Over the past two years eCommerce trends have shifted tremendously. Nearly every aspect of eComm has experienced some change from the norm, including consumer behaviors.
The "what", "when", "where", "why" and "how" consumers are purchasing have seen some pretty drastic shifts in certain industries. Even the importance of social impact in brand voice has entered the conversation.
With so many changes to eCommerce in general, it can be difficult to keep track of these consumer trends. But it's more important than ever heading into Black Friday Cyber Monday that you understand consumer behavior so you can get ahead of the curve.
We've asked 5 eCommerce experts what top consumer trend they should be aware of to prepare you for BFCM and beyond.
Bradley Wilkinson
Partnerships and Marketing Specialist at Klickly
Consumer privacy concerns have accelerated over the last two years. Consumers are more protective over what information they share with brands. With CCPA & GDPR — and Google and Facebook's recent privacy updates — the power is shifting to the consumer. We are now in the era of transparency and opt-ins. Brands should work on building and nurturing relationships with their customers. The goal: to gather first party data. They should also look to partners who have strong first-party data built in. This is a win for brands as these customers have greater purchase intent.
Alicia Gan
Partnerships Manager at Cartloop
There are at least 60% of consumers who want to hear from your brand through SMS marketing — especially when it is conversational. In fact, we did some research that 67% of Shopify sales during BFCM 2020 happened on mobile. If the sole purpose of SMS is to "deliver blasts," much like email marketing, then what is the point? Sometimes campaigns, discounts and other offers are not exactly what they want because they are willing to spend. Consumers want to have their voice heard to help you build a successful brand, hence including conversational with real human touch in real-time will make it a whole lot easier to communicate. Communication is the new key to successful sales.
GQ Fu
CEO and Co-Founder at LTVplus
This is an interesting year where consumer behavior is only beginning to establish a new normal. The last couple of years have shaken the world and as a result, a lot of consumers have gone into survival mode and this heavily dictates their decisions. This is especially impactful on the B2C market where due to a rise in unemployment, consumers are focused on getting the best possible deals. Discounts, giveaways, and other special offers could be helpful if done right. The upcoming BFCM sales season can be a great time to run some limited offers and acquire new customers before the end of the year. Our top tip would be to focus on your customer experience and personalize your offers as much as possible to the individual customers.
Jeremy Horowitz
Dir. of Marketing at Daasity
Customers desire to purchase more unique products than ever. They are shifting their purchasing behavior even more to limited edition products that aren't readily available year round. Even if it's a variant on a core product they are more compelled to purchase products that they can share with their friends and family as truly unique. The interesting layer on the classic buying behavior is customers are becoming "social media collectors", where they will buy out entire lines of limited edition products. These customers are willing to spend more on the items and buy more frequently to always have the latest and greatest product from your company.
Mollie Woolnough-Rai
Senior Content Marketing Executive at LoyaltyLion
LoyaltyLion research shows that consumers aren’t as in love with Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) as they once were. 60% feel that BFCM discounts are never as good as they expect them to be. Over half (56%) think retailers push lower quality products and 58% said BFCM deals impact their trust in brands. Over discount seasons consumers feel undervalued, under-appreciated, and deprioritized. But, it’s not all bad news. Our research showed that there are alternative incentives that give consumers the same positive feelings discounts do – think loyalty points and exclusive experiences! These incentives can be just as effective as discounts in building the LTV of Black Friday customers. They provide extra value, strengthen emotional connections and make customers feel valued.