A report by Yieldify, the Customer Journey Optimization specialists, reveals 10 years’ worth of growth in the eCommerce sector as a result of COVID-19.
Personalisation now more important than ever in eCommerce
In just 90 days, the eCommerce industry experienced 10 years’ worth of growth. The personalisation of eCommerce is now being deployed more for retention than acquisition or conversion purposes.
This shift is being referred to as ‘The Quickening’ and is being compared to the rapid growth of eCommerce companies in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
The two factors fighting against this rapid growth are the positive increase in traffic compared with the uncertainty of a damning recession. Yieldify reports that over 74% of companies in their research have a website personalisation programme in place.
Personalisation can be defined as the use of:
- Real-time behavioural data (e.g., targeting shoppers stalling on their cart page)
- Cookie-based data
- Data from other channels (e.g., email subscribers)
- Individual user profile data (e.g., using a Customer Data Platform)
Retention more important in 2020 than conversion & acquisition
The report found that retention (58%) has overtaken both conversion (55%) and acquisition (45%) as the key goal for eCommerce businesses.
This isn’t all that surprising when you consider the retail market this year. In order to stay afloat, businesses needed to channel their efforts into retaining their already loyal customer base. These are people who regularly spend with a retailer. They can be thought of as the foundations of sales for many businesses.
This drive for consumer retention is also attributed to the shift in consumer behaviour. Now, more than ever, consumers can’t be relied upon for loyalty. With stores closed, they have turned to online shopping which, as we all know, is a fiercely competitive market.
If your business has delayed delivery times, consumers are all too happy to find the same products elsewhere as opposed to staying loyal to their favourite brands.
What will 2021 and beyond look like?
It’s hard to give any clear ideas on what 2021 might look like. After all, things change so quickly right now with local and national lockdowns seemingly hanging in the balance.
However, in the long-term, one thing marketers should expect to see a lot of change in is privacy. With GDPR already in place, the next blow to the personalisation quest was ‘cookiepocolypse’. Or the removal of third-party cookies from web browsers to you and me.
As a result, eCommerce teams will turn to real-time behavioural data in its place. This should give retailers a ‘digital body language’ customer profile which is based on real-time data to suggest how users are interacting with a site.
You can read and download the full report for further insights into the implcations of COVID-19 for the eCommerce industry.
Are you an eCommerce retailer looking for digital marketing support? Drop us an email on team@modo25.com to find out how we could work together.
