why customers are abandoning their carts, then take action to rectify this. Common reasons include: the total cost of the cart; lack of or inflexible payment options; unexpected additional fees, like sales tax and shipping; opaque or poor policies around returns and data protection; additional steps, such as account creation, being necessary before checking out.

Once you have an understanding of the reasons customers abandon their carts on your store, you can start to devise strategies to remedy this. As a simple rule, the key is often to enable checkout seamlessly, with as few clicks as possible via a number of routes that can be chosen by the customer. Account creation should ideally be optional, and policies around data protection and returns should be clearly labelled and easy for customers to access and understand.

Payment providers like Klarna and PayPal are now offering By Now, Pay Later (BNPL) options for customers, which can help ensure checkout processes are completed, and therefore integrating these payment options could prove valuable for your business. If you're unsure of how to make improvements, ecommerce specialists will be able to partner with you to craft the perfect user journeys for your business and minimise cart abandonments.

Voice shopping

Hands-free shopping is on the rise. With more than 30% of internet users browsing online with personal assistant IoT devices like Amazon Echo or Google Home, customers are beginning to demand more convenient and accessible ways to shop. Voice shopping helps users get information on the products they are interested in without having to scroll through hundreds of listings across multiple pages. It is also a useful tool for customers with limited mobility, enabling them to control their browsing experience with just their voice.

While this technology has historically been limited to big companies, it's now becoming increasingly affordable and viable for smaller businesses to compete on these platforms and capture some of this growing market. Dedicated apps for Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Siri, and other personal assistant platforms are continually being developed, giving customers greater access to a wider range of businesses than ever before.

If you're interested in getting ahead of your competition this Christmas and beyond by using cutting-edge technologies to meet evolving consumer trends and demands, talk to us today https://www.dotfive.co.uk/info/contact

Up to 95% of all purchases will be made online by 2040.