4 ways to supercharge your ecommerce business in 2022
Ecommerce continues to rise beyond expectations in spite of the fluctuations in businesses, travel, and social interactions due to the pandemic. These changes have intensified our digital dependency – NASDAQ predicts that 95%1 of shopping purchases will happen online by 2040, and ecommerce sales are expected to reach $5 trillion2 in 2022.
This digital boom is here to stay – ecommerce is revolutionizing everything from grocery shopping, subscriptions, streaming, and even events. We’re surrounded by digital gratification, and many businesses are going to find that maintaining a robust online marketplace will provide an additional—if not primary—revenue stream for the foreseeable future. With over 2 billion3 digital buyers in the world, now is the time to ramp up ecommerce offerings and tap into new revenue streams.
Read on to see our tips on how to grow your ecommerce business and supercharge your profitability this year.
Automate with AI
With billions of dollars4 being invested in the metaverse this past year, AI has become a beacon of innovation for companies looking to use machine learning beyond gaming and virtual reality. The technology has transformed the digital customer experience at every stage, optimizing everything from behavioral analytics, image recognition, inventory management, product suggestions and relevancy at checkout. Implementing AI-based solutions has helped large enterprise businesses increase value per transaction, boost customer loyalty, and scale their ability to provide relevancy for each customer during the shopping experience. In fact, 78%5 of brands have already implemented AI into their ecommerce strategy to improve their customers’ experiences.
AI and machine learning have both been at the forefront of technological innovation and will continue to be the key to unlock greater value and success for companies that are looking to remain competitive and increase revenue.
Cultivate cookie-free (persistent) identities
Third-party cookies, often collected without user knowledge or consent, helped advertisers gather insights about consumer preferences to deliver effective messages to them. However, the death of the cookie has forced marketers to adapt their strategies and find new ways to forge connections with their audience. By 2023, marketers will no longer be able to track consumers online using third-party cookies6. So how can businesses navigate these changes while also fulfilling marketing goals?
In order to provide consistent personalization for customers, businesses must rely on first-party data. Allowing customers to “opt-in” to personalization by asking them for a sticky identifier (such as a phone number or email address) gives businesses the ability to create a persistent identity7 for each customer without the need for third parties to get involved. On top of creating a closed ecosystem, businesses can use AI to automate consumer personalization without sacrificing privacy and safety. With 55%8 of organizations reporting third-party security incidents in the past year, relying on external and unregulated data collection will continue affecting performance and will make it essential for businesses to leverage their own data to improve customer experiences and say goodbye to cookie-reliant strategies.
Forrester reports that 41% of consumers would provide their personal information to sellers if it gave them a more personalized experience. As with everything, keeping the customer experience as a priority will be key to improving value. With proper personalization, consumers will reward brands with lifetime value and brand loyalty.
Leverage the Transaction Moment
The digital world is overcrowded and filled with overstimulation. A key moment when consumers are zeroed in to what they are doing online is during the Transaction Moment. When customers have their credit cards ready to complete a purchase, they are paying full attention.
Research shows that dopamine production increases in the brain when consumers consider making a purchase, meaning that shopping online makes consumers enter a pleasurable mindset and are more likely to engage with new offers and targeted messaging. Not only is the Transaction Moment the happiest place in digital, but it is also the moment when consumer engagement and attention is at its peak, as 9 out of 10 consumers make purchases in low-distraction environments. Compared to the negative sentiments and divided attention consumers have while scrolling social media, the Transaction Moment is the best chance for marketers to harness undivided attention and forge connections with customers. There’s no other place in digital marketing where customers are more receptive to new offers and further communication.
If you want to unlock new revenue this year, start with providing relevant offers to your customers in the Transaction Moment when they’re most engaged and at their happiest. If customers leave a transaction feeling frustrated and ignored, they’ll associate that brand with a negative experience. However, when a customer feels excited and happy after a purchase, this leads to customer retention.
Learn more about the Transaction Moment below:
Eliminate paradox of choice
Anyone who owns a streaming service (like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc.) can surely relate to scrolling through options for ages before finding something to watch. It’s not for lack of options, in fact, it’s the opposite.This phenomenon is called the paradox of choice, and outlines that there is diminishing marginal utility in having alternatives. Customers want choices, but offering too many options overwhelms and frustrates them.
With almost limitless real estate available in the digital space, ecommerce brands can often fall prey to the paradox of choice and overwhelm their customers, leading to abandoned carts. Most businesses have dozens of offers they want to share with their customers, but most consumers are only going to engage with about three messages before feeling overwhelmed. For success in 2022, brands need to understand the paradox of choice, and ensure they are only showcasing the most relevant, hand-selected, offers and messages to their customers.
Watch the video below to see how to combat the paradox of choice:
What’s next?
The key to supercharging revenue lies in providing relevancy in the Transaction Moment and leveraging AI and first-party data to create personalized experiences for each customer. Rokt has provided personalization for over 2.5 billion transactions with award-winning AI, and we’re just getting started.
Ready to supercharge ecommerce profitability in 2022 with Rokt? Request a demo or contact solutions@rokt.com to learn more.
1 https://findstack.com/ecommerce-statistics/
2 https://www.emarketer.com/content/worldwide-ecommerce-will-approach-5-trillion-this-year
3 https://www.statista.com/statistics/251666/number-of-digital-buyers-worldwide/
4 https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/12/investors-are-paying-millions-for-virtual-land-in-the-metaverse.html
6 https://blog.google/products/chrome/updated-timeline-privacy-sandbox-milestones/