The events of 2020 have brought e-commerce to the forefront of business owners’ minds. With retail closures and varying levels of lockdowns across the UK, many physical store owners have had to make the change to selling online.
The global pandemic has transformed the way digital experiences affect the lives of consumers. Between lockdowns, travel bans and the majority of the population working from home in 2020, internet use has increased by more than double from the previous year. Openreach has said that customers consumed 50,000 petabytes* of data this year, compared to 22,000 in 2019.
The consumer has quite literally been forced online, with no end to this in immediate sight, internet usage will stay high throughout 2021. Websites that still don’t have the correct infrastructure available to give customers a smooth, quick experience, are going to fall behind. The expectation of online shops is now higher than ever, people expect it to be fast, with an easy to use, and trustworthy check out system. If they don’t get that, they’ll simply go back to google and click on someone else’s shop.
This means that mobile shopping needs to be prioritised. Before the pandemic, mobile commerce accounted for 92% of e-commerce growth, with at least half of all sales coming through devices. This shows how important it is to have a responsive website. A responsive design means that your site will literally respond to the device it’s on, displaying in the best format for the device’s display.
With the changes to how people shop, also came the change of what they shop for online. With consumers now searching the web to purchase items relating to health, hygiene, food and home essentials. The shops selling those items have a much higher chance of success online now than ever before.
Some quick easy steps to make the checkout experience better
- Enable one-tap checkouts, giving your customers the opportunity to save their payment and shipping info, giving them a 60% faster checkout experience.
- Allow the customers to buy straight from the product pages, skipping a step, and you guessed it – making it quicker.
- Introduce ‘buy now, pay later’ solutions to your checkout system, allowing customers to pay in instalments.
- Have promotions and discounts automated.
- Offer different, pre-calculated, delivery options; standard delivery, click & collect, or free shipping over ‘X’ amount.
Last, but not least, remember to be human.
In a world where human connection is now so far and few between, 2021 is the time to invest in it.
Think about what tasks can be automated, so that staff are able to spend more time with customers. Being able to schedule stock drops and sales means time will be freed up for a staff member to give their full attention to customer service.
Have a social media presence so that customers can interact with your brand. Seeing the people behind the brand immediately makes it more interesting, allowing your customers to see behind the scenes makes your business seem more trustworthy too. You’ll also get free publicity when customers tag you in photos and share your content.
So, how do you start?
This doesn’t have to be as daunting as it may seem. Here at Fifteen, we’re able to create a purpose-built e-commerce site to suit your businesses needs. Whether you have many complex needs, or you’re after a simple ‘out-of-the-box’ online shopping experience, we have the solution.
Get in touch with us today to see how we can help you improve your online sales and help you work more easily.