According to data from Forbes, e-commerce sales surpassed $1 trillion in 2022—for the first time ever. If you’re not optimizing your e-commerce experience to be as seamless as possible for your consumers, you’re likely missing out on a colossal chunk of the market. Additionally, digital-first brands are claiming market space by offering essential benefits to consumers.
It’s more important than ever to understand what motivates buyers to shop online. Whether your brand is a household name in food & beverage or personal care, you should consider these five factors in designing your brand’s online shopping experience.
97% of shoppers in the U.S. have abandoned an online purchase due to lack of convenience. Because in a world where a consumer can find a product on Instagram or Facebook, add it to your shopping cart, and check out with pre-filled details in less than three minutes, why would they settle for anything less?
Customers prioritize convenience in the online shopping experience more than ever. Since the pandemic, it has become apparent that if one preferred brand doesn’t offer a seamless shopping experience, then there are at least half a dozen smaller and agile brands that will. Consider how your brand can meet shoppers where they are and provide them with convenient features using first-party data.
In e-commerce, it pays to stay on trend. Consider how your brand’s competitors are delighting customers with simple yet effective ways to drive down prices. For example, buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) lending is expected to grow from $74 million in 2022 to $114 million in 2024. With a global recession in effect, financing options are a surefire way to retain customers that might otherwise seek another brand. Furthermore, according to data from Shippo, 83% of consumers prefer to purchase from stores that offer free shipping. Free shipping for orders above a certain value is a tried-and-true way to drive up average order values and increase customer lifetime value.
Your brand image is one of the most important factors in influencing online purchases. User-generated content is becoming increasingly popular, and influencers have your consumers in the palm of their hands. 79% of people say UGC highly impacts their purchasing decisions, making it 8.7x more impactful than influencer content and 6.6x more influential than branded content.
In navigating this landscape, it’s crucial to assure consumers that your brand can be trusted to deliver highly relevant content and personalized shopping experiences. 57% of consumers are okay with sharing data as long as it is to their benefit. In designing your online shopping experience, make sure every request for data is clearly linked to value and information for the visitor.
According to data from Kibo Commerce, the average bounce rate from e-commerce sites across the world in Q2 2022 was 42%. This points to the fact that customer experience begins upon discovery, and continues until advocacy and beyond. Your brand’s customer experience is as important as the products you sell. Consider how your site welcomes new visitors with relevant content, and features valued customers with product reviews.
Every brand would offer free shipping, financing options, and social commerce if they could. And every brand hopes that their consumers love their products and brand experience enough to leave reviews. But can every brand say that they are pushing the right content to the right consumer at exactly the right time?
According to data from Invesp, 45% of consumers highly appreciate e-commerce websites that offer personalized recommendations. Marketing personalization may seem daunting, but it is the best way for your brand to stand out to the consumer. 72% of people say they are more likely to purchase from a brand if it consistently provides them with a more personalized experience.
There are a few ways to get this done: 1) by manually curating recommendations for each product or piece of content your consumer is viewing, or 2) by enlisting in an AI personalization engine to analyze data and make smart decisions in real-time. Investing in artificial intelligence can save you time and resources and maximize your marketing ROI.
Shopping online has quickly become an essential part of the consumer journey, therefore it needs to become a non-negotiable part of your brand’s strategy. Awareness of the factors that influence online shopping behavior will catapult your brand to the next level of convenience and brand loyalty.