Shopify has released their 2022 report on the Future of Ecommerce, packed with the trends, insights, and advice you need to succeed in 2022.
You can find it here.
In this video, I’ll provide you an overview of the entire report so you can feel free to dive in when you have the time.
The first trend they outline is that Rising acquisition costs are forcing brands to foster long-term relationships with their customers. Who would have thought that genuine relationships would win over shoving cash into a funnel?
When I say acquisition costs, I mean that when you pay for ads to acquire new customers, your money isn’t going as far. It’s just not working as well.
Basically, because it’s so easy to start an online business, there is way more competition. Now because of this, Advertising costs are skyrocketing across all ad platforms. Digital advertising costs are eating up marketing budgets, putting a lot of companies on their heels. But where is the good news, how do we navigate this. Shopify says that more than anything, Brand building is helping attract and retain customers. We’re seeing Businesses overcoming the competition by investing in brand building, which increases customer lifetime value, boosts conversion rates in the short term, and attracts out-of-market buyers in the long term.
The report goes into much more depth, but building your brand isn’t just hiring a graphic designer. It’s talking to, and more importantly, listening to your customers. Try advertising in new channels where your customers hang out, and really focus on what makes you different in your messaging, not in your budget.
Trend #2 comes as a direct result of the Death of Third-Party cookies. We get tracked by 3rd Party Cookies when, for example, you are on a blog post and you click a thumbs up button (that little LIKE icon from facebook) and then that blog throws a “cookie in your browser” or basically a badge or note. Then if you use that same browser to login to Facebook, they can serve you up ads and content based on that post you just liked. This is also why advertising is becoming so hard, because now if I want to buy facebook ads, because less and less companies are supporting these 3rd party cookies, Facebook can’t serve my ads as efficiently. This comes at a time when customers are also demanding more personalized experiences. So how do we succeed in a business where what we have been relying on for so long is crumbling before our eyes? The answer is in community. Community is a natural next step when branding is done right. In short, build relationships with your customers. Host events, bring people into an online community, hire for the new roles associated with engaging this community. They even went so far as to outline the use case and benefits of offering NFTs for your community.
Now the 3rd trend they found digs even deeper into fostering a strong community with the rise of Social Commerce. Ecommerce activity is flocking from standard websites to social media platforms. Why do you think that is? Oh right, social platforms are where people host their communities! And social platforms are stepping up to the plate by offering merchants and community leaders the ability to sell right their on their profile, and more easily market to potential customers by bypassing typical ad spend and cookies and going straight to where their customers are. And, on these platforms, Video is becoming key in helping leading brands to focus on social-first approaches like behind-the-scenes livestreams, video consultations, and personalized product recommendations. So how do you win in this area? Create live commerce experiences, whether it’s QVC-style or launching an NFT in your discord channel, make sure you launches and your sales are done with and for your community not at them.
