Searchspring recently hosted a webinar highlighting the top 10 items ecommerce merchants are focused on in 2022. The webinar was based on Searchspring research conducted between December 2021 and the first few weeks of January 2022. Based on the survey results, it was clear that 2022 is the year of investment for all things experience.
Last year, merchants focused on brand, product, customer service, pricing, and shopper experience as their top investments. Data for 2022 suggests a shift in priority, as respondents identify personalization, advertising, shopping experience, and unique products as top priority this year. Why the shift away from brand? What does “experience” mean?
To answer these questions, and a few others, we gathered a panel of experts:
-
Cristina Dinozo, Senior Director of Brand Marketing, Yotpo
-
Sue Hunter, VP of Strategy at CQL
-
Jim Tuchler, President, Gifts for You Now
We talked through each of the top 10 items. We defined them more clearly and explained their strategic importance in 2022, and beyond.
10. Loyalty and Referral Programs
Loyalty and referral programs are a key part of the value proposition for shoppers. Currently, merchants are focused on how to execute these programs and analyze shoppers who have become part of them. Do these shoppers spend more? Does loyalty increase repeat purchases?
9. Headless Technology
Headless technology is the digital transformation that sites are going through today. It focuses on maximum flexibility and control in developing and delivering ecommerce sites. Overall, headless technology enables us to deploy new touch points more easily and deliver a consistent experience across them.
8. Targeted Recommendations
Recommendations are one of the key ways that shoppers feel like you know them. The key to recommendations is to make them productive and helpful rather than feel “creepy” – like a website is “listening in” on conversations. Implement Personalization to get a leg-up.
7. Customer Support Mechanisms
Shoppers today are doing more research than ever before. Not only do they want to know about product offerings, but they also want to know about billing, shipping, return policies, and support. Because of this, merchants need to think about how they communicate these policies and how empowered the staff is to make decisions based on consumer requests and needs.
6. SMS – Short Message Service
The panelists for the Ecommerce Predictions for 2022: 10 Hot-Ticket Items for Your Site webinar were passionate about merchants investing in SMS. The potential is enormous in terms of reach and revenue.
5. Flexible, Fast, and Reliable Delivery
If the past two years have taught us anything, it is that consumers want a high level of service around delivery. Traditional shippers have struggled to keep up. This is going to be a continued point of friction for both merchants and consumers into the future. Merchants must communicate clearly about delivery timelines so consumers have proper and realistic expectations.
4. Fast and Simple User Experience
Fast and simple user experience is a top five concern every year. For 2022, the focus is on optimizing site performance, ensuring videos, images, and pages load quickly. Navigation and landing pages provide additional context and content for consumers to make decisions. Accelerated checkout burnishes a positive experience so that a shopper is more likely to return. This coming year may also be the “year of the subscription program” as these programs are attractive to shoppers and still relatively novel.
3. Flexible and Simple Procurement
Lots of discussion on this topic because it meant different things to the different panelists. In one respect, this meant the merchants needed to focus on efficient procurement of the items they sell. Supply chains are not going to magically improve, so more thinking is needed on buying. Another panelist interpreted this as the growth of the B2B ecommerce channel and how that impacts merchants as they learn to buy in a different way. A third understanding was that merchants are going to need to learn to working with new suppliers and the learning curve associated with that. Regardless, it is clear that merchants must spend time thinking about procurement in greater detail.
2. Enhanced Site Search
All panelists agreed – a large percentage of shoppers go directly to the site’s search to find what they are looking for. A poor search experience lowers engagement by driving shoppers away. Merchants need to choose search products that are “intelligent” and drive insights. It is critical to remember, site search is not a “set it, and forget it” activity. Improvement and optimization are key to success.
1. Website Personalization
Website personalization was the number one hot item! The key to success in 2022! Personalization “wears many hats.” The most important point about personalization is that, while personalization represented huge opportunities for driving revenue, you must experiment and test personalization process and program. The other important perspective on personalization is that some businesses are far along in their journey and many are just starting. So, personalization is still evolving. Whether it is recommendations onsite or recommendations in email, opt-in campaigns to get your consumers sharing info or aggregate data analysis , personalization takes many forms and results in many opportunities.
Along With the Top 10 Hot-Ticket Items, There Were Also Three Overarching Takeaways Worth Sharing.
-
First, take the time to “sharpen the saw.” Never stop analyzing and questioning your site and decisions, as well as ensuring you stay up-to-date on ecommerce developments and technology.
-
Second, optimism drives the economy. Our research shows merchants optimistic about revenue in 2022 and beyond. It is this optimism that can feed the improvement of your business and your desire to improve customer experience.
-
Third, always look for ways to build. A site is never “done.” Quite the opposite actually. Building IS the business. Building is what makes your site’s experience grow and improve.
To hear more from our panelists and more on the top 10 hot-ticket items, please listen to the full webinar recording.
