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As consumers face continued economic uncertainty, punishing inflation, and other disruptive factors, many are changing their buying behaviors again.
When the recent pandemic paused in-person shopping and rapidly accelerated online buying trends, it also prompted another surprising outcome: consumers abandoned brand loyalty, trying new products and services at a rapid rate.
Citing unique economic and practical challenges, 75% of U.S. consumers tried a new shopping behavior, while 36% tried a new product, and 25% began buying from a new brand.
This pandemic-inspired buyer behavior is illustrative for brands looking to optimize, accelerate, and elevate their online offerings in the year ahead. As consumers face continued economic uncertainty, punishing inflation, and other disruptive factors, many are changing their buying behaviors again, making online offerings critical to helping brands and retailers enhance revenue growth, customer retention, and overall market share.
Here are five ways brands can optimize their online shopping experience to reach a new generation of shoppers in 2023 and beyond.
#1 Build and maintain trust
Truly innovative brands aren’t just investing in and engaging customers with powerful technologies. They carefully cultivate confidence, recognizing that customers’ buying decisions are predicated on trust.
One analysis found that more than half of consumers will only purchase from brands with a reputation for protecting customer data. What’s more, many consumers say they are willing to switch brands if their data security and privacy practices are opaque.
At the same time, brands must build and maintain trust in their products and services. Delivering quality products, maintaining adequate stock, and achieving predictable delivery times help cultivate trust and dependability, ultimately helping companies maximize their growth potential in the year ahead.
Companies can achieve this by tracking orders in real time, providing live chat and phone support, and ensuring that the payment gateway is smooth and reliable.
#2 Optimize ease of use
Online shopping can be a quick, convenient way for people to make purchases. However, buyers have limited patience when it comes to customer experience and ease of use.
Often, this means streamlining the checkout process. Cart abandonment rates are astonishingly high, with more than three-quarters of potential purchases left to linger in deserted online shopping carts.
According to an extensive Facebook analysis, 87 percent of consumers report that a “complicated” checkout process causes them to abandon their shopping carts, including excessive form fields, inconvenient mobile payment options, and other factors.
Of course, improving the checkout process isn’t the only way companies can improve their platforms’ ease of use.
Brands can achieve this, in part, by developing and deploying widgets across content offerings. Specifically, carousel widgets can highlight top deals, significantly improve the customer experience and increase conversion rates.
Across the board, converting sales online requires companies to optimize ease of use, understanding that convenience and sales conversions are intertwined.
#3 Make online offerings mobile-first
E-commerce sales are surging, and buyers are increasingly turning to their smartphones to complete their purchases.
In response, companies must evaluate their content with mobile in mind, ensuring that everything from aesthetics to user experience is optimized across platforms and services. Additionally, brands can leverage this feature to convey customer testimonials, product use cases, and other valuable information.
For example, paid promotions on Facebook and Instagram may render differently on various browsers, requiring companies to audit their offerings to ensure they are effective across all mobile platforms and services.
Notably, embedded browsers behave differently than their desktop counterparts, so brands must regularly run quality assurance tests on their websites and payment platforms to confirm that users can actually make purchases on their websites.
#4 Make remarketing possible
Even under the best circumstances, companies will only convert a portion of their first-time visitors. However, with retargeting across major networks, brands can bring visitors back to their websites and convert them into customers.
Meanwhile, nurture your recent customers with newsletter deals or messenger product offers to help convert repeat visitors into loyal customers.
Consider how you can upsell a specific individual who landed on a certain product. Identify the bundles, related products, or price points that can drive sales and avoid churn.
For companies that make remarketing possible, second chances become rich soil where customers can be successfully cultivated.
#5 Make on-time delivery a priority
For many people making buying decisions, on-time delivery is the final frontier. It’s the difference between making a purchase online or possibly taking the business to an in-person competitor.
A 2022 Ipsos-Octopia study found delivery time is the most important factor for shoppers making a buying decision. 85% said on-time delivery was important or very important.
Similarly, the price of delivery was a differentiating factor for consumers, which should encourage brands to offer free or affordable shipping whenever possible.
When companies achieve on-time, affordable delivery options, buyers are more likely to become repeat customers who help make companies more competitive and sustainable moving forward.
Reaching a new generation of shoppers
The recent pandemic reoriented the way many customers shop, prompting them to look online for new products and services.
2023 promises to be similarly disruptive. As younger generations enter their prime purchasing years, companies must continually adapt their products, services, platforms, and offerings to cater to their needs.
Companies that achieve this transition most effectively will be well-positioned to capture market share in the year ahead. By leveraging these tips to optimize their online shopping experience to reach a new generation of shoppers, companies are positioning themselves to adapt and thrive in 2023 and beyond.
