ON TREND Ecommerce trends to take you to number one in 2021
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Contents Issue 1 LoyaltyLion – The inside story: owning your narrative Shopify Plus – How brands will leverage technology ecosystems Klaviyo – A balancing act between in-store and online shopping ReCharge – Non-traditional subscription models
Issue 2 Nosto – Personalization becomes communalization
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Zaius – The year to unlock growth by turning to predictions
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Skubana – Be direct-to-everywhere
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Justuno – You don’t have to manualize
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Issue 3 - coming soon REVIEWS.io – It’s time for more authenticity Rewind.io – The Data Protection Boom 2021 Attentive – Prepare for the move to mcommerce Shoelace – Why creatives will define your advertising strategy
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Ecommerce trends brought to you in partnership with
ON YOUR WATCH Personalization becomes communalization
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Let’s get really personal Leaders in the ecommerce space have been obsessed with personalizing shopping experiences for as long as ecommerce has been a thing. That obsession only grew as technology advanced in the late noughties, and by the mid-2010s ecommerce leaders, analysts, and writers were all discussing “the ‘me’ economy” in an effort to highlight the importance of curating shopping experiences to each consumer’s specific needs. The past three to four years have seen a slight shift in this messaging as consumers’ priorities have changed and personalized experiences have become not enough (as all of the “best” experiences were now assuredly personalized and not that special anymore). The “me” economy quickly became the “we” economy, and personalization began to take on an entirely new meaning. So what does this mean for 2021? Personalization will continue to grow to mean communalization when it comes to ecommerce experiences, and brands who focus on and leverage community will become the clear leaders in their spaces. The experience trends that we’ll see this philosophical trend materialize in include:
Social shopping will continue growing to mean more than social media Brands will lean more into their values as a differentiator than ever before Localization will be used as a tool for community building
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Social shopping will become more than selling on social media Social shopping has been a hot topic for a handful of years now. From dynamic product ads to being able to purchase items directly on social media apps to influencer marketing, ecommerce brands have been leveraging social media to expand their reach and meet shoppers where they’re spending a large amount of their time. Though brands will undoubtedly continue leaning into the more literal sense of social shopping, 2021 will see the solidification of social shopping including more than that core definition. Brands that leverage consumers’ peers (other consumers) and relatable personalities (celebrities and influencers) throughout their customer experience will become more and more common in 2021 and beyond.
User-generated content Highlighting customer reviews, showcasing ratings, and leveraging social media user-generated content throughout the customer lifecycle are already trends seen in the best ecommerce experiences. As this concept of consumer-to-consumer selling continues to mature this year, the brands that find innovative, organic new ways to produce word of mouth buzz for their product will pull ahead of their competitors. Gone are the days of obvious paid sponsorships. Genuine recommendations from individuals with communities are the new organic growth lever.
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FOMO messaging Consumers often trust the buying decisions of other shoppers more than they do their own. By using a variety of FOMO messaging strategies, brands can leverage a shopper’s need for communal validation – and the power of urgency – to build product desirability and increase conversion rate. This will become a key characteristic in leading ecommerce experiences in 2021.
Representation of values will become a key differentiator People are becoming more socially conscious than they have been at any other time in history. Sustainability, representation, and community are key subjects at the forefront of a large majority of shoppers’ heads when they are deciding whether they trust a brand or not. Brands building social responsibility into the way they operate based on their mission, or brand story, that is inherently socially conscious will be key to differentiating as the ecommerce space continues to grow and saturate.
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Here is an example of sportswear brand Champion using a view counter on product detail pages to display interest in products:
Socially conscious operations Brands will continue innovating to make their supply chains more sustainable and their product lines more inclusive throughout 2021. Elevating this into messaging and content that’s in the public sphere will clearly establish what a brand stands for and will help facilitate the natural formation of a community around said brand. By making it easy for consumers to relate to them, brands will create communities of their own that are solely based on a love for them. The brands that go above and beyond by adding a form of donation or contribution to a cause will find even greater success in this sphere. Here’s an example of suntan lotion company Tropic Labs showcasing their contributions to a reef restoration organization as one of their key value propositions.
