Engaging with your customers where they are, when they are ready, is how ecommerce brands have succeeded with shopping at the edge.
There’s been a shift the past year that has transformed how businesses interact with their customers. Gone are the days of retail brands driving customers to storefronts. It’s time to start meeting your customers where they are – on websites, apps, and beyond. This process is called shopping at the edge and it has revolutionized how ecommerce brands are engaging with their customers.
60% of shoppers say their favorite brands engage them where they prefer.
– CONNECTED SHOPPER REPORT, 2019
As shoppers continue to find new paths to purchase – messaging apps, mobile wallets, and chatbots – brands need to be inspiring and connecting with consumers outside of their website. Digital destinations are endless. Your brand engagement needs to be too.
Multi-Channel Approach
Today, shoppers use an average of 7.6 different touchpoints to engage with brands. As shopping continues to stretch across multiple platforms, it’s crucial for retailers to be in-sync across all the channels their customers use. From pricing and inventory to quality content, brands adapting to the multi-channel shopping experience are staying ahead of the competition.
Changing the Data
As the rules of engagement with online shoppers changes, so does the need for new key performance indicators (KPIs). According to the Salesforce Connected Shoppers Report, “Over two-thirds of consumers already use multiple channels to complete a single transaction–with each channel playing a key role in the purchasing process.” Due to this more robust ecommerce approach, retailers must take a wholistic approach to their KPIs and benchmarks. The performance data must look at how all platforms are working together, instead of each individual channel.
The Need for Agility
According to Brian Walker, Chief Strategy Officer of Amplience, one of our most valued partners, brands need to think about how to make sure they are set up for success long-term. Retailers want to think and act like software companies to make business move quickly and efficiently. Just like what was done in vertically integrated manufacturing — when manufacturers determined that not owning the entire supply chain meant they could go to market faster — ecommerce retailers don’t need to own all parts of the digital supply chain when channel meets consumer.
CONCLUSION
Your customers are busy. From apps and messaging platforms to smart speakers and marketplaces, your brand must be everywhere, all the time, to stay connected to their user experience. It’s imperative for retailers to be ready to deliver branded experiences across all channels. Salesforce Commerce Cloud has the power to connect your ecommerce business to your customers exactly where they are.
