Consumers personal experience is shaping change in E-commerce with expectations for instant always-on messaging and sales at every touchpoint. Consumer choices on mobile phone, social media, robots, smart speakers, omnichannel shopping contribute to a complex e-commerce environment. Yet trust in technology is down, a challenge for the industry and the reason why DMEXCO chose ‘Trust in You’ as the motto for their Conference & Expo in September. Bloomberg reports on smart speaker recordings of private conversations will add to consumer distrust. In this article:
Low consumer uptake for Voice Commerce
People are buying smart speakers but according to a recent DMEXCO community survey, the speakers are being used for streaming music rather than shopping. Voice technology is beginning in customer service with 70% of respondents in a Deloitte study either starting or intending to start with projects. Satisfaction is still limited though the use of voice/chatbots could meet the instant messaging needs of customers. Sky,the European pay-TV station told investors that it deflected 26 million calls to digital channels in 2017. The firm says it will ‘increasingly use bots to further automate customer messaging’ which frees up human service for more complex customer issues. The right balance between human and robot service is key for the customer and transparency about the tech is vital to build trust. In California, it will become law to disclose when a Bot is being used. The top channel for voice is the mobile phone (41%) according Deloitte.
Time for a mobile-first strategy?
Mobile-first commerce strategies are increasing. In the UK, USA, and Scandinavia, up to 30% of total advertising budgets flow into mobile, with campaigns starting in apps like Snapchat or Instagram. Consumers spend between 80 and 90% of their time on mobiles in Apps (Comscoreor Flurryreports). The figure hardly varies globally, e.g. French App usage at 89% is 1% lower than in Germany. Not all premium apps, e.g. Uber has opened to advertising and companies may have to rely on their own apps. DMEXCO, with their new app, has functions to encourage community building. Consumer uptake of apps on mobile in the travel industry is high, e.g. train or plane ticket apps. Uptake varies by industry but the trend is moving to mobile and companies will have to adapt. The design of the mobile web space has to be of interest to the customer from the very first second. According to Google’s Test My Site Portal, every additional second required to load a mobile website reduces the conversion rate by 20 percent eroding real revenues. Europe can look to China for best practice in how the consumer uses the WeChat app for paying for anything or how Hema supermarkets have seamlessly integrated the mobile phone into their shopping experience. The Hema strategy is featured in DMEXCO’s E-Book.
The making of Influencer Commerce Stars
This is an age, where anyone with a following on social media and an account at Shopify or Ebyrd or others can enter the E-commerce market. The mobile phone has made it all easier and ‘mobile natives’ are growing into purchasing power. In the US, both Millenials and Gen Z spend the majority of their shopping dollars on products they find on Instagram and Snapchat. An example of Influencer E-commerce power is Kylie Jenner cosmetics, the youngest billionaire on the Forbes list, fame on Instagram and an e-commerce solution with Shopify. Not all have e-commerce platforms, but Influencers, with serious customer persuasion power, have become part of brand strategies and a new breed of ‘sales dynamic’. Simultaneously, greater use of AI in logistics management, packaging/dispatch and the rise in outsourcing companies can help smaller E-commerce retailers compete with the giants like Amazon or Alibaba.
Strategic timing – Maximizing Omnichannel
The customer’s preferred sales channel is wide-ranging, depending on progression in the industry, creating challenges for all retailers. Pure play E-commerce companies like Amazon are setting up pop-up physical stores and classic brick retailers have to be online. Omnichannel strategies, where the customer can purchase at any touchpoint are increasingly important. The fashion industry is a market, in which a large section of customers prefer to try on the clothes in a brick retail experience. Gabor, a traditional German clothing company with its omnichannel strategy integrate offline with online. As the customer purchases online orders can be sent to the nearest physical store to be tried. At the physical store, customers can get online orders.
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DMEXCO is the meeting place and a community for key players in digital business, marketing, and innovation. We bring together industry leaders, marketing and media professionals, and tech pioneers to set the digital agenda. Both globally informed and locally focused, DMEXCO offers an ecosystem with seminars, debates, and expositions. Bringing together 41,000 visitors, about 1,000 exhibitors, and more than 550 speakers from around the world each year in Cologne, DMEXCO has set the standard as the place for business minds to learn and inspire, build connections, and for ideas to become actions. DMEXCO — where tomorrow’s digital business happens today.
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E-commerce Nation, Khareem Sudlow