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Hyper-communalization will become the strongest retention tool The final piece of this personalization to communalization transformation will be the formation of micro-communities as a tool for retention. Everyone (and their mothers) have been talking about how “retention is the new acquisition” due to the rising cost per acquisition. By taking communalization one step further than just building a community around the love for a brand or product, brands will build perfect retention machines based solely on community.
Literally local One of the most apparent forms of this hyper-communalization will be brands creating geographically local communities within their larger, global communities. Some have already begun this, but a leading trend that will become more and more common in 2021 is that ecommerce brands will “re-localize” in a way that makes shopping with them feel like supporting a local small business.
Here is an example of fashion brand Faherty using location to offer curbside pick-up
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Communal segmentation The other way hyper-localization will take the stage front and center is brands will begin segmenting their communities to create sub-communities based on small differences. These segments could be based on things like the channel the customers primarily interact with the brand on, the intention the customers have with the brand, or countless other characteristics that help the brand communicate with customers in highly specific ways. With the shift of consumers’ focus from “me” to “we” personalized shopping experiences will begin to mean experiences that show such dedication to the shopper’s needs that they are in some way benefitting the shopper’s community. In other words, 2021 will see ecommerce brands that desire to be global creating experiences that support, and even benefit, the global community.
About the author Jake Chat Head of Brand Marketing, Nosto Jake is Head of Brand Marketing at Nosto, overseeing content, creative studio, growth, and product marketing teams. He’s worked in the personalization software space for five years. Prior to this, he started his career in motion picture marketing 10 years ago. Between the two Jake spent a few years working in content for non-profit organizations.
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About Nosto Nosto enables retailers to deliver fully personalized, integrated commerce experiences with fine-tuned control of merchandising rules. An AI-Powered Commerce Experience Platform designed for ease of use, Nosto empowers retailers to build, launch and optimize 1:1 omnichannel marketing campaigns and digital experiences without the need for dedicated IT resources or a lengthy implementation process. Leading commerce brands in over 100 countries use Nosto to grow their business and delight their customers. .
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ON YOUR MARKS 2021 is the year that marketers unlock growth by turning to predictions
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The hardest part of growth? Keeping it up While DTC brands have thrived in recent years – achieving meteoric gains in 2020 – the next phase of growth requires a shift in focus. Customer attraction has spurred the growth of so many terrific brands. To sustain it, marketers must focus on growing customer relationships. The good news is that you’ve undoubtedly already set the foundation with the basic – and massively productive – campaigns that react to customer activity: abandoned cart, abandoned browse, and post-purchase campaigns, for example. So, what’s next? Where will you find comp growth in 2021? To achieve sustained growth, it is time to go beyond simply reacting to what the shopper has done, and to start anticipating what the shopper will do next.
2021 is the year that marketers advance their customer segmentation by incorporating predictions throughout the customer lifecycle.
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The proof that relevance works Behavioral campaigns are the gift that keeps on giving. Those timely and activity-led campaigns have proven to be the most productive messages for DTC marketers, delivering nearly six times the revenue per send when compared to their promotional brethren. The real gift, though, has been the impact behavioral campaigns have had on our approach to the customer lifecycle. The success of behavioral campaigns is the iron-clad proof that relevance works. When we find a critical moment along the shopper journey like a cart that’s been abandoned or when a customer views a particular product, we earn the chance to respond to the shopper. All with using the right message at the right time. But so many marketing programs have stalled out because the clear and obvious moments have been covered. But, there is hope for growth. That hope comes from the fact that there is a string of additional opportunities waiting for us. To unlock these, we need to go beyond reacting to what a shopper did, and consider what they will do next. We need to predict their needs.
