Online Is on Time - With Warren Jacobs

Any remaining doubts regarding the benefits of a digital transformation for businesses have been silenced since the global pandemic.

The 2021 surge in online purchasing led to a seismic shift in consumer trends, and the pandemic has changed customer behaviour considerably. Businesses of every size must get to know their new Covid consumer and what their needs are to survive this unprecedented holiday shopping season.

With 43% of adults now working from home, companies that can help transform homes into multipurpose activity hubs are rising in popularity. Shifting the focus to trends like kitchen appliances, cooking, electronic devices, home improvement, and home fitness categories reflect what consumers are likely to purchase this holiday season.

Consumers still care about the quality of their online purchases despite Covid-related financial concerns. Worldwide, Google searches for ‘best’ versus ‘cheap’ shows a steady increase for best products instead of cheaper alternatives (which incidentally declined since the onset of the pandemic).

Another trend that has emerged is the importance of a personalised user experience. With personalised UX, you can refer to customers by their name, show content based on their interests, recommend similar content based on behaviour, and ensure forms are auto-filled with delivery information submitted previously by the user.

A Think with Google study found that people are 40% more likely to spend more than planned when they identify the shopping experience to be highly personalised. Increased user engagement, such as page views, more interactions per session, time on site, and more return visits means that customer retention rates typically show drastic improvement.

This shift also means that brands must consider the very basics in a good user experience. Site speed is one of the fundamentals in e-commerce, making page loading times crucial- not only for better Google rankings but also for online conversion. How important is it? A study by Google and Deloitte estimated that improving site speed by 0.1 seconds can boost conversions by 8%. Improve your site security to comply with trust and safety scores as well.

Cognitive biases also influence purchase behaviour, which are methods that can sway consumer decision making:

Power of now: The longer the wait for a product, the weaker the proposition becomes.
Social proof: Recommendations and reviews from others can be very persuasive.
Scarcity bias: As stock or availability of a product decreases, the more desirable it becomes.
Authority bias: Being swayed by an expert or trusted source.
Power of free: A gift with a purchase can be a powerful motivator.

Gone are the days where a mediocre user experience can be overlooked because consumers will continue to do a larger percentage of their purchases online until the Covid crisis is finally over.

Warren Jacobs - Managing Director at ActiveWin Marketing