How Brands Can Keep Up With E-Commerce Changes
The digital landscape is a fast-moving entity, constantly going with the flow of innovation and change that comes with embracing new advancements and discoveries. More and more, these technological advancements make it easier for us to perform day to day functions like staying organized, working and of course – shopping. Online shopping and e-commerce is nothing new, and something we’ve talked about before on the Ad Manager’s blog. It’s changing the way we do, search, order and pay for things, even though shopping at retail locations is still a final destination for many. Today, brands are trying more than ever to create a seamless action between discovery, research and conversion to purchase.
E-commerce as most of us know it currently involves a website or mobile app along with our credit card information. While many people who shop online do so with a handful of merchants who will assumedly have their payment information saved, heading to new vendors still leaves much of the transaction up to the customer in a way that may prove inconvenient as we move towards payment methods like Apple Pay and Google Wallet. Much more websites will begin to accept these more automated forms of payment as we make the switch to digital methods of payment that act as a “tab” or sorts and are directly connected to our devices or other pieces of identifiable information. Of course, this will make mobile protection and precautions extremely important in the same way it’s important to safeguard credit cards. With the advent of fingerprint and other recognition technology coupled with these mobile apps and devices, paying will soon be an easier process than ever before.
This will also allow for a more personalized experience when shopping – giving pay later or installment options to students or automatically suggestions coupon or discount codes to users who, based on their searches or interactions with a site or app, are more frugal shoppers across different platforms.
As more and more sites become mobile friendly but responsive enough to still provide a rich desktop experience, soon the buying experience across all these platforms will mirror each other so the user experience is the same regardless of where the customer is purchasing from. It will be more important than ever to have similar cross-platform experiences that are not only user-friendly but also highly functional. Whether it’s Mac, PC, mobile device, domestic or international, it’s important for brands to keep in mind that users are going to want an identical experience on a global scale; something that will not only benefit the consumer but the brand as well.
With this globalization, more improvements will be made to shorter shipping times across borders. Amazon’s same-day domestic shipping concept will eventually spread to other retailers at least for specific merchandise. Having this type of immediacy will likely cause another real spike in online shopping – as the main caveat for many is the wait time for items they can also get from a retail location.
As these inevitable changes come more to the forefront, it will be imperative for brands to keep up and develop in such a way that allows them to continue taking advantage of new technological advances. Staying connected with your consumer base via social media will allow brands to get direct feedback about their current model and their competitors. For help with all types of digital and social media marketing, contact us today at 647 350 0357.