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Predictions require a shopper-first mindset While we tout the success of behavioral campaigns, most of these messages take a one-size-fits-all approach. Abandoned a cart? Here’s a cart reminder! Visited a product page? Come back and we’ll take 10% off. The worst offender of all, though, maybe the “win-back” campaign. Most brands have one, and many even A/B tested a couple of options – something like “90 days since last click” or “120 days since last purchase” – to arrive at a winning version that has been automated ever since. Unfortunately, most win-back campaigns offer a rather pitiful level of engagement (and conversions). There is a better way: treating shoppers like the individuals they are, and respecting the unique engagement that each shopper has with your brand. This shopper-first approach allows us to predict more precisely when a shopper’s interest is fading – and breaking their individual cycle of engagement with your brand.
A small number with an outsized impact Our recent shopper analysis found that, on average, 0.26% of your shoppers are fading away each day. While this may seem like a small amount, this is no fractional issue. Compounded daily, brands are losing nearly 2% of their shoppers each week. You must think shopper-first and predict the precise moment when the shopper is starting to fade. By treating shoppers like the individuals they are, and respecting the unique engagement that each shopper has with our brand, you’ll be able to achieve real relevance.
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BUBS Naturals turns to predictions BUBS Naturals helps you feel amazing and live a fuller life through a relentless hunt for the best Collagen and coconuts for you and the environment. Woven into the brand DNA is a commitment to
giving and a focus on the customer.
This customer-centricity is on display with their use of predictions to help re-engage their lapsing customers. In July 2020, BUBS shifted its customer win back approach away from a “one-size-fits-all” model and towards a predictive churn model. The campaign carried the brand ethos – storytelling through testimonials and their strong ties to charitable contributions. Their customer-centric and brand-led efforts have proven to be incredibly effective, increasing open rates by 73%, and boosting click rates by 54%. “The improvements in churn prevention have been a really big win for us. The success hinges on infusing our brand ethos of 'feel great, do good' into our customer engagements while reaching out at just the right time.”
Want to learn more about predicting churn?
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Predicting positive and negative moments Thanks to advances in machine-learning technology, customer data platforms are now capable of surfacing predictions into the hands of DTC marketers. By integrating the “core” go-to-customer engagement data sources – ecommerce, marketing automation, and customer service activity – marketers can now predict both positive and negative moments along the customer lifecycle.
Positive event predictions include order or engagement likelihood. Specifically, how likely is a particular shopper to buy, and when Negative event predictions surface customer disengagement, the point a shopper begins to disengage
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Predictions can provide value in two ways: Helping to surface additional “moments” in the customer lifecycle and augmenting existing campaign segmentation. Here are some specific marketing use cases to get started with predictions:
Predictions at Work
Negative Events
Positive Events
Behavioural use case
Shopper-centric winback
Likely buyer nudge
Segmentation use case
Engage high-value lapsing customers in 1:1 outreach campaigns
Suppress unlikely buyers from channels with higher costs (SMS, retargeting, direct mail)
Want to know more about the data science behind predictions? Here’s a look at how the models are developed.
Predictions deliver relevance To sustain (and accelerate!) growth, marketers must look to truly know each shopper and advance past simply reacting to a shopper’s recent actions in 2021. Predictions provide the power to anticipate both negative and positive moments in the customer lifecycle. Leading digitally-native brands like Mizzen+Main, BUBS Naturals, and Cirkul turn to predictions to enhance segmentation and unlock a new set of productive behavioral moments. Now is the time for marketers to power-charge their quest for relevance with predictions.
About the author Rick Kenney, VP, Industry Strategy, Zaius As VP of Industry Strategy, Rick mines and shares data-driven retail trends. Rick pioneered the Salesforce Shopping Index and Demandware’s benchmarking practice.
