Top trends redefining the e-commerce industry today

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As e-commerce continues to grow, marketers must act fast, and adapt even faster to changing consumer behaviour and shopping habits. Identifying the gaps and filling in the weak links within the marketing framework is paramount to stay ahead of the game.

According to a report by Insider Intelligence, e-commerce sales in Southeast Asia will total $89.67 billion in 2022 – an increase of $15.31 billion over last year and is projected to cross the $100 billion mark by 2023.

Our recent Hitting the Mark 2022 report revealed incremental improvements in how companies handle customer experience and cross-channel communications. However, it’s still a learning curve for brands globally when it comes to adopting best practices and integrating the latest technologies. Let’s take a look at the key trends shaping the future of the e-commerce industry. 

Sustainability

Sustainability is becoming an essential factor in the customer purchase journey. Today’s conscious consumers are increasingly modifying their shopping behaviours to interact with companies that understand the seriousness of the climate crisis and ecological emergency. Deloitte’s 2022 Global CxO Sustainability Report, Australia found that 75 per cent of companies feel pressure to act on climate change from consumers and clients. With brands facing a growing sense of urgency around environmental issues, demonstrating sustainable values and operations has become a priority. 

At Dotdigital, we are making changes to reflect this while also focusing on the necessary systemic changes that we can influence. We’re proud to be ISO 14001 certified, carbon-neutral, and committed to becoming net-zero by 2030. The environmental impact of e-commerce and related activities is evident throughout the supply chain. Therefore, brands must showcase sustainable messaging by communicating powerful value-driven stories through email content, focusing on sustainable and ethical best practices.

Loyalty programs and rewards

A well-crafted loyalty program bolsters customer engagement and ultimately results in long-time brand advocates. It enables companies to capitalise on existing business for revenue, reducing reliance on costly customer acquisition. Online sellers tend to focus on re-engagement opportunities triggered by customer behaviour, like abandoned cart triggers or reminders that a promotion is about to expire. These methods are helpful because they link activity to context, but they are also short-term tactics. 

Using loyalty programs in re-engagement fosters longer-term sales opportunities. Loyal customers will often spend more than new ones because they know your brand and feel part of its community, leading to highly profitable segmentation campaigns. Linking loyalty segmentations to promotions offers a robust sales proposition that brands can initiate whenever they choose. 

Live chat and messaging apps

Live chat is an effective channel that helps drive more efficient communications through automated FAQs and live agent options. It provides a strong sense of continuity when nurturing people through their purchase journey and can help avoid abandoned carts. Yet we found that only 26 per cent of brands offer chat options with automated responses and speak-to-agent options across social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram. Furthermore, we also found that just 10 per cent of brands support messaging channels with a strong regional focus. 

APAC-based brands were the most regionally aware, supporting WhatsApp to Telegram and Line options. Singapore’s Charles & Keith scored highest in Asia, winning in the email experience and cross-channel experience categories, thanks to a responsive live chat offering and compelling ad retargeting. The brand also offered Telegram as an alternative messaging option. Combining automated responses driven by this content and live agent options creates a timely, informative chat service that keeps customers engaged.

Post-purchase experience

There is no doubt that it costs more to acquire new customers than keep existing ones. Companies that work hard to draw visitors through the marketing funnel and achieve a sale must nurture that customer if they want repeat business. It makes the post-purchase experience critical. Post-purchase platforms help brands update the customer with transactional news about their shipment. These platforms support email and SMS text messaging, allowing companies to meet the customer on their preferred communication channel.

Singapore-based, leading multi-brand music retailer, Swee Lee wove requests for feedback nicely into highly visual post-purchase email designs. Each used a clear CTA on a button that gave clear instructions for the recipient.

It’s essential to focus on the content. Live chat options should offer a wealth of Brands that can draw on existing knowledge bases and FAQs here, providing an easy way for visitors to mine rich service content. Combining automated responses driven by this content and live agent options creates a timely, informative chat service that keeps customers engaged. 

Remember, connecting with customers on a deep level is an art. It takes creativity and skill to embed personality within a brand, which can become anonymous. Marketers must join the dots with a narrative that makes a brand relatable; they must become adept at brand storytelling. Embedding the brand values to causes or specialised products creates valuable spaces for meaningful conversations with subscribers, and ultimately makes the brand stand out.