When you think of the word “shopping,” what comes to mind?
While some reminisce on the days of malls, department stores, and pretzel stands, others will think of a mid-day online shopping break or Amazon binge.
The traditional brick-and-mortar retail experience was an American pastime. Now, physical stores are shuttering closed – in part due to COVID-19, in part due to shifting trends that both precede and will out-live the pandemic. Nevertheless, consumers are 31% more likely to purchase online in 2020 than they were last year. Those figures can’t be denied.
E-commerce’s digital dominance isn’t new, which is exactly the problem today’s businesses face. By now, most brands have established their website, social presence, and even the occasional discount code. But is it enough to stand out among the competition?
How do brands cut through the noise and foster customer loyalty?
Let’s take a look.
Understanding Today’s Buyer
According to a recent study by Square and BigCommerce, 96% of Americans shop online.
Mind you, ‘online’ could mean a lot of things. This could be social media platforms, e-commerce marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay, websites of traditional brands like Nordstrom or Macy’s, you name it. The act of shopping varies too – for instance 43% of consumers shop in bed and 20% in the car (not recommended). Consumers shop when it’s convenient, where it plugs in naturally to their day-to-day life.
It’s crucial businesses understand modern buyer preferences. To remain viable, brands must meet the buyer where they are and where they’re comfortable. And that’s only achievable through an omnichannel, personalized model.
Content: Omnichannel’s Fuel
The next wave of retail belongs to those that connect the dots. That means understanding customer touchpoints enough to offer a cohesive and seamless shopping experience. Such a strategy requires omnichannel, experience-focused selling – which has to be fueled by content.
High-quality content creation is paramount to an experience-rich strategy – that means sourcing, creating, and personalizing content that feeds into and supports every touchpoint. Companies must not only meet buyers where they are, they also need to offer the specific type of content that resonates with them on a particular platform. Without personalized content, customer experience suffers and user loyalty stagnates.
Just look at the tech giant Facebook (and its subsidiary Instagram) that has already capitalized on this opportunity with the release of Shops. As a tool enabling businesses to tailor visual storefronts on the apps, this feature serves up e-commerce content to consumers on their favorite social networks, resulting in an easy and intuitive shopping experience.
Creating Experience Through Content
The way businesses select and display content across platforms could make-or-break a sale. However, for today’s fast-paced brands, thoughtful content curation is a lot easier said than done. Businesses focused on designing, testing, and producing products are too busy to thoughtfully plan out omnichannel content strategy.
That’s why it’s crucial to enlist a content service provider – such as Sutherland – that intelligently curates content for each platform to target different types of consumers.
From storefront content creation to product listings and SKU management, Sutherland leverages tools like ecommerce content services to creates high-quality content that allows for unmatched data mining and personalization. Our marketplace services handle all the heavy-lifting, so your brand can focus on making the best product for your buyer.
With a content-fueled, omnichannel strategy in play, your brand creates the best experience for customers, while still maintaining the originality of the very first department store.
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