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About Zaius Zaius is the Activated Customer Data Platform that assists growing brands to achieve higher CLTV by delivering relevance across the entire customer journey, from anonymous browsers to loyal shoppers.
ON THE MOVE Be direct-to-everywhere: Diversifying your sales and fulfillment operations
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On the go Over the past year, ecommerce saw unprecedented growth in the midst of endless uncertainty. The pandemic has accelerated channel shifts and redefined the way consumers shop. The sudden transition to online-only shopping, global manufacturing shutdowns, and limited air cargo crippled supply-chains. Panic buying set in as carriers were unable to meet higher delivery expectations. The paradoxes continued as the impact on retail remained complex and uncertain. Consumer spending plummeted while an influx of first-time digital shoppers went online for the first time. Ecommerce brands without a clear, holistic view of their operations were bogged down by inefficiencies, stockouts, and missed opportunities. Retailers and brands that thrived were able to use their data to adapt to the fluctuating market. They capitalized on high demand and positioned supply to fulfill strategically and efficiently. Automation, real-time data, and enhanced consumer insights powered their growth. This leads us to our ecommerce lesson for 2021. The need for operational diversification.
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What is operational diversification? Operational diversification is the process of opening new channels to offset risk and reach more customers. It is no longer scalable to remain on a single sales channel or fulfill from a single warehouse. During the pandemic, non-essential brick-and-mortar retailers crumbled when shopping went exclusively online. Marketplace sellers and D2C brands who focused on a single sales and fulfillment channel were limited and struggled to keep up with the increase in demand. Suddenly, the hyper-fast growth of 2020 that seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime, became the biggest threat. No single channel was immune to the disruption wrought by Covid-19. Missed sales, overselling, inaccurate forecasting, and inventory and fulfillment nightmares loomed large. Looking forward, brands and retailers need a new approach. Here are some of our recommended tactics.
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Sales diversification The pandemic brought more consumers online than ever before. According to Adobe Digital Insights,
9% of all Cyber Week sales were generated by "net new
customers as traditional brick-and-mortar shoppers turn online to complete transactions". Brands that focused on strengthening awareness and expanding their presence reaped the benefits. New online shoppers were more likely to buy from brands they've interacted with in the past. Retailers with a strong multichannel presence thrived. This year, consider diversifying your presence across new channels. Marketplaces, big-box retailers, and social media channels can all work as an extension of your primary storefront. Walmart marketplace, for example, saw
GMV more than double in 2020. eBay’s GMV grew
26% in the second quarter and 22% in the third quarter, a remarkable acceleration from the 2% average over the past thirteen quarters. Big-box partnerships gained popularity as retailers like BestBuy, Nordstrom, Ulta, and more sought to expand their selection to remain competitive. Sometimes all you need is an can handle the rest.
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EDI connector like
SPS Commerce, and your operations platform
Social commerce — native shopping experiences on a social media platform — is another channel to consider. Instead of clicking through to a third-party website, users can make purchases right from the social media app or site. Those apps already have more demand than most retailers, and their ads have been driving ecommerce sales for years. A great way to support this initiative is to make sure you have informative user-generated content that you can use to attract new shoppers. All of these channels are good places to start building new customer segments. To be successful on any of them, you must have full transparency across your operations. That takes us to our next recommendation.
Fulfillment diversification Fulfillment was a major challenge for retailers in 2020. Brands rushed to
redesign their supply chains to offset shutdowns, carrier disruptions, and
changes in buying behavior. The need for last-mile transparency has never been greater. In the past year, we saw third-party logistics companies flushed with new investments to support greater demand. Brands added order and
inventory management software to manage the influx.
Even global carriers like FedEx rolled out new services to enable cheaper, faster, and more reliable fulfillment. In a recent interview, FedEx's VP of Global Ecommerce Marketing said that the “secret to efficiently
fulfilling next-day US shipping was warehouse placement and diversification.�
In 2021, it is critical to diversify your warehouse footprint. Use
inventory management software to transfer stock, set alerts, automate purchasing, and
effectively allocate available inventory to specific channels.
