8 Ways the Retail Landscape May Change After Coronavirus
Marketers have adjusted their marketing campaigns over the recent weeks, but those will eventually revert back to normal. Retail and e-commerce, on the other hand, may be in for more permanent changes. The aftereffects of coronavirus are sure to be felt long after it’s gone, surely changing how consumers shop, interact and prioritize lifestyle choices.
In this article, I discuss 8 ways retail and services may be impacted near term and in the years to come by the coronavirus aftermath. I’ll explore topics such as:
Marketers have adjusted their marketing campaigns over the recent weeks, but those will eventually revert back to normal. Retail and e-commerce, on the other hand, may be in for more permanent changes. The aftereffects of coronavirus are sure to be felt long after it’s gone, surely changing how consumers shop, interact and prioritize lifestyle choices.
In this article, I discuss 8 ways retail and services may be impacted near term and in the years to come by the coronavirus aftermath. I’ll explore topics such as:
Local shopping
Online grocery
BOPIS and curbside pick-up
The in-store experience
At-home fitness
… and more
Click here to continue reading “8 Ways the Retail Landscape May Change After Coronavirus.”
2019 Email and E-commerce Holiday Season Recap
The 2019 holiday season has concluded, and once again ecommerce experienced record-breaking sales. This online holiday season registered just above $142 billion in online sales, a 13% increase from last year, according to Adobe Analytics.
But what made the 2019 holiday season so successful, and which trends have become the new normal? In this recap I’ll discuss the Cyber Five, the Cyber Ten, smartphone growth, the value of email marketing, daily sales benchmarks and more.
The 2019 holiday season has concluded, and once again ecommerce experienced record-breaking sales. This online holiday season registered just above $142 billion in online sales, a 13% increase from last year, according to Adobe Analytics.
But what made the 2019 holiday season so successful, and which trends have become the new normal? In this recap I’ll discuss:
The Subtle Nuances of November
The Cyber Five expanding into the Cyber Ten
The new daily online sales benchmark to be aware of
The growth in smartphones
Why email marketing is so important during the holidays
Top takeaways and how to use them
Click here to continue reading “2019 Holiday Season Takeaways and Ecommerce Marketing Action Items”
3 Holiday Promotions That Keep Subscribers Opening Your Emails
There’s no shortage of promotions retailers can choose when planning their holiday email marketing strategy. However, the holiday season is long, so retailers need to find ways to not only increase sales but also keep subscribers opening their emails.
Here are three kinds of promotions that I expect will be heavily-used by retailers throughout this upcoming holiday season to accomplish these goals.
There’s no shortage of promotions retailers can choose when planning their holiday email marketing strategy. However, the holiday season is long, so retailers need to find ways to not only increase sales but also keep subscribers opening their emails.
Here are three kinds of promotions that I expect will be heavily used by retailers throughout this upcoming holiday season to accomplish these goals.
1. Category and Daily Deals
Category-specific sales, promotions where one category of products is discounted, have been an increasingly popular holiday promotion over the past several years. With Black Friday sales now lasting the entire week for many retailers, category-specific sales are a way to keep the discounts new and exciting, which keeps consumers checking their emails.
If you do plan to offer daily deals, there’s no need to leave them a mystery. Consider letting people know early on which categories will be on sale and when. This approach allows the consumer to better plan their purchases.
Sure, they may want to wait two days to purchase sweaters at an additional discount, but many will want to consolidate purchases, especially if there’s a free shipping threshold they need to reach. Use a sense of urgency in your marketing by reminding people that items may sell out quickly to encourage order consolidation.
Offering daily category sales can also help you plan additional ad campaigns and year-end promotions later in the holidays. By knowing that one category of products didn’t sell as expected, you can begin to offer deeper discounts on these products throughout the season or feature them in year-end closeout promotions.
2. Free Shipping
Free shipping has quickly become a consumer expectation. According to Deloitte, it was the second-most appealing discount to shoppers last holiday season, behind only price discounts.
This likely explains why, according to eMarketer, there was a year-over-year increase in holiday orders that were shipped free, starting with Black Friday week and continuing through Christmas Day.
Last season, there was a noticeable increase in retailers’ advertising free shipping as a primary incentive. Consumers will once again be drawn to free shipping, and you’ll want to be ready to take full advantage of it.
As the season begins to wind down and expedited shipping becomes necessary, consider offering free or upgraded shipping as the primary incentive, not as an add-on to another promotion. You may want to lower or remove the spend threshold to qualify for these offers, as many retailers did last season.
In a lot of cases, you may find consumers spend above the previous threshold as they round out their gift buying. Just be sure to promote free shipping in both the subject line and email body copy.
3. Buy Online Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS) is for everyone
Whether you’re an omnichannel retailer or not, BOPIS affects you. Forty-one percent of consumers used this service last holiday season, and 50% of consumers decided where to shop based on whether BOPIS was a fulfillment option.
If you are an online-only retailer, you need to account for your competition who offer it — and maybe even alter your free shipping strategy to account for it. If you’re a retailer who offers it, you’ll want to use this to your advantage.
According to the NRF, the No. 1 reason consumers chose BOPIS was to avoid paying for shipping. If you’re an omnichannel retailer, promote BOPIS as a stand-alone incentive, potentially offering a discount, gift card or free gift for BOPIS orders.
