Top Secrets to Increase Sales from E-commerce Giants

Going digital was forced by the pandemic but as a result, COVID-19 has created a huge opportunity for growth, some businesses are thriving like never before.  The e-commerce stores and marketplaces who already had an advantage in understanding digital commerce and already dominated the market before the pandemic, have gained even more market share.

Here are the factors that are setting apart e-commerce winners from everyone else.

Taking extensive digital transformation efforts.  Digital transformation is a must in these modern times. To stay afloat and reduce costs businesses have to master technology trends like automation, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), data analytics, omnichannel, and voice commerce to provide better customer experiences.

Early movers in digital transformation are now reaping the benefits while others struggle to catch up.

For example, by 2017, an American consumer retail company selling kitchenware and home furnishings had already begun seeing half its revenues come from online sales. By 2021, 70 percent of its total revenues come from e-commerce revenues that have grown 44.5 percent year-on-year. They have had to significantly increase investments in online growth – supply chain infrastructure, AI, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and 3D product visualization to drive sales up.

Personalization, catering to individual tastes.  80 percent of customers are more likely to buy when retailers offer personalized experiences. Post-pandemic, personalized experiences have become even more important to customers. Personalization increases conversions, ensures repeat sales, and increases brand loyalty. AI/ML can help retailers achieve this. Using these technologies, they can offer personalized experiences to customers in real-time, at scale.

With machine learning, they have also gained the capability to model customers’ future preferences and provide more targeted and effective promotional offers. Pricing strategy can be adjusted for different target groups.

Increasing inventory visibility and making accurate predictions.  One of the biggest challenges for large online marketplaces is inventory management. Inventory data may be distributed across multiple systems, including legacy solutions. With channel proliferation, this problem has taken on new proportions.

Inadequate visibility into the available inventory can lead to inefficiencies in the supply chain, lost business, and higher operational costs. Establishing a single source can be the key to spotting meaningful trends and patterns, anticipating supply disruptions, and unlocking unforeseen operational efficiencies.

A solution already successfully introduced by a luxury retailer is implementing an “omnistock” system, creating a single global inventory across the 180 countries it operates in, making this inventory accessible to customers across the globe and providing reliable fulfillment. It also uses data and analytics to predict how much of a product could potentially be sold. Inventory can be relocated, customers are easily able to find what they need in stock.

Designing omnichannel user experiences. Despite the rush to digitize, retailers must not forget that in-store experience is just as important to their customers. The winning strategy is identifying the different customer groups they serve, understanding their needs, serving each group with relevant content. What is more, creating the opportunity for customers to choose and pay online and then visit the store to pick up the purchases and have their questions answered by staff.

Innovative use of emerging technologies like augmented reality. Customers’ lack detailed sensory information is a major barrier to conversion online. Another trend is offering showroom-like experiences digitally.  A furniture and home goods marketplace has used AR technology to add a View in Room 3D feature to its app. This feature allows users to upload a photo of their living space and virtually place new items of furniture in it. Users can also try out different layouts for the furniture items in their living space.

Besides furniture retailers, clothing and makeup shops and marketplaces are also using AR to allow customers to virtually try on products and make more informed buying decisions. This increases convenience for customers and allow them to be more confident in their purchases.

Leveraging existing channels to create a disruptive business model. Businesses have to be ready to adapt and seize opportunities where they can, creatively using existing channels.

A well-known Chinese agriculture products retailer’s business model depends on users sharing their purchases with their networks and buying in teams to get discounts. The larger their team, the larger the discounts they get access to. Today, it has 824 million users. And as most of its users are acquired via sharing on WeChat, the retailer boasts of very low customer acquisition costs.

Viral engagement through a gamified customer experience has a very high customer retention rate as well.

Delivering outstanding customer experiences. Customer expectations are always high, interruptions caused by site errors and downtime can have a massive business impact. Optimizing e-commerce platforms’ performance is critical for maximizing sales. Making the site easy to use is another compelling need. Retailers miss out on potential sales when customers visit their e-commerce website but don’t find the products they’re looking for.

Machine learning technology means now help to show customers products that are even tailored to match their individual aesthetic style.

Technology becomes a key element of a retail business strategy, and digital transformation takes top priority. By understanding the unique challenges within their industry and using technology to solve real customer problems, e-commerce vendors and retailers can find their way to unrivaled growth.