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Learn how Tushy
pushed through a crisis to transform the American bathroom.
How can I be direct-to-everywhere in 2021? It's easy to be overwhelmed by sales channels, fulfillment providers, and new technology promising to give you an edge in the new year. Remember the most important tool for scalable growth is always your own real-time data. Use it to make informed decisions about growth, fulfillment, and better customer experiences. Hesitant to expand to a new channel?
Test a single product first to see how much it impacts your operations and bottom line. See how many new and existing customers come through that channel. Set up loyalty programs to bring customers back to your primary site. Look at channel-by-channel velocity, customer reviews, & repeat purchases using unified data. Analyze which channel has the highest margins. Never put all your eggs in one basket.
If your initial test is successful, slowly expand your product selection and keep an eye on profitability.
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On the up If you've already moved to a multichannel or multifulfillment model, and you're looking for a way to manage the complexity, consider an operations platform. An operations platform will make it possible to expand your presence and fulfillment footprint while staying organized by seamlessly connecting and synchronizing your warehouses and fulfillment centers. It unifies order and inventory data from across your ecommerce ecosystem and makes it easy to analyze and automate no matter how much you grow. With a few clicks, you can automate order routing, shipping, inventory, and purchasing tasks.
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On the right road If you use a tool like
Skubana, you'll find it easy to integrate with your existing infrastructure via
our native integrations, robust App Store, and open API.
About the author Chad Rubin
Co-founder and CEO, Skubana Chad Rubin is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Skubana, a multichannel ecommerce software the enables brands and marketplace sellers to unlock growth by unifying their back-office operations. Rubin co-founded Skubana in 2015 to address the fragmented operations ecosystem that hinders profitability for many consumer ecommerce brands. Mr. Rubin informs Skubana’s direction to ensure its customer’s needs remain core to the platform.
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About Skubana Skubana is a retail operations platform that thrives on complexity. We are able to handle detailed information on every single SKU, and fulfill multiple orders from multiple warehouse locations, across multiple channels. No other software is specially designed for the complexity of modern retail, only Skubana makes it easy to add layers as you grow.
ON THE BUTTON Still manually personalizing your brand? You don’t have to
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On top of it all We live in an age of Big Data and Big Tech. The digital giants, like Amazon and Facebook, know more about their users than ever before, allowing them to deliver hyper-personalized feeds and experiences from the moment a screen opens. Such a high degree of personalization leads to an incredible rate of use and conversions – or, getting users to do what they want. However, Big Tech doesn’t own Big Data. They may be able to gather and store a lot of it, but it certainly doesn’t mean you, the merchant or agency, can’t own more of your own data. In fact, reliance on outside channels and third parties only means they’re in control of what, if any, insights you’ll have access to. So instead of depending on Facebook or Google for user data, take a look at your own website. It’s actually easier than ever to collect and use data from your users.
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On your terms Your website visitors leave behind a tremendous amount of data, some easily accessible, some not. This means smart companies are taking advantage of this to learn more about their visitors. Tools available today can uncover valuable insights – like who your visitors are, what they’re interested in, individual behaviors, etc. – and use that to deliver the most personalized, individual experience possible. Owned data is the key to being in control of your brand’s growth and long-term success. As we head into 2021, it’s worth examining your data collection practices and how they can be optimized for success. One of the most important trends of 2021 will be the effective use of artificial intelligence (AI) to efficiently collect data and turn it into actionable insights. AI has become more accessible, making it a reality for the everyday marketer – let’s check out how AI can be used to meet customer expectations and personalize experiences.
