The following article was co-authored with dotCMS partner, Raak.
Prior to COVID-19, the world had the retail industry and the eCommerce industry. Today, we simply have a commerce industry.
McKinsey Quarterly reported in ‘The Quickening’ that the eCommerce industry had experienced 10 years of growth in eCommerce in 90 days throughout 2020’s pandemic. Similarly, BigCommerce reports that in the first 2 months of 2020, eCommerce surged to 27% (up from 6-16% in 2009-2019). In the years since, consumers have continued to shift to eCommerce channels by nearly 30%, forcing retailers to rethink their growth strategy.
While ‘stay at home’ orders are no longer a factor in buying habits, retail is still seeing a rapid shift from offline to online spending. Knowing the ease of avoiding physical stores, people now seek out online solutions for their shopping needs. This goes beyond simply buying online essentials. Niche products are now being discovered and bought through eCommerce stores. Some brands are now selling direct to consumers (DTC) for the first time.
Today, the number of online buyers has continued to grow, with the omnichannel approach to shopping widely embraced.
With the eCommerce landscape rapidly evolving, so are consumers' expectations of website design, performance, shipping, and fulfillment. As consumers' expectations around delivery times have been increasing, the time frames are narrowing. Some retailers offer same-day delivery in addition to ‘Click and Collect’ options to make sure customers can have the product in their hands as quickly as possible.
Fully integrated shipping and tracking are key to customer satisfaction, with retailers continuously searching for 5-star customer reviews as a way of guaranteeing ongoing consumer sales and ‘word-of-mouth’ recommendations.
Layered on top of well-performing websites and fast shipping, customers expect a personalized experience, including premium customer service.
The emergence of Software as a Service (SaaS) and headless web development solves all the problems that come with a traditional CMS, like Adobe Experience Manager. Headless delivers a better front-end customer experience, faster page loads (sub-one second), and the ability to integrate business-critical functions using APIs.
As well as a surge in eCommerce, the current decade has also seen new consumer habits being adopted in terms of online lifestyle habits and consumption patterns.
What is becoming clear is that the consumer is becoming very discerning and has high expectations of their online shopping experience. In a survey reported in the Future of Commerce report, Shopify found that customers are looking for 3 key things when it comes to online shopping: Convenience, Immediacy, and Simplicity.
Understanding the buyer’s mindset when retailing online has become more important than ever before. Consumers are demanding so much more from their eCommerce experience, including lightning-fast website speed, secure payments, mobile-led user experience, fast delivery, as well as great customer support.
Read more on eCommerce Today: Headless Removes the Roadblocks.
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