5 eCommerce Marketing Tips for 2015
As we approach the New Year, it’s time to start readying your marketing strategy for 2015. LYONSCG’s Steve Susina, Marketing Director, and James McDonald, Senior Digital Consultant, offer the following marketing tips for your eCommerce business in 2015.
- It’s all about the omnichannel. These days, consumers are constantly connected. According to Susina, developing a strong omni-channel strategy that integrates in-store, at-home and mobile shopping options is a must for consumer retailers. Providing a consistent experience across all touch points to provide consumer with a shop-anywhere, buy-anywhere, return-anywhere capability can dramatically increase sales.
- Win the wrist. Wearable technology will continue to grow in 2015, and will spike further when Apple’s iWatch hits the market. McDonald notes that as opposed to a smartphone hidden away in a pocket or a purse – wearable tech provides a display within a proximate view of their wearers. The resulting opportunities will create new ad types and strengthen the benefits of geo-targeted ads. The companies that invest in these advertisements first, or have an app-specific strategy for the major wearable types will have a significant advantage over their competition.
- Personalize, but maintain privacy. Digital marketers should always strive to create the most personally relevant experience for their customers, however, this shouldn’t be at the cost of a customer’s privacy. “In the next year, our ability to identify and understand an individual’s customer journey across omni-channel experiences will grow as analytics technology develops and becomes more widely adopted,” says McDonald. This will require marketers to either get customer buy-in for leveraging their data (which customers will often give), or use additional discretion with their data collection methods.
- B2B becomes more like B2C. According to Forrester Research, the online B2B market is 4 times that of the consumer space. “If you’re a B2B organization and aren’t selling online yet, 2015 will be the year for you to get serious about it,” says Susina. Business buyers are increasingly looking for their suppliers to offer consumer-like enhanced search functionality, product selection and presentation, ease-of-purchase and even reviews and recommendations.
- Meet increasing shipping expectations. Shipping costs have always been one of the top causes of abandoned carts, and sites with high shipping fees or limited shipping options will feel the pain in 2015 as customer expectations increase. “Shoppers are starting to expect free shipping and free returns,” says McDonald. “If Amazon’s current tests with one-hour delivery are successful enough for the service to become common place, customers will also expect faster delivery.” As more online shoppers shift to mobile, so does their perceptions regarding convenience: someone away from their home/work trying to buy something on their phone is more likely to find a local store or another site instead of waiting five to eight business days for their order to arrive.
Looking for more help with your eCommerce marketing strategy for 2015? Contact us here!
