No. 1–Buy Anywhere – Today’s digital consumer wants to transact anywhere that is most convenient for them. Most transactions going forward are not going to be on the retailer’s desktop Web site — consumers will buy products from a variety of touchpoints, including directly via a banner ad, in a search engine, on a third-party affiliate site, via social media, or of course on a mobile device of any type. Once shoppers are ready to buy, nothing should stand in the way of a swift, smooth, and secure transaction, regardless of where it takes place. Full-fledged purchase functionality must be available across touchpoints that enables shoppers to “pick up where they left off” and transact with maximum efficiency.
No. 2–Merchandise Anywhere – Just as shoppers expect to be able to buy via any touchpoint, they also expect to access brand inventory regardless of where it resides — whether in the store where they’re currently browsing, in a warehouse, at a manufacturer’s drop-ship facility, or at another local outlet. While for most retailers, reconfiguring their infrastructure to enable this kind of nimble fulfillment is a steep challenge, it’s an essential move if they’re to keep up with consumers’ growing expectations for an array of fulfillment options to suit their budget and timing needs. By enabling “merchandise anywhere,” merchants can make “out of stock” disappointment a rarity, and instead find innovative ways to deliver what shoppers need, earning sales and trust. Search ads and third-party marketplace listings must be connected with these technologies to reflect accurate fulfillment options.
No. 3–Enhanced Digital Store Experience – The “buy anywhere” and “merchandise anywhere” trends will be manifested in a dramatic transformation of retail stores. Consumers increasingly expect physical locations to serve as digitally connected hubs where they can both see and try products and access the in-depth resources of the brand’s online offerings. Bringing mobile-based POS technology into the store is critical to a retailer’s success going forward, so that store associates can tap online assets such as detailed product specs, reviews, and buying guides to inform one-to-one selling interactions. And by integrating rich customer data into store associates’ online toolkits, they can provide retail shoppers with truly personalized in-store experience. Clienteling apps, social media integration, and mobile devices will all become part of the new intelligent in-store experience.
Real-time predictive promotions being served through search or affiliate channels could also be presented in-store via the mobile device. For example, if a shopper clicks an ad (via search or affiliate) or engages with a promotion with their mobile device, the retailer could then identify them when they are in-store and personalize the store experience to engage the individual shopper explicitly. Imagine clicking an ad on your mobile phone and then visiting a store and having the store associates be able to identify you and offer you the discount that you engaged with in the ad, bringing clienteling to the next level, and allowing affiliate credit for in-store purchases.
No. 4– Beyond Personalization to Prediction – While personalization has been part of the playbook since ecommerce came to life, predictive marketing and merchandising is quite new. This technology enables retailers to tap Big Data resources to identify shopping trends and patterns based on past behavior, with the speed to produce results within hours, not months. Marrying these insights with individual shoppers’ profiles helps merchants predict what the consumer will do next and customize the experience to a greater degree than ever thought possible. With predictive technologies, merchants can proactively offer the right products and offers at the right time in the right format to shoppers, winning sales and brand credibility as a result. Real-time predictive promotions and messaging could also be served through SEM and affiliate channels to drive significant engagement and personalization opportunities.
No. 5–Intelligent Merchandising – Merchants must be prepared to interact with shoppers multiple times prior to the first sale, while presenting a contiguous and unified brand story that anticipates their needs — and the standard must be even higher for existing customers who have a history of purchases and interactions with the brand that must inform every potential engagement. But this expectation from shoppers is difficult to meet for merchants who don’t have the time or the detailed data easily available to them to take their merchandising to an entirely new level. Now, however, they can let their commerce technology handle it for them, thanks to the advent of algorithmic merchandising. This sophisticated toolset is a self-learning system that uses the analytics from all brand touchpoints and determines the best merchandising strategy for individual shoppers, customizing the experience accordingly. Search or affiliate marketing can supply yet another layer of data about the shopper’s preferences which the retailer (or their technology) can effectively and predictively merchandise to further individualize the experience.
Search: Top Five Developments In 2016 For Ecommerce, Mcommerce
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