Page 63 - Retail World Magazine Jan/Feb 2021 TOB

As more and more people are shopping online, they’re also becoming increasingly sceptical. They analyse your website, subconsciously looking for any reason not to buy. Most customers don’t actually like to spend money. This means that if they find any issues with your website or it takes them too long to complete a process, their likelihood of purchasing significantly decreases. We refer to this as cognitive dissonance, a psychological discomfort experienced when our beliefs clash with contradictory information. Our job as retailers is to reduce this discomfort, by building trust. This can be achieved using reputable payment options, having security and trust logos on your website, and planting reviews and testimonials in places where customers are most likely to feel uncomfortable. E-commerce allows for click-and-collect as well as a full-service delivery-based model. Are there other options that may also apply? We’re starting to see new models emerging. The key is to offer as much choice to the customer as possible but at the same time ensure the options are financially viable. We tend to offer fulfilment options for free, which can have a huge impact on margins. Customers will pay for speed and convenience. Recently, McColl’s Retail Group in the UK partnered with Uber Eats to offer convenience products on demand with a plan to extend the offer to more than 400 stores by the end of March 2021. Customers can order for delivery within 30 minutes from a product range of 500 items, including soft drinks, confectionery, snacks, beer, wine, toiletries and household goods. Other fulfilment options include BOPIS (buy online, pick up in store) and click- and-collect or kerbside pickup. These options are becoming increasingly popular as customers try to avoid queues and crowded places. We know that e-commerce is here to stay, and a growing band of shoppers really enjoy and prefer this way to shop. Where would you say this is heading in the next few years? E-commerce is growing rapidly and last year we experienced a number of record online sales days. 2021 will be the biggest growth year for online retail we’ve ever experienced. The pandemic has had a huge impact on accelerating the industry, and one of the major trends is moving towards making digital more human. We’re seeing multiple implementations of this, including live shopping, immersive experiences using AR, online personal stylists, chat, virtual concierge, and guided selling applications. The challenge is in getting the balance right. Intelligent applications need to know when to switch from computer generated communication to human. Should an e-commerce site be able to transact or just educate, or is it a combination of both elements? It should absolutely do both. The rule of seven, which we were taught at university, says that a customer must see or hear a message seven times before they’ll take action. Most e-commerce sites take you straight to the sale without the education piece. Customers want to know who’s behind the business, why they should buy from you and not the competition, where your products come from, and what your purpose is. The ‘About us’ page is generally the highest traffic page on your website, and will increasingly be an important part of the sales journey for customers. What existing platforms or solutions would you recommend that provide a great shopping experience? There are lots of great platforms out there that offer plug-and-go solutions that are really cost effective. One of my favourites for retailers is Shopify ... one of the fastest growing e-commerce platforms globally. Historically, that type of sophisticated technology was reserved for the large retailers with big budgets. The great thing about it is that there are retailers using it that make $50 million-plus, and retailers that are just starting out. Retailers get access to world class technology at an extremely cost-effective price (starting at around $30 a month). The other thing about Shopify is that it has lots of plug-ins and apps that you can use to enhance the customer experience and drive more sales. Do I need a third-party service provider or can I do it myself, including updates, etc? The great thing about platforms like Shopify is that they’re self-managed. You can teach yourself how to use them and update them, depending on the size of your business. What is important is ensuring you have an understanding of the technology and the platform before you outsource it. What costs, hidden and apparent, should I budget for? It’s easy to blow the budget on digital. It’s not just the platform costs. You also have plug-ins, design costs, content production, social media and Google advertising, SEO – the costs can add up quite quickly. The key to keeping the costs down is knowing your customer, working out your cost of acquisition and setting clear targets and budgets around that. Conclusion If you think about this insightful and educational exposé from Kelly of the tech capabilities of e-commerce and why and how we need to develop our competency in this area, an additional potential competitive advantage for your brand is involved – one that arguably is as critical as having clear pricing strategies and ranging strategies that shoppers can identify with, become accustomed to and familiar with, and above all create another level of enticement and loyalty to your business and to your brand. E-COMMERCE About Peter Huskins Peter is a career retailer widely known and respected in the Australian FMCG industry. With extensive experience in department stores, DDS, liquor and supermarkets, he has been working with suppliers and retailers developing business, category, customer and channel strategy and competitive points of difference for more than 10 years. Call Peter on 0412 574 793 or email peter@shop-ability.com.au. About Kelly Slessor Kelly Slessor is the founder and CEO of Shop You, a personalised virtual shopping mall, and has driven digital growth and innovation in retail for more than 20 years. She has worked with hundreds of retailers and property groups globally to develop their digital strategies and drive higher conversions through connection. Find out more at www.kellyslessor.com JAN/FEB, 2021 RETAIL WORLD 61