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The rise of accessible AI Thanks in part to Amazon, hyper-personalization has become the expectation of online shoppers. With every search rendering a seemingly endless amount of products and recommendations everything builds on top of each other to create an almost customized shopping experience. While none of us are Amazon, we can still create these highly personalized experiences by implementing data collection initiatives and using AI to track and produce desirable outcomes. Move beyond simple lead capture (email or SMS) and collect data points that can inform highly detailed segmentation strategies. Everything about a website visitor can be informative, from the CTA they clicked, the URL they landed on to what pop-up they exited, or which recommendation they didn’t click. Once you’ve started collecting this raw data, it’s time to put it to work using AI to uncover opportunities and delight the customer.
AI use cases for better personalization We’ve seen a surge in clients using AI-powered features to infuse their website with personalization. Here are a few of the major trends we’ve seen for AI-powered messaging:
Cart abandonment Window shoppers are always around, especially during the holidays when they’re scouring site after site for the perfect gift for their loved ones (or themselves!). Often, they will add numerous enticing products to their cart, only to bounce off the site, unlikely to return. By using AI to look at both what’s in their cart and other products they’re looking at, you can show products that are expertly tailored to both and add some gravy on the side, like free shipping (with 23% of shoppers frustrated when paying for shipping, this can go a long way) If they do leave and come back, target these window shoppers with a specific welcome back promotion with products you think they’d like or best sellers. This shows that you both remember them and gives them a memory jump to where they last were.
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Make it an omnichannel experience: Email, social and mobile Consumers aren’t just shopping on their desktops anymore. Mobile shopping is higher than ever, especially as social media platforms have begun integrating more shopping tools directly into their apps, like Instagram and Facebook. Consumers may bounce around, but a brand new session will only increase friction. This is a great opportunity for personalization to unite the customer journey. Remember, visitors view your site on mobile and revisit later via desktop. Use on-site promotions to target via UTM or source parameters to ensure consumers are getting the same messaging regardless of where their latest session is from.
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Delight customers with AI Popular products are popular for a reason. Gift guides, popular product pages, “Editor’s Picks”, and more provide a great starting point for visitors just visiting your site. Maybe they only have an idea of what they want and are looking for some inspiration. From there, use AI to give them a mix of both the popular and the personalized. Offer product bundles (e.g. "buy the matching set!") and related products for both average order value (AOV) and customer satisfaction boosts. Use AI to make it easier to navigate and shop your site. By reducing barriers to purchase, you’ll not only help shoppers find what they’re looking for faster but convert them too.
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Wrapping it all up The continuing rise of artificial intelligence and the hyper-personalization of ecommerce provides more opportunities for brands in the new year. With a larger variety of software applications now available, getting in on the action is more than possible regardless of size. Conversion rate optimization is a fast-growing component of digital marketing, and those that are willing to spend the time collecting data, analyzing it, and personalizing their user experience will be far more successful in 2021 and beyond.
About the author Michael Wadsworth,
Partner Marketing Associate, Justuno Michael is a partner marketing associate at Justuno. He is passionate about technology solutions across the ecommerce landscape and helping our partners leverage the Justuno platform to its fullest. When he’s not in the office, you can find him out and about the music scene of Austin.
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About Justuno Justuno is a conversion platform for intelligent lead capture, recommendations and personalized messaging. Justuno merchants, on average, see a 135% lift in revenue in the first year of using our solution. We support brands like Pura Vida, UNTUCKit, Volcom, Rothy’s and more and integrate with more than 95 other top ecommerce technologies. Justuno is also a Shopify Plus Certified app and a Shopify partner since 2017.
This ebook was brought to you by LoyaltyLion LoyaltyLion is a data-driven loyalty and engagement platform that powers ecommerce growth. Proven to increase retention and spend, LoyaltyLion is trusted by thousands of fast-growth ecommerce merchants worldwide. > Want to see how LoyaltyLion will accelerate your brand’s growth in 2021? Book a time to talk to a member of our team. Want a reminder of the trends shaping 2021? Access the on-demand recordings of the live Ask Me Anything sessions.