As retailers wrestle with how to prioritize new projects for the upcoming year and where to spend their budget, PeakActivity took a look forward at 5 important trends you’ll see in 2022 that are sure to make that decision a lot easier.
1 – Make Everything Personal
Consumers know that they are constantly being tracked by technology, which, for many, isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker. However, they do expect something in return for their data, and that something is a better customer experience, tailored especially to their needs and preferences. The key to selling in 2022 will depend on the data you collect from customers and how you utilize that data to make every touchpoint more relevant to them.
Companies are investing in learning all there is to know about their customers by setting up testing programs and data aggregation tools that aid the development of business insights. In 2022, retailers will demand access to more holistic data insights to help them make business decisions. Retailers will be looking for tools that allow for better cross-channel attribution to inform the creation of more accurate customer segments, personas, and journeys. Customers will be looking for businesses that use this data to offer more personalized experiences.
According to Accenture, 91% of consumers say they are more likely to shop with brands that provide offers and recommendations that are relevant to them.
2 – Sell, but Sell Softly
Just because someone is looking to buy doesn’t necessarily mean that they want to be sold to. With interactive quizzes to help you find the perfect shade of lipstick, and QR codes to help learn which wine pairs best with grilled salmon, shoppers are more than capable of “selling” to themselves. Technology has created less of a need for salespeople or, at the very least, less of a need for salespeople in the early stages of the buying process.
Take Sephora, for example. The beauty retailer recently instituted a color-code system for their in-store shopping baskets. Red baskets indicate that the customer is looking for assistance while they shop. Black baskets are for customers looking to shop solo. While the coded baskets are currently a Europe-only program, it’s a great example of a brand digging deep to better understand their customers’ preferences, and creating a simple, yet effective way to help address those preferences … and you should too.
According to American Express, 60% of consumers prefer to use digital self-service channels to answer their questions (website, mobile app, online chat, voice response).
3 – Offer Alternate Payment Options
When was the last time you pulled out a wad of cash to pay for dinner or cover your rent? It’s probably been quite a while. The shift to a cashless society has been a long time coming, but there are other options that are leading to an increase in alternative payment methods (APMs), which is a payment that does not involve cash or a credit card. Bank transfers, direct debits, e-wallets, mobile transfers, prepaid cards, store cards, and now even cryptocurrencies are all samples of APMs. They allow consumers to make quick and easy payments and are especially useful for eCommerce transactions.
Alternate payment methods tap into the consumer’s desire for choice and convenience. As a retailer, you should be prepared to offer an array of payment options at your online checkout, and at the top of that list should be an option to buy now, pay later, which is currently one of the most popular APMs in the marketplace. As a business, you need to be able to offer the latest in payment technology. To forego that offer could result in customers opting to do business with another retailer.
According to technology solutions provider FIS, digital wallets will make up more than 50% of eCommerce transactions by 2024.
4 – Commit to Augmented Reality
The introduction of social distancing during the pandemic certainly did its part in accelerating the adoption of digital tools that reduce the need for physical interaction. Once used exclusively for entertainment and video games, augmented reality (AR) has increasingly been employed by a wide range of industries—from education and health care to retail and real estate.
One common use is the “try with AR” function where users preview how certain products would look and fit in a determined location by using a smartphone camera and projecting a virtual model of the product over the captured image in real-time. Such technology is already being used by retailers including Warby Parker, Amazon, Target, and IKEA, for example. Ideally, every brand wants its customers to have a personalized experience every time they buy a product or service from them. When it comes to augmented reality, the possibilities for personalization are limitless. These days, customers are looking for convenience and differentiation, which is where augmented reality comes in. After all, you can’t afford for your business to blend into the background. You want it to be at the forefront of the market, and adopting advanced technology, like augmented reality would certainly help put it there.
According to Threekit.com, 83.1 million consumers in the U.S. used Augmented Reality monthly in 2020.
5 – Lose Your eCommerce Head
Many traditional eCommerce sites use a single, monolithic architecture, where the back end and front end are linked, and you can’t optimize one without the other. While these technologies are relatively powerful and give the technical teams control over your platform, the downside of these systems includes significant development costs and long lead times for marketing and business users. In addition, traditional systems are ideally suited for displaying website content. As buyers shift toward newer tech like mobile apps, digital assistants, wearables like smartwatches, and any other device with an internet connection that’s capable of presenting content, businesses need to rapidly shift their technology to match these new purchasing pathways. This is where the concept of headless eCommerce comes into play.
Headless eCommerce is a separation of the front end and back end of an eCommerce application. This architecture offers businesses freedom of expression to build whatever and whenever they want—in other words—flexibility. The kind of flexibility that allows for ease of optimization or upgrading, as well as staying up to date with the most recent technologies. Ultimately, though, the greatest benefit of choosing a headless eCommerce system, such as RevCommerce is that you’ll then have the ability to give your customers the best user experience possible which, as we all know, is the key to continued success in the eCommerce marketplace.
Even More Ways To Keep Your Cash Register Ringing
The new year usually brings about lots of excitement and unlimited amounts of possibilities, but for retailers, it often has its fair share of unanswered questions and unforeseen challenges. Leverage the above trends and you’ll have a head start to impress your customers and prioritize next year’s budget. Keep reading to get even more trends that retailers are using to keep their cash registers ringing, as they ring in the new year.
Explore all 12 top trends for 2022 here.
GUST BLOG by PeakActivity Marketing Team