Page 19 - AdNews magazine Jul-Aug 2021
P. 19

                The ecommerce evolution
An accelerated move to digital has seen consumer expectations dramatically heighten, leaving many businesses to re-evaluate commerce models and put
a renewed focus on the customer experience.
The global pandemic’s mass disruption to the way society shops and inter- acts with brands has catapulted the world of commerce further into the digital abyss than it has ever been before. And now there is no turning back.
Worldwide retail ecommerce sales grew 27.6% during 2020, for a total of US$4.280 trillion, according to eMarketer’s “Global Ecommerce Update 2021” report. Meanwhile, total worldwide retail sales declined by 3%, to US$23.839 trillion.
While ecommerce growth is still expected to slow this year after an abnormal year last year, growth is still on the agenda. The forecast for worldwide ecommerce growth in 2021 is pegged at 14.3%.
Groups that were still not avid online shoppers have been converted, and businesses that relied on traditional bricks and mortar stores have had to rethink their models.
At beauty retailer Mecca, a business that had an online store but also relied on its traditional bricks and mortar, the focus on digital was accelerated dramatically.
“We have heavily accelerated our focus on digital over the past 18 months concentrating on improving engagement through amplified content, live-streaming and enhanced live chat options; developing a
stronger omni-channel offering with click-and-collect and an exciting new digital product (that’s still a secret!) coming to market soon to bridge the gap between digital and physical experiences; and doubling down on personalisation and relevance across all touchpoints for the customer, to make shopping with us on any channel as seamless as possible,” Mecca Brands
chief digital officer Sam Bain tells AdNews. Customer experience (CX) has been spotlighted among businesses across every sector as consum- ers become more dubious of where they purchase from. With anyone now able to set up shop online, competition is at an all-time high, mak- ing the experience of shopping with your brand one of the most important compo-
nents to consider.
AKQA Sydney managing director
Rakesh Rachamalla tells AdNews COVID-
19 has led to a “seismic shift” in consumer adoption of new technologies.
“[They’re] adopting whole new cus- tomer behaviours, and this is not just in traditional early adopters — we’re talking the majority of Australians,” says
Rachamalla.
“What we’re seeing is a good majority of
customers — if not all customers — have formed habits that are likely to remain for the foreseeable future, and this presents further evidence for the fact that brands need to continue to invest in CX because con-
sumer expectations have increased further.”
Standards and differentiators
After years of sitting on the backburner, CX was propelled into the list of top priorities for brands. The meteoric rise of consumers interacting
 WORDS BY
 PAIGE MURPHY
 www.adnews.com.au | July/August2021 19
      









































































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