Why is eCommerce Becoming More Important
The past few years has been a battle for many businesses across the globe. The lockdown restrictions of 2020 led brick-and-mortar stores to have to hook up their ‘Closed’ signs altogether and social distancing measures made it difficult to get customers through the door.
But while many industries and sectors have struggled, e-commerce witnessed a categoric rise in success. During this same period, Shopify reported onboarding hundreds of thousands of new stores — with a growth percentage of 200 percent.
The businesses who already had a strong online presence were ready to reap the rewards, while those without were having to desperately play catchup, trying to reconnect with an audience that was shifting to online purchases at a higher rate than ever before.
While there is no denying that the global pandemic acted as a catapult for digital transformation, the changing buying habits of consumers and the pressure on businesses to meet these habits have been in the pipeline for a while.
As technology has become more advanced, the economy more digitised, and the internet playing an increasingly major part in our everyday lives, the importance of e-commerce has grown greater than ever before. The Goliaths of the ecommerce world, such as Amazon, have heightened consumers’ standards of what they expect from today’s modern businesses.
How e-commerce meets the modern customer’s demands
As experts in e-commerce fulfilment, our team at Allegro Logistics understand just how vital adopting a successful e-commerce strategy has become in meeting the changing demands of today’s modern consumer. Let’s take a deeper look into the reasons why e-commerce is becoming more important.
A solid end-to-end user-experience
The advancement of the internet has made it super easy for anyone to set up a business and start selling. While this is, of course, is amazing, it has made online competition greater than ever before.
With this in mind, it’s not enough to have a poorly designed website with limited functionality and payment options. Whilst browsing the internet for a product or service, a consumer is likely to have multiple options open in front of them. Today’s consumers are growing increasingly impatient and there is no doubt that they will opt to go with the website that provides the best user experience (UX), delivering them what they are looking for quickly and with little to no effort.
The majority of e-commerce websites make it easy to optimise UX in order to get the best results for your business. For instance, you can link your website to tracking tools such as Google Analytics to access useful information such as where users are abandoning their purchases in order to improve customer retention. You can also incorporate stock management processes that will help you better prepare yourself for busy periods such as Christmas and Black Friday. In today’s digital era, the ways in which you can optimise your e-commerce website to provide the best user experience for your customers are endless.
Seamless supply chain transparency
Today’s ethical and conscious-minded consumers are wanting to put their money behind brands that make a difference. As a result, consumers are demanding increased transparency within our supply chains to gain a more accurate picture of the impact of their purchases. In fact, according to research, 94 percent of consumers are more likely to be loyal to a brand that offers complete supply-chain transparency.
In e-commerce, supply chain visibility and transparency can be majorly increased. Each and every action that happens throughout the different stages of the supply chain network (including production, warehousing, and delivery) can be tracked by inventory management.
Moreover, businesses can seamlessly and instantly communicate supply chain information and updates to their customers through digital platforms such as email and social media — enabling them to meet and adhere to these growing demands.
Consumers crave convenience
The demand for convenience is another reason why e-commerce has become as important and as successful as it is today. With today’s consumers busier now than ever before, e-commerce offers a means to save time and increase convenience.
With just a few taps of their smartphone, buyers can research, browse and purchase products or services anywhere, at any given time. Unlike traditional shopping, there’s no need to sit in traffic, rushing from one store to another before closing time to make the purchase you need. E-commerce businesses offer a more attractive alternative with most open 24/7, significantly cutting time and effort whilst also commonly saving on costs.
The command of clear communication
For any business to stand out in today’s fierce sea of competition, they need to have their voices heard by the people that matter most — their target audience. Today’s consumers are expecting companies to be present when they need something and they won’t be willing to wait around. It’s so important for companies to not only be there at the very moment a customer wants to make a purchase but to also be delivering relevant and timely content and communications at every point in the buying journey.
The amazing thing about e-commerce is that it’s super easy to develop strategies around communication through online channels that create both a great customer experience and more sales opportunities. Whether it’s through proven digital marketing techniques such as paid ads, targeting and recapturing, shoppable links on social media, email newsletter automation, or compelling website copy — these strategies are sure to make your e-commerce business stand out.
Changing consumer attitudes and behaviour as outlined above reiterate the vital role that e-commerce plays in meeting these demands. Long gone are the days when having a website was nothing more than a shiny novelty. For today’s forward-thinking, modern and innovative brands that want to not just thrive, but also given the tough economic climate, survive, providing a digital shopping experience that meets your customer’s changing demands is crucial.
Looking for an efficient and reliable e-commerce fulfilment partner?
Here at Allegro Logistics, we’re a trusted order fulfilment company providing reliable logistics, delivery and courier services to e-commerce businesses of all sizes. Check out our wide range of logistics services and get a custom quote today!
