Holiday e-commerce strategy: 4 essentials for smooth shopping
A strong holiday e-commerce strategy is critical for brands looking to re-coop losses from earlier in the year as shoppers go online.
Retail Renaissance, Retail Revolution, Retail Apocalypse – regardless of the moniker you assign, there is a fundamental transformation occurring in how retailers and consumers engage – and it’s all centered around integrated shopping experiences.
On one hand, the meteoric rise of e-commerce has retailers investing significantly in their online footprint.
On the other hand, consumers still flock to more traditional brick & mortar locations, especially during the holidays and other seasonal events. These seemingly contradictory trends demonstrate the tight-wire act that retailers need to walk in order to create standout shopping experiences.
Rather than doubling down on digital or experiential alone, the way to capture consumer attention is through deeply integrated experiences.
Integrated shopping experiences mesh digital and in-store
A recently commissioned study of 1,000 American consumers helped to better understand their attitudes towards online shopping experiences, and what types of services, delivery guarantees, or additions they feel would make online shopping more engaging.
In some respects, the findings of the SAP Customer Experience U.S. Propensity Study largely fell in line with what we know about consumer preferences – take price point, for example. When asked to identify the most common cause for abandoning their shopping carts, 62 percent responded higher than expected shipping costs.
With that in mind, it’s no surprise to see e-commerce giants eliminating shipping costs ahead of the holiday season to retain market share. What was surprising, however, is how much an emphasis consumers place on the cross section of digital and in-person to define a positive shopping experience.
The stats don’t lie: Integrated shopping experiences are the future
When explicitly asked, “What would improve the online shopping experience,” here’s where the preferences lie among U.S. consumers:
- 58%: Having nearby lockers to make the return / exchange process more seamless
- 47%: Seamless comparison tools to analyze price and specification differences between similar products
- 33%: Having a physical store to try or test products before purchasing them
For U.S. consumers, the missing piece to truly exceptional online shopping experiences are the benchmarks of the pre-e-commerce retail environment.
The convenience of online shopping certainly draws them in, but building long-term relationships, and ultimately advocacy, requires seamlessly integrating online and in-store.
E-commerce and brick and mortar are not mutually exclusive – they just need to work in tandem to meet increasingly high consumer expectations.
With the holiday shopping season in full swing, the race among brands to retailers to earn consumer wallet share is well underway. Understanding how important integrated shopping experiences are to consumers not only sets the stage for holiday success, but also dictates the roadmap for the future of shopping as a whole.
In the minds of consumers, convenience doesn’t start and end with easy online shopping – it’s about making the entire retail ecosystem work in their favor.