As the season winds down, focus on those holiday procrastinators by encouraging a sense of urgency and pitting free in-store pickup against costly next-day shipping offered elsewhere.
Source: National Retail Federation, “2018/2019 Winter Consumer View,” Jan, 2019
But this value-add does not have to be saved until the end of the season. Consider giving the service a little customer-friendly pizzazz, such as by offering free gift-wrapping on these orders or in-store coupons at time of pick-up to encourage unplanned purchases, or even by providing complimentary hot chocolate, coffee, tea, and holiday cookies.
If you offer BOPIS, be sure to promote it wherever you can:
In a dedicated section of your emails
Embedded into your primary email creative
Even in lifecycle messages, such as in a welcome series.
And, of course, clearly provide a link to a store locator in your emails, such as in the header or navigation bar.
Wrapping It Up
The holiday season is long, but by planning promotions that can last the whole season and provide competitive differentiation, you can keep subscribers opening your emails and be ready to earn as much of the shoppers’ wallet as possible.
Retail Predictions: How Mid-Size Retailers May Change By 2022
Over the next five years, mid-size retailers such as L.L. Bean, Hasbro, and Wayfair will see large impacts and face the most challenges. While we may not have a crystal ball, industry experts, like Greg Zakowicz, have a direct tap into the changing landscape of retail, so we asked them how they see mid-size retail and ecommerce shifting over the next five years. From emerging technology to shifts in how consumers receive their goods, there are a lot of iterative changes that our industry is likely to see.
In the first of a three-part series, find out how I predict mid-sized retailers may change over the next 5 years.
FUTURE OF ECOMMERCE: HOW MID-SIZE RETAILERS MAY CHANGE BY 2022
Now that emerging technology like virtual reality, beacons, and voice assistants is finding its way into more consumer homes, what role will these play in the future of ecommerce? Not only is hardware improving and creating new ways for consumers to buy goods, but the software, such as artificial intelligence, is improving how products directly correlate with needs and wants.
Over the next five years, mid-size retailers such as L.L. Bean, Hasbro, and Wayfair will see large impacts and face the most challenges. While we may not have a crystal ball, industry experts, like Greg Zakowicz, have a direct tap into the changing landscape of retail, so we asked them how they see mid-size retail and ecommerce shifting over the next five years. From emerging technology to shifts in how consumers receive their goods, there are a lot of iterative changes that our industry is likely to see.
HOW WILL MID-SIZE RETAILERS CHANGE OVER THE NEXT 5 YEARS?
Greg: I don’t expect we’ll see drastic changes from many of them. I think retailers will do more behind the scenes to integrate data sources and share. We might see retailers put more emphasis on improving the overall value they provide to customers by providing more personalization and value-driven loyalty programs, for example. Of course, much of this requires accurate, integrated data. Without that, marketing programs likely will fall short of expectations.
WHICH IF ANY EMERGING TECH WILL BECOME WIDELY ADOPTED WITHIN THE NEXT 5 YEARS?
Greg: In some cases, yes. In most cases, no. I believe virtual reality will be more prominent, but I don’t think people will be wearing headsets to do the majority of their shopping. For brick-and-mortar stores, beacons will probably become more mainstream than they are today, but it will take some time for retailers to figure out how to use them to provide value to their shoppers. They need to make sure they get it right – almost from the start. Otherwise, consumers won’t adopt them readily over time. Again, it’s all about value for the consumer.
Some online retailers will likely rely on some technologies more than others. Looking at ways furniture retailers can help people picture items in their house is a great example. How much more can this be improved than what we see today? Who knows. Does it need to be improved drastically? I am not sure it does.
Voice assistants are an intriguing topic because that technology puts us at the front end of “browserless commerce.” No one really knows what the user’s experience will be. Will we be able to shop using voice commands? Already, we can purchase items on Amazon using our voices. But will our daughters use it to purchase a prom dress? I don’t think so. I don’t think anyone can predict this, but the run-of-the-mill ecommerce retailer will not be using it on a day-to-day basis the way Amazon users do now.
As with any technology, simply implementing it does not improve the shopping experience. If the technology makes the experience better, then it will be adopted. If the experience is about the technology, ultimately, it will fail.
HOW WILL SHIPPING CHANGE IN THE NEXT 5 YEARS?
Greg: Wow, great question. U.S. consumers already expect free shipping, and their tolerance for longer shipping windows, even with free shipping, is lessening. We will likely end up in a place where free shipping in 3 or fewer days is expected. There will always be exceptions for custom products. However, I would not be surprised to see a slow revolt against the “big guys” where consumers purposely choose to wait the extra day, or pay a little more so they can buy from a smaller retailer. People love the underdog, and when mass consolidation happens, many times consumers have pivoted in the opposite direction.
This is all predicated on domestic purchasing. As more consumers participate in the global marketplace, they might be willing to wait a little longer for their product to be delivered. This could help train people that immediate shipping is not needed, and their tolerance for slightly longer shipping windows or cost could be expanded.
For brick-and-mortar retailers, I think we will see a bigger push to drive people in-store. These retailers may stick to a shipping charge or longer shipping windows for at-home delivery, while quicker and free delivery will happen for in-store pickup. This would provide consumers the option to receive fast and free shipping, while providing retailers with what they want – in-store traffic.