What Will Be The Top E-Commerce Trends In 2019?
It’s no secret to anyone following retail that e-Commerce is evolving rapidly (along with the store experience), particularly as the channels continue to converge. Industry experts believe retailers will need to deepen their understanding and develop their capabilities in six key areas within e-Commerce: AI/Machine Learning, Personalization and Customer Engagement, Next-Generation Technologies, Global Commerce, Omnichannel and the Last Mile.
The RTP editors share their thoughts on the trends and insights revealed by the 16 experts cited in the E-Commerce Innovations Special Report.
Debbie Hauss, Editor-in-Chief: The continued transformation of retail as-we-know-it is a key strategic area retailers must be sure to stay focused on. As stated by Christina Anderson, Associate Director of e-Commerce and Digital at Kantar: “To position themselves for this retail future, key stakeholders must understand the fluidity of today’s shopper journey and uncover new ways to influence and convert shoppers in a connected commerce world.” The retail experience must be transformed from all perspectives: Pureplay e-Commerce brands should consider opening physical locations; traditional brick-and-mortar stores need to solidify a consistent cross-channel experience, while updating in-store engagement with endless aisle, events and digital technology. Retailers also need to focus on how AI/machine learning and social commerce are impacting customer acquisition and retention.
Adam Blair, Executive Editor: This quote from Jeffrey Neville of BRP beautifully summed up one of my biggest gripes with e-Commerce: the lack of communication from retailers when something goes wrong during the last mile of product delivery: “After a customer clicks ‘buy,’ they enter a phase of uncertainty, where they are unsure whether their product will arrive on time or whether it will appear in one piece.” I wrote about the saga of the late-arriving DVD a few months ago, and how just a few more messages from the retailer, and some improved follow-through, would have turned a bad customer experience into a good one. Neville’s quote reminded me that retailers need to make sure they can back up their promises — whether that’s two-day delivery or having key products in-stock — and almost as important, have backup plans and communication protocols in place when they occasionally can’t keep those promises. Uncertainty can be worse than disappointment.
Glenn Taylor, Senior Editor: Given the recent reports that Instagram is planning its own shopping app and Snapchat showed that it is capable of bringing visual search to the table with its Amazon partnership, I’m interested to see how social shopping will continue to evolve in 2019. Erik Reynolds of Loot Crate indicated that Facebook is the most effective social and acquisition channel for the company right now, but also acknowledged the continued migration of Millennials onto Snapchat and Instagram. As a subscription box company, Loot Crate must take advantage of the visual aspects of its brand as much as possible, even if just to drive awareness to the different kind of offerings the retailer provides. If the company continues to find a way to migrate its micro-influencers onto these platforms, they will surely build more authentic relationships with the viewers and provide a better blueprint for other industry players to follow.
Bryan Wassel, Associate Editor: While the challenges of the last mile are on every retailer’s mind, not everyone is considering just how multi-faceted a problem the final steps of delivery can pose. It’s not just a matter of rural versus urban, but the cultures of different cities themselves: “The challenge will be finding ways to cater to the distinct and diverse Last Mile whims of consumers across New York, Los Angles, London, Barcelona, Milan, Hamburg, Moscow and other great cities,” said Andrea Szasz of A.T. Kearney on this topic. Personalization can apply regionally as well as individually, and retailers need to understand the broader expectations of shoppers in New York compared to Tokyo. Different infrastructures and cultures mean different cities may expect different levels and costs of service when it comes to e-Commerce.